PageHabit is a book subscription box that sends a title in the genre of your choice with annotations from the author, a bookmark, and other book-related goods. Choose between the monthly genres: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Horror, or Historical Fiction, and quarterly genres: Literary Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, or Cookbook.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
This review is of the PageHabit Horror genre, $29.99 a month, box.
About PageHabit
The Subscription Box: PageHabit
The Cost: $29.99 a month + shipping
The Products: 1 hardback book annotated with notes by the author, a bookmark, a blank notebook, a letter from the author, and a book light.
Ships to: the US for $4.99, Canada for $14.99, and Everywhere else in the world for $19.99, plus any local taxes that may be applied.
PageHabit April 2018 Horror Genre Review
Each PageHabit purchase goes to supporting children’s literacy across the world, and for April, PageHabit is working with Books for Africa to donate books to the Burundi community in Africa. The card gave some information on the resources for the region, while the opposite side of the card shows you every book chosen for April in all the genres they offer.
Each PageHabit box has a letter from the author, which makes these boxes extra special. This month’s letter from author is part letter, part illustration from author Josh Malerman, and is a sort of welcome and introduction to Unbury Carol.
PageHabit Bookmark
These boxes always include a bookmark, and this month boasts a quote about reading from Victor Hugo. I love the illustration style on this!
Poems
I’m used to the PageHabit box arriving with a short story, but this month they’ve mixed things up a bit! Instead, I received two poems, and I enjoyed the change from what I’ve come to expect from this box.
Books Socks - Estimated Value $10.00 (based on similar product)
I’m always happy to see socks in a subscription box, and I like these secret-geeky ones! I have a ton of black in my wardrobe, so this black-and-white pair will fit seamlessly in my regular sock rotation once the weather gets cold.
Cat in the Box Eraser and Pencil - Buy a 4-pack for $11.99 here
I relate to this pencil so strongly; if there is a box absolutely anywhere near my cat, I will find her in it! This pencil is so cute and its details are absolutely spot-on - the little box even has contents markings. I received a black kitty with purple eyes, and it’s super-cute (in a really funny coincidence, a cat with these markings is a character in one of my favorite book series from the ‘80’s).
Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman - Retail Value $27 (found here for $15.55)
My second American author in this subscription has multiple Stoker award nominations under his belt! This book was released on April 10th, 2018, and is 384 pages long. Summary from Amazon:
Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times . . . but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days.
Only two people know of Carol’s eerie condition. One is her husband, Dwight, who married Carol for her fortune, and—when she lapses into another coma—plots to seize it by proclaiming her dead and quickly burying her . . . alive. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. When word of Carol’s dreadful fate reaches him, Moxie rides the Trail again to save his beloved from an early, unnatural grave.
And all the while, awake and aware, Carol fights to free herself from the crippling darkness that binds her—summoning her own fierce will to survive. As the players in this drama of life and death fight to decide her fate, Carol must in the end battle to save herself.
This book is different from a lot of the other books I’ve read from this subscription because this takes place in the Old West! I’ve become accustomed to stories set either in the present day or not-so-distant future that this was the first thing I really noticed about the story and what sets it apart from things that I’ve been reading lately. It’s crazy to think about what life was like back then - a telegram was the major modern form of communication in those days! This has a lot of atmospheric elements that also help the reader truly visualize the story; the author mentions clothing of the era, different modes of travel, etc, that were transportative and offered a fleshed-out backdrop. The writing was an easily digestible third person, past-tense, which did rotate around to give the perspectives of different characters but didn’t break from the writing format.
Although the characters aren’t life-changing renditions of the human condition, they fill their roles nicely and the book is an enjoyable, easy-going read. Considering it’s a horror book, I personally didn’t find it to be that scary when it could have actually been quite frightening - Carol’s condition is terrifying, and I didn’t think we saw enough of her character and what she had to endure. If there had been more of a focus on what she was experiencing, I think the book could’ve had a stronger horror factor - though I definitely think the book had a fantastic, original premise.
Verdict: There was a lot this month that was a nice change of pace from what I’ve received from PageHabit in the past. If I’m being totally honest, I was a tiny bit let down by the items this month, but I loved receiving poems for a change, and I’ll definitely get use out the socks. I really liked how different this book was from other books I’ve gotten from these boxes in the past - having a horror-Western to read really mixed things up, and while this book was mayhaps a tiny bit predictable, it was so enjoyable to lie in my backyard and read it!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Sadly, no. You will receive the July box!
Value Breakdown: This box cost me $29.99 + $4.99 shipping, which means that each of the 4 items (not including the author’s letter and paper bookmark) in the box has an average cost of $8.75.
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