Over the past few years, there’s been a figurative explosion of subscription box services, and it can be hard to sort through all of the options. Thankfully, there’s Cratejoy, a subscription marketplace that makes it easy to shop for subscription boxes by theme and genre, from hot sauce to pet goods to—you guessed it—YA books.
Cratejoy offers subscriptions for every type of lifestyle. No matter your interests, experts and enthusiasts will create and curate the absolute best products for your subscription box—and then send it right to your door every single month.
This month, Cratejoy is holding a celebration of fandom. Their Four Weeks of Fandom campaign will highlight subscription boxes in the following categories: books, movies and TV; comics, anime and kawaii; toys and gaming; and Harry Potter.
As part of the fun, I’ll be reviewing a selection of their YA book boxes, starting with BookLoot.
Overview
Every BookLoot box features a newly released YA book along with 3-5 original bookish goodies, exclusive artwork, and a BookLoot published user submitted short story.
According to their site: “We are the only book subscription box that offers a platform for new/unpublished writers to engage with a reader audience and get exposure to their works at no fee! Authors also retain copyright/ownership of the submitted material after printing.”
BookLoot subscriptions are $29.99 per month, plus shipping.
The Box
The theme for BookLoot’s June 2017 box was “Call of the Water.”
Included in the box was:
- A copy of Sarah Tolcser’s Song of the Current, along with a letter from the author and a signed bookplate.
- An original short story called “My Sister the Siren” by Chloe Ash.
- An exclusive BookLoot reading journal.
- A bookmark inspired by Alexandra Braken’s Passenger designed by Drawn to the Pages.
- A scented lotion bar inspired by Tricia Levenseller’s The Daughter of the Pirate King from Geek Fire Labs.
- A ring inspired by Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series from Sam Marie’s Artistry.
- A “Call of the Water” pin with art by Aaron Randy.
- A BookLoot pen and “Pirate Pebble” popping candy.
The Verdict
I haven’t read Song of the Current, but I’ve heard good things. (Including Stephanie’s review, which you can read here.) I’m looking forward to adding it to my TBR.
The bookish goodies in the box were fun, if not things I’d buy myself. (I’ve actually only read the Percy Jackson series out of all of the inspiration books.) The lotion bar smells delicious—like mango—and the bookmark is pretty; I really dig that it’s laminated. (Simple, nerdy, pleasures, y’all.)
I don't think I'd subscribe to this box unless I was really excited about the month's theme, but that's how I feel about most subscription boxes. However, it’s very cool that the company is supporting aspiring, as-yet-unpublished authors. The original short story is definitely most unique aspect of BookLoot, compared with other boxes of this type.
You can subscribe to BookLoot via Cratejoy.
More from Cratejoy
Check out Cratejoy’s Four Weeks of Fandom collections or their YA book category for many other awesome box options, and check back soon for another review.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free BookLoot box thanks to Cratejoy in exchange for an honest review.