The Spellshop
by Sarah Beth Durst

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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Book Description:

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much-needed secret spellshop.

My Take:

Immediate immersion into a very well-crafted universe set the tone for the whole story. The world-building was organic, not burdensome.

I usually love stories that get right into it. I recognize that there does need to be a set up and world-building – especially in a newly created universe – but when the exposition becomes too tedious and heavy, it throws off the entire story – no matter how good. This story is extremely well structured with a great balance of story-telling, world-building, character-establishment, and chaos-wrangling all done along the way as we are journeying with Kiela.

Adorable story filled with love of all kinds – romantic, platonic, familial, and more.

I started off trying to explain how there is a cozy romance in this story but found myself also recollecting on ALL the other relationships that Kiela has in this story. Her relationship with nearly every other character in this book illustrates the variety in the types of love and how each are important to any individual. Kiela learns that while she may be able to do things on her own, she is also part of a community and does not need to do everything on her own. We each have a village who would be there to help us.

The Final Verdict

My rating: 5 stars

Would I recommend? Yes

Wonderfully cozy read filled with humor, strength, love,
and finding yourself while learning to let people in.

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