The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst Book Review
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is such a sweet story with found family, a cute romance, and a sentient spider plant!
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The Spellshop
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Narrator: Caitlin Davies
Pub. Date: July 9, 2024
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Pages: 12 hours 11 minutes / 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Spice: none
Content Warnings: death, fire, murder, & child abuse
Synopsis:
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.
Book Review
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. All opinions are my own.
I have very little reading experience with cozy fantasies, but after reading this book, I’m going to have to read a lot more because I loved this book so much!
Thoughts
Unlike a lot of fantasy books, this story is a standalone and is very low stakes. It’s a relaxing read and has such lovable characters.
The found family aspect was so sweet because the town welcomes the main character into their community so quickly. They were protective and so helpful to her.
While the romance wasn’t the focus of the story, I still found it really cute and wholesome. The love interest was so sweet and was constantly doing things for the main character.
One of my favorite parts was Caz, the sentient spider plant. He was so funny and sarcastic. This was such a great addition to this story.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute cozy fantasy.
Where to Read & Purchase
You can purchase a copy of this book at the following retailers:
Bookshop.org (supports independent book stores) [affiliate]
Libro.fm (audiobooks that support independent book stores) [affiliate]
→ get a free audiobook when you start a membership
Chirp (get 30% off your first purchase with code: JESS30)
Amazon [affiliate]
Books a Million (BAM) [affiliate]
AbeBooks [affiliate]
You can also find this book on:
Everand (30-Day FREE Trial)
Have you read The Spellshop or any other books by Sarah Beth Durst?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Comment down below.
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