Fairyloot Adult #35: December 2024
Yes, the last overdue book box unboxing! Haha, maybe a bit stupid to admit, but I’m so glad I finally made time for posting all these, because this was something that kept taking up space in my head.
Last up is this Fairyloot Adult box, which was delivered a week before Christmas, again by Colis Privé, who doesn’t even bother to ring the doorbell anymore, but just dumps the box unattended on the doorstep *sigh*
The December theme was Pretty Lies with an adventure book with deadly curses and dark secrets.
This was The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson:
Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive.
I previously read Mary E. Pearson’s “The Remnant Chronicles“, which started out with a fun book with a cool gimmick, but culminated in an impressive, political fantasy that I would love to read again. Since finishing and loving that series, I’ve automatically been putting all of her new books on my TBR, so I was thrilled to get this one through one of my many book subscriptions!
The cover of the Fairyloot edition is a completely new design by @bluelyboo and one that I actually find quite surprising. The style is almost the opposite of the standard cover, which is very dark and mysterious. This looks more like the cover of a frivolous, cozy, cottagecore story. A bit Emily Wilde-esque. I find the choice of the periwinkle blue rather special and I was not really won over at first. But it is quite original and all together I think it looks very nice. Only it wasn’t in the line of what I was expecting based on the standard cover. Time will tell if I find this one, the other one or both fitting the story better!
And if the new cover would turn out to be awkward in my eyes, Fairyloot has given the option to flip it for the standard one in a Fairyloot-exclusive colourway!
The hardcover itself comes with a printed illustration on the front and back of the book, again by @bluelyboo.
The background colour matches that of the Fairyloot cover perfectly, a slightly lighter shade of periwinkle. The drawing of the gothic window frames overlooking a beautiful and wide landscape, with creeping tree branches, decorated with gold leaf, on the wrong side of the frame, evoke a sense of strangeness and mystery. Not one of the most intricate designs we’ve had from Fairyloot, but I’m a fan.
The book block has, as is now custom, a different colour than just that of paper. At the top and bottom it is sprayed in a solid color, continued on from the illustration that is applied at the front. This illustration combines many of the elements from the cover and the hardcover, into one new illustration. Beautiful!
On the endpapers are two different illustrations by @hoanglapdoan.
Oh, wow, these are stunning! So many details and accents. Absolutely breathtaking!
The book is unfortunately not signed, but it does come with a bonus chapter and a bound letter from the author with a digital signature.
Wow, another incredibly beautiful edition by Fairyloot!
This Fairyloot Adult subscription remains one where I will find it difficult to skip books, even if they do not immediately appeal to me. Their editions are always so incredibly beautiful and of such high quality.
Cheers,
Charlotte
