I am so excited to bring you the BOOK BOX BATTLE!
Every month I will be comparing three different subscription boxes from either YA or Adult. I have compiled a list of around 50 boxes to compare until we come out with a clear winner of the best book subscription box. Since we are only comparing 3 boxes at a time, I know this will take a bit to get through. I hope that you stick around for all the unboxings!
Everything from purchase to the actual box contents is up for review. If you have any suggestions of boxes you would love to see compared or ones you think I may have missed comment below and I will do my best to get them added to my list. This month we are trying out Faecrate, Owlcrate and Once Upon a Book Club, all YA editions.
Amended to add the cost per box:
Owlcrate will cost you $32.99 a month plus shipping but there are discounts included if you purchase multiple boxes in advance.
Once Upon a Book Club is a bit on the pricier side for a monthly book subscription box at $49.99 with shipping included it comes out to be pretty close to what you would pay elsewhere.
Faecrate is $33.32 but again shipping is an additional cost that needs to be taken into account when looking to make a subscription purchase. As of writing this subscriptions are sold out and you will want to check back at another date if you are looking to subscribe to their box.
Ordering and Shipping
I am not going to discount any subscriptions due to delays related to the current parcheesi. In the future I will probably test boxes again once we have a bit more normalcy in shipping.
With the above disclaimer in mind, I have to say that owlcrate was the easiest and fastest. Ordering was a breeze. Just a few clicks and I was done. I was also really intrigued with the theme for this month "Dark Academia". Additionally, Becca ordered a box because I was raving about how fast their shipping was and her ordered arrived within 3 business days. It's super fast!
For Faecrate and Once Upon a Book Club, I wound up having to order previous months boxes because they wouldn't have delivered in time for me to make this post. I ordered July 2020 for OUABC and July 2021 for Faecrate.
Packaging
Faecrate recently announced they will be changing their packaging. In the future it will not be in the current box.
I love the design of OUABC its such a cute book style packaging. I really like how each item is individually wrapped. Faecrate is stunning with tissue wrapping as well. Owlcrate missed the mark on this one with the plain brown box. Maybe they will have some other packaging in the future. I'm going to give this one to Faecrate. The box design is pretty on its own, but the finishing touch is the care they put into wrapping the items inside the box. OUABC could have had this one, if only the individual item packaging was more reusable, like adding a tag with the page number instead of embroidering it on the bag itself. Not sure what I'm going to do with the velvet and satin bags with page numbers on them in the future.
Theme
Faecrate - Opposites Attract
Owlcrate - Dark Academia
Once Upon a Book Club - Miss Meteor
I was really excited about the mystery involved by having a specific theme for each month. OUABC didn't really have a theme. The mystery was in the unpacking, based on the page of the book. This sounds so fun. While I already know what the items are, they will definitely make a lot more sense once I read the book.
Since I haven't read a few of the books that had pieces included in Faecrate, sadly, I can't say for sure whether they related to the theme or not.
Owlcrate wins this one. Whether I read the books or not, it was quite obvious that the items went with the theme. The theme is pretty broad allowing for a wide variety of bobs and bits to add into the box.
Items
You can check out the items included in each box in the photos below, or check out the unboxing videos at the end of this post.
I'm again going to have to give this one to Owlcrate. When ordering my Faecrate, there was no mention that I was not ordering the full box. This left me quite a bit confused when I opened my Faecrate. Imagine my surprise when there was no T-shirt included. Sadly, I had the same issue with my OUABC box. The item for page 390 was sadly missing from my box.
The Winner
This month's winner is Owlcrate. I loved the items, the theme, the book that was included. Ordering was a breeze and my box arrived just weeks after ordering. If you are trying to decide between these 3 crates yourself, I would suggest Owlcrate. No matter the winner, I am excited to add more books to my shelves, and to have the opportunity to read them.
Owlcrate disclaimer: Currently there is some dismay over Owlcrate announcing that they will not stop including Harry Potter items in their boxes. This comes as a bit of a surprise to many after J.K. Rowlings many homophobic and transphobic comments. If you do decide to order this box, do so with the understanding that you may be purchasing items that puts money in Rowlings pocket.
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