Review of Once Upon a Book Club Subscription Box

A book subscription that includes treasures that relate to the book, what more could a person ask for?

Once Upon a Book Club reaches beyond the limits of just a plain subscription box that sends you a monthly book by including wrapped gifts that go along with the pages. It makes the book a more fun read as you stumble onto one of their sticky notes on a designated page letting you know to open “gift for page 65”. Bonus, you would be supporting a woman owned company.

Each box is decorated to look like a book that you open. Nestled inside will be the book for that month, a 5-7” decorated card with a quote from the book, a newsletter with fun author items or some kind of craft/recipe/etc and about 3-5 wrapped gifts that are labeled with the corresponding page numbers. It made the stories come alive and makes an incredible gift for someone who enjoys reading. They offer collections for young adult novels and adult novels.

Downside, you can’t pick a specific genre, but this means I had a chance to try some items that I never would have read before. Not all of the gifts are fancy. The cost of the box is 49.99 per month which includes shipping, with the ability to pay for several months all at once for a slight discount. Some of the gifts include paper items that relate to something in the book—a map, poster, card, letter, etc. However, they usually have at least one nicer item that makes it worth it.

Bonus: There one-of-a-kind Bridgerton boxes. Separate from their subscription, they jumped on the Bridgerton bandwagon. The first box featured the first 3 books from the series (with the first book being signed by the author and specially printed covers exclusive to the Once Upon a Book Club), the newsletter, quote card, and three gifts for each book (with the prizes the price balanced out and was well worth it). They plan to release the next three sometime in 2022.

Here is an example of one of their normal monthly YA boxes:

Book: Today Tonight Tomorrow, by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Book description (pulled directly from Amazon):

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.

Prizes (without giving away plot significance):

1. Envelope with a letter that one of the characters wrote.

2. Earrings

3. A blue bandana.

4. A Watch

5. A metal stemless travel wine mug with a paper Philadelphia Cream Cheese Label (this is meant to represent an actual tub of cream cheese). This gift was particularly useful as I took the whole box when we went camping for the week and was great for coffee and wine while sitting around a campfire. The bandana for bad hair days during that week was great as well.

This book was one of my favorites from them, which is funny because I don’t think I ever would have bought at a bookstore because it wasn’t my usual genre.

I’ve never had a problem with a shipment, or anything being too late. Based on their FAQ and Instagram page they seem to try to stay on top of any potential issues.

At the very least, try out one month. It might just surprise you.

www.onceuponabookclubshop.com