Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Night and Day Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Night and Day, June 2023

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

Another one of those boxes that are just epic on the theme and being so matching with the items for it. Starting on the bottom left corner with the leaflet:

  • Night and Day leaflet of contents
  • Underneath it all an Astral Balance (sun and moon) cushion cover, which is proudly presented to this day on my couch. Perfect fit for my vibes.
  • Equinox bowls (the black and white one), mine had a defect were the coating wasn’t applied properly and it was coming off (it happens) and thankfully the team sent a replacement so I could use them safely for food (they’re my breakfast bowls now).
  • Dawn and Dusk coasters, also happily living in between my coaster collection next to my spot on the couch.
  • The featured book which is The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz, I have actually read this one for once in a while!
  • Celestial Harmony shoe charms, which I am not sure about using, mostly because I don’t really add charms to my shoe laces but I do like these.

Overall probably one of my favourite boxes and some of the items are still being used actively (except for the shoe charms) which I think is a big win on the ratio of use versus not. And to me that absolutely wins a lot because I love boxes that have items that will be part of my everyday life rather than pretty decorations or dust catchers.

Uncategorized

Moon Reads: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

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A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I think Becky Chambers asks some of the most interesting questions and, to me particularly, her Monk & Robot series has such a delicate and philosophical way of asking them.

I fell in love with A Psalm for the Wild Built, and it meant I had preordered this little book because I couldn’t wait to continue the story with Sibling Dex and Mosscap.

Our story brings us back from the rural areas, from the jungles and the wildness to a more inhabited part of the little moon they wander and call home.

Sibling Dex is finding the change from the quiet chaos of nature and back into “society” and humanity a bit abrupt, do they even like being a Tea Monk anymore? Whereas Mosscap is asking all the interesting questions he has been pondering before and left pondering answers for new questions that are asked by the villagers as they come into contact with new friends and experiences.

For me, it was a beautiful enquiry into “why do you choose to do something?” and “what happens when you achieve the thing you wanted?”. But not only that, it is about being content and satisfied, about having what you want and it being enough (or maybe not), do you need more? What do you choose to do then?

The prose is beautifully lyrical as always and the questions and interactions are so deep and make you stop and ponder over and over, and question yourself about your own self.

If you enjoy hopeful philosophical science fiction with a focus on kindness and identity, I highly recommend this series.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Wolf’s Secret

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The Wolf’s Secret by Myriam Dahmn and Nicolas Digard. Illustrated by Júlia Sardá

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

There’s a cosy vibe going on and this book is full of that stay at home curled up with a good book feeling that I crave during the colder months.

Our story follows Wolf, who is a feared scary hunter, but he has a secret. There is a girl who lives in the forest that sings and makes him very curious.

But will his curiosity and his loneliness (no one tells you that being scary means it is hard to make friends) get the best of him and will he ever go beyond watching this girl and listening to her?

The artwork was absolutely breathtaking, in that beautiful way that is just so expressive and makes you feel everything. I kept wanting to keep that feeling. And the prose, the words, it is a masterpiece in sweetness, in ease of story-telling.

The story overall talks about trust, differences, obstacles, loneliness and friendship and it is one of my favourite books. I kept thinking of it even after finishing reading it, over and over.

I can recommend it for a beautiful short fairy and folk tale that will whisk you away and bring you back feeling like a little magic happened.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: What Lies Beneath Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: What Lies Beneath, May 2023

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult fiction too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

I love the ones that come with a book basket bag, they make me think that everything is just coming out of it and exploding with creativity, but let’s talk contents, starting from the bag and going clockwise:

  • Hope is Magic book organiser, with a quote from Laini Taylor, and a wonderful colour scheme. These organisers are a dream, I use them for tidying craft things or for moving items upstairs and downstairs. I just love them so much.
  • The featured book, Witch King by Martha Wells. I have no clue why I haven’t read it yet since it is one I really want to read and that is still on my least!
  • What Lies Beneath leaflet.
  • Shell Whale metal bookmarks. I like the metal bookmarks even if they are dainty and I am always worried I’ll break them.
  • Hiding just there is a Moth phone grip, which is very delicate and awesome.
  • And finally a planter (this was awesome I thought it was such a cool idea to include)

As I said above, this box was already winning with the contents, but overall the theme, the book and the contents won very well and I was happy with it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Garlic & the Witch

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Garlic & the Witch by Bree Paulsen

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I really enjoyed the first book, Garlic & the Vampire which was very cute, full of chaos and enjoyable. It was inevitable therefore that when seeing there was a second book, I would pre-order it.

I have no regrets.

Garlic is enjoying life with her vegetable friends, Carrot included, the Count (from the previous book) and the Witch Agnes. However, they are struggling to make a good substitute for the Count (he doesn’t want blood, but a vegetarian alternative).

Turns out to find the ingredients she has to go on a journey to the Magic Market for those ingredients to help Witch Agnes finally nail the substitute. But the other big thing looming for Garlic is that she is turning a little bit human and this feels a little too much and a big change even if it is gradual, what if Garlic doesn’t want to?

The story tackles many things and includes our cast in a more “mature” way having learnt and grown from the previous story. One of the big things is anxiety and how that can sometimes mix with fear of change and maybe hinder you a little.

It made me think a lot about how different and change aren’t bad words. It is important to work on that openness and that understanding that it will be different, it will change but that does not inherently mean it is good or bad, it could just be, or it could be good. And well, Garlic really has to work on this and on her anxiety, and trying to understand herself a little more, a bit more bravery and courage as she goes on a journey and as she looks inside herself and tries to define her own answers to who she is.

A very lovely sequel to the first book and left a warm fuzzy feeling, perfect as an autumn or winter read with a lovely cup of warm tea or hot chocolate.

Book Review

Moon Reads: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

This is like the sister book for Long Live Evil, in that we are having our heroine decide to become the villain and embrace the evilness to win. And it made me laugh a lot too.

But that’s as close as they get. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying follows Davi, who is basically relieving the same “life” over and over where she gets told she is the chosen one and the hero when she wakes up in this world, so she tries to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. But she’s so done with that. She just hasn’t managed to win yet and instead she has found so many ways to die, some come quick, some take much longer. But at least she gets to keep her memories of what she has done and how events transpired.

So, why not instead beat the whomever keeps becoming the Dark Lord, and od it herself, so this time she actually wins?

Honestly, this was really fun because Davi plays it lose and fast at first, he just wants to start winning and so dying a few times while “testing” things out and what works or doesn’t on her path to become the Dark Lord is fine, until things slowly start working out or maybe not always, but then the she would have to keep retrying and dying over and over to get to the newest point she has got.

Like being in a game with no respawn points once you go past certain check points, she keeps respawning always at the same point.

I enjoyed this way too much and it was such a good take at how things make you look evil, or rather how there are many faces to evil. The whole story including the way to become Dark Lord was full of surprises and lots of checkpoints to marvel at the chaos Davi is having and creating. But it is also incredibly fun and I look forward to the next one.

Chaotic evil groundhog day to become a villain, yes, sign me up for it!

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Be My Enemy Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Be My Enemy, April 2023

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

Be my Enemy is a very hard theme to imagine because our enemies will be different to each of us, though I guess there is something for it we can all coincide in? Let’s start on the bottom left with the leaflet and go clockwise:

  • Pardon the glare but I didn’t want to unwrap it as I keep the papercraft kits for moments of needing time for myself and I really love getting them in the boxes. The theme of this one was Blaze of Desire
  • A Stag pin banner which has found a new home with someone who LOVES stags (it is very pretty, I just don’t have too much wall space).
  • The Vermillion Birds tumbler. I already have a few of these so it wasn’t anything new, but I get having versions of it that you like more or less (this was not for me specifically but not an issue).
  • The featured book, Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh and yet another book I haven’t read.
  • And finally a dagger replica of the Sword of Truth.

One thing that I can see is that I really need to sit down and read my Illumicrate books because I am very much behind on them (I think particularly the 2023 ones), but maybe not my favourite box so far for the year.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Night Marchers

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The Night Marchers

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Another collection of stories, but this time in graphic novel form. This is a rich collection of “Cautionary Fables and Fairytales” from Oceania and around the area, so you get a lot of different stories than the usual fairytales we all know.

Forget Snow White or yet another greek mythology retelling, here you will get tales with a wide range of ideas, some from superstition (like consider what happens to the spirits and invisible beings, or they may be out to get you), to wider and more elaborate stories ranging Philippines, New Zealand, Hawaii, and beyond.

Some reminded me a little of the stories from Spirits Abroad but now in graphic novel form, and some felt new and interesting, and it was also an introduction to artists that may not be as well known or that you see less of their work on the Western side of the world, and boy the artwork was also stunning considering it was in black and white, there were many styles and stories.

I haven’t read the rest of the series of Cautionary Fables and Fairytales so I cannot compare it to the rest, but it was a decent number of stories and even though as usual some were not my style either in art, or story or both (I think only one didn’t hit both things for me) the overall feel of the book was good and interesting leaving me wanting to get some more books to read on fairy tales and fables from the regions.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Anatomy of Fear

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The Anatomy of Fear

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I found about this book because fo LL Macrae and decided to back it on Kickstarter. Now, I am not the biggest fan of horror, and so I was a bit nervous about it.

One of my favourite things is that it comes as an “anatomy” where each short story covers a body part, like liver or bone or eye, and therefore it goes into some horror for each part.

Overall, the stories are more the kind of horror that will creep under your skin and leave you feeling the chills rather than jump scares and film horror series. This is not a book of screams but rather of layers of horror that build a “body” of stories.

Some were easier to get into for me and despite the topics some were very enjoyable (obviously Bone by LL Macrae) and some were tragic, the tempo varies too and I will admit there were some that were just not for me, both by topic or just couldn’t get into the story as much as others (maybe I was spoilt by some really good ones that others that weren’t bad felt not as good).

So if you want horror short stories to layer a variety of authors and ideas, let the fear come and learn its anatomy with this book.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Live Like Legends Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Live Like Legends, March 2023

Ownership: Subscribed on their 6 boxes option. If you are interested in purchasing an Illumicrate subscription, you can do it on their website.

Illumicrate is a book subscription box, it usually features fantasy and sci-fi but not exclusively young adult, sometimes it features adult too. It usually contains a new release, a pin and several bookish goodies.

As much as the previous box was incredibly visually cohesive this one is not and feels more just cohesive on theme, So let’s see what was inside, starting from the leaflet on the top right and going clockwise:

  • Content leaflet, as usual includes artists and photochallenge alongside book summary.
  • Journey to the underworld lunch bag, with a Persephone and Hades vibe, which looks cool and not too in your face for fandom specific.
  • Greek mythology stickers, and I always love good stickers!
  • The featured book, Lies We Sing To The Sea by Sarah Underwood, and another book I have yet to read (partly because I am burnt out on greek mythology inspired books, just stop please).
  • A Greek Myths book pot. One I didn’t keep as I only keep a few and this was not for me.
  • Realm of the gods mini teapot, this is adorable and I have yet to use it but hopefully soon.

Overall, a decent box with a few everyday use items (the teapot isn’t used because I already have a work horse type of teapot that gets used often, this one feels more delicate) and a few decorative items.