June Whimsify Unboxing and Book Review

I'm trying something new with my unboxing post this month - including a review of the book. Let me know what you think of it. I'm hoping that it will get me to actually read the books in the boxes and not just take pictures of them.

You can find my June Owlcrate unboxing on our Instagram. 

The Whimsify box includes a candle every month which is awesome. This month for the first time it also includes a signed book plate. Here's what's in the June Magic and Misfits box:

"I Believe in Unicorns" candle from Nerd Wicks. This purple glittery candle is exclusive for the box and is supposed to smell like cotton candy. I would have called it jelly beans or gummy bears because it's fruity as well as sweet, and because the top layer is translucent.

Six of Crows magnetic bookmark from Jane's Tiny Things. There were six different ones - mine is Nina. Jane's Tiny Things puts a quote on the back of all of their bookmarks which makes them a little different from all the others I've seen. This one says, "She was the Queen of Mourning, and in its depths she would never drown."

Dragon scale bobby pins from Lexi's Doll House. These are the cutest things ever so I'm hiding them from my kid.

Mischief Managed coaster from Wayward Apple Gifts. This might be my favorite thing in the box. Pro tip: it can also be a mouse pad!

Notecard from Catherine's Cards CC. It features a quote from Roald Dahl: "Those who do not believe in magic will never find it."

"This is a magic wand' pencil by The Carbon Crusader. That could be either playful or really profound.

And the book that inspired the theme is Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts. 

Royal Bastards
Andrew Shvarts
Release: May 30, 2017
Goodreads Amazon

Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.

At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.

Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.

The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .

Review:

Ever wonder what The Breakfast Club would be like as a YA Fantasy? Me either, but I'm glad that someone did. Royal Bastards is a fun, fast-paced road trip story featuring five teens, a princess, a stable hand, a nerd, a barbarian, and Tilla the narrator - she's kind of hard to describe in a single word.

This book has been on my radar since last December when I was researching my 2017 Most Anticipated list so I was happy to see it included in the box. The comparisons to Six of Crows and Harry Potter inspired by the other items only made me more excited to read it.

I was shipping Tilla and Zell right from the beginning, which is kind of unusual for me. There's still the obligatory YA love triangle, but it was well done. And there's a twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

This book is so much fun! Though it's also heartbreaking at times, it's ultimately hopeful. And I'm hoping that there's going to be a sequel. I feel like it would take two books to tell Tilla's story.

Recommended for fans of: The Clockwork Dagger, Frostblood

    

4  stars

As always, I paid for this subscription box and am not sponsored by the company.