With spell books, enchanted gardens, sentient plants, cinnamon buns, homemade jams, and a hunky neighbor who likes to build shelves, The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is the cozy fantasy of every bookish cottagecore girlie's dreams.

Librarian Kiela finds herself having to flee the safety of her book stacks when revolution strikes the capital city. Saving as many books as she can along with her spider plant assistant Caz, the two sail away to the safety of Kiela's birthplace - the remote island of Caltrey. Initially, she plans to hunker down in her family's abandoned coveside cottage until she can safely return the books to the capital, but the longer she spends in Caltrey, the more she comes to realize she may have found a place to call home.

This was such a cute read! Kiela sort of grated on me at first, as she begins the story introverted to the point of blunt rudeness when people are just trying to be nice to her, but she grows throughout the story in a lovely way. Her spider plant Caz is charming and snarky, her merhorse herder neighbor Larran is an absolute dreamboat, and the rest of the islanders rounding out the cast are all very sweet. Watching Kiela open her heart up to her neighbors and the island itself as she wove spells to heal it was an absolute delight.

Overall, I thought this balanced cozy fantasy vibes with an actual plot quite nicely. The Spellshop might be cloyingly sweet for some readers, but I had a lovely time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books/Bramble for the ARC!

Thank you @brambleromance @macmillan.audio #partner #macaudio2024 for the gifted copies of this book!

Holy mystical frijoles! This book was like stepping into a magical fairytale and being swept away on a glorious fantastical journey. It felt reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel, mixed with beauty and the beast, a little mermaid and a dash of Smurf’s. 😂 I know that’s may sound ridiculous but there is the MOST adorable talking cactus that completely stole my heart (beauty and beast talking teacup vibe), merhorses (little mermaid), a talking spider plant, this cottage in the woods that felt extraordinary (like Smurf’s and Hansel and Gretel). This book literally stole my heart. I was not expecting to absolutely devour and love this story like I did. This book is unique in the most charming way. 🫶 Let me also tell you that the audiobook MADE me so engrossed in this world. I cannot get over “Meep” the cactus. I mean for real the cutest most adorable thing ever. Can you tell he was my favorite? 🌵I 💯 think you need a physical copy of this book because the cover is gorgeous and it has PURPLE sprayed edges but you also need audio because…oh my goodness there is a talking cactus. 🤗

If you love a lighthearted, found family, romantic, quirky, magical story you need this book. PS. It has a talking cactus. 🤩

a fun, cozy read that can help you pass time. The vibes in parts of it are just as lovely as the cover suggests, but it does nothing new. And while not all books have to be groundbreaking or do everything original, they do have to work, and parts of it did not. Despite these shortcomings, I read it cover to cover, so you might want to give it a shot.

The fantasy world this is set in is really lovely, and I definitely wanted to learn more about the animals and plants as our main character moved throughout the book. I would say this is definitely for fans of Legends & Lattes or You Can’t Spell Tea Without Treason, though obviously the main couple of this is not queer. The world, however, is queer normative and there is a queer side character.

The pacing was a little roughshod—it felt like we were just bouncing from idea to idea to idea without a real sense of a unified story arc—but the author was very clear in the internal monologue of the main character what she wanted the takeaway of each of the events to be. The story has a sweet romance which is a central plot point but not the only thing moving the plot forward, and this is not a spicy book. I would say it is generally written in a straightforward manner than would not be inappropriate for YA readers, if they were interested in the subject matter.

Thank you to Bramble and Macmillan Audio for the review copy!

This one is definitely for the “Legends and Lattes” crowd - it is all vibes. I switched between reading it, another romance, and rereading the Game of Thrones series, so it was exactly what I needed while I gaslit myself into thinking that maybe the Red Wedding wouldn’t happen during this read of A Storm of Swords.

I felt a little lost by the worldbuilding - we were dropped in and introduced to a very fantastical world that became more clear as the story unfolded. There were a lot of details that our narrator remembered or didn’t remember that I found confusing, but seemed to come from moving back to her childhood home. Her old memories were fuzzy because of how young she was, but I kept waiting for some sort of magic spell / amnesia plot line to unfold. Especially because she describes herself as someone who remembers details more than most!

The romance was cute, but the meet cute felt sudden and instalovey from his end - it took a bit to get the backstory necessary for me to really care.

The book took a big turn around the 50% mark - it went from cute to endearing, and I went from considering DNFing to absolutely loving it and couldn’t put it down. The found family feel and talking spider fern really stole the show for me! I would recommend it to someone looking for a cozy fantasy with some romance.

🎧 I liked the narrator a lot. I do think I would have benefited from reading the beginning with my eyes, which is typical for me while reading fantasy. But overall the story was clear and the performance gave life to all of the characters in such a fun way!

Durst has been one of my favorite authors after reading her for my Alex Award lists. Here, she imagines a world with flying cats and merhorses (and merpeople), centaurs and other creatures. Magic is accepted... sort of. Only official sorcerers are supposed to wield it, and others are subject to punishment by the Imperial Investigators. Except, well, the Empire seems to have fallen (the Emperor literally falling out the window).

The found family here is wonderful: who among us doesn't want a Caz in our lives? Meep is one of the cutest cacti I've ever read. And Keila's experimenting with magic to subtly help the people of her home island is done so well, as is her becoming less of an introvert (Caz excepted). No great adventure here, no heroics, just a fun fantasy world.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

“The Spellshop” is a wholesome, cozy fantasy romance with cottagecore vibes and themes of found family and community.

It’s all a bit twee, and Kiela has a serious case of vocational awe 😭 The writing style feels like the author is making it up as she goes, but it’s kind of fitting.

This felt like a book I would have loved as a child, and for that it grew on me. It’s clichéd and not exactly expertly crafted, but it’s very approachable and I read it quickly.

I’m new to the cozy fantasy genre! I’m not a big reader of romance. This was a sweet palate cleanser.

*Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC*

A cozy coastal fantasy was *just* what I needed. A bit slow to start, I quickly fell in love with the island and its denizens. That bakery and its cinnamon rolls sounded DIVINE! Caz and Meep were the stars for me, but Kiela definitely grew on me. I also enjoyed the simplicity and natural roots of the magic system. It made it easy to follow and understand why just anyone could cast a spell. I wish we'd gotten a bit more history about the empire and why they banned magic, but it was probably just about control. Regardless, it's a cute read that won't cause you any stress and that's nice every so often.

But I do now need to buy a spider plant and name him Caz, thank you very much.

I love cozy fantasy and this debut with romance mixed in was such a pleasure to read. I really enjoyed the main character Keila, a former librarian turned businesswoman opening a magical jam business set against a small island setting. Returning home is a trope I often read and I enjoyed how this book touched on that with Keila fleeing to her birthplace and adjusting to a new life, community and self-discovery. And can we talk about her companion, a spider plant? Loved it! The world building and cozy magical system brought the exact cozy vibes I was looking for when picking this up.

I really wanted to enjoy this! It was one of my most anticipated reads. I’m definitely in the minority here. Usually I love a good cozy read, but, I need my characters to have depth. I just didn’t find myself caring about Kiela at all. Her character didn’t give me any compelling reason to love her. The entire beginning, with the escape during a revolution fell flat. I would have rather the book start with her arriving at the island, since the scenes of her escape did absolutely nothing for me. When I realized I was skimming massive chunks of paragraphs, I decided it was time to DNF. I’m so sad. But, at least the majority of readers are loving this one, and it is probably just a “me problem”

Thank you to Tor for giving me an advanced readers copy.

I have read Sarah Beth Durst’s middle grade fantasy novels so when I saw Spellshop, I jumped at the chance to read the ARC. My intrigue with reading Spellshop was also encouraged by the beautiful special edition Barnes and Noble is releasing with purple sprayed edges and the most whimsical cottagecore cover I’ve possibly ever seen (complete with a winged cat).

Writing a cozy novel in which the reader truly cares about the characters and is interested enough to continue reading despite the low stakes plot is challenging to say the least. But I enjoyed the world Durst creates in the magic-depleted remote island of Caltrey and loved the addition of Caz, a sentient and verbally communicative spider plant the size of a dog.

Readers meet librarian Kiela as she is saving ancient magical texts and grimoires from a burning city, Fleeing with Caz to the only other home she’s known, she arrives on Caltrey and wastes no time setting up cottage, hiding the secret of where she is from and what she has brought with her. She is very quickly inundated with meeting locals, Larran - a local caretaker of the merhorse herds - chief among them.

Spellshop is marketed as romantasy but be aware that while romance is part of this tale, it is quite chaste (kisses and thoughts about how attractive someone is). This is not a steamy romantasy by any means. It’s cozycore and cottagecore at its finest.

I give this book 4.5 stars and have rounded up here.

Thank you to Durst, Tor Publishing | Bramble, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this cozy fantasy. The characters, plot, and worldbuilding were very well developed. They immediately sucked me in, and made me fall in love with this story. I especially loved the characters Kiela and Caz, and the cozy atmosphere of Kiela’s cottage. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. And especially to lovers of fantasy books.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cute, cozy, and quick, this was a sweet book that made me smile. A winning combination of lovely characters, a great setting, and a satisfying arc, The Spellshop was a lot of fun to read. I had only some minor quibbles with Kiela's rather silly logic throughout the first two thirds of the book, but it was such a treat that I can absolutely look past those. 3.5/5.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bramble, for my free E-book for review.

The characters in this enchanting tale are undeniably endearing, captivating the heart with their irresistible charm. The bond between Keila, the spirited protagonist, and Caz, the enchanting spider plant, unfurls into heartwarming and often humorous moments, adding depth and warmth to the narrative.

Set against the backdrop of a quaint island, where an eclectic mix of whimsical characters—both human and magical beings—reside, the ambiance exudes an irresistible sense of magic. The close-knit community fosters a profound feeling of belonging, while the presence of a grumpy character amidst the amiable ones adds a touch of delightful complexity.

This delightful fantasy offers readers a cozy refuge, offering a warm embrace. Each character is multifaceted, contributing to a delightful love story and a heartwarming tale of found family. Above all, it is a narrative of new beginnings and the discovery of unexpected kindness in the most unlikely places.

We love a librarian main character! But even more so, we love a character who has to evaluate what home means. How we can find pieces of home, a community, and memories. We don't have to have this idea that to move forwards means we never go back. That we have to burn bridges and can never change our mind. We can open up closed windows and knock on doors. The Spellshop is a charming and tender story about choosing what kind of person we want to be. What we want to stand for.

4.5

Stunning delightful absolutely adored this. This was the perfect balance for me of a cozy romantasy.

Loved all of it.

The Spellshop is an enchanting story that transports readers to a magical realm brimming with merhorses, illicit spells, and budding love. Embark on an exciting adventure where enchantment and romance collide, as we accompany our brave heroes on their daring escapades. I was pulled in from the beginning and could not stop reading. I can't wait to read more from this author soon!

For those seeking a cozy fantasy with a dash of romance, you may enjoy this. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. The book features a fun sidekick (a sassy spider plant), merhorses, learning how to open a magical jam business, and small island vibes. Caz was definitely my favorite character and I enjoyed reading Caz's lines.

The Spellshop is an absolute cozy delight. In a true testament to Durst’s writing, she was able to craft an engaging character in the form of a spider plant as well as an adorable Groot-esque cactus. Don’t get me wrong, almost the entire cast of characters are wonderful, but there’s something about those two that’s just pure perfection. I also really appreciated Durst’s world building and magical system. Additionally, get yourself a partner who will build you bookshelves to store you allegedly stolen spell books. For being a cozy read, I felt that there was plenty of action mixed in to keep the plot moving forward and avoid slowing down too much. I read this via ebook and audiobook. While the ebook is great, the audiobook is phenomenal. Caitlin Davies was superb at evoking peak cozy cottagecore vibes making the story a full experience. I highly recommend adding this to your TBR pile because it’s sheer binge worthy delight.

In the acknowledgments, the author states that she wanted "to write a book that reads like drinking hot chocolate." True to her word, "The Spellshop" offers readers a warm and comforting story centered on Kiela, an introverted and intelligent young woman thrust into an unexpected journey.

Kiela, a dedicated librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium in the heart of the Crescent Islands Empire, cherishes her quiet life surrounded by books. However, her world is turned upside down when a revolution erupts, leading to the destruction of the Great Library. With as many books as she can carry, Kiela flees to her birthplace on a remote island in the outer reaches of the empire.

As she adjusts to life in a small community, Kiela faces the dual challenges of concealing her technically stolen library books and mastering the spells within them. Her journey is one of self-discovery and adaptation, set against a backdrop that feels both familiar and enchanting.

Durst has crafted a story that is a true feast for the senses. The rich, descriptive language brings the natural world and the everyday joys of food, friendship, and found family to life. The characters form a kind, caring community, adding depth and warmth to the narrative.

Fans of Travis Baldree's "Legends and Lattes" and Rebecca Thorne's "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea" will find much to love in this fast-paced tale. The story blends humor, light romance, and low-stakes peril, making it a delightful and engaging read.

Overall, "The Spellshop" is a delectable confection that invites readers to savor its charm and warmth, much like a cup of hot chocolate on a cozy evening. Highly recommended for those seeking a heartwarming and enchanting story.