Bookishly Tea and Book Club Review

I recently subscribed to the Bookishly's Tea and Book Club subscription box -- though mine is actually coffee instead of tea. According to their website and the CrateJoy page, they will send you either ground coffee or 4 luxury tea bags along with a vintage book each month. The price comes out to be just under $15 a month. Shipping from the UK, it took quite awhile for me to receive my first package. So long, in fact, that I had already paid for the second one before I got the first one in the mail.

I was very excited when I finally got the package, but a little worried when I found that the outer packing was sealed shut with what looks like Scotch tape. Upon opening it, I found the book was wrapped in a map style wrapping paper. I thought it was a cute touch and kept the book even more of a mystery. I carefully unwrapped the book and was unfortunately quite disappointed. Inside was a copy of William Faulkner's Sanctuary from 1953. I'm not bothered by the book choice itself, but rather the condition of the book. I feel like I paid $15 for coffee and a book that had coffee spilled on it. The book is badly stained and has some tears to it.

The coffee came in plain packaging, nothing too exciting. The one I got is called El Salvador Gilbert Baraona. I had a chance to test it out. It's not very strong but does have a pleasant taste. I wouldn't recommend drinking it to wake up in the morning.

After a little research, I found the book isn't worth more than $5, likely less because of its condition. The coffee is normally sold for a little under $10. Overall, there's not much value for your money, at least not for me this month. I'm really hoping that the next one I get will make up for this one.

Contract: Snatch Review

Contract: Snatch

Currently Available on Amazon for Free or $11.99 for paperback.

Contract: Snatch has a rather compelling storyline. Sei is an almost retired assassin living in seclusion in Belgium. After a few tragic things took place, she took some time off to really reevaluate her life and her career. An old friend comes to visit her and convinces her to at least consider going back to work. To appease him, she gives it a shot, but the contract she gets offered is quite out of the ordinary and leads Sei on quite the journey.

The characters aren't anything incredibly unique, but the ones that do matter are likable. I do particularly enjoy that the main character is a tough and fully capable woman. The writing is also nothing overly sophisticated, but it is enjoyable. It gives more of a casual reading feel to the book.

It's a rather quick read and the chapters, for the most part, are short. It definitely gives the illusion that you've read a lot more than you have. I feel it's a pro for anyone that doesn't have a lot of time to read. You can knock out a few chapters in 15 minutes or so and not leave off in the middle of something. That is unless you're ending on one of the cliffhanger chapters. You might just have to read through the next couple to see what happens.

Some of the plot was rather predictable, but that's to be expected. The story is full of Murphy’s Law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. There are quite a few things that I wish would have been expanded on, and I'm not quite sure why they weren't.

Snatched is the first in this series and I am curious to see the rest of Sei’s journey. Honestly, this novel ended before I would have liked. I have a lot of questions and will likely finish the series to get my answers.

Overall, I did enjoy Contract: Snatch. If you're just looking for a quick and easy read, I would recommend it.

Welcome to Reading Away Reality Reviews!

Hey, and welcome to Reading Away Reality Reviews!

Since this is our first post, I'd like to take a moment to explain what you'll find here. The main focus will be on ebook reviews. You know all those cheap ebooks on Amazon? I'm talking about the ones that are $5.99 and under. A lot of them are perpetually on sale. There's a lot to go through and we're going to try to make the process of finding a gem just a little bit easier.

Our second focus will be on anything else book related. Like book subscription boxes and book clubs.

If there's anything else out there that you would like to see us review, leave a comment and we'll give it our best shot!

Happy reading!