Subscription Box Review: Whimsify April Box

I love subscription boxes! It's so much fun to discover new books and shops. This time, I got to discover a brand new box as well! 

April marked the debut of Whimsify, a monthly YA SciFi-Fantasy subscription box. This is the same concept as the Fairyloot box, which I love, but Whimsify is based in the U.S. which makes it much more affordable for me. It's a little different from Owlcrate, the other U.S. based monthly YA box we've reviewed, which sometimes features contemporary titles. The cost ($34.95) is slightly higher than Owlcrate ($29.99) though.

The theme for the April box was 

More Than Machine

The book in this month's box was Defy the Stars by Claudia Grey, which I've heard great things about so I hope to get to read it soon. The book came wrapped in tissue and I thought the presentation was lovely.

What the Whimsify box didn't have that other boxes often do is the extras that accompany the book - signed bookplates, notes from the author, and bookmarks, buttons or other swag from the publisher. I think that's something that may happen in the future as Whimsify becomes more recognized and has time to build relationships with publishers.

There was a bookmark featuring a quote from the book though. It's made by Little Inklings Design exclusively for this box and says, "Because hope can hurt and yet Abel can't stop looking out the window wishing desperately for someone to see him so he will no longer be alone."

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was how great it smelled. This BB-8 bath fizzy from Wizard at Work was one of the items responsible for that. It's raspberry vanilla scented.

The other item I was smelling is the Merciful candle from Novelly Yours inspired by Aiden from Illuminae. It has a masculine leather and smoke scent. I'm already a big fan of these candles so I was happy to see one in the box. I especially love the ones with the drizzle on top, except that they're too pretty to burn.

These next two items were packaged together in a little drawstring bag: the Cinder lip balm by Kool and Co which was made exclusively for the box and smells like mandarin orange, and the Tardis keyfob by Ellayna Boutique. The lip balm fits just fine inside the key fob's pocket but I had a hard time getting it back out. The lid came off and I wound up with lip balm all over my fingers. It can also hold a USB drive, which is probably not as messy.

Finally there's an Iko magnetic bookmark from Kaelis Paperie. This is also exclusive to this box and is inspired by Wires and Nerve. The bookmark is much larger than the other magnetic ones I have, which looks great. I do worry about it getting wrinkled though because of the thin photo paper.

Overall, I was really happy with this box. These are all items that I might have picked myself and would definitely use. I loved the theme and thought all of the items fit it well. I do think that someone who's sensitive to fragrances might be less happy since half of the items had a strong scent. (I actually have issues with certain fragrances, but none of those were in this box.)

I think that Whimsify is off to a great start! I'm especially excited to see what's in the May box. Its theme is Fight Like a Girl!

*I paid for this box and am in no way sponsored by the company.
Whimify is owned by one of my co-bloggers.*