A Compendium Of Curiosities

This is the OwlCrate October 2025 YA box. This box has items in it inspired by Howl's Moving Castle, The Honey Witch, The Spellshop, The Starless Sea, and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries These books have been added to my TBR if they weren't already there.

As the weather gets cooler, wrap yourself up with our scarf inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle! Featuring an adorable pattern, this item is adorably designed by Janine Lecour (@janinelecour).

This next item is perfect for storing and carrying around small items. It’s not just a cosmetic bag, but a pouch that can be utilized for many purposes! The design is beautifully designed by Cade Roach (@heyatlascreative) and inspired by The Honey Witch!

Get your ducks in order on your next grocery run with our notepad! Inspired by The Spellshop, this notepad is the cutest item to accompany your grocery trips and is designed by Gretchen Cobaugh (@lichen_and_limestone).

Our decorative plate inspired by The Starless Sea will bring the magic of brave, bold, and loud into your home. Featuring a stunning design perfect for display by Julie Reinhart (@julie.reinhart_), this plate is also usable and will be microwave and dishwasher safe!

This month features the tenth pin in our Enchanted Elixirs collection! Each month’s box includes a pin featuring magical elements from fantastical worlds, all tucked away in a bottle—designed by Layla Ashtar (@layla_ashtar_shrine)!

Our tenth pin in the collection features Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, where you may wish to know the unknowable.

The October book, A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford, features rare magic, secrets, and treasure of all kinds. In A Curious Kind of Magic, Willow is the charlatan of Ardmuir, running her late father’s curiosities shoppe, which hasn’t sold anything magical in years and is hanging on by a thread. 

Brianna then enters one day and is able to turn the fake items into real magic, and she is harboring a secret of her own: a curse where everything she touches turns to magic. They make a deal that could save them both, and with the handsome printer’s assistant Finlay, they embark on an ambitious quest and uncover a plot that goes deeper than they could have ever imagined. 

This signed edition features a stunning redesigned cover by @julie.reinhart_ and stenciled edges by @julie.reinhart_. Turn over the cover for the reversible with gorgeous artwork by @anta_arf. On the hardback, we have a foil hardcover case design by @heyatlascreative. Inside, you’ll find gorgeous end pages done by @talitasami. Finally, an author letter and bonus content from Mara Rutherford have been bound into the book for subscribers!

Overall, the October 2025 YA Box, A Compendium of Curiosities, items were good. I was delighted with each of the items and the thought that was put into them. My favorite item this month was the notepad, as I love the quote!

November's theme is Ghostly Illusions, and the book has a witch who lives a life of fraud, maintaining a family business of selling bogus spells and conducting tours of an infamous mansion with a murderous past. Our witch is then offered a large sum of money by the mansion’s heir in exchange for getting rid of his ancestor’s ghost, and how can she refuse? But murder finds them again, and she finds herself in the middle of an investigation to solve it while keeping up her illusions, and trusting her heart in the process, even if it desires the possible murderer himself.

I hope you all enjoyed this review of the October 2025 OwlCrate YA box. I'm excited to read A Curious Kind of Magic, and am excited to use all of my themed items, some as decorations on my shelves!