#very poor showing from owlcrate this month

[someonelookingpraediti]

OwlCrate Unboxing

Artistic Obsession March 2022

I am so, so disappointed with this box! This has absolutely decided that I'm not going to continue with OwlCrate - once my subscription is finished, I won't be re-subscribing.

The theme is "Artistic Obsession", which I was really looking forward to - I clearly should not have got my hopes up.

The book is "A Forgery of Roses" by Jessica S. Olson. The exclusive design is just... not good. The redesigned cover is very different from the original, but I can't decide which I like more.. However, the quality of the dust jacket is awful, it's a horrible sort of coated laminate paper. The interior dustjacket design is boring, almost not worth putting in. The foiling on the hardcover is very nice, but not detailed enough to work as a bare hardcover, so I can't just get rid of the dustjacket. The edges are sprayed solid red, but really badly - the paint has bled into the pages, and it looks like it's been damaged at the binding while the pages were being sprayed. There are no endpapers, not even solid colour, they're just blank. But the absolute worst part is that the dustjacket has been incorrectly wrapped, so the design is wonky! And because it's creased around the edges, it can't be re-folded without damaging it. I'm so unhappy with this, that I actually think it will be going in the bin.

The first item is an embroidery kit, inspired by "A Court of Thorns & Roses". This, much like the jigsaws they often do, is one of those items that might be something to occupy you for ten minutes, but once done would just probably get thrown away.

The next item is a face mask, inspired by "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I get the inspiration behind this - retaining youth, etc. I haven't used it yet so I don't know how nice it is, although I'm not thrilled that I have to mix it up from a powder myself? Honestly, this is one of my favourite books, so I was hoping for a more... permanent item? Something I could actually keep.

The book sleeve, inspired by "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" is actually quite nice. I haven't read this book, but the artwork is really good, although the quality of the finished product is not great.

We've also got a sticker sheet. These feature quotes from varying sources. Honestly, they're really f***ing ugly. I don't know why you'd bother printing these, if I'd doodled these I wouldn't even show them to anyone.

The last item is a photo album, inspired by "An Enchantment of Ravens". Although, they actually recommend you store art prints in it. Which I will not be doing. It's not a particularly interesting design, and the quality is absolutely terrible. It's very cheaply made.

This month's pin is based on "A Sorcery of Thorns", and actually it's the only good thing about this entire box. It's a little library inside a suitcase, and it's a lovely rose gold colour.

Other than the pin and maybe the book sleeve, this entire box will be getting thrown in the bin, I cannot express just how disappointing it was. And this is the first time ever that I won't be keeping a book I've received.

Also, OwlCrate sent an email out about their exclusive edition of Gallant. Apparently the printer has messed up the endpapers, so they just have the standard endpapers now. The artwork they were going to use is being made into art prints instead. Thankfully they offered to cancel the orders for anyone who wasn't happy with this, so that's what I've done. I don't really need another copy of this book, and I'm definitely not willing to spend that much money on a book that's only half customised. Also, I hate art prints.