From cheese and wine to beauty products and crafting kits, it really feels like there’s a subscription box for almost everything. Book lovers are particularly spoiled for choice, with popular options including a blind date with a book and Tea Time Bookshop, a monthly delivery of a book along with your preferred brew and some tasty biscuits.

But without a doubt, one of the most popular bookish subscription boxes of all comes courtesy of Fairyloot. Known for their intricate designs, eye-catching sprayed edges and months-long waiting list, you’ve probably lusted after a Fairyloot book without even knowing it. Like many others, I’m sure, I’ve been languishing on the waitlist for a little while now, so when I was given the option to try out one month of the subscription, I jumped at the chance. 

I’ve always loved the idea of receiving regular deliveries of my very favourite things, yet my only current subscription (outside of streaming services, Spotify and the obligatory extra storage you need as an iPhone user) is HelloFresh.

Aesthetics aside, what draws me most to Fairyloot is the choice and variety of books in their boxes. You can choose between romantasy, adult fantasy, young adult fantasy or a combination. There are also some less frequent options like cosy fantasy and epic fantasy, which are sent out quarterly. 

Alchemised by SenLinYu, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab and Katabasis by R.F. Kuang are just some of the books subscribers to the adult box have received this year. 

As someone who spends a fair amount of time on BookTok and likes to keep up with the biggest new releases, all of these books—and, in fact, most of the books on this year’s list—are ones I’ve bought standard copies of and read in their respective release months. 

So long story short, I was confident that the box I received would be full of books I was desperate to read. 

I received all three of the November books, including To Cage A Wild Bird by Brooke Fast, Fallen City by Adrienne Young and Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton. 

My first impressions were good; the box arrived in pristine condition, with each of the books wrapped in bubble wrap along with a card sharing the theme and synopsis.

My eye was immediately drawn to Fallen City, having added this to my wish list months ago when I first heard of it. The beautiful cover design, edges and naked hardback easily make this one of the most stunning books in my collection.

I hadn’t heard of the other two books, but the blurbs, character art and a positive review of To Cage A Wild Bird by a friend meant I was happy with the selection.

Seven Deadly Thorns was a bit of a revelation for me in that while I enjoy the odd young adult fantasy, it’s not something I naturally gravitate towards. Likewise, the cover alone wouldn’t draw me in.

But add in the character art and naked hardback design and suddenly I’m totally sold and can’t wait to read it.

Overall, my Fairyloot box lived up to my very high expectations and to sum it up in three words, I’d say it’s worth the wait.

The books make for beautiful additions to your shelves, and it’s a great way of finding new titles you might not have necessarily picked up otherwise. 

For now, I’ll go back to scouring Vinted for second-hand copies of my favourite titles, but I eagerly await the day I reach the front of the queue. 

Subscriptions start from £20 a month for a YA book-only box to £38 for a two-book combo box and £57 for a three-book combo box. You can find out more on Fairyloot.