A comforting and a cozy fantasy, full of kindness, friendship, small town charm, and dizzying amounts of jam. Kiela, an empire librarian, escapes on the eve of rebellion with crates of stolen spell books to keep them safe. She returns to the island she was born on, hoping for quiet and secrecy. Instead, she finds a town who wants to befriend her, a neighbor who might be more, and a home.

This cottagecore fantasy was a delight. I think we could have tightened up the pacing just a hair, but overall, a stunning read.

🧜‍♀️ Book review 🧜‍♀️

The Spellshop | Sarah Beth Durst

The rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.75)

The summary
When Kiela and her sentient spider plant Caz have to flee the capital and their beloved Great Library, they end up back where Kiela thought she’d never return: her family’s small cottage on an outlying island of the empire’s archipelago. They’re initial plan is to eke out a living by selling homemade jam, keeping their “stolen” library spellbooks hidden, and avoiding talking to people as much as possible. But when Kiela’s hunky, merhorse-herding neighbor drops by on their very first morning, they realize they may have to adjust expectations a bit…

The vibes
Cozy witchy cottagecore, wacky creatures, unique worldbuilding, found family, librarians doing it for the love of books, helping out because you can, merhorses, light exploration of the nature of sentience, sins of an empire made manifest, experimental spellwork, homecoming.

The review
In a strange reversal of what usually happens for me, I really loved the first 3/4 of this, and then felt a little let down by the very end.

And let me first say that “cozy” isn’t really my preferred subgenre — I like it fine, but it takes a lot for a cozy book to rise above 4⭐️ for me, so in the grand scheme of things, The Spellshop was still a win for me. The world building was cool, the characters were delightful, Kiela’s absolute allergy to talking to other people was highly relatable…

But what really dragged it down for me at the end was how Hallmark perfect everything was. The last few scenes felt like platitude after platitude, and every narrative thread got tied up in a neat little bow. I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking, “your home is where your found community is, I GET IT” maybe one too many times.

But again, all that sickly-sweetness of the ending aside, I did really enjoy the bulk of this! The world and characters were well realized, and Kiela’s slow burn for her unquestioningly loyal neighbor was a delight to read. If cozy fantasy is your thing, you’re gonna love this!

Thanks to @brambleromance and @netgalley for the eARC.

The Spellshop is a sweet and charming cozy fantasy.

"Because knowledge is power, and he powerful want - wanted - to keep it all to themselves.
"Not because it's dangerous?"
"Of course knowledge is dangerous... But ignorance is even more dangerous."

After fleeing the destruction of the Great Library of Alyssium, Kiela and her assistant, Caz, an enchanted, sentient spider plant, flee with crates full of spellbooks in order to keep them safe during the riots. They travel to Caltrey, the island where Kiela spent her youngest years, before her parents moved to the city. She finds their old cottage, run down but liveable, and tries to make a living selling jam the islanders, along with some potentially illegal magic spells to help restore the remote and neglected island. Though she tries to be inconspicuous, her overly kind and friendly neighbor, Larran the handsome mer-horse herder, always seems to be around. He is more than willing to help out, though the highly introverted Kiela tries to keep her distance. The spellbooks in her cottage are dangerous, not to mention illegal to have in her possession. But can Kiela really keep everyone at arms length, especially when they are knocking down all the walls she's built, and are willing to see her as she is?

The Spellshop is an adorable and cozy cottage-core fantasy. The stakes are fairly low, and the romance is sweet, so this is a perfect little book for an easy summer read. I loved the lush vibes this book gives - from the sweetness of the jam to the ethereal magic and spirits of the island. The romance between Kiela and Larran is adorable - these two idiots are so in love but don't even realize it. It was delightful to read and had me kicking my feet. At its heart, this book is really about who controls knowledge - the spells and the magic - and who benefits from keeping knowledge restricted. When we share knowledge, we all benefit. This was a lovely book, and a perfect cozy fantasy. I really enjoyed it and I recommend this book if you are looking for something sweet and lush to read. It feels like the perfect book to pick up with a cup of tea as the summer winds down.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, Bramble for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Bramble for this absolutely fantastic arc!!

5/5 stars!!

This was WONDERFUL. If you're looking for a cozy fantasy but find all the ones out there a bit boring like I do, then look no further!! This is cozy fantasy to a T, but also with some problem solving, community building, and book obsession - with a little romance thrown in to boot! This world was so full of magic and fun characters that it was super easy to clearly see everything as I read it - and dammit I want one of those cinnamon buns! 😂 A few twists, some humorous turns, and this is easily one of my favourite books I've read this year. It's giving everything I've been wanting in cozy fantasy but haven't been able to find until now! Just lovely, bring me more from this world please, Sarah!! PLEASE!!

*Received as a free ARC*
Delightful cozy fantasy. Books and running away to the woods- a perfect combo. Kiela is great and shows growth over the course of the book. Found family is always a trope I'll enjoy. The author's note said the goal was a book that feels like drinking hot chocolate and you know what? Mission accomplished.

The Spellshop has all I could ask for in a cozy fantasy. A great love interest, and talking plants! I loved all of the characters in this book. The plot went to places I hadn’t expected. The world building was very thought out. There were a lot of aspects, specifically with magic creatures, that I LOVED.

This adorably cozy romantic fantasy reminded me so much of Legends and Lattes. It's also that enjoyable. Kiela and her assistant Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last 10 years sequestered in The Great Library of Alyssium, cataloging spellbooks. When a revolution begins and the library starts to burn, Kiela and Caz make their escape (with 4 crates of spellbooks) to her childhood home island. Kiela is trying very hard to keep the books under wraps, (no one is allowed to possess the books except for the Empire), however her handsome, nosy neighbor keeps showing up to help her fix her old cottage and make sure she's fed.
In need of income, Kiela decides to open a jam shop. That also has magical remedies. Even if they're illegal. But life is sweeter with a little jam and an extra helping of magic.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Bramble for this e-arc.*

A nearly perfect cozy fantasy!
I know this is categorized as romance or romantasy, but it felt much more cozy to me (which I didn't mind at all). It has everything- intense love of books, magic, mythical creatures, delicious pastries, and a sentient houseplant?!!
There's personal growth and learning to trust your community and a freaking nonbinary cactus. I loved it.

A must read for those that enjoyed Legends & Lattes and Can't Spell Treason Without Tea. Adorably fun fantasy.

"The Spellshop" is a charming cozy fantasy that follows Keila, a dedicated librarian, who flees the capital city during a dangerous rebel coup with her sentient spider plant and best friend, Caz. Keila's primary concern is rescuing as many books as she can - almost to the detriment of her own safety! Once away from the city, Keila sails to her home island, only to discover that it is struggling due to lack of support for the Emperor. She knows there are spells hidden in her books that could help the people, but using unsanctioned magic is a crime. As Keila gets to know the islanders, she realizes she is willing to take the risk to help those she is coming to care about.

My thoughts:
The characters in "The Spellshop" are incredibly likeable, and the humor is really cute. While the stakes are fairly light, they are handled with enough depth to keep the plot engaging. Some characters, including Keila, occasionally feel like caricatures—Keila is a bit overly introverted and oblivious to romantic interest—but the author’s humorous approach makes these traits endearing rather than off-putting.

Overall, "The Spellshop" may not be a book that lingers strongly in my memory, but it was a fun and engaging read. I would easily recommend it to others looking for a light, enjoyable fantasy adventure.

The pacing of this was just so slow that I was pretty consistently tempted to give up. The atmosphere was cool, but the stakes were so glacial that it was hard to care about anything that happened.

Favorite spider plant ever? CAZ! I really liked Caz and Caz really helped the story the whole way through. Don't get me wrong, I liked Kiela a lot and I liked how this is a standalone fantasy novel that's enough action to keep you interested, but low enough stakes to be a great standalone. It's a great cozy fantasy if you wanted to classify it as such.

I liked how Kiela has kind of separated herself from people and holed herself up in a library because she doesn't like interacting with people, but when she has to flee due to a revolution and she takes books back to her childhood home, she learns that maybe interacting with people isn't so bad after all.

I liked how she comes out of her shell over the course of the book and she gets into some magical mishaps, which had some funny moments. I also liked the island and the world Durst creates. It's both magical and not overly magical. There is a subtle nod in there about environmental degradation due to human influence, but while it's actually an important part of the story (what spurs Kiela into using spells), it's not beaten over your head.

The romance is best described as sweet. It's not the focus of the story at all, but you have to like Larran. He's the quiet, steady, cooks, and puts himself in her way kind of guy despite the fact she yells at him and asks him to leave and is overall (in the beginning) not very nice to him. Caz is hilarious with Kiela when it comes to Larran. Overall, though, they worked to go with this cozy fantasy to get a sweet, unassuming romance.

If you're looking for something a little lighter in your fantasy with low stakes, definitely recommend this!

The Spellshop is full of cozy fantasy vibes. Kiela is a librarian in a library full of magical spellbooks. Her assistant Caz is a talking spider plant who I loved so much. The library is set on fire during a revolution, and Kiela and Caz grab all the spellbooks they can and flee to the island that Keila grew up on. While there, Kiela decides to try out some of the spells to help the town. I loved how cozy this book was and all of the mythical creatures that were included. Caz was my favorite character. The world building was easy to understand, and there was a sweet little romance included. I do wish there had been a bit more romance included, but that's just my personal preference.

Many thanks to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Bramble for the copy of this book!

I am not a huge cozy fantasy reader, but this one was super cute! There was such a great balance friendship, spells, and romance. I adored Caz, the talking spider plant, and the cottagecore setting on a little island. It was maybe a bit on the long side, but overall was a very fun and engaging read!

Truly, if you are in your cozy fantasy era - read this.

The Spellshop is a small-town, fish out of water story with an adorable romance. Kiela needs to flee the big city when there is an uprising and has nowhere to go but her childhood home island. Armed to the gills with books and a spider-plant companion, she tries to make her own way in the world.

I loved the whole cast of characters, it was incredibly sweet and there was just enough drama to keep the plot going. It truly is like a Hallmark rom-com with magic (and lots of jam). I love a book where you just feel warm and cozy when you finish it. Extremely satisfying read and I will definitely be adding Sarah Beth Durst to my list of authors to follow!

Part of it could be chalked up to me just being in an odd reading mood, but despite thinking I’d love this as a book nerd, it fell flat. Kiela as a character wasn’t that interesting, and I wanted more from the world building than to just be thrown in headfirst.

I liked this! I think I would have liked it more if I had read it with just the ebook instead of tandem reading it with the audiobook. The narrator was a little too over the top and cheesy for my liking. I really enjoyed the first 50-ish percent of this when it was the slow and cozy building of the jam shop and getting to know the villagers, but once a certain character gets introduced, I started to lose interest. I also found myself getting annoyed and stressed out by Kiela and Caz’s over the top anxiety about literally everything. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and setting descriptions as well as all of the people on the island. The found family vibes were awesome! I loved any time that baking or jam making was happening. On paper, this should have been my perfect book, so I think it’s a me problem and not the books fault that I didn’t rate it higher. I’ll still be highly recommending it to cozy fantasy lovers!

I need more cozy fantasies just like this one!
Well, maybe not exactly like it, I do want a little variety, but this feeling, this sentiment, this perfection.
Kiela is a rather introverted librarian, forced to flee the Great library after revolutionaries set fire to her beloved library. She heads for her home island, a home she has been absent from since she was a child, with nothing but crates of spellbooks, and her assistant a sentient spider plant name Caz.
As she tries to settle in, she's forced to try new things, meet new people and re-evaluate whether or not her choice of a quite solitary life was really enough for her.
I adored the world and the characters that Durst created and the sweet story that tied them all together. I defintely wouldn't mind revisiting the island for a peek into some of the other residents lives in the future!


I received an E-Arc from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my, this book was such a warm cozy hug.
🌱Cozy Cottage
🌱Found Family
🌱Magic
🌱Small Town
🌱Talking Spider Plant Sidekick
🌱Romance
This was just what i needed. A cozy fantasy that warmed my heart. The characters are all so lovable along with the magical creature. The world building was so immersive.
A lovely and charming story that I absolutely adored!!!

I have been enjoying seeing the books that come out in the subgenre of cozy and this one looked like something that would be right up my alley!

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Kiela. She has escaped the city with a funky little spider plant creature named Caz and crates of books. She sets off on a boat to her old home and finds more than she could have imagined. I liked seeing how she would deal with everything that came at her. She wanted nothing to do with people and tended to like books more. I don’t blame her! It was fun to see her interact with Caz. Caz was a great character! Kiela finds her found family amongst this island and it was nice to see her break out of her shell.

The reason why I didn’t enjoy this and thought it was just fine was that there was little-to-none world building even though there were talks about politics and what not but it was so small. I also thought that the romance was meh and could have been built up a bit better.

It definitely does fit the cozy vibes and was very relaxing to read, but it does take a bit to get the plot rolling.

Overall, it was good!