The Fairyloot theme of the month is ‘Sell your Soul’ and I have no idea what the book of the month is, it isn’t one I recognised immediately from the art or description which does make me excited because it gives me a new book to put on my radar! But, the important question is would I sell my soul for this box?
Opening it up the first item I came across was the black and white canvas basket (designed by @blanca.design) and inspired by Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon a Broken Heart. The basket is very cute, black with white detailing and motifs definitely inspired by the book, little potions, arrows and foxes that are reminiscent of the Fairyloot foiling on the hardback edition. With the quote “Heroes don’t get happy endings. They give them to other people” which I love as I adored the book. However, as much as I like the basket I do feel like we’ve had quite a few recently between Fairyloot and illumicrate, not that it can be helped as they don’t know what the other is doing but I don’t really know what to do with them anymore…
Next I pulled out the cabeswater socks (designed by @no0nedesigns) inspired by The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater. They’re white with trees and ravens on, and are a good quality but I just don’t love when Fairyloot include socks… Like they are comfortable and well made but they just don’t excite me and you can’t really wear them out because of the colours!
Next I found the paperback book included, which was a nice surprise as I didn’t realise it was a two book box! A special edition of Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo, with a redesigned cover, sprayed edges and a digital signature. I really like the cover with the lunar phases and the snake eating itself, it’s a pretty cover. Princess of Souls is a rapunzel inspired YA fantasy romance novel about a girl doomed to steal souls for an immortal king. It sounds really interesting so I’m glad to add it to my tbr.
Then, I got to the foiled art print (designed by @gracezhuart) inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle which is gorgeous, but I’ve never seen it before! So I think I’ll be selling it on my depop. I like the prints that Fairyloot do because the artists they hire are so talented, but I never really know what to do with them.
Finally, we get to the book - One Dark Widow by Rachel Gillig. One Dark Widow is a gothic fantasy with a tarot inspired magic system, which is definitely intriguing me! Our protagonist, Elspeth, is trapped in a mist locked kingdom and wants to stay safe and cure the kingdom with the help of a monster trapped in her head and a dangerous highway man…
The Fairyloot edition has the same eerie cover, with green sprayed edges and art on the naked hardcover which is reminiscent of leaves framing a monster which is quite pretty. However, my favourite part is the gorgeous art featured on the reverse dust jacket and end papers (all designed by @mistilteinn.art) which is so pretty, I think I definitely prefer it to the original cover.
Overall, I would not sell my soul for this box. The items are okay but I don’t love them, and although the books sound interesting they aren’t making me want to drop everything else for them. They’ll be added to the pile of books that I get to eventually but aren’t rushing towards. It does make me wish I had skipped this one a bit which is unfortunate, but good to know for the future!
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