Once Upon A Book Club is a monthly subscription box that sends you a book and several surprise goodies based on the title of the month. All the gifts are individually wrapped with the page number listed on the outside so you know when you should open that particular gift.
I’m a book nerd, so this one was right up my alley. The cute packaging sold me because it was designed like a big book. The idea of getting rewarded for reaching a certain page number made me feel like a kid again and felt like an encouragement to continue reading.
First Impressions
When my first box from Once Upon a Book Club arrived, I could tell it had some weight to it and that felt comforting like it wasn’t going to be a waste of time. After opening the box I discovered four adorably wrapped gifts and the book of the month, Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kacxynski.
I realized on my first gift that just because it says “Page 91” doesn’t mean at 91 you open it. You’re supposed to wait until you get to the line in the book that the sticky note in the book is at for you to open it. It adds so much more to the experience if you do.
The book was one heck of a roller coaster and appropriately marketed as a Hunger Games meets The Selection meets The 5th Wave.
Dare Mighty Things Synopsis
A young girl is given the chance to go into space but first, she must compete for her spot against over a few dozen others. Over the course of the competition, she has to balance making friends with realizing everyone around her is her competition for the two coveted spots on the crew. And even if she makes it, what exactly is her mission?
What Was Inside the Box?
This particular box was released last November. so I’m not spoiling anything by telling you about the fun little gifts included.
First, I could tell Once Upon a Book Club did their reading because a couple of the gifts were personalized to look like they were being given directly to the character. The first gift was a letter from home, mentioned in the book, and the lead character’s name was handwritten on the front of the envelope. It’s almost as if you were receiving her mail for her. Included with the letter was a scientific pillowcase. Not the most exciting thing but cool nonetheless.
The second and third gifts went right along with the story, a deck of cards and a fitness tracker.
The final gift got me right in the heart. Without spoiling the book (which is super hard because I loved it so much I just want to tell you all about it), there was a package with a few trinkets and mementos from the main character’s home. The curators of the box went the extra mile and included things like a family photo for this one.
Dislikes?
I was slightly disappointed in a couple of the gifts, but that dissipated quickly when I realized how they tied into the book. I’m the kind of person that thinks if you bring something into the home it better serves a purpose, and not all these gifts do. With that said though, the purpose of the gifts are not to serve a purpose in your life but to add to the reading experience, and it most certainly did.
Would I Try It Again?
I would most definitely recommend this box to anyone who enjoys reading. The book title and all the little gifts were appropriately picked out and felt curated specifically for the box and not just thrown together.
Subscription Options and Pricing
Once Upon a Book Club has two subscription options: Adult (18+ titles) and Young Adult (14+ titles) box. The price for each is the same the only difference is the types of books included with each.
Each box guarantees you between three and five gifts in each box along with a 5×7 quote print from the selected book and the option to participate in the online discussion on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaking of pricing, the prices range from $34.99 per month to price breaks if you get a three, six, or yearly prepaid subscription. Shipping is an additional $8.50 for US residents, $15 for Canada, and $26 for the rest of the world.
This is not like Loot Crate where you are guaranteed the cost of the box will be equal or more inside. The price of this box includes the unseen benefits of the joy in reading a book and having a trinket to go along with the experience. In the end, that is what you’re paying for, not the actual items in the box itself.
Final Thoughts
I may have gotten this box for free, but trust me when I say I have no problem becoming a subscriber after this experience. I finished the book last night and I’m already ready to dive into the next. It’s added to my joy of reading and helps push me to read a little more so I can get to the next surprise. I only wish they had one for my son’s age.
Disclaimer: GeekMom received a sample.
P.S The sequel to Dare Mighty Things, One Giant Leap is scheduled to be released on October 23rd, 2018. Stay tuned to GeekMom for a full review because I’m definitely going to be reading it!
I would love something like this for elementary kids…imagine how much more fun summer reading would be! 🙂
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Unfortunately, book clubs are already a “dying out” concept. Most of them are just bookstores. Of course, it happens that the book club is formed on the basis of some kind of unification of people, for example, a college – so it was with us. And yes, working with children was the ways described in this article.
We, working in https://www.writercheap.com / often dealt with handwritten works, compositions, etc., and of course, some experience in this was available. I can not of course evaluate the result, but for a year up to 20 people in our club we attracted, given that these people did not enjoy reading before that – I think it’s a great result!
So did you receive the ‘adult’ or the ‘YA’ selection?
I’m kinda excited to get one — trying to decide which 🙂
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