Allurial Review: My Honest Experience After 3 Months of This New Romantasy Book Box
For the past year, I've been a subscriber for at least one book box. I see book boxes as a small way to treat myself and find something new to read.
I've tried Book of the Month and Aardvark. I cancelled Aardvark after a few months and I haven't been loving Book of the Month's picks. BOTM has like 5 or 6 picks a month, all different genres, but I only ever picked a book if there was a fantasy pick or maybe a young adult selection. In fact, I pretty much exclusively read Fantasy Romance and Romantasy and could never get off the waitlist for more popular boxes like FairyLoot.
One day, Allurial popped up on my Instagram feed. It's marketed as a fantasy romance and romantasy specific book box owned by Book of the Month.
I knew I had to try it out and I've been subscribed for the past 3 months. Here's my completely honest review.
(Disclaimer: None of the links in this review are affiliate links and I pay for the subscription with my own money.)
What is Allurial?
Allurial is Book of the Month's answer to the romantasy craze that's taken over BookTok and Instagram. Launched in July 2025, it's specifically designed for readers like me who are tired of sifting through general fiction to find the fantasy romance gems.
The concept is simple: every month, Allurial offers three new romantasy releases as limited edition books with exclusive covers and sprayed edges. You pick one, skip, or add additional books to your order. Unlike other subscription boxes that operate quarterly or have massive waitlists, Allurial is monthly and (so far) readily available.
The Details: Pricing and How It Works
As of the writing of this post, the price per book is $26.99 and add-ons are $19.99. That's quite a bit higher than Book of the Month's current prices at $16.99 and $11.99 for add-ons. Allurial's main selling point besides being new releases is that these books are somewhat special editions with exclusive sprayed edges.
They are always running promos for your first box, which is how they got me to try it in the first place.
The subscription works on a token system. Each month before the 6th, you log in and either choose your book, skip the month, or let it auto-renew (which I don't recommend). If you skip, your token rolls over to the next month and you're not charged. Tokens expire after 12 months for active subscriptions or 60 days if you cancel.
So far, they've offered three new releases a month. Subscribers are also able to add previous month's books as add-ons if they are still in stock. Allurial hopes to expand to offering more add-ons in the future.
One thing I've noticed is how quickly some titles sell out. The popular picks from each month tend to go within the first few days, so if you're picky about your selection, don't wait until the 5th to choose.
Book Quality and Appearance
Book of the Month had no shortage of complaints about the quality of their sprayed edges, so as Allurial is owned by the same company, I wasn't sure what to expect. But the books I've gotten so far are beautiful. Of course the colors aren't as saturated in real life as the photos, but that's to be expected with any book photography.
I've somehow avoided the sprayed edge trend until now, and while Allurial's books are undeniably gorgeous, I'd happily trade the sprayed edges to get a lower price point. I only have so much room on my bookshelves and the edges are almost never on display anyway.
Now you must be wondering: is there an Allurial logo on the book? And the answer is yes, in quite a few more places than I expected, actually. It's on the dust jacket twice and on the book itself three times.
From what I understand, OwlCrate and FairyLoot are only a couple dollars more but they don't have their logos on the books themselves. I usually don't mind book box logos, but having the logo appear five times between the book and the jacket feels particularly intrusive. It's definitely more branding than I'd prefer on books I'm keeping in my personal collection.
The Picks: Where Allurial Really Shines
This is highly subjective, but their picks have been my exact taste in books. I don't care how pretty a book is—if I don't love it, it's not worth the space on my bookshelf. Maybe it's a honeymoon period, but I've found some real gems, including what might be my new favorite book.
Month 1: July 2025 Book Choices
I chose A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan. All of these were releases that were published in July, so they felt fresh and new to the market.
A Dance of Lies
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy
A Forbidden Alchemy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Forbidden Alchemy completely blew me away. It hit all my favorite tropes—enemies to lovers, alchemy magic system, morally gray characters—and the chemistry between the main characters was chef's kiss. You can read my full review here.
Month 2: August 2025 Book Choices
All books chosen for August were published in early July, which meant that by the time these went live on Allurial, I'd already heard all the hype about them and read some of them. This was fine with me as it was nice to get a special edition of a book I enjoyed and wanted a physical copy of, but I prefer book boxes to help me discover books that haven't already made their rounds on the book influencer circuit.
In the Veins of Drowning
Arcana Academy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wrath of the Dragons
Wrath of the Dragons was an odd choice as it's the second book in the Fear the Flames series by Olivia Rose Darling, and Allurial didn't offer the first book as an add-on. I haven't read Fear the Flames, so that meant I really only had 2 choices for the month.
In full transparency, I read Arcana Academy before I knew it was an Allurial pick. I loved it so much that I wanted a physical copy anyway, so getting the special edition felt like a bonus. You can read my full review of Arcana Academy here.
Month 3: September 2025 Book Choices
This month felt like they really hit their stride with the selections. All three books were appealing to me, which made choosing actually difficult for once. I chose Wild Reverence, but really wish I picked Song of the Hell Witch too.
Wild Reverence
Song of the Hell Witch
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards
How Allurial Compares to Other Boxes
Having tried various subscriptions, here's how I’d compare Allurial:
vs. Book of the Month: BOTM is cheaper and offers more variety, but if you're a dedicated romantasy reader like me, you'll skip most months. Allurial guarantees three romantasy options every single month.
vs. FairyLoot: FairyLoot is quarterly, often has waitlists, and costs around $30+ per book, but their books are signed and don't have logo overload. If you can get a subscription and don't mind waiting 3 months between books, FairyLoot might be worth the extra cost.
vs. Aardvark: Same deal as BOTM. There was more variety and they had really cool, edgier picks than other book boxes I've tried, but not enough romantasy for me.
Who Should Subscribe to Allurial?
You'll love Allurial if:
You read primarily romantasy and fantasy romance
You want monthly selections instead of quarterly surprises
You appreciate special editions but don't need signed copies
You trust BOTM's curation and reliability
You don't mind paying higher prices for exclusive editions
Skip Allurial if:
You're budget-conscious
You prefer discovering books organically rather than through curation
Logo placement on books bothers you significantly
You're outside the US (currently US-only)
You want signed copies from authors
My Final Verdict
After three months, I'm staying subscribed to Allurial. Yes, it's more expensive than I'd ideally like to pay, but I find that a hardcover book from Barnes & Nobles these days is around $33 anyways. The curation has been spot-on for my taste and I’ve really enjoyed how beautiful the books look. It’s a small way to treat myself every single month.
The real test will be whether they can maintain this level of selection quality as they grow. Right now, it feels like they're cherry-picking the best new romantasy releases each month, which works perfectly for readers like me who live and breathe this genre.
If you're on the fence, I'd recommend trying the first box for $9.99. That's low enough risk to see if their curation style matches your reading preferences. Just remember you can always skip months if the selections don't appeal to you. Knowing I have the flexibility to skip at any time is one of the reasons I stay subscribed Allurial.