Unboxing | Once Upon a Book Club

I was so thrilled when Once Upon a Book Club reached out to me asking if they could send me their Castle of the Evil Eye box for review. Within These Wicked Walls has been on my TBR since it came out, but I am not sure when I would have gotten to it. What I love about Once Upon a Book Club is that the nature of the box makes me want to drop everything and read the book right away so I can open the gifts as I read along. That is what I did when this book arrived on my doorstep!

I have a code for 10% off your order. It is kraves10 and I will receive a $5 commission to buy anything from the website when you use that code. This allows me to buy more of these boxes and review them for you! Click here if you are interested in checking out this box!

The attention to detail in these boxes is something I really appreciate! I love that the wrapping matches and it is so well thought out.

The Book

What the heart desires, the house destroys…

Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.

I think I knew at some point that Within These Wicked Walls was inspired by Jane Eyre, but I had somehow forgotten! It was such a nice surprise to pick up on the similarities as I was reading. I loved all the nods to the original text, but Lauren Blackwood took this story in new and interesting directions. I adored Andromeda as the main character. I thought her magic was compelling and the setting was perfect. It definitely had that Gothic feel! I was not prepared for how creepy this book would be. I was not as invested in the romance as I would have liked, but that did not take away from my overall enjoyment. I think this book is incredibly underrated and I am so glad that Once Upon a Book Club motivated me to get to it!

The Gifts

The first gift was this gorgeous edition of Jane Eyre! I was shocked when I opened this. I think it is the best item I have ever received in a book box. I love the design and knowing that I can only get this edition from Once Upon a Book Club. I also received their advent calendar last year and one of the gifts was a Christmas ornament with this book cover design. I love that it matches! I am slowly collecting gorgeous editions of Jane Eyre, and I will proudly put this book in the stack.

Look at this! The second gift was a blanket with the Jane Eyre cover design on it! I am in love with this blanket. It is such great quality and a decent size. I have been showing this blanket to everyone because I am just so impressed with it.

The third and last gift is a little underwhelming when compared to the first two, but this travelling sewing set is handy and not something that I have. It is pretty clever in the context of the story itself. Andromeda makes amulets using thread, so you can imagine that this is what she would use, which is fun!

I always enjoy the print and matching bookmark that comes in these boxes. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book, so I am happy to have these. It says, “Knowing him was like encountering the beauty of a snake, feared and misunderstood by no fault of his own.”

So that is it! I will be posting a reading vlog for Within These Wicked Walls within the next couple of weeks, so look out for that on my channel.

If you are interested in this box, or anything else that Once Upon a Book Club has on their website, remember that you can get 10% off with my code kraves10.

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