Book Box Club March ‘Under the Sea’ Unboxing

Hey everyone,

Today I thought I’d bring you an unboxing/review of the Book Box Club box for March. The theme for this month was ‘Under the Sea’ and it promised some excellent goodies. I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. If you’d prefer to see a video version of the unboxing [featuring my weird face] you can do so here.

Cool. So now we’ve got that out of the way, I suppose we should get on with the actual unboxing.

As always, it came with a gorgeous art card with the spoilers for the box on the back. I love these things, and I tend to decorate my uni room with them, so it’s always nice to get one of these in the box.

Next thing I encountered in the box was a scented ‘Siren Song’ bath ball by Ascent Bath and Body. I think they may be the ones responsible for the beautiful clairvoyant soap from a previous Fairyloot box, so I’m super happy to get this one. I haven’t opened it up yet, just because I don’t have a bath at uni and want to make sure it travels back home as safely as possible, but I’ve seen pics from other people and it looks fabulous. It’s a wonderful blue colour, with flashes of gold for added sparkle, and I could smell it as soon as I opened my box. My boyfriend wasn’t so convinced on the smell, but I thought it was amazing, so whatever haha. And since it is unfortunately impossible to send scents to you via a blog, I’ll just have to tell you that it smells of bergamot, lemon, orange and pink pepper. How great is that combination? I can’t wait to go back home, surround myself with candles, grab a glass of wine and a good book, and pop this in the bath.

Next up was the Mermaid Kisses lip balm by Bliss Botanicals UK. It’s plain vanilla, which I was a little disappointed about, but I always get through a lot of lip balm during the cold seasons, so it’s still handy. Plus it is vegan, which even though I am not, I still like knowing what goes into the things I put on my face, so that’s cool too. [Also, I totally forgot to include this on the spoiler pic so I’m so sorry! It is really there, I promise.]

After that, I stumbled on the ‘I Am Not Afraid of Storms’ Pendant by Oh Panda Eyes. I love Panda’s stuff, so I was delighted to get this in my box. It’s a gorgeous little Louisa May Alcott quote, set against a blue background, and there’s a ship attached to the clasp too, which I thought was really cute. I wore it around all day yesterday and got a few comments on it, so yay. Also, I’m a total sucker for independent and bookish jewellery. I’ve got quite a large collection now, but any additions are always welcome. This was possibly my favourite item in the box this month.

Underneath the necklace, I also found a set of three bookmarks by KimCarlika. These were a biiiit of a spoiler for the book [though I use Book Box Sherlocks so I get spoilers for the book in any case] but they were so pretty! Each featured one of the three sisters from the novel, with a quote next to them. These were Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel. There’s also a gorgeous fish-scale pattern on the back, a different colour for each character. I can’t decide which one to use while reading the book, and I feel a bit spoiled for choice, but they’re beautiful bookmarks so I’m sure I’ll be using them all in the near future.

There were also the usual things [before I move on to the big item and the book] including some postcards to promote new books. One of these was for the book in the box, which again would have given it away if I’d not already known the book, so future book box buyers take care with this! Maybe put the postcards to one side when you’re unboxing until you’ve unwrapped the book itself. The other postcard was for a contemporary novel called Big Bones. It sounds pretty awesome, so I’ve added it to my list, but we’ll see how my finances shape up at the end of the month before I commit myself to it.

There was also an invitation to the Book Box Club Book Group chat. This is a really cool thing this box does that I haven’t seen any of the others doing, where they post a time and date on the invitation and then you can log into the online forum on their site at the right time and have a chat with fellow subscribers and the author themselves. You get to ask them questions [you can post these in advance to make sure you have time to ask it] and just chat about the book and your thoughts. It’s probably my favourite ever thing about this company, and one of the reasons I keep buying their boxes.

Now, onto the big items. I have to admit I was quite curious about this one, since I heard a weird rattling noise my whole way home from the Post Office depot [my housemates didn’t answer the door so I got to go on an adventure to the middle of nowhere to rescue my box]. I found the culprit in a black cardboard box… a metal water bottle. It’s a really nice shade of blue, and there’s a mermaid tale on the front, with the words: ‘Be a mermaid… Make waves’ next to it. Which I thought was possibly the cutest thing ever. I’ve tried using the bottle since I got it, and it keeps my water super cold, but the lid is a bit of a hassle since it takes a while to unscrew. There’s also a clip on the top to attach it to a bag [which was what caused the weird noise] so I’m quite content with this one. I haven’t had something like this in a box before, and since I’ve been trying to convince myself to be a bit healthier and go to the gym more often, this is something practical that I can use. So yay! It was also made by book box club’s Libby and Kate.

And now onto the book! As always, it came wrapped in silver paper, with a blue and white string around it. I tore into it in something of a hurry, wanting to know if the Book Box Sherlocks prediction was correct [it was] and found my copy of The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw inside. It came with a signed bookplate, and I’m so glad the prediction was correct because this book has been on my ‘to buy’ list since I heard about it, and I wanted a copy even if the box didn’t have it inside, so I’m very pleased it didn’t disappoint.

P.S. The Ariel Funko wasn’t included in the box. I just couldn’t resist using it for the photo, since it matched the theme so well.

Well, that concludes this March unboxing. Next month’s theme is Fallen Angels, and I’ve heard some good things about the items in the box, so if that sounds like your kind of thing, you should definitely get a move on ordering, because the boxes are limited. You can join here, or if you’re into the idea of getting a mystery book without all the added merch, you can get a minimum three-month subscription here.

Stay tuned. I’ve got some more unboxings coming your way soon. I recently ordered one of the Fable and Black lucky dip boxes as a treat for myself, so I’ll be reviewing that in the next week or so, and I’ve gone and splurged on the April Fairyloot box as well as Book Box Club, so I’ll be videoing and writing about those unboxings too.