Rainbow Book Box January Unboxing

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the January box. 

Rainbow Book Box is a new book subscription box that promotes diverse and own voices books and last November, I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive one of their trial boxes. They only chose a small number of people to try the boxes, so I was excited beyond words to get to receive one.

The deliveries were spread out, so that different bloggers received different boxes, and got to read different books. My box arrived in the middle of January and here’s the low-down on the goodies that were inside.

The box itself is simple in design, with a white exterior and RBB’s trademark logo on the front. I was pleased by the minimal packaging, because I’m conscious that we throw out far more waste into the environment than we recycle. Thankfully, the cardboard can be recycled and the inside tissue paper reused.

Within the box, there were a number of treats. The candle was the first thing I opened because I’m a sucker for scented objects, and this didn’t let me down. It smelled like parma violets. Which is to say, it smelled sugary, floral, and unique. I used to love parma violets as a child, but I’ve never found a candle scented of them before, so this created a great first impression for me. (If you don’t know what they are, have a look here.)

The next thing I spotted was the bookmark because it has Zoraida Cordova’s new book Bruja Born on the front. I’ve seen a lot of excitement for this novel on Twitter, so hopefully I’ll be able to use the bookmark in the book itself when I read it. Part of me did wonder if this was the book that was wrapped up in the centre of the box, but I knew RBB wouldn’t give it away that easily.

Also in the box was a pink bath bomb, which smells almost as good as the candle. I haven’t used the bath bomb yet, but it’s a pale-but-bright pink and smells really good, so I have a feeling it’s going to make the bath water a beautiful colour.

Alongside the bath bomb was a keyring in the shape of a camera, that says When life gets blurry, adjust your focus on it. Definitely adding that to my keys! The final things were the wrapped book and a scroll, sealed with a small Rainbow Book Box sticker. Not wanting to spoil the surprise of the book I opened that first.

It was…

Love, Hate & Other Filters!

I was thrilled that this was the mystery book, because I’ve been wanting to read this for a few months now, but hadn’t yet picked up a copy. RBB specialises in delivering diverse and own voices books to your door, so this one fits their mission perfectly. Love, Hate & Other Filters is written by Indian author, Samira Ahmed, and is about a teenage Muslim girl, Maya, who has to deal with racial prejudices and Islamophobia after a terrorist attack close to home.

The scroll of paper contained a Q&A with author Samira Ahmed about her writing process and experiences of discrimination growing up. This was a really insightful read, and I’m glad RBB included it with the book rather than just a press release.

This box had the perfect mix of functional gifts and an exciting book. Their colour themes were spot on and the book came beautifully wrapped. My only worry would be how this box would hold up under the rain if left outside when delivered, but the cardboard seemed pretty sturdy so I don’t think it’d be too much of a problem. I’m thrilled with Love, Hate & Other Filters as the choice of book for this month’s box, and so far it’s definitely living up to my expectations.

Rainbow Book Box are doing a great job of promoting books by BAME, LGBT+ and disabled authors, and I’d definitely recommend them if you want to read more diverse YA but aren’t sure where to start.

You can find more information on their website, and the March box will be available to pre-order from February 22nd.