I was sent a free Once Upon a Book Club box at no charge for my honest review.
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What is Once Upon a Book Club?
Once Upon a Book Club offers its members a new book every month - you can choose an adult novel or a young adult book. For the adult box you will find a book that has been released in the last three months from one of the following genres (once in a while a book from a different genre might be included):
- Women’s Fiction
- Magical Realism
- Contemporary Fiction
- Historical Fiction
- Mystery & Thriller
If you choose a young adult box the novel will be a contemporary tale suitable for readers 14+.
But unlike the regular book of the month club you don’t just get a book. Oh no! This is an enhanced reading experience. Inside the box with your book are three to five gifts to open as you read along. Each gift is tagged with a specific page on which to open it. It makes the reading experiences a little more immersive.
Some past adult boxes have featured The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult, The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase, and The Last Piece by Imogen Clark. If you don’t like taking the chance that you won’t like the book that comes in the box there is a monthly hints page where you can get a peek at what is upcoming.
What you can’t learn are what surprises are to be found in the gifts included in each box - but why would you want to learn what they are? The gifts are all the fun!
How Does It Work?
It’s really easy - you go to the Once Upon a Book Club subscribe page and choose how you would like to join. You pick between the Adult Box or the Young Adult Box and then choose your options: from a one month trial to a 12 month prepay with a myriad of options in between.
Just imagine if you have a reader who needs a gift for any occasion - trust me, they would love this. I had so much fun with it. Or just gift yourself. Reading is fun but reading and opening presents is a blast.
What Was in the December Box?
I was sent the December Box and the featured adult book was Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce. (I will have my review of the book up next week.) In addition to the fun gifties - this box held three presents - there was also a delightful book mark and a quote card. As a member of the “club” you are also invited to a Facebook group for a group discussion of the book of the month.
There were three gifts in my box, each one perfectly suited to what was going on in the story when directed to open it. I was very grateful that none of the packages contained a golden beetle. No spoilers are being given! I am not generally a bug person but since I didn’t have to see any bugs, only read about bugs in a somewhat abstract way I was just fine with this book.
As I read the novel - and I did thoroughly enjoy it - I opened my gifts as directed - I found … ooops! I’m not going to tell you here! It’s too soon. You will have to wait until I post my review. I did make a wonderful unboxing video or thought I did but it seems I had my camera off while I was unboxing and then turned it on while I was walking away and then working in the kitchen. *sigh* What can I write - since I have now broken everything down I cannot recreate it.
Once Upon a Book Club Makes a Great Gift
If you have a reader on your list and you still need a gift, well this is perfect. You can order it and make up a gift certificate to give to them. Or heck, get it for yourself! I can’t tell you how much I a) looked forward to the arrival of the box after I knew I had been chosen to review it, b) enjoyed opening it when it got here and c)thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience knowing that there were presents to open. Plus - it was a truly delightful book that never would have entered my world without this box.
So gift a friend, gift a family member or gift yourself. You might end up with a great book you might not have read otherwise and you will have quite a bit of fun. A single box is $34.99 plus $10 shipping (US), 3 months prepaid is $100.99 plus $10 shipping each month (US), 6 months is $199.00 prepaid plus $10 shipping each month, and one year is $390.00 prepaid plus $10 shipping each month.
Want to Learn More About Once Upon a Book Club?
If you want to know all the details you can read the FAQ. While you are there you can check out the hints for the January boxes. If you have any questions you can email the Once Upon a Book Club at [email protected].
