Sunday, April 23, 2023

Unboxing: Fairyloot's "Morally Grey" (February 2023)


This month's box was pretty good. I'm being a bit more selective about boxes this year but was quite interested in this one. I have to say, I think all the items were pretty great and there's only one that I don't think I'll get use out of. The book is beautiful and overall I think this box was a hit. 

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Unboxing: Fairyloot's "Hidden Worlds" (January 2023)


Here comes the first Fairyloot unboxing of 2023! This box was okay in my opinion and I'm not sure if that's because of the content or because I've been subscribed for over a year now so my standards are a bit higher. That being said, the book is stunning and there are a couple items that I am super excited about. 

Friday, April 14, 2023

Unboxing: Fairyloot's "Come One, Come All" (December 2022)


Another month, another Fairyloot box to share with you all. This is the last box I have to unbox from 2022 and we ended the year on a good one. Before I get into the unboxing for this month, I'm just incredibly excited to see what 2023 holds for Fairyloot. If the boxes continue being as well put together, it's definitely going to be a good year. 



The first item in this month's box was a face towel designed by @blanca.design and inspired by The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I've not yet read this one but it is on my TBR and I've heard nothing but good things about it. I also think the design is neutral enough to use the towel without needing to have read it first. I'm not sure how practical it is for me, though, as I'm pretty particular about my face towels. It might get used for something else, though. 

The next item was a set of carousel bookends designed by @jezhawk. These are fandom neutral and just themed after circuses and magic and whatnot. It's a gorgeous design and these one currently look like they'll hold up a bit straighter than the previous bookends I got from Fairyloot. I'll definitely find a use for these once we move and I'm looking forward to finding them a home. 

The next item was a book sleeve designed by @kimcarlika_art and inspired by Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This is another great quality book sleeve from Fairyloot and I really enjoy the design. If I'm being honest, I much prefer designs like this where it's more of a pattern than a character fan art. I'll definitely be happy to add this to my book sleeve collection. 

The last item was the next two installments in the collectible foiled mythology bookmarks designed by @gracezhuart. These two feature Aphrodite and Ares from Greek mythology. They're absolutely stunning and I'm so excited to add them to the bookmark set. I've been really enjoying collecting these as they're quite beautiful. Plus, this set of bookmarks are so soft to the touch that it's great to just hold them honestly.

The tarot cards for this month were themed after Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan and designed by @arz28. We have Lei as The Sun card and Wren as The Moon card. Once again, these are absolutely stunning. I've not yet read this series but I do own all the books and plan on (hopefully) binging them this year. We're almost at a year of this new deck as well which is quite exciting. 

The book for this month was Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston. This edition has an exclusively redesigned cover, digital sprayed edges (that are stunning), artwork on the endpages and foil on the cover designed by @kirisy_art, and is signed by the author. The character art on the back of the author letter was also designed by @kirisy_art. This edition is absolutely stunning and I am pretty excited about another standalone. Part of why I've struggled reading series lately is because of the time commitment so I'm hoping to embrace some more standalones in 2023. Hopefully, I'll soon have a shelf for just beautifully designed standalones. 






Overall, this box was well done. I like all of the items and I think I'll use all except the towel. I'm also quite excited to get into this book (hopefully) this year. Is it my favorite box I've ever gotten? No. But I still think it's a good amount for the money I spent. I'm intrigued by January's announcement so we'll see how that one turns out. I also think I'm enjoying the YA subscription more than the Adult one for now. 



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Intimidating TBR Book Tag


It's been ages since I've done a book tag and I stumbled across this one recently. I thought it would be fun to give it a go so here we are. It's all about my TBR, which has definitely changed slightly since my last TBR-centered tag. There's not much else to say, so let's just dive in! 

Friday, April 7, 2023

Unboxing: Fairyloot's "The Witching Hour" (November 2022)


After taking a month off and then the November box being late, it's been a while since I've had a Fairyloot unboxing to do. But my box has finally arrived and I am beyond excited about it. November's theme was The Witching Hour and I was excited from the moment I read the theme reveal. Let's just dive in! 



The first item we have is a foiled mug designed by @avendellart and themed after Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. I'll be honest, I haven't yet finished this trilogy but I am looking forward to it in the future. This mug is nice and pretty, though I won't be using it for drinking anything. I'm not a big coffee or tea person and I only really do hot chocolate when it's cold. I mainly use mugs, especially bookish ones, for holding pens, bookmarks, or other trinkets. This one will definitely be beautiful on my Kerri Maniscalco shelf in the future.

Up next is the next collectible letter opener designed by @jezhawk and themed after Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. I like the design of this, though I'm not sure how practical it is as a letter opener. I love Serpent & Dove but haven't yet read the rest of the series, so I don't know what the significance of the sword is. Either way, It'll hopefully look nice with the rest of the letter openers. 

Then we got a book review notebook designed by @chattynora. It has a cottagecore/witchy theme and I think it's absolutely beautiful. I actually bought a reading planner this year, so I'm glad this isn't a planner and instead is just a notebook for book reviews. I'll probably start using it right away to track all of the books I'm reading (especially those that I don't write full reviews for on my blog).

The last item was a spellbook pin designed by @no0nedesigns. It's not themed after anything except witchy-ness and spells. This is a beautiful pin and I'm definitely going to be adding it to my pin banner when I get all my stuff out of storage. I'm a big fan of small enamel pins and this one is right up my alley.

The tarot cards designed by @arz28 this month feature characters from The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah. We have Loulie as The Star and Mazen as The Tower. I'm loving the tarot cards this deck and this month is no exception. I realized I put the other tarot cards in storage while we apartment hunt so I can't put them all together just yet but I'm very excited to see how they all look together soon. 

The book this month is The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix. This edition has an exclusive cover, ombre sprayed edges, a reversible dust jacket, artwork on the endpages, foil embossing on the hardcover (all designed by @carnemia), and a bookplate. I've been interested in this book for years so I was pretty excited when I saw that Fairyloot was doing an exclusive edition. I will say I was hoping for some nicer edges as I find Fairyloot's ombre edges lacking most of the time but otherwise this edition is quite nice. 






Overall, I'm quite happy with this month's box. I liked every item and have plans for the majority of them. The book is also one that I was originally going to be preordering anyway so I've not really spent that much extra this month getting this box. 

I will say, what I'm most looking forward to in December is the items and less the book, though I'm still interested in it. As we're halfway through December, I anticipate getting this box rather soon which will mean I might have a second unboxing to post this month. The December box will also be my one-year anniversary of being a subscriber again and I'm eager to see how it stacks up compared to the last year. 



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



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Thursday, April 6, 2023

Series Review: "Hannaford Prep" by J. Bree


Series: Hannaford Prep
Author: J. Bree
Genre: New Adult RH 
Reading Order & Individual Ratings
  1. Just Drop Out - 4 // 5 stars
  2. Make Your Move - 4.5 // 5 stars
  3. Play the Game - 5 // 5 stars
  4. To the End - 5 // 5 stars
Overall Rating - 4.75 // 5 stars

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

March 2023 Book Haul


Another month gone and now we're already heading into quarter two of the year. This month was a pretty good month in terms of reading and, depending how you look at it, either a great or bad month for book hauls. I'm trying to cut back on spending on books, so this month was a definite failure in that regard. However, I am also incredibly excited about all the books I got this month. I got thirteen this month, some preorders and some impulse purchases. It'll take a bit to get through them all so let's dive in! 

Saturday, April 1, 2023

March 2023 Wrap-Up


March was an interesting month. I wouldn't say that it was particularly amazing overall but in terms of reading I think I did alright. I read 7 books this month, finished a series, and rated every book 4 stars or above. I'd call that a successful reading month, I think. It was also the most I've read in a month so far this year which I'm pretty happy about. Let's go ahead and get right in!