The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by Tor Publishing Group
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Books about Books, Found Family, Cosy Fantasy, Romantasy, Elemental Magic, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Mythological Creatures, Sentient Plants
My Rating:
Published on: 30th October 2024
Pages: 624
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The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst's romantasy debut-a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Join Kiela the librarian and her assistant, Caz the sentient spider plant, as they navigate the low stakes market of illegal spellmaking and the high risk business of starting over.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn't had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last eleven years sequestered among the empire's most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city's elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz save as many books as they can carry and flee to a faraway island Kiela was sure she'd never return to: her childhood home. Kiela hopes to lay low in the overgrown and rundown cottage her late parents left her and figure out a way to survive without drawing the attention of either the empire or the revolutionaries. Much to her dismay, in addition to a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor, she finds the town neglected and in a state of disrepair.

The empire, for all its magic and power, has been neglecting for years the people who depend on magical intervention to maintain healthy livestock and crops. Not only that, but the very magic that should be helping them has been creating destructive storms that have taken a toll on the island. Due to her past role at the library, Kiela feels partially responsible for this, and now she's determined to find a way to make things right: by opening the island's first-ever secret spellshop.

Her plan comes with risks--the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the kind and quirky townspeople of her former home, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must learn to break down the walls she has built up so high.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is an endearing romantasy that surprised me. Despite the simple formulas that Durst implies, this was a book that had me completely hooked. There’s nothing brilliant or new about the story or the characters (save for a certain plant), and yet I couldn’t put it down. I’ve seen this likened to a Disney movie, but in my experience, Disney movies have a much more defined villain. While there are antagonists, I don’t feel like they are particularly bad or evil.

Overall, this was a sweet read in an intriguing universe, and I loved that the characters were all different species.

About Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Beth Durst is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty-five books for adults, teens, and kids, including cozy fantasy The Spellshop. She's been awarded an American Library Association Alex Award, as well as a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Several of her books have been optioned for film/television, including Drink Slay Love, which was made into a TV movie and was a question on Jeopardy! She lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat.

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