The Spellshop is like a warm cup of cider and a hand-knit shawl on a perfect fall day. It is cozy and delightful. I can hardly wait for The Enchanted Greenhouse. I believe that Sarah Beth Durst is really going places with her beautiful writing style. I recommend her to MANY of my customers and none of them have been disappointed.

The Spellshop was a book with all of my favorite things. Tons of magic, a determined female lead, a quirky talking plant, romance, and books being saved, just to name a few. This story pulls you in and envelops you like a hug. I must read more books by Sarah Beth Durst.

unbelievably charming and endearing. i thought the spider plant would be too out there for me, but i was proven wrong! consider me seated for any future books like this

This was one of my favorite books of the year and I could not stop telling people about it! I love this world and I am so excited for the sequel to come out this summer

I may be the only person on the planet who doesn't love this one. The voice felt a touch juvenile for adult fiction and with a romantasy, I was looking for the stakes to be a little higher. Beautiful cover, cute concept, but just not my cup of tea.

4.5 Stars. Ohh goodness I'm so mad at myself for waiting so long to read this. I LOVED IT. And it reminded me how much I love cozy fantasies!

This was precious. I immediately loved Kiela and Caz and was invested in their journey from the start. The love and respect they had for one another, for their books, and for everything and everyone around them was heartwarming. They had me laughing and smiling nearly the whole way through. I also adored following Kiela and Larren's sweet relationship and each step that brought them closer together.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was INCREDIBLE. Almost immediately I looked Caitlin Davies up to see what else she's narrated. She reminded me a lot of Elizabeth Evans, who of course is one of my favorite narrators. She brought this story to life so perfectly and I found myself longing to press play whenever I wasn't.

As soon as I was done I missed the story and the island and all of the characters. I can't wait to read another Sarah Beth Durst book and highly recommend this one if you're looking for a feel-good, heartwarming read. 💕

This novel is a comforting escape into a fantasy world where the safety of home and the ones who have always loved you can provide a safety and strength that you never expected. All the characters felt like they had depth and story was so compelling that I couldn't put the book down once I started it. I can't wait for the next novel set in this world.

I absolutely adored this book, and I wanted to bathe in the cozy vibes. The atmosphere of "The Spellshop" made me want to have a thriving garden and left me craving a cute community in which everyone knows everyone else and supports each other. I cannot wait for Sarah Beth Durst's next book! Now, I'm going to go smother my houseplants in love and wish for a sentient spider plant.

The Spellshop is a cozy romantic fantasy, and is a lovely if tropey book, you have the evil/neglectful ruling class that's overthrown in a coup that sends the introverted librarian back to her remote island home where she meets the plucky/weird villagers and the hot mer-horse herder next door. Nothing ground breaking in any of the categories (cozy fiction, romance, or fantasy) but an overall sweet read. Talking plants, mermaids, and winged cats help.

Okay. The Spellshop completely stole my heart. It gave cozy fantasy, magical rebellion, found family, and a grumpy librarian just trying to live her quiet life. What more could I possibly ask for? (Oh wait, a sentient plant named Caz? DONE. Obsessed.)

This book felt like a warm cup of tea on a rainy day. It was comforting, gentle, but also quietly powerful. Kiela’s journey from overworked archivist to slightly illegal magical bookseller was everything. I loved how it balanced softness with strength, and how it made space for rest, growth, and choosing a different kind of life.

I already have The Enchanted Greenhouse on deck and I’m SO ready to dive back into this world. If you’re even thinking about picking this up, consider this your sign.

4.25/5

This was such a cute and cozy fantasy book! The romance was cute and subtle (definitely wouldn't classify this as a "romantasy" or even really a romance book, but it is there) and the overarching feel of chosen family and looking out for one another carries through the whole book.

I definitely recommend for anyone looking for a cozy read with magic (and a little subterfuge)!

I really enjoyed this one! It was a good cute cozy read with magic, fun side characters, and mythical beings. I definitely think it could have been a tad shorter but all in all I had a good time with it. Super cute read!

When the publisher reached out about this one they referred to it as "cottage core fantasy" and I was like OMFG I am here for this.* One of my favorite game streamers does cottage core Minecraft and I may have been watching it at the time. This was back in January of 2024 (SHAME ON ME I KNOW) and after a wild year last year I finally picked this one up and it was lovely.

The Spellshop is the tale of Kiela, a librarian from the capital city, who flees to her home island with a sentient spider plant and then causes all sorts of good unintended consequences as she adapts to small town life again. It's a slow-burn romance set in a light fantasy in which I genuinely forgot on some occasions until someone's blue skin tone or antlers were mentioned or magic.

The book got off to a slow start, which I really should've expected with the cottage core descriptor, but Durst's beautiful writing kept me engaged. It didn't hurt that I finished this on our way to a Caribbean vacation, but some of her descriptions just made me want to live on a secluded island by the sea:

It was the vastness of the blue that was so breathtaking, as well as the variation: the bleached blue-white of the sky near the sun, the deeper blue of the sky near the horizon, the slate blue of the clouds, the black-blue and green-blue and the fathomless blue of the sea, all contrasted against the pale sand of the shore, the bright colors of the houses, and the dark green of the trees. Far below, at the base of the cliffs, she saw the waves crash in foaming white and then caress the sand. It was high tide, and it reached nearly to the base of the stairs. (Ch. 9)

I mean, for real the blues of the ocean and the sky are what get me EVERY time I'm on a boat.

The other thing that really got me was the prescience of Keila's changing attitude toward books and access to knowledge as her country goes through a revolution and chaos. It's striking a lot of eerie chords that I didn't think would have to be struck during my lifetime in the US. Book bans have always been attempted, but we're seeing the systemic erasure of records and knowledge from government sites and attacks on museums and libraries that will cause generations to seriously lose out and the world to be a darker place.

Books should be shared with everyone who wants to open their minds and hearts to them.
Keeping them, keeping knowledge, from people who needed it, that was the real crime. The words belonged to the people, all the people, not just the wealthy and powerful, even if that led to a few disasters due to magic in the hands of inexperienced spellcasters . . . Well, the current laws weren't keeping anyone safe. In fact, the status quo was only making everything worse. If it was up to her, she'd share the spells with everyone. (Ch. 24)

And the final good thing I'll throw out there is that Durst had a great sense of humor and timing. Between Kiela and Larran (her love interest) and Caz (the spider plant) there are so many hilariously awkward interactions that I highlighted.

I'm not asking our houses to marry. I'm asking you to be my wife. If you'd like to. If you don't want to, I love you just as much. You can forget that I asked, and I'll pretend I didn't, and we can continue on exactly as we were. Either way, we can sleep and eat and live wherever, whenever we want, together when we want or not. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or push before you— (Ch. 36)

Quite a few of them I was like 'oh good grief, this is what Tim must deal with when he's talking to me sometimes.' The man is a saint.

The major meh for me was the broader political turmoil that we got a slim taste of. With the novel starting in the middle I had so many questions to start with that I nearly didn't get out of the first chapter or two. We did get a lot of answers and even an additional subplot that almost detracted from the main plot and could've gone really wrong, but added additional other questions about what happened after the last page. I think this is also kind of how for the longest time the Skywalker Saga was the only thing we knew about Star Wars (excluding the legends series which I adored) and it was a narrow slice of a GALACTIC wide era; this was just the smallest slice of a much larger story that we got bits and pieces of to connect it to that.

Recommendation: Definitely read this one. I wasn't sure at first as it starts in the middle of what has clearly been a tumultuous time for this kingdom and world, so it was a little confusing and a little slow. However, as I got through that first chapter or two it picked up and although it's a very small slice of this world and one small community's lives within it, it packed a big punch. Durst created a fascinating world filled with different people and magic and beauty and I flew through the book and wanted it to go on past the perfectly happy for now that we got. I definitely need to check out her back catalogue.

*I received a copy of The Spellshop via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

While this book had a lot of fun little quirks and really lush, descriptive writing, it just didn't have enough to it to make me feel like it was really doing something new or exciting. A fun read, for sure, but just not the best cozy romantasy I've ever read.

Absolutely enchanting! A cozy, magical read with charming characters, an immersive world, and a story that feels like a warm hug.

I’d been looking forward to Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop for quite a while, because I do love my cosy reads, and I especially loved the idea of a sentient spider plant being a major character. And Caz certainly didn’t disappoint, and is an excellent sidekick. I also liked what we see of the world, the magic, and of course, the love of books.

In the end, I think I felt a bit dissatisfied because it felt like a world created just for the story. Which of course it is, that’s normal, but I mean that I didn’t have a good sense of what lay beyond the story’s edges, and I don’t just mean in terms of a map. I was also a bit meh about the romance, because it felt rushed. It tries to add depth to that with some history between the characters, but it didn’t ultimately ring true to me. Adding the depth didn’t work because, OK, Larran remembers Kiela, but she doesn’t remember him. So things should, at least, have taken more time on her side.

I do love Caz, though, and then the addition of Meep. It was a fun read as long as I didn’t think too deeply into it, ultimately. And it is pretty cosy, despite the opening being a flight from a burning capital city during a revolution, and despite some peril for Kiela and another character.

Feels like a warm hug!

Kiela lives in Alyssium and loves her job as a librarian. The only social interaction she gets is with Caz, the sentient spider plant that resides in the library too. When the library is burned, Kiela and Caz take as many magical books as they can and sail away to Kiela’s birthplace, Caltrey, which she hasn’t been too for a long time. They move into her parents’ abandoned cottage and hope that they won’t be found hiding the restricted magical books. Kiela has always enjoyed being alone and antisocial but her new neighbors see things differently and will try to break down her barriers any way they can.

Likes/dislikes: This is a sweet book. Charming, innocent and full of fantasy. The book was so relaxing to read and it truly was comforting.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: G - no swears.
Violence: PG for prejudice.
Ethnicity: A variety of races, species and colors.

This book was phenomenal. I loved all of the characters and wanted to live in the world. Perfect for fans of cozy fantasy or cozy romance.

The Spellshop is a beautifully written story and I enjoyed all my time within its pages. Coziness wrapped in magic with a side of yummy jam!

This book is so lovely and cozy. There are some wonderful characters and a sort of found family feel to this that I loved. It made me smile and want to keep reading--I think I read the majority of this over the course of three sittings.
I really want to delve into the rest of Sarah Beth Durst's books now!