Illumicrate Squad Goals Unboxing – April 2020

It has been a while since I have done an official unboxing of my Illumicrate book box. In all honesty I wasn’t super excited about the Illumicrate Squad Goals box when it was announced. I spent a lot of time debating whether or not to skip the box. Fandoms included in this box include the Witchlands, The Lord of the Rings, Aurora Rising & The Gilded Wolves. I decided not to skip the box on the basis that I love LoTR and the book is supposed to be excellent.

Book of the month

The book of the month is the hotly anticipated YA fantasy novel Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn. Set in Paris during the French revolution, Camille leads a band of outcasts to save people from the Guillotine. Their latest rescue is more than she seems. Wanted by both Royalists and Revolutionaries, it becomes apparent that the girl has strange powers. Camille must discover the truth and learn who can really be trusted.

I was torn as to whether or not I wanted to read this book. I’ve flipped between excited and indifferent. Mainly because I’m a little burnt out on stories set in Paris at the moment. That said is does have LGBT+ representation, which is very important to me. I’m sure I will enjoy it when I pick it up and it is very well reviewed. This is a beautiful edition and I love the teal sprayed edges as well as the pretty end-papers.

Box contents

• Aurora Rising power bank
• Merwild Character bookmark set
• The Guilded Wolves magnetic whiteboard
• The Lord of the Rings tote bag
• Pen
• Art print related to the book of the month.
  

Character Bookmark Set

The revealed item for the Illumicrate Squad Goals box was a set of Merwild bookmarks. In the past these have only been part of their special edition boxes. It is therefore pretty cool that they have added a set to a monthly box. Are you a big fan of bookmarks? Although there are some beautiful designs I have SO many and never know what to do with them! I have debated an art display. I have not read The Witchlands series, although I have been meaning to. Merwild is a great artist but as I don’t have any connection to the characters I can’t comment on how well represented they are.

Aurora Rising Power Bank

I really appreciate useful items and this certainly ticks that box. It is nice timing to have an Aurora Rising item with Aurora Burning releasing on May 5th. My phone battery is constantly dead despite the fact that I can’t leave the house these days so having a power bank is going to come in handy! The art makes this a little different to your usual power pack too.

The Gilded Wolves Magnetic Whiteboard

I saw spoilers of this box before mine arrived and I was excited by the idea of a whiteboard. It is an item that I thought would be very useful. When it arrived I realised it is magnetic. This is kinda cool but makes it much less useful to me as I don’t have a surface that I can attach it to. The design is cute and I think it is a nice idea for an item. Perhaps I will try to stick it to my wall in a different way!

LoTR Tote Bag

The Lord of the Rings is dear to my heart. How I do love elevenses and hobbit based adventures. Having a LoTR item was the swinging point for me to not skip this box. I would hate to have missed a really cool item! I like the design for this bag and if it glows in the dark, which I suspect it should, it will look awesome! This is coming from someone who has recently debated painting the doors of Durin in glow-in-the-dark paint on her garden wall.

Pen

As far as pens go, this one is cute with it’s “Best laid plans” quote. However cute it is though, I am afraid I cannot get too excited about a pen. Individual pens and pencils always feel like a bit of a cop-out when it comes to items. There is however value elsewhere in the box so I shall consider this a bonus item.

Art Print

Sadly this is the most disappointing item in the box. The art itself is lovely but the quality of the print is poor, which is unusual for Illumicrate. The paper is super thin (as if you had printed it yourself at home) and the colours are fairly dim.

Illumicrate Squad Goals – My Thoughts

This is a bit of a tough one actually! I do like this box but I am not blown away by it. I think the prize item is definitely the book this month. It is a really beautiful book that I am sure will be very popular. Illumicrate readers are lucky as the hardback publication date has been pushed back to Summer 2020 due to Covid-19. That makes the book very exclusive right now! In hindsight I think I would have been happy to be book-only this month but I am excited about the May and June boxes. I will continue to subscribe to Illumicrate as I do enjoy their book choices. They have excellent customer service and also create the best special edition boxes on the market.