So finally after months of taking about it, my first Fairyloot box arrived today! To say I have been excited would be a massive understatement, I just hoped that the box would live up to the hype!

To start with, even the box is cute, it has the Fairyloot logo on top and as you open the box there is an awesome Gaiman quote “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” I don’t know if that is the same quote they always have or because this months featured book has dragons in it. (I’ll find out next month!) This months theme is “Ladies that Slay” and feature many of our favourite kick ass heroines!

The first thing inside is a “spoiler card” which is an odd way to describe something that explains to you what everything is, where it is from and importantly which fandom it relates to.  My first item was a bookish candle from Flick the Wick, it is named “Brightest Witch” and is based on Playground favourite Hermione Granger.  This is a small 2oz tin and it smells gorgeous.  I’m not usually a big vanilla fan when it comes to candles but this is balanced out with raspberry and musk – which sounds weird but it really does work!  I just have to be careful that my own little brightest witch doesn’t pinch this for herself.

The next item I came to was a tea.  This is from Bookish Teas and called “Blue’s Brew” based on Blue Sargent from The Raven Cycle. This is a fandom which is new to me, but they are books which are now on my radar thanks to an awesome article by its author Maggie Stiefvater about piracy – if you have not yet read it check it out here.  Anyway back to the tea, it’s loose fruit tea, which I probably should have put in some sort of vessel, that I don’t have, so I just added it to a mug with hot water and drank round the fruit.  I don’t usually drink fruit teas as i’m more of a caffeine in my tea kinda gal and also I’ve only had fruit teas in a tea bag in the past – trust me this is a whole new fruit tea experience.  Whilst I’m far from converted this is a tea that I will go back to. The aroma filled my house, with the smell of spices and currants, perfect for this time of year.

Smaller items which came in the box are an iron on patch based on Katniss Everdeen from the Literary Emporium and a Fight the Darkness sticker based on Ember in the Ashes (which is a book series which I hadn’t heard of before) by Reverie and Ink.  I was a bit disappointed that the sticker was crumpled as the packers were obviously struggling to fit the huge amount of stuff from this month in the box.  Also included was a Fairyloot bookmark matching in with their theme artwork, Fairyscoop which contains a short interview with their featured author and also a reading buddy card which apparently matches you up with 5 other people (who have the same code) so you can read and talk about the book together.

The next item was a bookish goody that I have been wanting to get for a while and this is a book sleeve! It’s themed with “slay” and features swords and books and comes from Aunjuli Art.  This is a great item and would fit a fair sized paperback without issue.  One of the things I particularly like about it is that the inner layer is waterproof.  This is super handy for me because I tent to carry books in a tote (as my handbag is tiny) so this is a massive win!

Now I have to come clean and be honest that I was disappointed in the next item, not through any fault of anyone but myself as I had made an incorrect assumption about what the book would be (I was hoping for the next ACOTAR instalment but then I remembered that Fairyloot don’t have books in the middle of a series in their boxes – stupid me.)  What I did get though was an ARC of Furyborn by Claire Legrand, another new to me author.  Now this book is huge and touted as an Epic Fantasy Adventure and I can well believe the epic part.  I have to say that I feel very privileged, as always, to receive ARC copies of books.  This is the first time that I have ever had a physical copy and I’m excited to be part of what is a huge launch campaign for this title.

Big reveal time! – the book of the Month this month is The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli.  This came neatly concealed in a Fairyloot drawstring bag to keep it safe, which added a little more magic to the reveal.  I have to say that I was hoping that this would be the book, I have been coveting it for a little while but I didn’t buy it as I was mindful that it might be in this box.  As is custom for Fairyloot, it is a hardback edition and this has a cover exclusive to them.  The foiling on the cover is silver rather than the gold of the usual print run (although it isn’t clear on my photo) and it also came with a signed book plate.  The final little pieces were swag related to this book, a small badge and postcard – again sadly the postcard was crumpled and I didn’t understand why it wasn’t put in the actual book bag to keep it flat, but never mind as it was a bonus item and is currently sitting under a few heavy books to try and flatten it back out again.

So all in all I was very happy with my Fairyloot box, 2 books and lots of fab bookish goodies that are actually useful.  Also, each item in this box was exclusive to Fairyloot so they can’t be purchased outside of the box.  I have a rolling subscription so my December box is secured and I’m so glad it is, because I can’t wait to get next months!