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Book Riot YA Book Mail Box Review – July 2016

Liz Cadman
ByLiz CadmanAug 1, 2016 | 10 comments

BookMail July 2016 - 1

Book Mail by Book Riot
4 overall rating
6 Ratings | 3 Reviews

Book Mail Box is the new book box from Book Riot. Every other month, they'll release a new box you can purchase full of books and bookish goodies! For July, the theme was YA!

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

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The Box: Book Riot YA Book Mail Box

The Cost: $60

The Products: Get books and bookish items hand-picked by Book Riot, exclusive content from authors, and first crack at new items in the Book Riot Store. A new Book Mail box will be available every few months, and the contents will be a secret! (Decoder ring not included.)  Does not contain any repeats from Book Riot’s Quarterly or YA Quarterly subscriptions. Total retail value of contents exceeds $60.

Purchase of this box sends one book to a community in need.

Check out my review of the first Book Riot Book Mail box to see what you can expect from this book box!

Check out all of our reviews of Book Subscription Boxes for more book boxes!

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This box comes with an info card detailing all the items included.

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If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo - Retail Value $17.99 (On Amazon for $10.58)

Book Summary from Amazon:

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she’s determined not to get too close to anyone.

But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda’s terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it.

As soon as I started reading this book I couldn't put it down - I think I finished it in under 24 hours! It was really well-written, and I thought the author's choice to go back and forth between the present and the past was done perfectly, too. And confession, I don't usually read author notes, but I did this time and I thought that was important to this story, too.

And it came with a signed bookplate sticker:

 

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The New Guy (And Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding - Retail Value $17.99 (On Amazon for $12.28)

Book Summary from Amazon:

What's the only thing that could derail overachiever Jules's perfect senior year? Alex Powell--former member of boy-band sensation Chaos 4 All and newest transfer to Eagle Vista Academy.

Alex seems cool enough when he starts spending time with Jules. In fact, he turns out to be quite the romantic (not to mention a killer kisser). And after getting over the initial shock that someone like Alex might actually like like her, Jules accepts that having a boyfriend could be a nice addition to her packed schedule. That is, until Alex commits the ultimate betrayal, which threatens to ruin her high school career, and possibly her entire future.
This. Means. War.
I like that Book Riot also included a lighter contemporary romance book in this box. I got about halfway through the book, though, and realized I was skimming and not really invested in the characters.
When it comes to contemporary YA romance, I usually need lots of witty banter and slow burn romance - and I wasn't getting either of those from this book. (If you have any books you recommend that meet that criteria, let me know!!)
And this book also came with a signed bookmark:

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Our Secret Selves/The Walls Around Us Tote Bag - Value $20

This is a custom tote made for this box! And it is gorgeous! Really sturdy canvas, too.

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Boy Girl Party Bookish Buttons - Value $8

I love Boy Girl Party illustrations/designs - they are so cute! And a squirrel, koala and snail each reading a book is pretty great, too!

(Also, if you love subscription boxes, cats, and enamel pins, you have to see this.)

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From the Page Candle in Reading Nook -Value $3

I love when book boxes include candles - and I think this is my favorite scent, yet!

Verdict: This box has a value of about $54 (using Amazon discounted book prices). That doesn't factor in signed bookplates and bookmarks, so keep that in mind when deciding if the value is there for you.

I wasn't expecting a high value from Book Riot box, so I'm not disappointed in the value - but I think it is important to call out that you will get approximately or a little less than the value that you paid for the box.

That being said, obviously the curation of this box is impressive. I really loved every item in this box - I want Book Riot to do a YA box again ASAP!

What do you think of the YA Book Mail Box?

Starting at $60.00
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Book Riot previously had a subscription with Quarterly Co, but they now have their own regular "mystery box" called Book Mail!

"Get books and bookish items hand-picked by Book Riot, exclusive content from authors, and first crack at new items in the Book Riot Store. A new Book Mail box will be... read more.

Liz Cadman
Liz Cadman
Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

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10 comments

Katie

An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I read a lot, so I can’t recall if there was much banter, but it definitely has a slow to develop relationship and was a great book. I remember being very impressed and couldn’t put it down. Sequel comes out this month too.

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Rian

Book recommendations you say? *pulls up podium*

-Vampire Academy and the follow up Bloodlines (teen romance)(each 6 a piece)
-Daughter of Smoke and Bone (fantasy)(3)
-Let the Sky fall (romance technically)(3)
-Unearthly (3)

Working at a bookstore makes this way too hard to pick sometimes.

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Sue

Not a contemporary series, it’s sci-fi, but if you’re looking for witty banter and slow burn I 100% recommend the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. Still one of my favorite YA series ever.

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Liz Cadman

YES! I LOVE that series!! SO good! Any other suggestions? I like your taste! 😉

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Ricki

I believe they are doing the YA boxes every quarter – basically replacing the Quarterly sub with their own sub.

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Liz Cadman

That’s good to know – thank you, Ricki! 🙂

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Amy

Sorry this got posted twice!

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Amy

I know author Nova Ren Suma and would love to get one of those bags! Unfortunately, buying the whole box is not in the budget right now. If anyone would be willing to sell me their bag, please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks!

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kelly jensen

Curator of the box here ! The totes will be for sale by themselves in the Book Riot Store in the next month or so because there’s been such interest 🙂 store.bookriot.com <– keep an eye there.

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Amy

Awesome. Thanks!!