Yes, I know, I’m ridiculously late writing this review… So late in fact, that the Book Vault Box doesn’t exist anymore. I apologise! I’m sure there are several other book boxes out there, even in our region (Belgium/the Netherlands), so go and find those if you’re interested! Life gets in the way sometimes, and it’s the first unboxing that I’m doing so it also took me a while to get into things and write this like I wanted to.
Anyway, onto the book box! I know and like the concept of these discovery boxes. I even ordered one or two beauty boxes a few years ago, isn’t that how this trend started? With beauty boxes? I’m not sure, but I think so. Anyway, that’s not really important. I also knew of the collector’s boxes, the nerdy/geeky gamer stuff, but I had never heard or thought about book boxes, until Facebook. I actually saw an ad for this Book Vault Box on Facebook! Now you might be wondering how I was targeted? Well, when I reveal the theme all will become clear… Fantastic Beasts! Looking at my blog will reveal what a huge Harry Potter fan I am, which Facebook also know about me. Book Vault Box turned out to be by a Dutch company in fact, so I ordered it through Facebook Messenger since I couldn’t pay online directly (we have different payment systems in Belgium and the Netherlands). I ordered it mid-April and received my box in May. Here are the first pictures of me opening the box:
I love the packaging! Opening the box doesn’t immediately give away the contents and since everything is wrapped separately, even removing the paper hay doesn’t betray it all. And then I started unwrapping the gifts. First was this cute glass vial with cork stopper, filled with little animal-shaped erasers (I’m currently repurposing it on my Harry Potter-shelf as a potion’s vial). Then came a Cookies & Cream candle in a tin box. It smelled a little too heavily for me, I’m not a fan of vanilla scents, so I gave it as a gift to a good friend!
The third thing was actually the only item related to Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, a time-turner necklace with the iconic inscription:
I mark the hours, every one
Nor have I yet outrun the sun.
My use and value, onto you
Are gauged by what you have to do.
I was a little disappointed to find only one item actually from the theme, directly. But I really like the idea, and expecting more Harry Potterness for that price was probably a little silly. But I did like everything inside, a lot of cute and fun stuff!
Anyway, back to the book box! The newt items are all related to the two books inside. One of the little baggies contained 4 little pins from the book, and there were also two bookmarks. I don’t really use bookmarks, but they are so beautiful that I kept them anyway and gave them an honorary place in my bookcase, along with the pins.
And now it’s time for the actual books! I received two books in my book box, the first two in a four-book series by Jeroen Van Unen. I’m not 100% sure, but I think he’s from the Netherlands and he is the same age as me! He published his first book, De Nachtuilen (or “The Night Owls” in English) in 2015 when he was just 25 years old. The (publicity) story goes that he started writing after finding out that Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he wrote Eragon. So he structured his four-book series De Nachtuilen and started writing. In April 2017, the second book titled De slang van Havilah (“The snake of Havilah” in English) was released (which is why it was featured in the May Book Vault Box). I have read the first few chapters of the first book so far and skimmed through some of the rest (skipping the last few chapters to avoid major spoilers of course). It looks to be a really good book, but I set it aside to really be able to take the time and dive into the first two books. Reviews should be following soon on this blog!
Conclusion? My first experience with book boxes was a good one! I’m thinking about looking at some more book boxes, maybe even English ones. I prefer reading books in their original language, so I read a lot in English! Do you know of any good book boxes? Leave your suggestions below and I’ll let you know which one I decide to get!
Happy reading,
Loes M.