Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. It contains spoilers for The East Wind by Alexandria Warwick, as well as for the surprise gifts in Once Upon a Book Club’s Romantasy Box.
First Impressions
The East Wind is the final installment in Alexandria Warwick’s romantasy series, so I had to stay consistent and buy the Once Upon a Book Club edition. I’m excited to see how this last one compares to the past three book boxes!
What Is the Romantasy Book Box?
For anyone unfamiliar with Once Upon a Book Club, here’s how it works: each box includes a featured book plus four wrapped gifts. Every gift is labeled with a page number. When you reach that page, you open the corresponding gift. Each one is designed to match the story, creating a unique immersive reading experience.
In the past, I’ve been mostly happy with the boxes, although the last box honestly was a bit disappointing with the quality of the gifts. At $80 per box, it’s definitely an investment, so I’m curious to see if the surprises inside this one will feel worth it. For some readers, the limited edition book alone justifies the cost, but I’m looking for a balance of both story and keepsakes.
The East Wind Romantasy Box
Here’s a look at the book and the four mystery gifts, still wrapped and waiting for me to dive in:
For each gift, I’ll share:
- The page number where the gift appears
- My first impressions of the gift
- How well it ties into the scene in the book
- Whether it feels like something I’ll keep or pass along
Reader Thoughts
I’d love to hear from you:
- Have you ever tried a Once Upon a Book Club box?
- Do you think the $80 price tag is worth it for a limited edition book and themed gifts?
- Which gift do you think will surprise me the most?
Drop your thoughts in the comments!
Gift 1: Page 91
Scene Recap (spoiler warning!)
For this scene, the East Wind, Eurus, is taking Min away from her home so she can concoct a poison for him to use. In a bid to stay at home, she hands him her nan’s manual for herbal remedies so that he could make the poison himself.
The Gift
The gift is a lined journal with “The Practice of Herbal Remedies” on the cover.
First Impressions
- This goes perfectly with the story
- The journal feels very high quality
Does It Match the Story?
I thought this was perfect for the story! I knew it was some kind of book to go with the scene based on the shape of the box. I thought it would be an actual herbal remedies manual, but a lined journal is also nice. Also, this is very high quality.
Final Thoughts on This Gift
I will be keeping this journal! I just have to figure out what I’ll write in it since it does have the title “The Practice of Herbal Remedies” on the cover.
Gift 2: Page 157
Scene Recap (spoiler warning!)
Min is dreaming she is at home in the tower and hears screaming. She wakes up to find that she is in the City of Gods, but the screaming continues. She realizes it is Eurus having a nightmare and wraps her blanket around her to go check on him.
The Gift
The gift is a blanket with the compass emblem for the series.
First Impressions
- Again, this is a very high quality product
- Perfect for a lap blanket while reading
Does It Match the Story?
This was spot-on for the scene and once again made me excited to open the gift! I thought it was a blanket of some kind because of the shape of the package, but I also thought maybe that would be too much of a gift for a box like this, so thought maybe it would be more of a shawl, but I’m glad it’s a blanket!
Final Thoughts on This Gift
I am absolutely keeping this gift, and it will live on my reading couch in the loft. It feels like for this box, since it’s the last book in the series, they’re going all-out for the gifts, and I’m here for it.
Gift 3: Page 158
Scene Recap (spoiler warning!)
Min finds that Eurus is having a nightmare and she runs to her room to grab her smelling salts to wake him up.
The Gift
The gift is lemon and sage bath salts.
First Impressions
- It feels a bit out of place with the scene
- I love the wooden container
- The lemon and sage scent smells okay. It’s a bit of an odd combination to me
Does It Match the Story?
It doesn’t really match the story much since she grabs smelling salts, and these are bath salts. Also, it never says the scent in the book, so it’s a bit odd. Once I read more of the story, I actually think this should’ve been opened on page 316 when he gets out of the bath and she specifically notes his scent then as lemon and sage. I’m not sure why it was opened so early when it should’ve been for that scene later.
Final Thoughts on This Gift
I don’t take baths, I exclusively do showers, so I will be gifting the bath salts part of this gift to someone. However, I love the wooden container, so I’ll be keeping that!
Gift 4: Page 363
Scene Recap (spoiler warning!)
When Eurus is taken by Lady Clarisse and Prince Balior, Min is locked into the tower’s northern room where Eurus used to be kept. She finds the key she had used to let Eurus out in the beginning of the story, so she can free herself from the tower’s room.
The Gift
The gift is a key necklace.
First Impressions
- The necklace feels like it’s decent quality
- This does feel like the cheapest thing in the box, but overall everything has been really good quality
Does It Match the Story?
I think this matches well with the story while still giving readers something they can actually use, instead of it just being a key.
Final Thoughts on This Gift
The chain is quite long for this necklace. I don’t think I’ll use it in my daily life, but I might use it for my Renn Faire outfit, so I think I’ll keep it for now.
Conclusion
In the end, I think this is the most impressive box I’ve gotten from Once Upon a Book Club. It seemed like all the gifts were much higher quality than some of the past boxes I’ve tried. I think this is because it was the last book in the series, and Once Upon a Book Club has done a box for each book, so they had to pull out all the stops on this last one.
The only thing they missed with this box was that the bath salts should’ve been opened later in the book. I’ve never had a gift with this company where this has happened before, so it’s a bit odd, but can’t complain too much.
Overall, opening the gifts to me adds excitement to the story, and it also encourages me to read the book sooner than if I just bought the book on its own. Plus, the limited-edition book is worth the price of the box to me, so any of the gifts I end up keeping is a bonus.
Check out my full book review for The East Wind
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