Owlcrate – October 2018: ‘Lost In The Bookstore’

OwlCrate is a monthly book subscription service that provides you with a newly released Young Adult novel plus other bookish extras, such as jewelry & accessories, bookmarks, stickers & prints, toys, etc.

Here is my very late review of the October box – I’ve been having issues with connecting my phone to my laptop and I couldn’t get my photos off it til last week. Just in time as my phone has now died and I have to get it fixed, agh.

OwlCrate
Cost: $29.99 USD monthly, $86.98 for 3 months or $167.94 for 6 months.
Shipping Costs: $7.99 to US, $10.59 to Canada and $19.99 internationally.
Payment Method: Debit and Credit Cards.
Mailed Out: around the 20th of each month.

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS

Spoiler card with the list of items and their suppliers.

Regular monthly Themed Pin.

Art Print designed by Michelle Gray ($5?)

Choco-Mint Truffle Tea by The Tea Spot ($3 USD): I’m not a tea-drinker, so this won’t be used, but it’s a decent sample size of 5 servings.

Heart-Shaped Strainer by Owlcrate ($3?): yay, a strainer for the tea I don’t drink, lol. It seems like a strainer you could get at any $2 store, so not very exciting.

Canvas Clutch Purse by Bookworm Boutique (similar product is $15.99 USD).

I don’t really like the canvas style, so this isn’t for me, but it’s a great item in general, quite sturdy and nice design.

It’s big enough to carry a decent amount of odds and ends, and even small books.

Book Nerd Socks by Out Of Print ($12 USD): I always love getting bookish socks, so this is perfect for me. 🙂

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa ($30.84 AUD).

This exclusive edition has a change of color scheme to increase the red on the cover, which I really like as red’s my favorite color. ❤

Blurb from Goodreads:

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

The book is personally signed and comes with an author letter and matching bookmark.

I normally look at the cost on Book Depository to see what it would cost me to purchase the book personally, because I wouldn’t buy it through the book box in question due to international shipping costs being so high. But if you’re interested in this specific exclusive edition, it’s currently available from Owlcrate for $18.99 USD.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi (normally $34.99 AUD, currently on sale at $26.62 AUD)

This Owlcrate edition has changed the title color from aqua blue to pink, which I like. Their color scheme changes can be hit-and-miss, but this is a good month for me, two books and I like both changes. 🙂

Blurb from Goodreads:

Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street.

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

In a timely update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, critically acclaimed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.

This is also personally signed with an author letter and matching bookmark.

If you’d like this exclusive Owlcrate edition, it’s currently available for $17.99 USD.

Plus beautiful endpages! ❤

VERDICT

Quality of Curation: Normally Owlcrate do a great job with curation, but this one was a bit off-theme…it’s called ‘Lost In The Bookstore’, but that’s not really the feeling I get from the items they’ve selected. People don’t really drink tea in a bookstore! This vibe is more ‘cozy afternoon at home’, imo.

If you ignore the theme, it’s a pretty amazing box – not one but TWO hardcovers, both of which are signed? Plus decent bookish items?! Well done. 😀

Worth It? The total value is about $75 USD or over a hundred Australian dollars, which is a great return on the $71.46 AUD that I spent! Even if you take out the items I guesstimated (art print and strainer), the value is roughly about $68 USD or $93 AUD.

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 kitties recommend this box.

Find Out More: You can find OwlCrate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Disclaimer: I purchased this box, and this review is based on my personal opinion. No compensation was received.