Hi everyone! Now that September is well and truly underway, it’s officially time to reveal the contents of the August 2019 Fairyloot box! The theme was “Things are not what they seem”, which sounds intriguing. So let’s not waste time on this introduction and dive right in!
As always, we start with the spoiler card, detailing the contents of the box and explaining which amazing artists created what. On the back, we have artwork by Taratjah. You can admire her creation in the cover photo at the top of this post.
Pocket mirror and cutlery
The first item is inspired by the books that got me into fantasy: The Lord of the Rings! As a teen, I was obsessed with Middle-Earth, so it’s always great to see items to celebrate this series. So what’s the item? It’s a pocket mirror, with on the back the inscription you might know from the One Ring: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” I love the golden colour of this side, and the added logo of author JRR Tolkien’s initials!
Next up, we have a cutlery set, inspired by Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles. It comes with a gorgeous box, with a logo designed by Taratjah. And just look at the cutlery! It’s a set consisting of a fork, spoon and two chopsticks, all in stunning rainbow colours! The fork and spoon come with quotes from the Lunar Chronicles. And these pieces perfectly match the drinking straws we got in a previous box!
Pillowcase and bookmark
The next item is something I never have enough of: a pillowcase! On one side, it features the quote “You will burn for you are an ember in the ashes”, from Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. On the other side, we have the three protagonists from the first book: Elias, Laia and Helene. The character illustrations are done by Saintdri, the lettering is by KDP Letters. I loved the first book and desperately want to read the next books, so I’m really happy with this pillowcase. And now I’ll have a pillow to hug close when Sabaa is once again cruel to her characters (please don’t kill them!).
One of the most popular fantasy writers of the moment is Brandon Sanderson. I’ve only read his scifi novel Skyward, but I’ve heard so much of his Mistborn series. And now I have a bookmark inspired by it. It’s a metal bookmark in a salmon pink colour, with the quote “Let them see my weakness and let them see me overcome it”. Furthermore, there’s an illustration of someone with a big-ass sword looking over a landscape. And look at the little symbols that were cut out! And the tassel! In.The.Reads designed this bookmark and I am in love with it!
Scrunchies and candle
As a 90s kid, I’m honestly a bit amazed about the return of the scrunchie, but I won’t complain. Colourful hair accessories are always fun. And now I have three scrunchies inspired by Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm series. Taratjah designed these items, and look at the details! Swords on the green one, bows and arrows on the red one, and keys on the blue one. I haven’t read this series, so I have no idea what these symbols refer to, but in any case, they look adorable!
Next up: another candle for my collection! This time it’s a Flick the Wick candle in a tiny glass jar. It’s inspired by Thomas Cresswell, whom you might know from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco. It has a gorgeous greyish purple colour and smells like chocolate and coffee. To be honest, I’m not too crazy about the scent of coffee (tea girl all the way!), but in this candle, the chocolate scent is stronger and the result still smells pretty good!
Tarot cards
There’s one more item, but it’s inspired by the featured book, so I’m not going to show it just yet. Instead, we move on to the tarot cards. As you know, the current set features Harry Potter characters and it wouldn’t be complete without our favourite boy wizard himself. Harry is portrayed as the hanged man, in an illustration that shows him during a Quidditch game. The other card is Hermione Granger as the star, with a stack of books in her arms. These cards by Loweana Art are simply beautiful!
The book of the month
So now it’s time to reveal the featured book of the August 2019 Fairyloot box! It’s… The Merciful Crow, by Margaret Owen! In this world, there are magical castes, and each caste has a different ability. The story follows Fie, who draws magic from teeth (!!!) and who strikes a bargain with a fugitive prince and a wily bodyguard. I love the cover, and as if that wasn’t enough, we get exclusive art on the reverse of the dust jacket, and exclusive embossing on the naked cover. The book is also signed by the author and comes with a stunning map printed on the inside of the cover. I. Am. Floored.
As I mentioned earlier, there’s also an item inspired by this book. It’s a pencil case featuring the cover art on one side, and a crow and the quote “One way or another, we always feed the crows” on the other side. Isn’t it gorgeous?! As always, we also get a letter from the author with character art on the back. This time, the artwork is created by Obsidiayan. And finally, there’s also the Fairyscoop newsletter and the bookmark with this month’s artwork.
And so we have reached the bottom of the August 2019 Fairyloot box. My favourite items were the cutlery set, the pillowcase and the metal bookmark. What are yours? Let me know in the comments below!
