How Novel Reviews 

Received my first HowNovel book today in the post and I was blown away. The packaging is so thoughtful and personalised, and the book choice is fab! Will definitely keep my subscription going and also recommend to friends and family 🌟

Very fun service providing you with mystery books picked and wrapped with loving attention to detail and very attentive customer service.

Team are amazing, great response times and always available to help. The selection given is great also, something for everyone.

I love my How Novel subscription. The mystery books have helped me to widen my reading - I really would recommend!

Fantastic gift with a lovely handwritten note. We are excited to see how we chose this month's books. It's a really nice and different experience for an enthusiastic reader.

Gave a subscription as a gift. It was very well received and looking forward to the first book. I experienced excellent customer service both while purchasing and after.

Very expensive for what it is - I don't expect every book to be a hit. But a poorly printed flimsy paperback, a thin bookmark and a lacklustre note from my "pen pal" shouldn't cost £12.99 per month. Definitely better subscription boxes out there that offer good books and a more enjoyable experience.

Really great idea, beautifully executed!

Really enjoy my mystery books that I have been reading, it's worth every second those books. great selection of author, genre and diverse !

I started my subscription as a little treat to myself during lockdown but I’ve kept it up beyond. Just love choosing the book each month and the surprise when it arrives. I’m very rarely disappointed with the choice - including books from the bestseller lists - and it’s very good value. Thank you!

I love the concept of How Novel- not just a book subscription but also a penpal! and you get to pick your book from their wonderful designs- still a mystery but you've picked what you think might appeal to you. I've loved three of my books and the fourth I would not choose, nor ever read again but I got to read something I would never have chosen from a bookshop! I love my penpal letters and the packaging, and actaully everything about How Novel! It's mad a great gift for my mother as well- we've not yet picked the same book!

I look at a lot of book clubs and was drawn to how novel.
It’s brilliantly thought out, fun and exciting. I love being able to choose a book based on key words but without fully knowing about it until it’s delivered. A brilliant concept

Such a great idea to help finding books you might never would otherwise! The packaging of the books is so beautiful. Had a slight delay with my first order, customer service was super quick to look into it. Got the subscription as a gift but I might consider signing up when it’s finished.

I look forward to my new mysterious book every month as well as my ongoing chat with my hownovel penpal. I love how it allows you to read books that may have been out of your normal reading comfort zone!

Look forward to my book every month. There's always a wide variety of choices, they arrive very nicely packaged and with a letter from your penpal!

It's gotten me reading again and helped me to broaden my horizons. Even if I haven't loved the book, I've learnt more about my own tastes. But so far the majority of books I've received have been great.

Great choice of books, love the mystery element and have received some books that I wouldn't have chosen myself. Really enjoy the pen pal side too, it's nice to have a little postcard to read makes the service feel so personal

I absolutely love this subscription box. The books are great and I love receiving the little note from my penpal each month.

Everyone that I’ve ever spoken to from How Novel have been amazing and friendly. My penpal Ben is the best and remembers so many things that we’ve spoken about in the past. I always look forward to receiving my subscription box every month!

My brother bought me a subscription for Christmas last year and it has kept me going through my maternity leave with such a wide variety of titles all of which have been really great. Added to that the friendly How Novel team are really helpful.

Mystery books have been done before, so every organisation has to come up with some kind of twist in order to stand out. The twist in this case is the opportunity to correspond with a 'pen pal' to exchange views on the books received. When it works, it works well. However, I had to chase my 'pen pal' twice before finally getting a reply to my note. Of course it's the books themselves that are most important. My first two were recent novels, one of which I loved. The other was quite good, but less to my taste. So, a good success rate considering you choose on the basis of themes. However the third book in my gift subscription felt like a rip-off. I'm not now talking about personal preference. The book was an example of the worst kind of writing, and didn't seem to have been properly published. It was published by some digital outfit which had then done some kind of print run, the kind that accept any books. Not traditional publishing. It read like the worst of Mills and Boon, with laughably simple language. While you can't expect to like every book (that's where the fun of the mystery lies) there nevertheless has to be a certain standard of writing.