Book of the Month Subscription Review + Coupon – January 2017

Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription box. Each month, 5 curators pick out their favorite new hardcover books, and you can choose which one you want to receive on the first of the month. You can also add up to 2 additional books for only $9.99 each.

We were sent this box for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

Check out all of our reviews of Book Subscription Boxes for more options, too!

The Subscription Box: Book of the Month

The Cost: $16.99 a month (less with 3 and 12 month subscriptions)

Or use this link to save 30% off a 3-month subscription of Book of the Month plus get a free tote!

The Product: Subscribers get to pick from a selection of hardcover books each month. Skip any month you aren’t interested in. Add up to two additional books for $9.99.

Ships to: US Only

Check out all of my Book of the Month reviews!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wish list!

For January, subscribers picked from the following 5 books:

I’m reviewing Lucky You. FYI – you can still get this book or any of the other January selections for your first month if you sign up by the 21st.

Lucky You by Erika Carter – Retail Value $26 (On Amazon for $17.10)

Book Summary from Amazon:

In Erika Carter’s fierce and darkly funny debut novel, Lucky You, three women in their early twenties find themselves aimlessly adrift in the Arkansas college town they’ve stuck around in too long. Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel are friends (sort of), waitresses at the same dive bar. Each is becoming unmoored in her own way: Ellie obliterates all feeling with alcohol and self-destructive acts of sexual promiscuity; Chloe pulls out patches of her hair and struggles to keep incipient mental illness at bay; changeable Rachel has fallen under the sway of a messianic boyfriend with whom she’s agreed to live off-grid for a year in order to return to “health”, and she asks Ellie and Chloe to join them in “The Project.” In a remote, rural house in the Ozarks, nearly undone by boredom and the brewing tension between them, each tries to solve the conundrum of being alive.

By turns funny, knowing and hauntingly sad, Lucky You is a study in damage and detachment, a fearless portrait of three women at a crucial point in their lives. With startling exactitude and wickedly deadpan humor, it lays bare the emotional core of its characters with surgical precision. The writing is deft and controlled, as natural and unforced as breath–which makes it impossible to look away.

First, I have to say that I LOVE that Book of the Month subscribers get this book months before it is released! (Official release date: March 14th, 2017.)

I’m a few chapters in, and so far I’ve only read chapters from Ellie and Chloe’s perspective, but the writing is well done, and I got to page 81 without taking a break or checking the time! This is one of those books where I don’t find the characters likable (at least yet), so I’m not sure if I’ll stay engaged to the end, but as of right now I’m intrigued and ready to get a glimpse of Rachel’s story.

This book came with a bookmark from the judge, Rachel Syme, on why she picked this book:

And the opposite side of the bookmark:

And there’s an awesome bonus in all January Book of the Month boxes!

A special extra book!

A short story from Gillian Flynn:

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

I love Gillian Flynn’s books, so I was excited about this bonus short story, and I read it in one sitting. I was a little worried it was going to turn into a supernatural story (which is a genre I AVOID at all costs), but I pushed through and was glad I did!

Verdict:  I’m very pleased with the value of my Book of the Month subscription. The prices are better than Amazon for new hardcover releases, and they always feature a good mix of popular new books. And I love that you can skip any month you aren’t interested in, and you can also buy books from previous months as add-ons for $9.99.

What do you think of the Book of the Month subscription? Which book (or books) did you pick this month?

FYI – you can still get this book or any of the other January selections for your first month if you sign up by the 21st. Use this link to get your first month for only $5!

Or use this link to save 30% off a 3-month subscription of Book of the Month plus get a free tote!