Illumicrate #23: July 2024
My Illumicrate for July was delivered somewhere in mid-August.
With the delay in unpacking my boxes on the blog, I keep forgetting that even if a box is for a certain month, the actual delivery of that box usually comes the month after. So actually the delay in that respect is not that bad (I tell myself 😉 ).
Anyway, July’s theme was Magical Menagerie and like many fantasy readers I love magical creatures, so I was really looking forward to this box!
The first item is already a huge win: a reading journal designed by @Rosdottir with a beautiful leather-like green cover with gold foil and beautifully designed pre-printed pages that look really practical.
I’m especially also impressed by the additional illustrations by @HopeChristofferson that are included every six pages of the journal.
Item 2 is a desk mat. We already received such a mat from Illumicrate not so long ago, so I was surprised to receive another one.
This one was designed by @C.E.ILLO and was inspired by the book of the month. Very beautiful, but because I am using the previous mat at this moment and that one suits my style a bit better, this mat will go in the closet as a spare for now.
Item 3 are magnetic bookmarks, designed by @SmugComputer and inspired by Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, a book I loved and urgently need to read book two of!
These bookmarks are actually very nicely made, although I don’t think the artwork really comes into its own, as it’s printed a bit too darkly. The details are a bit lost. Also, I actually never use these types of bookmarks. I’m more for the traditional rectangular type that you literally place between the pages of a book.
Finally, item 4 feels a bit like a throw-away item to me: a lipstick holder designed by @JustElfit and inspired by Beasts of Prey.
Nothing wrong with it per se, but I don’t see myself using it. Certainly not for lipstick, because besides chapstick I don’t use any and I don’t specifically need a holder for that. Maybe I’ll think of an alternative use for it, but otherwise it’s something that will disappear into the cupboard and be forgotten.
On to the book of the month: The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. Maclean.
An adult fantasy debut with a really cool sounding premise! Extra points because it is a standalone story and not the umpteenth start of a series.
Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons… Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That’s another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo’s most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.
Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a basikisk and the face of a goddess, who’s convinced that Aila’s beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.
With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila’s success in’t only a matter of keeping her job: the future of a species now rests on her shoulders.
The dust jacket of the Illumicrate edition uses the same illustration as the standard edition, but with some adjusted colours. I think the green is a real improvement on the normal cover as it provides more dimension. In addition, both the green and the gold are made of reflective foil, which makes it very luxurious.
Illumicrate also outdid itself underneath the dust jacket!
The hardcover has a printed illustration that runs across all sides of the book. The illustration is by @HopeChristofferson, who also did the illustrations in the reading journal, and the general design by @chattynora. Stunning!
The book block was digitally printed with a pattern that was taken from the standard cover illustration, so only using the colours orange and yellow, without the green, which was actually a very good choice, because it fits both the dust jacket and the hardcover illustration.
Inside the book has two unique illustrations on the endpapers by illustrator @CarasAlexandra. Beautiful style and also fits very well with the rest of the design of the book!
Furthermore, the book was hand-signed by the author and comes with a letter that includes additional illustrations!
This July box from Illumicrate is really solid!
The items aren’t all winners, but the overall quality and the items I do love are definitely worth the price of the box. And that’s without counting the unique design of the book, which is an absolute gem!
Cheers,
Charlotte
