Fairyloot is a book subscription box that offers you a newly released fantasy Young Adult novel along with 4 – 5 bookish goodies matching a different theme each month.

Fairyloot
Cost: £26 monthly.
Shipping Costs: £4.30 for the UK or £10.85 for international. (more details here)
Mailed Out: between the 15th – 20th  of each month.
Payment Method: Credit & Debit Cards and Paypal.
**Note:  you can either purchase a single box or you have a choice of a monthly, 3-monthly or 6-monthly auto-renewing subscription**

My box was shipped on the 19th of December and arrived on the 4th of January.

Unfortunately I get my packages delivered to the office and we were closed for holidays, so I didn’t get to open up my precious parcel til the following week! D: Won’t be making that mistake again, lol, I’ll have to remember to change my address for international December boxes…

First look inside reveals the card with this month’s theme.

I really like how the Fairyloot boxes are packaged, you can tell there’s a lot of thought put into the presentation and how things are hidden so as you pull out one item, it reveals another, and so on.

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS

Here’s a better look at the artwork for the contents card – I’ve often wished I could be abducted by aliens, but sadly, I think this will be my closest encounter, lol.

The reverse lists all the items inside and where they were sourced from.

Buttons by Taratjah: not only do I strongly dislike buttons (what do you even DO with them?), but they are terribly hard to photograph. Double whammy!

Bookmark by (her bookmarks are $10.91 AUD minimum): Lexy Olivia does lovely work, I have a couple of her bookmarks from previous boxes. It’s a nice luxury item because I would never spend ten bucks on a bookmark, lol, no matter how pretty!

I don’t know the source of this quote, but I can still appreciate the sentiment, and the galaxy backdrop is very suited to this box’s theme.

Lunar Chronicles Art Print by Taratjah ($14.60 – $16.60 AUD for similar artwork): the style of this art print is quite lovely, I like how the boys have been depicted and colored. This isn’t something I would choose to display, as I’m all about the ladies, but I’m sure a lot of subscribers will be swooning over their ‘book boyfriends’ gathered in one place!

Kryptonite ‘Fairy Dust’ from Geeky Clean (£5.50 for similar item): this is a new item to me, I’m not familiar with fairy dust, but I assume this works on the same principle as every other bath bomb or powder. I’m not opening it until I intend to use it, so I can’t tell you what it smells like, but I’ve had bath bombs from Geeky Clean before that had the most BEAUTIFUL aroma, so I’m sure this will be no different.

Unlike the bath bombs I’ve tried, which just produce the scent and color, I think this one might produce bubbles, so I’m keen to try it when I have some quiet time on the weekend!

Galaxy Socks by Fairyloot: look at that cute alien on the tag, haha! I always love getting socks in boxes, I never appreciated them enough as a child and now I’m like ‘GIVE ME ALL THE SOCKS’. I like nerdy ones better, but I’m still happy with this deep blue pair with stars.

It’s neat that ‘Fairy Loot’ is stamped on the bottom so you have a reminder of where these were from!

Princess Leia Funko Pop! Vinyl ($11 USD or $18.99 AUD): subscribers could have received Rey, C-3PO, a Stormtrooper, Yoda or Leia.This is a great item, full-size Funkos are awesome, imo!

Buuuut as you can see, I received Leia and I am CRUSHED. There were five options and of course I got the only pop that I already have. ;___; Woe is me! This was the big ticket item of the box, so I’m pretty disappointed, although it’s no fault of Fairyloot’s, of course, that was the gamble I took when I decided to get this box. I need to stay away from months that have pops, since my collection is at 50+ pops and it’s too risky that I’ll get a duplicate. Sigh. :( Oh, well, I’ll add it to my list of giveaway items.

I thought this seasonal card was a little cute….

…and this Christmas picture of Anissa, the box owner, and her partner Michael is SO DAMN CUTE, d’aww.

Some other extras were included:

We had an art print for ‘Red Rising’…

…plus another art print for ‘The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet‘. I wasn’t excited for the first print (I’m not familiar with the source material and the print doesn’t jump out at me), but this one is LOVELY. <3

I haven’t read TLWtaSAP, but I’ve read the companion novel (‘A Closed and Common Orbit‘) and loved it, and this quote applies to that novel as well. The print is so prettyyyy, look at those gorgeous colors! <3

The last extra is a sampler for ‘Way Down Dark’.

My interest was piqued when I read ‘This is Australia’, but it turns out that the Australia is a ship, lol, the setting isn’t actually my country. Oh well! Neat extra for those who like to find out about new books they may not be aware of, but nothing too exciting for me.

The book plus a few themed items relating to it come packed in this Fairyloot bag. That’s a nice touch as it keeps the suspense going for just a bit longer instead of the mystery dissipating once you open the box.

There is a ‘Fairyscoop’ insert – it’s not a magazine, since it’s literally just two pages.

An author interview plus book recs are included. Short and sweet, just the way I like it!

I know some other boxes have very detailed and lengthy magazines, but I feel like the bulk of the time and effort should be spent curating the box instead of content for a magazine, y’know? It seems a waste to me, because the money spent printing off a mini-book for every box ordered could’ve gone towards higher quality items.

Flashfall book plate: no, your eyes aren’t giving out on you, that’s just the trippy text effect. It makes me feel like my vision is blurring, ack!

Flashfall bookmark.

A letter from the author. At least I can read this month’s letter! The one I got in the September box was pretty illegible, haha. I know the handwriting effect is to make it seem more ‘real’ and personal, but writing is a dying art and it’s really damn hard to make out sometimes!

And finally the book – Flashfall by Jenny Moyer ($23.45 AUD).

I tried to guess the book that would be featured in this box based on the hints and this one did NOT come up on my radar at all. It was meant to be a genre-bending sci-fi/fantasy blend, so I looked at upcoming publications that mentioned magic and sci-fi, but this description is a bit vague, so it didn’t stand out as a possibility! Drats, foiled again…

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Orion is a Subpar, expected to mine the tunnels of Outpost Five, near the deadly flash curtain. For generations, her people have chased cirium—the only element that can shield humanity from the curtain’s radioactive particles. She and her caving partner, Dram work the most treacherous tunnel, fighting past flash bats and tunnel gulls, in hopes of mining enough cirium to earn their way into the protected city.

But when newcomers arrive at Outpost Five, Orion uncovers disturbing revelations that make her question everything she thought she knew about life on both sides of the cirium shield. As conditions at the outpost grow increasingly dangerous, it’s up to Orion to forge a way past the flashfall, beyond all boundaries, beyond the world as she knows it.

It’s a hard-cover, yay! You don’t always get hard-covers with international boxes, so this pleases me. For all the money I spend on it, I want to get the better quality book, especially as I can’t justify buying them myself. I love hard-covers, but I’m like ‘you can buy TWO books for the cost of one hard-cover…’ *angsts*

I don’t really understand why the cost at the back if $17.99 USD when it’s $10.58 USD on amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, but maybe the price has dropped in the couple months since this was published? I don’t know, just weird now that I’ve noticed this. Do American stores normally sell the book for the price on the back or is that more of a suggestion? Curious Australian here!

Another good branding effort by Fairyloot – it’s cool how they have a subtle imprint of their logo inside the book as a memento! It’s not over-the-top or obnoxiously obvious, just a classy little reminder of where you got this from. :)

VERDICT

Quality of Curation: I’ve noticed that Fairyloot put quite a bit of thought into making sure the items in the box reflect a cohesive overall theme. The sci-fi theme can be seen in the galaxy socks, the starry bookmark, the Lunar Chronicles boys, the ‘Kryptonite’ bath item and the pop. (I’m assuming the buttons tie into it as well, since everything else has) Even the extras match the theme! It’s not the be-all-and-end-all, but I do appreciate that attention to detail.

In terms of the included items, I think Fairyloot’s done an exemplary job here – I love my Funko pops, so that’s an automatic A+ from me, haha. Besides which, comfy socks, a fizzy bathtub mix and a bookmark are all great picks! I’m not keen on the buttons and art prints, but not everything can appeal to each individual, and I know a few people who absolutely adore getting these kinds of items that they can display. Pretty stellar curation here, in my book. ;)

Worth It?  I spent $71.70 AUD, and the value of this box is $76.98 AUD (or about $58 USD), without even counting the buttons, socks and extras. That’s pretty good, since you’re not always guaranteed to get the equivalent value to your investment with international currency and shipping.

I’m just bummed out about getting a duplicate pop is all, otherwise I would’ve been happy with this month overall, but I can’t be objective with that in mind, lol. In general, though, I do think you get good value with this box and there’s always a lot of items in the box so you have a better chance of lucking out.

Find Out More: You can find Fairyloot on , and .

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