Book of the MonthReviews of bookofthemonth.com

I've been a BOTM member since 2016. And up to this year, I've absolutely loved it. But recently, I've had nothing but bad experiences. Over the last couple of months, I've received multiple damaged books. By that I mean everything from torn covers to books missing entire pages. I've tried to be flexible because I understand BOTM offers cheaper options (though surely, the books should at least come fully intact). This month, however, my books didn't ship until mid-September. I assumed I would have them by at least the 22nd (It's called Book of the Month after all not Book of Next Month). Alas, that was too optimistic. We ended up moving to a new house and leaving a forwarding address. That address worked for Aardvark and every other package we receive, but it seems BOTM's package got sent right back to their team. Which again, okay. It's fine. I just want them to send it to my new address. But here's the problem. It has become absolutely impossible to reach this customer service team. I've sent multiple emails in the last week. They told me I should expect to hear from them in three business days. Nope. No response to follow up emails either. So right now, I've spent over $70 on books including a renewal fee. I have no books. No response from customer service. And no path forward on how to remedy the situation. I'm posting here in the hopes that someone will respond to my numerous emails and actually get the books that I paid for to me (or at least give me my money back).

Not a great selection of books, their marketing is misleading, no-one calls back if you send a message it’s all automated. Lost $$ trying to cancel. Will not order books through them again. UPDATE: An actual person finally emailed me back saying they confirmed canceling my subscription and will refund me the $19.25. I hope to see that refund in the next few days. I wish the site promoting products could be less ambiguous.

Honestly, my books never ship on time and they’re always delayed. Most often the choices aren’t great and I skip a month here and there.

The monthly selections are usually great. Lately they've been pretty disappointing. I've been a member for quite a number of years and I wish we were able to pick ANY book we want if we choose to skip a month (not just a member fave because I usually have all of them or the genre available isn't my taste in books.) It's a great service and a good price but I wish we had more control over our picks. Several times I've considered canceling my subscription and just buying elsewhere because I know I'm can get exactly what I want and I'm not forced to skip or read something I know I won't be interested in.

I have been somewhat a happy customer for a little bit. I don’t always like the choices but obviously that’s a personal opinion. My issue with the company is the free gifts!! of course everybody wants a free gift when you splash it all over Facebook and Instagram. and the company was running a free baseball hat when you enroll however I noticed that members that have been subscribed for years also got the hat. I was confused by this so I contacted customer service. I really wasn’t told anything except they sent a link to purchase the hat for 14.99 I was really curious why some people got it for free & why some people didn’t get it for free and some people had to sign up with a new subscription?!?!! so I splashed my question on Facebook and Instagram and finally got a response. I was then told FINALLY the hat was only for new members, and then there was another hat that was sent out for members that completed some goals. I was told very sternly explained and was basically called a liar About people receiving the hat that weren’t new members. I don’t know. It’s all very confusing and it doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t feel that the handful of people I spoke to were lying about receiving a hat. that’s just silly to lie about something like that but according to book of the month, they are lying, so with that said, I just put my membership on pause for right now and probably just gonna continue with a cancellation because I just don’t like the vibe of it. If you’re gonna send something out to members, it should be to all the members or you should have a clause on why some were chosen to receive something and some were not chosen to receive something and I don’t wanna hear the excuse that the hat was just for new subscriptions because go look on Instagram there are books Instagram accounts promoting that they got the hat when they have been a subscriber for years so naturally, I’m like I want the hat too please or at least give me a logical explanation on why. And this isn’t just the first incident like this. This has happened before with their gifts and now I just want to speak out and say something because I put the same amount of money into my account like everyone else so why do they get free stuff and I don’t? And honestly, all this over a hat.? Eek… better to just go my separate way then, sad but whatever if a company doesn’t appreciate their customers why stick with them??

I bought my 90 year old mother 12 month gift from BOM. She received the gift card in the mail. Using the directions on the card to redeem her gift she was promptly asked to renew, add a credit card, and pay $5. I went to get house and helped. Was able to get the first book shipped but was bombarded by advertisements to renew, buy more, put credit card number on file..etc. Very disappointed. Not a very good gift. First book won't be shipped for a week. Advertisements for more are constant.

The books selection is pretty varied, although I feel it leans towards trendy/girl power over strong writing and stories. I’ve had to be incredibly choosey in order to ensure I’m getting books that aren’t juvenile levels of writing. A few years ago I rarely skipped months, the past 2-3 years I’ve skipped at least 3 months per year. I’ve lost trust that the books I’m getting are well written and not just “girl power for the sake of girl power” I dislike the challenge and how it’s 15 books. It requires you to buy add ons in addition to the monthly cost. And if you ever skip a month, you’re basically out of the challenge. I don’t mind the extra categories, but that on top of 15 books is outrageous. Especially if you’ve got other books to read. Overall, it’s fine. There are some good books, but it’s definitely gone downhill in recent years (I’ve been a member since 2018).

I received a subscription to the BOM club from my husband as a Christmas gift. I'm always reading, and he thought this would be great for me. In theory it would be. The problem is they only give you FIVE books to choose one! There are several other books you might enjoy, but you can't get them UNLESS you choose one of the five! I've had this subscription since Christmas, so it's been six months. Just looked at their June selection and there's nothing I'm interested in. In the last six months, I think I've managed to get three books. Definitely will not renew, or give as a gift or refer others to it. It's a shame.