Tag: Illumicrate

Somehow I took the pictures for this and completely forgot to actually upload the unboxing, which is very sily of me. Oh well, le’ts unbox June’s Illumicrate which was all about hidden glamour (or at least that’s the vibe it gave me, who knows maybe I got it a bit wrong?).

Starting on the far left with the theme card:

• In the Shadows theme booklet.
• The main book is The Court of Miracles, the naked cover is stunning, and I am intrigued by the book but not a big fan of Les Mis, so we shall see if I like it.
• Metallic bookmark.
• An odd tea towel (the fabric and size were a bit different than usual) for Game of Thrones and Arya’s kill list.
• A Sarah J. Maas foiled print, which I found an owner for it.
• Villains series inspired mug which is stunning and I am so so pleased by it.
• Collector’s pin, I am liking these more than the weird magnetic coins.
• A fan with a quote from Nevernight (I liked the timing of getting a fan during the hot week in the UK, so this was very welcomed)
• Authors letter.

All in all it was a good box, quite fancy and I like the timing for some of the items. The mug is utterly stunning and I am happy for that.

Illumicrate has been a bit of hit and miss the last few months, but I knew what book was coming in this box and it was one I was looking forwad to read so decided to see how the box would feel this time. Starting from the book and going clockwise:

• The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence. I got into his writing thanks to Illumicrate and the proof copy for Red Sister. Borrowed his other books from the library and haven’t looked back. They’re definitely grim dark, so not for everyone.
• Theme card.
• Mercado de la Muerte Dark Spice hot chocolate. It smells slightly like Mexican chocolate, but I tasted it plain and it isn’t exactly right (it’s too much European/USA cocoa style and not enough mix of bitterness and sugar). But I’ll give it a try in water and shall see if it compares to proper hot chocolate.
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets book sleeve. The art is gorgeous, it’s really nice and do not find faults here at all.
• Toss a Post it note to your witcher! (does this need explaining?)
• A phone stand with the Moving Castle on it. This is my favourite item in the box and prefer it to other phone items they’ve done except for the battery charger thing.
• Foiled stickers, they are gorgeous. Love them

All in all, it was a much better box than previous ones and it gives me hope. And it matches well with my new puzzle (shame I didn’t keep the one with Howl’s Moving Castle in the background whcih would match the phone stand!). Looking forward to the next box!

Another slightly delayed bookbox due to COVID19, was Illumicrate which also ended up at the wrong address, but oh well. Things happen. Hopefully that’s it.

Starting on the tote bag on the right, and going clockwise, contents of the box were:

• Gorgeous tote bag, the sad thing is that it is only one sided art and it is the kind will end up kinda peeling off. Sad because the artwork is gorgeous.
• A cute necklace for Dark Materials (I am told this was meant to be in the previous box).
• A power bank with Aurora Rising squad on it. I haven’t tested it yet but think it is a fun idea and definitely useful, plus makes it feel like more value for the box.
• Bookmarks for the Witchlands (?) series.
• A print to go with the book of the month.
• The main book, Dangerous Remedy. I love the edition but I am still unsure about the book as it felt a bit unpolished (the ideas were cool but it was all over the place and I think a few more edits would’ve helped it become much better).
• A magnetic whiteboard for notes on your fridge which my husband spotted as soon as I added it to the fridge and found to be in his opinion one of the best items in a box (he’s biased).

All in all this box felt a little better in quality than the previous ones have been, which is good because it was lacking (and no I wasn’t counting the whole delay in stuff, etc). The book wasn’t super exciting but it is a hyped interesting one so that’s more my problem than an issue with the box. So far it looks promising for their quality if they keep upping it.

This is March’s Illumicrate box, and I am aware it is missing an item (it is listed in the card, so we know what is misisng but I won’t spoil it) and that is due to the pandemic affecting deliveries, so I won’t be counting that into this unboxing. They were more or less communicative about delays, but they were late in doing so and not very clear, which is not a great point to them (yes, it is a bit of a weird time, but most companies have been quick to notify and let customers and everyone know what’s going on).

So let’s see what was in the box, starting from the left and going clockwise:

• The featured book, which is Havenfall by Sara Holland. I was looking forward to it and the edges are a gorgeous turquoise, really lovely.
• This month’s coin and the previous month’s too (so they do keep their word of sending them once they have them). I am not big on the collectible coins, so this rarely ever weights in my opinion.
• A clear plastic keyring. The artwork is nice and I get that they made it transparent to see the bottle through and all that, but it feels really cheap and like a “filler”. Specially if you compare to keyrings included in previous boxes.
• A very nice print for City of Brass/Daevad trilogy, which I find gorgeous.
• A mug, the artwork is nice but the quality is slightly blurry which doesn’t bother me much, but when it is next to the other mugs it feels a bit meh and doesn’t shine as much as it could have done.
• Shrestha candle. It is glittery and smells delicious.

And the missing item. But even if that had been in the box, the recent boxes definitely feel like the quality and love have been missing from them. This makes me very sad, because given that at least hte last 2-3 boxes were much lower quality and felt underwhelming, I will probably have to cancel my subscription. Hard to do since I’ve been a subscriber for so long (from their fourth box, the Nevernight one). But I can’t keep paying for something that isn’t making me happy and that is lowering the quality and care for the box.

First box of the year, and I am still struggling to decide if it is worth keeping. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice box, the problem is I’ve been subscribed to their box for long and it feels like the boxes have less unique things and less content in general. I am still giving it a bit longer to decide if I should cancel subscription or not.

But now unto contents, going clockwise and starting on the theme card at the bottom:

• Theme booklet and collectible coin.
• The Sisters Grimm, this was the main book and it is gorgeous. Looking forward to reading it.
• A cute print inspired by Girls of Paper and Fire, it is holographic and the artwork is cute (but I am not crazy about prints and also they’re never the size of the book so that I could have them together)
• Infinity Son. I had an ARC of this one and wasn’t too keen on it, so alas, despite it being a “hyped” book it isn’t something that makes me think “awesome” but rather “oh no, not this one that I already read and didn’t like”.
• Probably the coolest item of the box, a booklight! It is a clip on one and it is a wonderful portable size.
• A beanie, that in my opinion is a bit boring. I really like Daughter of Smoke and Bone but the emrboidery is tiny and the beanie is just a blue beanie. Can’t we have a different type of hat? How about a beret? Or a cap? Or something else that isn’t the same beanie everyone gets just embroidered with something different? (because other boxes also get Beanies and they are almost all the same exact type).
• An ultra thick wooden bookmark, that everyone in the office immediately said “this will damage your books if you use it” and I couldn’t help but nod in agreement because it is really pretty but it is too thick.
• Gideon the Ninth mini purse, I think meant for coins? It is nice.

All in all the items I liked was main book, booklight and coin purse (which I may never use) so it felt a bit disappointing sadly. I so deeply wish for a box as full of wonderful surprises as the first 4-10 boxes were when they were quarterly. Alas, I am just a subscriber that’s been with them for so long…

Another quick recap that I’ve been getitng Illumicrate for far too long, I think their fourth box back when they were quarterly (my first book was Nevenight). And this box sadly is not living up to what the boxes used to be and their usually good boxes.

So let’s unbox starting from the theme card on the right and going clockwise:

• Theme card, it is more a booklet than anything.
• The collectible magnetic coin. Not interested, feel like a waste of part of the budget and I’d rather get something else.
• A patch. What is with book boxes and patches? I like the design but we’re not in the 80s or 90s and I have nothing to patch on or use it for. Give me stickers, bullet journal stuff, something more than patches!
• Amazing Star Wars pins. These are utterly gorgeous.
• Four Paths candle. The scent is very minimal and nobody seemed excited about it (a lot of my work colleagues are now invested in the unboxings and rate the items and choose and comment their favourites, this won no one).
• Blood Heir. It has bloody sprayed edges which I liked, intrigued on the book.
• A gorgeous mug, this is always a win item for me, specially with this type of super detailed designes and the type of mug it is. This one wins some of the points lost with the other items.
• A calendar with some typography quotes and some artowkr. The quality of the calendar paper leaves much to say, and the whole images per month were relatively meh (there’s a few good ones) so it had nothing exciting for me in it.

That was all. Which felt underwhelming. The mug and pins were the good items and the rest felt like they had dropped the quality and caring about curating items so I am hoping it picks up for this month (January). I am reluctant to stopping my subscription but if the quality keeps dropping, it’ll be hard to justify keeping it.

This is a punch of blue! Definitely matches the theme, so let’s unbox it as it had a naked hardcover. Starting on the bottom right corner and going clockwise:

• Theme booklet.
• Night Circus Ticket keyring, I love the concept, but it is freaking heavy so I won’t be using it, which is very sad. It weights so much I don’t really want that on my keys or anything. Sad, so very sad because it is gorgeous!
• Magnetic coin, as you know by now, I don’t really care about them and to me they’re pretty much useless and meh.
• Narnia wardrobe wooden pin, this is very cute and I like it.
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I haven’t read it yet, I am curious as I enjoyed the Night Circus.
• I had a sword bookmark, matching the book but apparently there were three different designs. (Downside is how flimsy it is).
• The Naked book, it is pretty but it’s just that, nothing special for me.
• Key necklace, inspired by the Archived.
• My favourite item, a booksleeve with a Hogwarts theme, the sleeve is sturdy and beautiful.
• Book ceramic pot. I am still unsure what to do with them. If I was good at plants, I’d fill them with cute plants but I mostly kill them so they’re wasting space at home. Sad. But gorgeous.

So I wasn’t particularly impressed with this box. There aren’t many “doors” in the things included. As much as Harry Potter is nice, I have a lot of booksleeves in tones of pink/purple of Hogwarts in some way or another (why is it so popular in those tones?!) so I am a bit tired of that particular item, not that I dislike booksleeves. Be original, there’s a LOT of fandoms to choose from other than Harry Potter.

I liked the key and sword matching the book but I won’t use either (“golden” anything jewelry is a potential not good for me so I tend to avoid and not wear) and the pot is just space taken. So I have a pin, a book and a book sleeve and it feels not very worth the price if that is all I keep. It is sad, because I have loved Illumicrate since the very first box I had from them back when they sent Nevernight hardcover and had no themes and always had a proof in the box (I LOVED discovering new books with those proofs and really really miss them) and a lot more unique items and less worry about “collections of things that won’t be used”.

So veredict, I liked the box, miss the old Illumicrate boxes and don’t feel very much a good value for money with this particular box. Let’s see what December brings!

Time to do an unboxing for October’s Illumicrate. As you know I was part of the blog tour for Angel Mage, so this book was no surprise to me, however the red edges were and the rest of the items. So let’s unbox starting from the book and going clockwise:

• Angel Mage by Garth Nix. This book is like the 3 musketeers became very magical religious. I liked it a lot more than I expected to.
• Shatter Me Magnetic bookmark set. I am not really keep on magnetic bookmarks, as they either break from the top joint or I have damaged pages trying to take them off, they are cute but won’t be keeping them.
• Dreamers Pouch. I tend to like pouches specially if they are sturdy and nicely sized for travelling or taking some kind of supplies (I have one that came in a book box I use for my “quick drawing” supplies for example).
• Theme booklet.
• Abhorsen Bells Pin. This is fully inspired by the book, and I loved it. I had been looking into getting one of those pins to hold blankets/shawls/thingies together that look pretty and then I got the box and it was awesome!
• Villains character card set, which I loved and quickly started describing each character (they are from Vengeful and Vicious by V. E. Schwab) to my colleagues when I unboxed it.
• A tea tin, another unusual item and I have already filled it up with tea bags (but I also use them for loose leaf tea) Loved it.
• I also somehow skipped the metallic magnetic coin which this time was Aelin, but not bothered by it.

All in all, it was a quirky box with two out of the ordinary items I really enjoyed, which made it nice rather than just okay. Can’t wait for this month’s box!