Tag: Illumicrate

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Principle of Moments

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The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson

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.

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.

I actually can’t remember how I came to have a proof copy for this book, since I know it was not one I requested, so it either came freely from publisher or through BlackCrow (who are awesome with proofs).

As you may have seen from the previous post, I also have a hardcover copy of it but I read it on the proof copy.

Now, this si one of my lowest-rated book reviews in a while, and the main reason for it is that this book needed more editing and more work. It is a book written during school by the author and then reworked, and it shows as you read through it. The characters are wishy-washy and feel shoehorned into making the prophecy work (the prophecy parts were probably the most interesting). They just seem to be carried forever by the plot to make the plot happen while trying to figure themselves out, and not in a good way.

The format of it, with the prophecy, the time travel, and the trying to make reason of the side plots, was interesting and had a lot of potential, but for me, it falls flat. I did not care for most of the characters except George, who felt like he had just been dragged into this nonsense and had no choice (see? Everything is very much an “I have no choice but to do this” all over the book), so our two main characters in themselves are flat and boring, plot puppets overall to fulfil a prophecy and you could swap them for other characters and still get the same story.

The premise is that there is this prophecy about 3 parts of a story, and you are having that slowly told (the people talking of the prophecy talk about the person who made it, and make notes on it and therefore this was the most interesting part and you could read just the bits of the prophecy and get a decent story, skipping more than half the book, way more enjoyable) but you also get several points of view by a variety of characters on how they are going to save the world, or maybe just themselves because they are selfish and want to live and yet they are cowards and nothing like what they are supposed to be.

The overall summary is that this had potential, had an interesting idea, and formatting and the “prophecy” part was pretty decent, but the execution fell flat and steamrolled through the characters just to fit the prophecy and “plot”, and it could have been done better. They deserved better.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: In The Stars Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: In the Stars, December 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.

A box to end the year with a lot of items for the new year. Starting at the top left corner and going clockwise:

  • Theme leaflet
  • A money jar (or ideas) inspired by a quote from Addie LaRue.
  • A calendar with art for each month based on books, usually pretty nice.
  • Weekly planner with a habit tracker and space for each day. It is currently on my fridge and used somewhat for meal planning and notes.
  • The featured book which is The Pricniple of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, and surprisingly I’ve actually read the book (review coming soon!).
  • Finally, underneath all of it, a tea towel for space, quite nice design but the fabric is not particularly good at drying which is one of my biggest issues with it. It’s cool but useless.

Nice box to end the year, and I have used most of it except the towel which I tried to use, found it unusable and gave it away. I have this problem a lot with Illumicrate towels and tea-towels, they never dry enough and are pretty much useless for their intended purpose despite being very pretty which frustrates me because I would like to use them and have awesome towels. But the rest was cool!

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Anit-Hero Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Anit-Hero, November 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.

A dark and spooky box for Illumicrate with some interesting items. Starting at the top left and going clockwise:

  • Featured book, Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I’ve read her books before so I expected to like and have yet to read it, woops. The reason it doesn’t look amazing in the pictures is because it has a see through slip cover and therefore really difficult to show in all its glory, but it’s pretty cool.
  • Theme leaflet.
  • A spooky tree ornament which I loved, to be fair I generally enjoy the tree ornaments Illumicrate sends and they end up on my Christmas tree.
  • I think this was a foldable bag (vaguely from memory) and I gifted it to someone who needed cool bags(I have a massive collection of tote bags to last me an eternity and that I do use for my shopping).
  • A classic mug from Illumicrate which is fun but not one I have currently in rotation.
  • Book ends, which I also do not have in use currently but I kept them because they are cool.

Overall, it was a box with lots of usable parts and that makes me happy, even if a few of them are not currently in use but that’s not because I don’t appreciate them. Nice little box and well themed I think.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Fairytale Forests Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Fairytale Forests, October 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.

A beautifully set box with a lovely theme for October. Let’s start on the leaflet and go clockwise:

  • Theme leaflet and contents.
  • Underneath, a delightful deskpad with a vrow and keys and perfect purple tones. Love it!
  • Nightfell replica dagger, not sure which book it is from as I don’t really collect them, but it is pretty.
  • Finding Dreams notebook, and it is a gorgeous one which feels too good to use (but will be used, it is on the notebooks shelf waiting its turn).
  • The featured book was After the Forest by Kell Woods, another one still on my list but unread.
  • And finally, we have some woodland and witch page tabs for little notes or to highlight specifics. I admit I am not someone who does this type of thing except for drawing reference, but I still like them and can appreciate them.

A good box overall, that deskpad takes the winner out of it because it is so pretty. I am never super keen on dagger replica boxes because it is just a thing that I don’t know what to do with. So it isn’t the best box, but not the worst either.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Last Hour Between Worlds

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The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

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.

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.

Just to add to the disclaimer above, I did get a free copy from Orbit, but I also had a purchased copy and one from Illumicrate, so apparently this was a book I just needed to read. The copy in the picture is the one from the publisher because it is the one I actually took everywhere (you can see it, woops) and read.

The review before today’s was for Diary of a Void, which is about faking a pregnancy, and well, this book is not about pregnancy in itself, but rather about a main character who has given birth recently and is just trying to enjoy herself rather than work on an end of year party. It felt to me like these two books had to be next to each other because they approach a part of life that isn’t always included in books beyond a side note, and in both, it is an important part of it.

I also want to highlight that our main character is not a young adult, which was refreshing as was seeing that she is trying to balance motherhood and her return to work post birth. I need more books that just include it in the plot and where it is relevant in how it colours the decisions and thoughts of the character but not as a “plot” point exclusively. It was done masterfully here.

Now, to the actual proper plot, which is a crazy multidimensional mystery and trying to stop people from dying and close to the end of the world for the people involved, but in reality is more of a power game between higher entities.

Kembral is trying to enjoy herself at the end of the year party but the party just won’t let her as people start dying and then time seems to “rewind” and it starts all over, but moving between dimensions. As to why she seems to be one of the only ones to notice this, part fo the overall mystery.

Thankfully, she ends up joining forces (reluctantly) with her personal and professional nemesis, Rika. As they try to work on their own personal/professional tangle and at the same time, survive and save the world(s), chaos ensues.

There is a lot going on in the book, which is normally overwhelming, but the various threads of plot and pieces do tie each other nicely as it progresses. We learn more about why Rika and Kembral have such a relationship and what each side thinks, plus what they are seeing or kept hidden from each other. We also get, as mentioned the impact of her motherhood into the story, and her own professional relationships and morals as she tries to resolve what is happening. Then we have the various dimensions and worlds, which is chaotic and wonderful worldbuilding. Then we have the rituals/murders that keep happening each time and in each dimension. And the question is how to make it stop and save everyone, how do you solve a game and ritual that is at the level of higher beings and not you?

I had to stay up reading this book and really wanted to keep going, it was incredibly well written, kept me hooked and I wanted to know more on all points. I can’t wait for the next book.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: My Last Breath Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: My Last Breath, September 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.

A dark and very Evanescence box, because all I can think of when I see that is the song, and therefore I am judging on that, but ti does match it nicely. So let’s see what was in it, starting top left:

  • The usual leaflet of contents.
  • The featured book which is A Study in Drowning, I still haven’t read it, but it looks good and is still on my list.
  • Gothic Romance book pot, a bit too pink for my taste, but it is still gorgeous.
  • If we were villains jigsaw, and I like jigaws and they look like books so it’s a win for me.
  • One of my favourite things but that isn’t included much in the boxes, bowl cosy! In gorgeous fabrics.
  • There is also a magnet in a window, which is now permanently holding my recipe for banana bread on my fridge (it gets moved to the microwave when I am making it).
  • And finally a Queen of hearts card that I am not sure what it refers to, but I like the artwork.

Overall I liked the contents, even if some styles weren’t for me (the bookpot, but I do like book pots and have a few around the house, I am just picky on the specifics). The items are still in use, so also quite good given this is from 2023. Shame on me about not yet reading the book, woops.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Hidden Magic Illumicrate

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: Hidden Magic, August 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.

A very magical box this time, let’s start on the top left and go clockwise:

  • Bookmark set (I rarely ever care for character faces bookmarks, so these are usually a miss).
  • Washi tape, which is super adorable and cute and I’ve used some for decorating little pages or envelopes or similar.
  • Mug inspired by The Priory of the Orange Tree, as usual a win for me, very sturdy and my daily favourites.
  • A book tin for “The Book of Eyes”, also winners in general because they are useful tins to save stuff in.
  • The monthly leaflet for the theme
  • The book, which has a two types of view, with the cover showing Guardians of the Dawn “Zhara” but underneath it is “The Maiden who was Loved by Death”.

Overall a cute box, could’ve done without the bookmarks, but not a bad content and I am still to read the book, woops. But it is on my list and was before the box came out, just bad at actually reading through my TBR.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: You Win or You Die

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Subscription box: Illumicrate

Theme/Month: You Win or You Die, July 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.

A lovely little box, and let’s start from the top left corner going clockwise:

  • Fire is Catching towel. I have found the towels to never dry well enough for me (I like fluffy towels and for my hair t-shirt or high absorbing ones) which is the disappointing part, otherwise I would absolutely love this towel.
  • Aromatic Magic tea cups. I love a good stemless cup in this style, these are delicate and gorgeous.
  • Guess the character card game, which is a cool idea, but I am very bad at faces and matching my idea of how a character looks with the overall view, however the art collection here was stunning.
  • The featured book, which is The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem, another absolutely amazing read that I enjoyed and have actually read.
  • A guild of knowledge embroidered pouch which I use to store cards in.

This wasn’t a bad box, but if you compare it to the Night and Day one, it’s definitely lacking. The stemless cups were a win (I tend to use mine as “wine glasses” but also as cups for tea) but the game fell flat for me as did the towel. I would’ve liked more an “art” collection book of characters or something similar to properly browse the artwork, or maybe we need a where’s the character type of book with lots of characters form different books doing their own thing in a fantasy world…

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.

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.