I know that I say this every time, but Fairyloot boxes are always the highlight of my mailbox.
I’m finally getting caught up on the boxes; the delays due to COVID-19 are finally over (I hope! It seems on their site that they’ll be shipping the August boxes at the end of the month, on schedule).
This month’s theme of Desert Dreams is pretty nice. The spoiler card kind of brings to life Aladdin on a magic carpet ride. I’m always a fan of candles in a box!
We got a bunch of “home” items in this box which I’m a huge fan of. The tea towel is by the amazing Evie Bookish and features a quote from The City of Brass series. I love her stuff and I can’t wait to start using it in my kitchen! The other kitchen item is the wooden spoon by @kdpletters. I think it’s too pretty to actually use for cooking. I’m going to find a place to hang it so I can see it every day.
The candle by Wick and Fable inspired by An Ember in the Ashes smells super yummy. I can’t wait until I can start burning it! It’s been a bit too warm in my area to have candles going.
The bookish tin by @chattynora with a quote from We Hunt The Flame is also really nice. I like that it’s double lidded so it’ll keep something fresh (like tea!). And who doesn’t love bath salts? One of my favourite things is reading in the bath, and this will just be an indulgence.
May’s “Desert Dreams” themed book is Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse…
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
From inside cover sleeve
This cover is absolutely stunning and definitely makes me want to read this book faster!
As tempting as it would be to finish the book in one sitting, the clock persuaded me to not. But I read 20 chapters in one go! I definitely finished it the next night – I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know how it ended.
I’ve never read anything by this author before so I was walking into this book blindly. And it didn’t disappoint.
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had pretty high hopes for this book because the idea of a girl who was poisonous to the touch was pretty exciting. I won’t lie, I’m pretty basic when it comes to the love interests (I enjoy girl meets boy, fall in love, kind of stories) but I really enjoyed the fact that she wasn’t straight. It’s not in your face obvious in the beginning but it’s definitely there, which is nice because it didn’t make it feel forced.
This book is definitely hard to review without giving anything away because there are so many twists and turns, but the characters are so well written and have such realistic and relatable qualities. They face hard decisions and try to make the best of their situations when things start to hit the fan. It’s hard to say if I would have done anything differently!
The use of magic interwoven in the story is fabulous, and the fact that the main character Soraya definitely has growth as she struggles with the 2 sides of herself; the princess and what she feels is the monster. I love the reference to all the fairy tales (Persian fairytales) and how it’s woven that her fairytale that she grew up hearing from her mother is HER story.
For real, the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat and coming back for more. It’s definitely a Slytherin style story (even without the reference to serpents it would be!) Soraya has to rely on her wit and cunning to out-think everyone and hope that she ends up on the right side of the story – as the hero and the princess and not the monster.
Definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to reading Melissa Bashardoust’s other works.
View all my reviews
What was your favourite item in this Desert Dreams box? Let me know on social media!
J x
For more Fairyloot unboxings, read April’s here and January to March here.
