ARC – The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

Release Date: 9 July 2024

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and editor for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Themes: Cosy, Fantasy, Romance

The synopsis

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

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She’s hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks—the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high.

The review

The Spellshop was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 since I saw its cover in early 2023. You can guess how excited I was when I saw that my request for this book had been approved!

I was immediately sucked into the story thanks to the author’s great writing style which created vivid images of the scenes and characters into my mind. There was just enough plot to keep me interested for the entire book, without having the weight of, let’s say, an epic fantasy plot. I was invested and thoroughly entertained for the entirety of the book and really don’t have negative things to say.

The story is completed by a great cast of characters to which it’s easy to grow attached. I loved the found-family and friendships aspects and the characters were interesting and well fleshed out, allowing me to have feelings towards them with one character I wasn’t sad to see leaving the island. Kiela was a very relatable heroine to me because of her shyness and introverted personality. Her inability to understand social and human cues and Caz’s reaction were very funny and added a human dimension to the fantasy. Caz and Larren were great secondary characters and I liked how they were supporting of Kiela, being there while giving her the space to grow.

In brief: I loved this enchanting and colourful story about a librarian who ends up leading a simple life on an island and building her small business. It’s an utterly cosy fantasy and just makes me want to read more of this genre. If what I said wasn’t enough to convince you to pick this book, I’ll add one last thing: there’s a full cast of magical beings, including flying cats!

My rating: 4.5/5