Midnight Wings (Rove City Series, book 1)

By Ariele Sieling

Blurb: 
In El's fantasies, she pilots a fighter jet for the intergalactic fleet. In reality, she's a mechanic whose social grid ranking guarantees she'll never advance beyond the lowest grunt work, and a slave in all but name to her cruel and self-centered stepmother and stepsisters. The most she can hope for is a few stolen moments of happiness practicing on her sisters' flight simulators, or talking to the mysterious stranger she met on an illicit night of stargazing.

When the queen announces a competition to find new pilots for the fleet, El knows this is her chance to escape. But her stepmother will never let her compete—and then she learns that her new friend, the one person she thought she could trust, was hiding a secret that changes everything between them.

It's a good thing she has a lot more friends than she thinks she does.

Exciting, fast-paced, and hopeful, this science fiction retelling of Cinderella is the first in the Rove City series.

Review: 
This book was just what I needed when I started it, it was perfect. I got this book through book sirens and it was described as a retelling of Cinderella crossed with sci-fi. I really wondered how the author would pull it off as it was very unusual, but I'm pleased to say that they have done an amazing job.

The reason why I couldn't give the book a full 5 stars was because towards the end I struggled to keep my concentration and I could feel myself going into a reading slump, maybe this was because it was a different style of writing that I'm use to or just not the genre of books that I needed in the moment. 

Throughout this book I felt really sorry for El because she was doing a full time job while cleaning and going round after her step mother and step sisters; doing the list of chores that they gave her. The way they treated her was also really horrible and what made me feel sorry for her, because they just made her life hell. Her step mother took every bit of wage that she earned as payment for looking after her since her father passed away and the bother that it caused them. The step sisters are a bit more understanding and we start to see this at the end of the book. They allow her to go on the flight simulator so she can practice her pilot skills, but the more she practices, the more her step sisters ranking increases. I think that's the only true reason why they allow her to go on the simulator.

There is a romance within this book just like there is within Cinderella. I love how El first met the prince and I loved their meetings ever since. It's just perfect and is setting up a true romance that I would love to read about. And for me to say that I'd love to read about this romance when I'm not really a romantic type of reader shows that this romance is just perfect for this book. There is not much romantic action such as kissing but a lot of meaningful moments in my eyes. I love how it develops and the different situations that they find themselves in.

El's personality is a bit complicated but that is to be expected; she is a servant, she is really self conscious and worries about the prince finding out about her social ranking and not talking to her anymore. But obviously as times goes on we discover what the prince thinks and does around El.

Another thing that is great within this book is El's character development, we see how she becomes more trusting in the people she works with which is lovely because that's how friends should act. I also love how she becomes more daring and goes out more to meet the prince in the middle of the night.

I feel that the story of this book develops the correct amount for it's length and that there is a lot of action for the amount of characters within the book. I loved how their was a hint of a love triangle but I'm pleased it never worked out with the other guy because I much prefer the prince. As most of us would.

I would definitely recommend this book if you love a Cinderella retelling and a hint of sci-fi. Also if you love character development and slight romance.

Favourite Character: El

Read: 02/05/20 - 05/05/20

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Midnight Wings (Rove City Series, book 1)

By Ariele Sieling

Blurb: 
In El's fantasies, she pilots a fighter jet for the intergalactic fleet. In reality, she's a mechanic whose social grid ranking guarantees she'll never advance beyond the lowest grunt work, and a slave in all but name to her cruel and self-centered stepmother and stepsisters. The most she can hope for is a few stolen moments of happiness practicing on her sisters' flight simulators, or talking to the mysterious stranger she met on an illicit night of stargazing.

When the queen announces a competition to find new pilots for the fleet, El knows this is her chance to escape. But her stepmother will never let her compete—and then she learns that her new friend, the one person she thought she could trust, was hiding a secret that changes everything between them.

It's a good thing she has a lot more friends than she thinks she does.

Exciting, fast-paced, and hopeful, this science fiction retelling of Cinderella is the first in the Rove City series.

Review: 
This book was just what I needed when I started it, it was perfect. I got this book through book sirens and it was described as a retelling of Cinderella crossed with sci-fi. I really wondered how the author would pull it off as it was very unusual, but I'm pleased to say that they have done an amazing job.

The reason why I couldn't give the book a full 5 stars was because towards the end I struggled to keep my concentration and I could feel myself going into a reading slump, maybe this was because it was a different style of writing that I'm use to or just not the genre of books that I needed in the moment. 

Throughout this book I felt really sorry for El because she was doing a full time job while cleaning and going round after her step mother and step sisters; doing the list of chores that they gave her. The way they treated her was also really horrible and what made me feel sorry for her, because they just made her life hell. Her step mother took every bit of wage that she earned as payment for looking after her since her father passed away and the bother that it caused them. The step sisters are a bit more understanding and we start to see this at the end of the book. They allow her to go on the flight simulator so she can practice her pilot skills, but the more she practices, the more her step sisters ranking increases. I think that's the only true reason why they allow her to go on the simulator.

There is a romance within this book just like there is within Cinderella. I love how El first met the prince and I loved their meetings ever since. It's just perfect and is setting up a true romance that I would love to read about. And for me to say that I'd love to read about this romance when I'm not really a romantic type of reader shows that this romance is just perfect for this book. There is not much romantic action such as kissing but a lot of meaningful moments in my eyes. I love how it develops and the different situations that they find themselves in.

El's personality is a bit complicated but that is to be expected; she is a servant, she is really self conscious and worries about the prince finding out about her social ranking and not talking to her anymore. But obviously as times goes on we discover what the prince thinks and does around El.

Another thing that is great within this book is El's character development, we see how she becomes more trusting in the people she works with which is lovely because that's how friends should act. I also love how she becomes more daring and goes out more to meet the prince in the middle of the night.

I feel that the story of this book develops the correct amount for it's length and that there is a lot of action for the amount of characters within the book. I loved how their was a hint of a love triangle but I'm pleased it never worked out with the other guy because I much prefer the prince. As most of us would.

I would definitely recommend this book if you love a Cinderella retelling and a hint of sci-fi. Also if you love character development and slight romance.

Favourite Character: El

Read: 02/05/20 - 05/05/20

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Deeplight 

By Frances Hardinge

Blurb: 

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein in Frances Hardinge’s latest fantasy adventure

 

The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever? When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him?

Review: 

I saw this book was included in a book box recently and I thought it sounded good, I have also read another book by the same author so I thought I would enjoy this one because I loved the other. Well I was slightly wrong.

It started off great, I loved it's unique setting and the characters were really easy to like but then I got about 40% through the book and it started to get repetitive and the characters started to really annoy me.

So this whole story is about these old gods having powers and ruling the whole kingdom in a way. But then they died and now the humans rule it. Hark and Jelt are the two main characters within the book. Jelt is a horrible character and I really don't like him throughout the full book, he always forces Hark to do things that he doesn't want to do and he sets him up to fail. That's how Hark ends up on another island looking after the priests. 

I feel in Hark's punishment he develops a lot and starts to do things just for himself, he obviously still has a guilty conscious as he still tries to do things for Jelt and looks out for his friend. But then I guess Jelt is the only person Hark has truly known so he would do anything for him as he is basically family.

The two main characters discover a god's heart and it heals people. They start to earn a living from it but Jelt joins another gang and they end up getting in trouble. The whole of this book is about Hark trying to correct the wrongs. But as you are aware, correcting the wrongs does not always bring you the good fortune that you are expecting. It is not always the best outcome.

What annoyed me about this book was just about everything, the characters were just really whiny and they just really ground on me. Also there was a lot of repetitive action throughout the book after 40%, so I just kept losing interest as the events already happened just slightly different setting or a different set of characters. I also feel that most of the arguments between the characters were quite petty, especially for the age that they were supposed to be.

It upsets me that I've only read one other book by this author and I absolutely loved it but now after reading this book I feel like I've been let down. I feel like it was based at a younger audience than me. I will still give this author another chance to see whether I like her books or not. Hopefully I do because I've heard great things about them and I know they are quite popular. 

This book is more suitable for people who like repetitive action, feeble friendships that have childish conflict and slight history about the god's who ruled the kingdom before the humans.

Least Hated Character: Hark

Read: 11/04/20 - 30/04/20

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Deeplight 

By Frances Hardinge

Blurb: 

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets Frankenstein in Frances Hardinge’s latest fantasy adventure

 

The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever? When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him?

Review: 

I saw this book was included in a book box recently and I thought it sounded good, I have also read another book by the same author so I thought I would enjoy this one because I loved the other. Well I was slightly wrong.

It started off great, I loved it's unique setting and the characters were really easy to like but then I got about 40% through the book and it started to get repetitive and the characters started to really annoy me.

So this whole story is about these old gods having powers and ruling the whole kingdom in a way. But then they died and now the humans rule it. Hark and Jelt are the two main characters within the book. Jelt is a horrible character and I really don't like him throughout the full book, he always forces Hark to do things that he doesn't want to do and he sets him up to fail. That's how Hark ends up on another island looking after the priests. 

I feel in Hark's punishment he develops a lot and starts to do things just for himself, he obviously still has a guilty conscious as he still tries to do things for Jelt and looks out for his friend. But then I guess Jelt is the only person Hark has truly known so he would do anything for him as he is basically family.

The two main characters discover a god's heart and it heals people. They start to earn a living from it but Jelt joins another gang and they end up getting in trouble. The whole of this book is about Hark trying to correct the wrongs. But as you are aware, correcting the wrongs does not always bring you the good fortune that you are expecting. It is not always the best outcome.

What annoyed me about this book was just about everything, the characters were just really whiny and they just really ground on me. Also there was a lot of repetitive action throughout the book after 40%, so I just kept losing interest as the events already happened just slightly different setting or a different set of characters. I also feel that most of the arguments between the characters were quite petty, especially for the age that they were supposed to be.

It upsets me that I've only read one other book by this author and I absolutely loved it but now after reading this book I feel like I've been let down. I feel like it was based at a younger audience than me. I will still give this author another chance to see whether I like her books or not. Hopefully I do because I've heard great things about them and I know they are quite popular. 

This book is more suitable for people who like repetitive action, feeble friendships that have childish conflict and slight history about the god's who ruled the kingdom before the humans.

Least Hated Character: Hark

Read: 11/04/20 - 30/04/20

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Wicked Fox (Gumiho Series, book 1)

By Kat Cho

Blurb: 

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret--she's a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead--her gumiho soul--in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl--he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to humans. He's drawn to her anyway.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon's.

Review: 

I received this book in a past FairyLoot box some point last year. It did seem interesting at the time but because I spent most of last year in a reading slump, I never got a chance to read this amazing book. I'm so pleased I've read it eventually and especially this year because book 2 is coming out pretty sharpish, which I can't wait to read.

So I started this book just as I felt myself slipping into a reading slump, I also needed this book for my transfiguration OWL so it worked out perfectly. I'm also pleased that it pulled me out of the reading slump.

This book is about a girl who transforms into a Gumiho at every full moon to feed on the Gi of bad people. She feeds of bad people because she wished she never had to feed but has found out the hard way if she doesn't feed she will die.

On one full moon when Miyoung is new to the area, she is feeding when she is disturbed and we meet Jihoon. I'm not going to go into too much detail about their meeting because it is a great read from start to finish and we revisit this scene quite a few times throughout the book.

There is a lot of food descriptions mentioned throughout this book that may make you start to crave Korean food. I'm now wanting to try Korean food thanks to this book as I've never tried it and this book made it sound amazing. Obviously as a vegetarian it will be without the meat for me.

A thing I liked about this book was the insight to the past every now and then after certain events between Miyoung and Jihoon. We later discover these are an actual persons memories and someone we meet in the book. This just makes it that bit more interesting.

The friendship between the two main characters develops a hell of a lot throughout this book and the trust between them develops a lot. At times Miyoung does get on my nerves because she only does things that her mother would like but then I guess with a mother like Yena I suppose you would. It's quite upsetting at times though because she's never truly had a friend and any mistake that Miyoung makes Yena covers up, which sort of ruins the life experience of making mistakes. Life must be difficult for Miyoung and I honestly don't know how she doesn't suffer with mental health problems.

Jihoon on the other hand is quite a shy character but always goes out of his way to protect his friends and the ones he loves. He is a great example of what a friend should be like, he is always there when you need him, even if you think you don't need him. He is extremely close to his grandmother due to his mother leaving him. At times you can tell that he has a lot of hate and anger in his body but he deals with it quite well.

The characters within this book are just perfect and I feel that the contrast between the two personalities and how they came together is just perfect. I wouldn't really change anything about them, the only problem is Miyoung gets on my nerves at times but I feel it's quite necessary for her personality as she has a lot to deal with.

This story revolves around trusting others even in difficult times, things happen for a reason and you have to trust your gut instinct even though other people are against what you think. You only live for yourself and no one else. That sounds really selfish but you can only decide on things that benefit you and if they end up being pointless or not what you expected then it is a lesson learnt.

There is quite a lot of action within this book, including food. It was well planned out and I felt like the setting was just perfect. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes slow romance and great friendships. There is also a touch of humour within this book too which keeps it interesting just that bit more. It is fast-paced for sure too and well worth the read just to enjoy a different county and the aspects of it.

Favourite Character: Jihoon

Read: 21/04/20 - 29/04/20

5 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Wicked Fox (Gumiho Series, book 1)

By Kat Cho

Blurb: 

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret--she's a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead--her gumiho soul--in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl--he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to humans. He's drawn to her anyway.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon's.

Review: 

I received this book in a past FairyLoot box some point last year. It did seem interesting at the time but because I spent most of last year in a reading slump, I never got a chance to read this amazing book. I'm so pleased I've read it eventually and especially this year because book 2 is coming out pretty sharpish, which I can't wait to read.

So I started this book just as I felt myself slipping into a reading slump, I also needed this book for my transfiguration OWL so it worked out perfectly. I'm also pleased that it pulled me out of the reading slump.

This book is about a girl who transforms into a Gumiho at every full moon to feed on the Gi of bad people. She feeds of bad people because she wished she never had to feed but has found out the hard way if she doesn't feed she will die.

On one full moon when Miyoung is new to the area, she is feeding when she is disturbed and we meet Jihoon. I'm not going to go into too much detail about their meeting because it is a great read from start to finish and we revisit this scene quite a few times throughout the book.

There is a lot of food descriptions mentioned throughout this book that may make you start to crave Korean food. I'm now wanting to try Korean food thanks to this book as I've never tried it and this book made it sound amazing. Obviously as a vegetarian it will be without the meat for me.

A thing I liked about this book was the insight to the past every now and then after certain events between Miyoung and Jihoon. We later discover these are an actual persons memories and someone we meet in the book. This just makes it that bit more interesting.

The friendship between the two main characters develops a hell of a lot throughout this book and the trust between them develops a lot. At times Miyoung does get on my nerves because she only does things that her mother would like but then I guess with a mother like Yena I suppose you would. It's quite upsetting at times though because she's never truly had a friend and any mistake that Miyoung makes Yena covers up, which sort of ruins the life experience of making mistakes. Life must be difficult for Miyoung and I honestly don't know how she doesn't suffer with mental health problems.

Jihoon on the other hand is quite a shy character but always goes out of his way to protect his friends and the ones he loves. He is a great example of what a friend should be like, he is always there when you need him, even if you think you don't need him. He is extremely close to his grandmother due to his mother leaving him. At times you can tell that he has a lot of hate and anger in his body but he deals with it quite well.

The characters within this book are just perfect and I feel that the contrast between the two personalities and how they came together is just perfect. I wouldn't really change anything about them, the only problem is Miyoung gets on my nerves at times but I feel it's quite necessary for her personality as she has a lot to deal with.

This story revolves around trusting others even in difficult times, things happen for a reason and you have to trust your gut instinct even though other people are against what you think. You only live for yourself and no one else. That sounds really selfish but you can only decide on things that benefit you and if they end up being pointless or not what you expected then it is a lesson learnt.

There is quite a lot of action within this book, including food. It was well planned out and I felt like the setting was just perfect. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes slow romance and great friendships. There is also a touch of humour within this book too which keeps it interesting just that bit more. It is fast-paced for sure too and well worth the read just to enjoy a different county and the aspects of it.

Favourite Character: Jihoon

Read: 21/04/20 - 29/04/20

5 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Illumicrate - Chain of Gold Special Edition

Items: 

• Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare 
• Bridge Through Time Triptych by @rosiethorns88
• Mortal Instruments Blanket by @yoshiyoshitani
• Clandestine Tea For One Set by @chattynora
• Shadowhunters Playing Cards by @merwildandco and @chattynora
• Foiled Print Duo by @arz28
• Cortana Letter Opener by @fableandblack

Review: 

Check out Sammie's first impressions in the video:

This was my first special edition box with Illumicrate for Chain of Gold, but overall my third ever special edition box. I feel like this was 100% worth the money and I would definitely get another one from them. They were a touch on the expensive side but the quality of items was 100% worth it and the box was well packed with loads of items that I loved.

The first item that I discovered in this box was the tea for one set. This was just purely amazing and I really love who decided to put this in a box. It's a tea pot for one cup of tea but the base of the pot sits into your cup and then you have a plate to sit your cup on top of. The design on it was really simple but also really pretty, I loved this item and it was 100% my favourite item alongside the book. The only thing I would have liked would have been some Shadowhunter tea or something along those lines so we could enjoy the use of the item while reading the book. The quote on the tea pot was just perfect.

The next item was a letter opener, this was quite a unique item and I loved how it was displayed in that little box. It was quite heavy too and I really didn't expect it to be. It was in the shape of Cortana which seems to be the theme of Chain of Gold, obviously this is because of Cordelia since she is the main character and it's her go to weapon. It is actually quite detailed for what it is and I love the final touch on the base of the handle by having the angelic rune.

I then came across the stained glass windows which are known as the bridge of Triptych. The artwork on these stained glass windows are of the favourite trio; Will, Tessa and Jem. I loved how we were able to get artwork from The Infernal Devices eventhough the box was based on Chain of Gold. I can see why because obviously these characters are mentioned within Chain of Gold as they are the parents within this trilogy. The design of them was really nice and I loved how that you were able to put them into any position you wanted. I loved that the colours on the 3 panels were common throughout each one and that they were quite pale to give it that older appearance. The only thing that I would have loved is to have a panel dedicated to just Will and Jem, but then I can see why they have Tessa with each of them. Just think it would have been that nicer touch how I mentioned. Plus I'm a huge fan of Jem, just because he is so caring and loving towards his parabati and his family.

A deck of cards featuring the major shadowhunters throughout all of Cassandra Clare series was also included in this box. I loved the design of them, how they were quite simple and not bright colours. I loved how there was artwork for each character. I wish that the jokers were the cats from each series that would have just been a nice touch. The only think that let the deck down was the artwork for Cordelia and Alastair was not correct as their race was potrayed wrong, but this is now being resolved and we are getting replacements for the two cards from Illumicrate, which I really appreciate. It is not the artist fault as they were not aware of this when producing the item and they hadn't read the book yet so could not be made aware of this problem.

The next item included in this box was two black and white with copper drawings, one of The Infernal Devices characters and one of Chain of Gold characters. I found these pretty awesome because they were on card so you could frame them and you could potentially colour them in however you want because the characters are actually white. I personally won't be colouring them in as they look beautiful as they are.

There was also a decent sized fleece blanket included in this box which is super soft and so cuddly, I love it. This is the first blanket that I have received in a book box and I actually really like it because it's neutral to all of Cassandra Clare's series as it just contains The Mortal Sword, The Mirror and The Mortal Cup. I also don't really mind the colour it's not the best but it is definitely not the worst. It is like some sort of dull dirty red. quite close to brown being truthful. But I still really like it. It's perfect to just snuggle up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a good romcom.

The book was obviously the last item in the box and the last item of my review. I found that most of the special edition books I got from book boxes were similar to Waterstones rune edition. But I do actually really like Illumicrate's copy as it is forest green with a sort of gold/bronze coloured sprayed edges. I feel that this slowly creeps above the Waterstones copy only by a small fraction. It has the same artwork on the end pages as the Waterstones copy and FairyLoot, this is because all first editions have this as well as the extended story at the end.

Written by Sammie

Check out Sammie's review of Chain of Gold or check out my review of Illumicrate's Chain of Gold Special Edition Box. 

Illumicrate - Chain of Gold Special Edition

Items: 

• Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare 
• Bridge Through Time Triptych by @rosiethorns88
• Mortal Instruments Blanket by @yoshiyoshitani
• Clandestine Tea For One Set by @chattynora
• Shadowhunters Playing Cards by @merwildandco and @chattynora
• Foiled Print Duo by @arz28
• Cortana Letter Opener by @fableandblack

Review: 

Check out Sammie's first impressions in the video:

This was my first special edition box with Illumicrate for Chain of Gold, but overall my third ever special edition box. I feel like this was 100% worth the money and I would definitely get another one from them. They were a touch on the expensive side but the quality of items was 100% worth it and the box was well packed with loads of items that I loved.

The first item that I discovered in this box was the tea for one set. This was just purely amazing and I really love who decided to put this in a box. It's a tea pot for one cup of tea but the base of the pot sits into your cup and then you have a plate to sit your cup on top of. The design on it was really simple but also really pretty, I loved this item and it was 100% my favourite item alongside the book. The only thing I would have liked would have been some Shadowhunter tea or something along those lines so we could enjoy the use of the item while reading the book. The quote on the tea pot was just perfect.

The next item was a letter opener, this was quite a unique item and I loved how it was displayed in that little box. It was quite heavy too and I really didn't expect it to be. It was in the shape of Cortana which seems to be the theme of Chain of Gold, obviously this is because of Cordelia since she is the main character and it's her go to weapon. It is actually quite detailed for what it is and I love the final touch on the base of the handle by having the angelic rune.

I then came across the stained glass windows which are known as the bridge of Triptych. The artwork on these stained glass windows are of the favourite trio; Will, Tessa and Jem. I loved how we were able to get artwork from The Infernal Devices eventhough the box was based on Chain of Gold. I can see why because obviously these characters are mentioned within Chain of Gold as they are the parents within this trilogy. The design of them was really nice and I loved how that you were able to put them into any position you wanted. I loved that the colours on the 3 panels were common throughout each one and that they were quite pale to give it that older appearance. The only thing that I would have loved is to have a panel dedicated to just Will and Jem, but then I can see why they have Tessa with each of them. Just think it would have been that nicer touch how I mentioned. Plus I'm a huge fan of Jem, just because he is so caring and loving towards his parabati and his family.

A deck of cards featuring the major shadowhunters throughout all of Cassandra Clare series was also included in this box. I loved the design of them, how they were quite simple and not bright colours. I loved how there was artwork for each character. I wish that the jokers were the cats from each series that would have just been a nice touch. The only think that let the deck down was the artwork for Cordelia and Alastair was not correct as their race was potrayed wrong, but this is now being resolved and we are getting replacements for the two cards from Illumicrate, which I really appreciate. It is not the artist fault as they were not aware of this when producing the item and they hadn't read the book yet so could not be made aware of this problem.

The next item included in this box was two black and white with copper drawings, one of The Infernal Devices characters and one of Chain of Gold characters. I found these pretty awesome because they were on card so you could frame them and you could potentially colour them in however you want because the characters are actually white. I personally won't be colouring them in as they look beautiful as they are.

There was also a decent sized fleece blanket included in this box which is super soft and so cuddly, I love it. This is the first blanket that I have received in a book box and I actually really like it because it's neutral to all of Cassandra Clare's series as it just contains The Mortal Sword, The Mirror and The Mortal Cup. I also don't really mind the colour it's not the best but it is definitely not the worst. It is like some sort of dull dirty red. quite close to brown being truthful. But I still really like it. It's perfect to just snuggle up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a good romcom.

The book was obviously the last item in the box and the last item of my review. I found that most of the special edition books I got from book boxes were similar to Waterstones rune edition. But I do actually really like Illumicrate's copy as it is forest green with a sort of gold/bronze coloured sprayed edges. I feel that this slowly creeps above the Waterstones copy only by a small fraction. It has the same artwork on the end pages as the Waterstones copy and FairyLoot, this is because all first editions have this as well as the extended story at the end.

Written by Sammie

Check out Sammie's review of Chain of Gold or check out my review of Illumicrate's Chain of Gold Special Edition Box.