SpearCraft Book Box Review

I'm a huge fan of subscription boxes. I love getting gifts and surprises in the mail every month. I'm a big horror nerd, so of course I subscribe to Horror Block. I recently added Bark Box for my puppy. I've tried lots of others-- Loot Crate, Geek Fuel, and more. I enjoy them all.

Recently, I ordered my first book subscription box. Like other boxes often do, this one announced a theme but the contents of the box are a surprise. You get a book selected by the company that fits the theme with other related gifts.

My first book subscription that I ordered was SpearCraft Book Box.

View when first opening the box: Everything is packed neatly and to make the surprise even better!

The theme was "Cloak and Dagger"-- so we're promised a mystery/spies/detective kind of story. Every book is YA themed, too. And personally-- I don't care if I'm a 38 year old dude, YA tales are fun and for all ages. So whether you're a teen, have a teenage kid, or just enjoy stories with teen characters, you can get into this.

Subscriptions are $29.99 plus shipping. There are options to do just one box, gift a box, or even get a box with just the extra gifts without the book,. SO, the questions are: How was the box? Was it worth the price? Will I keep subscribing?

Here's what was included:

Sherlock inspired ribbon bookmark with magnifying glass. How fun!

Signed print by author Lannie Sheridan

Sherlock Holmes inspired necklace 

Bookstagram confetti from Pretty Little Liars

Harry Potter origami magnets!

Sherlock Magnet Bookmark (my puppy thought it was her toy, so excuse the teeth marks)

The Book!

The book was buried last under all of the above gifts (and even more I haven't mentioned yet!). It's a brand new, hardcover release called The Love Interest. It's about teens who were taken from their homes as infants and raised/trained to be spies. But the cool twist is this: The teen spies are used only to get someone important to fall in love with them so they can report back to their agency with valuable information. The agency classifies spies as either NICE or BAD, and they send one Nice and one Bad to compete for the girl's love interest. (There's a really cool section about why they don't just send one-- giving the person a choice is more effective). So, two bad ass male spies have to win over a super important girl, and guess what happens to the won who loses?

He's killed.

Sounds fun. Oh, and want one more twist that I THINK is coming? Well, Cale Dietrich, the author, included a letter and a signed card with the book. The letter makes me think that the two male spies actually fall for each other-- or at least one of them isn't really into girls at all. So we've got a whole lot of interesting twists coming.

I'm 60 pages in, and I enjoy the writing style, the unique plot, and the fast-paced nature of the book. It's a great choice by SpearCraft-- fun, fast, and fresh. 

Here's a list of everything that was included in May's box:

So, do you think that's worth $30? Hell yeah! The hardcover itself would cost you about $20 plus tax. Then all those unique gifts-- bookmarks, art, magnets, autographs. WOW. What I love most is that it's not stuff you'd find in a store. I love my Funkos and things like that, but to get handmade crafts that are truly unique greatly enhances the value of the box.

So, I'd say the box is 5 stars, 10/10, A+. Great job, SpearCraft.

Is it worth the price? No doubt about it.

Will I subscribe again? I already have. I'm excited for June's theme-- it's Mansions and Manors, inspired by Disney's Haunted Mansion. How fun!

For more about SpearCraft:

Visit them on the web at https://www.worldofspearcraft.com/

Like them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram!

Walking Satan's Path

I love the Harry Potter books. I have no problem in confessing that I am a total nerd, but that shouldn’t be a defense in loving those stories. They are perhaps the most imaginative stories written in my lifetime if not of all time. To not had read the Harry Potter books: well that would be like never seeing a sunrise or the ocean. You’re missing out on one of the greatest things in life: the power of imagination.

When the last book came out, I bought it at midnight and stayed up until sunrise reading. I fell asleep for a couple hours and had nightmares of Voldemort. I texted my best friend my worries and fears as of course she was reading it that night too. I woke up and did nothing else that day until I finished the book. I can only dream of writing something someday that has such power and inspiration.

During my first year of teaching, I had one of my most challenging and rewarding classes. I was assigned a reading class of ten of the lowest level readers in the freshman class. My job was to improve their reading scores. When I reflected on how to do that, the first and most important task, I thought, was to help them learn to love reading. Students have low reading scores because they don’t read. And those who don’t read don’t like reading. Simple, right?

So I thought of the one book that could help them love reading: the first Harry Potter. For nine of the students, I think it was a roaring success. They aced my tests, and they loved the story.

But when the book was assigned, one student’s parents visited me after school, and I will never forget what they told me.

They introduced themselves and then said, “Do you know you are walking in the path of Satan by reading this book? Do you know you are encouraging students to walk Satan’s path by having them read it?”

I laughed. This had to be some kind of joke, right? But they didn’t laugh back.

“A fiction story that plays with magic is akin to worshiping the devil,” they said.

“Have you read the book?” I asked.

“No,” they answered. Of course not, I thought.

“Well, if you had read the book, you would know that the magic is what we call fiction or make-believe. It is not real. Furthermore, the books deal with the themes that I think all students should be exposed to: friendship, good over evil, self-discipline in learning, overcoming fear, teamwork, bravery, love of family, love of learning, and so much more!” I told them.

They stared at me. I could see in their eyes that I must be the anti-Christ.

“We will not allow our child to read this book,” they said.

No wonder your kid has low level reading scores, I thought. You stifle the imagination.

Naturally, I had to provide an alternate book. Something boring and old and without magic.

I think of this story many times when I’m teaching today. I think creativity and imagination are the most important elements in the classroom. And a little magic and make-believe can do wonders for the imagination.

Sure, these parents are a minority, members of a specific religious sect that see the devil everywhere. He’s on the back of your cereal boxes and on the television and in your video games.

Evil, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I have a fantasy that this child snuck a copy of Harry Potter and hid it under her bed like a teenage boy would hide a copy of Playboy. I hope she read it late at night, under the covers with a flashlight while her parents slept and dreamed of devils. Wouldn’t that be a nice ending to the story?

I can’t imagine any writer not reading and re-reading the Harry Potter stories over and over. Imagination is the soul of life and the seed of creativity. If that’s walking on Satan’s path, then let me hold his hand because it’s a wonderful journey not to be missed.

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