📖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭
🎧 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬

Ohmylanta! This is the most magical and vividly captivating story I’ve read in a long time! The audiobook is quite literally the epitome of whimsical. 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬 hit this one out of the park!

If you are a fan of worlds created by Hayao Miyazaki you need to add this to your summer tbr. It reminded me so much of Kiki’s delivery Service and I freaking loved it.

The story follow Kiela, a librarian and her trusty sidekick, Caz, a sentient spider plant. They have fled the capital with illegal books in order to protect them from the political upheaval taking place. They end up in Kiela’s childhood town and have to figure out how to make a life for themselves while also protecting the books.

The town, and all the townspeople were such a great addition to this story. I loved them all so much. There were so many unique species of individuals. Larren, was so unbelievably head over heels in love with Kiela right from the get go.

Caz, was literally the highlight of this story! His character brings both comedy and wisdom to the book.

If you love fantasy stories that are vividly captivating, low in drama and have a dash of love, add 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 to your TBR today!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 releases on July 9th. I could listen to this audiobook on repeat so I can definitely recommend consuming this amazing story via the audiobook produced by 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
✨ 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤
🦄 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴
🪴 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴
☕️ 𝘊𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺
📖 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧
🏝️ 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯
♥️ 𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢

I adored this book! It's the perfect mix of cozy and fantasy. Engaging plot and characters. A slow burn romance mixed in, and it's all around perfect.

The Spellshop is a cozy fantasy following Kiela and her sentient plant assistant after they escape a fire in the Great Library of Alyssium. This story is filled with low stakes conflict, magical creatures, and colorful imagery. I would absolutely love to see The Spellshop come to life in a video game, graphic novel, or television series to see these characters in Art form.

I enjoyed the narration by Caitlin Davies.

I received an ALC from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up reading it as I wasn't really feeling the narration. In my head, the voice didn't really match. Not saying I don't recommend the audiobook. It is good, it just wasn't for me.

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is a cozy light read that’s sure to delight those who enjoy the romantasy genre.

The story starts out with a vague escape from a burning library, a return to a small island town, and a slow-burn romance between Kiela, who is awkward and anxious, and a slightly less awkward Larran.

The pace picks up about halfway through the book with more use of magic and the introduction of new characters and dilemmas.

While The Spellshop is not revolutionary or particularly thought provoking, it is certainly wholesome and readers will be enchanted by Caz the spider plant, mermaids, merhorses, and forest spirits.

3.5 / 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree! Librarian Kiela and her BFF sentient spider-plant Caz (who is the bomb) must leave the Great Library of Alysslum with several crates of magic books she must protect as revolution takes place. She escapes to her childhood home on a remote island who happened to be in need of magic and there she finds friendship and possibly love. This was so cute and such a feel good story. The narration was wonderful and the characters so whimsical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Beth Durst for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5
This was one of my most pleasant surprises of the year, and perhaps what finally sold me onto cosy fantasy. THE SPELLSHOP is a perfect cottagecore cosy fantasy with just a smidge of cozy academia (if, indeed, one might call half feral librarians surrounding themselves by crates full of books that mean the world to them that), and a dash of romance and found family thrown in for good measure.
While the "cozy" bit may be subjective, I think that between the bookishness, literal cliffside cottage on a small island, magical garden, bakery and jam business, this covered most bases for me. There is so much whimsy imbued into every little element of this world, and the setting comes alive in vivid detail, making you wistful and longing to be transported there along our characters. Between tree spirit guardians, merhorses, sentient plants and flying cats, every little rascal in this story will steal your heart before we even come to discuss our characters!
I found the narrative of Kiela opening herself up to the world to be both true to life, and incredibly compelling, so gentle and willing to be offered the time and space it deserves to be done justice. In many ways, we don't only see Kiela negotiate the limits of her new life, but create a new version of herself in the process. In the same way as she breathes life into the world around her, she breathes new life into herself too.
This also had just enough stakes and a driving force once one got settled into the world to drive the story forward, so it didn't only feel cozy for coziness' sake, and ultimately the action really helped carry the core message of the story, and offer some nice cyclicity to it all as Kiala is no longer the newcomer, but one of the locals helping others make a home.
This was a delight.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

Oh my goodness what a cute and sweet book that just gives you the warm and fuzzies the entire time! It did start out a bit slow to me, but once I found myself attached to Kiela and Caz. I was absolutely hooked!

I love the coziness of this book and the way that it is perfectly balanced with some action. I had been worried that there wouldn't be enough action, but by the end, I was ready for everyone to go to their cozy homes and have some bread and jam. The setting is so whimsical and everything about it just has a magical light to it.

The romance is very sweet, especially with how awkward they both are. Then their backstories made everything feel that much more real and big for them, and I loved watching Kiela grow and understand what she wants in the world. She is so sweet and brave, and I loved learning about her as a character.

If you need a cozy feel good fantasy, look no further! This is going to be the book of the year!

Sarah Beth Durst created a cozy fantasy tale about all the sweet things. The “good kind of aches” after a day of honest work, the pride of seeing your beginnings blossom, small-town relationships, and .. well, jam! But most importantly, she highlighted the undying beauty of nature and the importance of caring for it all.

Every book lover will relate to “The Spellshop”. It’s simply impossible not to. I absolutely adored the main character’s relationship with books. I’m sure a lot of readers will feel the same way. To Keila (our main character) the books are her entire world. They’re her friends, comfort, unconditional love, and everything else that humans are not.

Keila, as you may have guessed, is a librarian, but she’s also in charge of caring for the spell books in the grandest library of their Empire. And that library is… burning. Can Keila survive this? Where would she go?

You’ll be chuckling out loud, falling in love with the creatures you meet along the way, and rooting for the disadvantaged. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Sarah Beth Durst for the opportunity to listen to this audio arc. This was the PERFECT cozy fantasy slow burn clean romance/coming home again story. There were merhorses and merpeople and sentient plants and an overthrown dynasty and love and found family and just all around joy. This whole book just made me so very happy. The narration was beautiful and the characters were all so endearing and lovable.

I greatly enjoyed the book, I’m not someone who normally likes cozy fantasy type books, but this story was extremely enjoyable. I feel as though the characters were developed well, even the side characters had depth to them. The pacing at first felt slow but then quickly picked up and stayed consistent throughout the story. I loved the romance, I felt like it was a natural progression of how a relationship would pan out and not simply insta love. The main character grows so much and I was genuinely so happy for the ending, I’m actually really hoping that two of the side characters get a spin of story because I’m now invested in their story! I also want to add that the narrator also did an incredible job! Thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this opportunity to listen to this lovely story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Spellshop is a cozy, loving story with magic, baking, and talking plants that I could not get enough of.

This one was lovely. It was warm, tender, and peaceful. I laughed and smiled and loved every moment. The Spellshop is a hopeful, healing story with fantastic characters and a delightful plot. The writing was wonderful, and I loved the baking, romance, and magic. I didn’t want it to end. I highly recommend this beautiful read!

The narrator for this audiobook was terrific! She perfectly matched Kiela’s character, and the voices of the other characters were wonderful. She fully immersed me in the story and world.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

The Spellshop is about Kiela, a librarian who maintains the spellbook in a great library. A revolution in the city lights the library on fire, and she is forced to flee and seek refuge on her childhood island home with a few spell books. Caz, Kiela's assistant, a spider plant, escapes with her and helps her figure out how they will live in seclusion on the island. A handsome neighbor who challenges Kiela's isolation.

The book is a whimsical, cozy fantasy With a host of characters facing challenges and opportunities together. Kiela's journey highlights the contrast between her isolation and the sense of community she builds on the island. The story emphasizes personal growth and found family. The novel effectively combines magical elements with deeper emotional themes. Kiela's relationship with Caz adds charm and humor, balancing the more serious undertones of her struggle with isolation and responsibility. The narrative explores how personal growth often requires stepping out of one's comfort zone and engaging with people around us.

I listened to the audio version of this book. I liked the narration except for one character that made it difficult to hear. Thank goodness the character was only in the second half of the book. It could have been voiced differently.

The author is praised for her ability to weave fantasy with relatable human experiences, making the novel a hidden gem in the genre. This novel is delightful and is both inspiring and heartwarming.

Thank you, Netgalley and MacMillan Audio, for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A cozy fantasy romance, The Spellshop, was a delight. Kiela and her sentient spider plant Caz have barely escaped the burning library of Alyssium as it burns. Together they flee to the small island where Kiela grew up with nothing but some boxes of magical books that she was in charge of protecting at the library. Having spent the majority of her adult life isolated in the library, and arriving with very sensitive magical material, Kiela is not interested in being friendly. But of course, she soon learns the importance of community, friendship, and love.
This is a sweet tale and Kiela's journey was lovely.

The audiobook narrator gave the characters personalities, each one distinct. While listening to the story, I was pulled in by her storytelling.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

The absolute COZIEST of fantasies. It's like a warm fuzzy blanket that you want to snuggle with forever.

Kiela is an introverted librarian who is happiest left alone with her books in her little corner of the Great Library of Alyssium. However, when the revolution comes to Alyssium and the library is set aflame, Kiela is forced to flee. Armed with as many books as she could grab and her assistant Caz, a sentient spider plant, they set sail in search of sanctuary. When they come across the island of Kiela's childhood, she decides there is no better place to hide. What she didn't account for was the overly friendly neighbor and nosy community. As Kiela settles into her new home she is faced with the challenge of hiding her true reasons for returning, making a new life, and overcoming her discomfort with social interactions.

So without a doubt, Caz is my favorite character. He's witty and outspoken and I love him dearly. He has so much anxiety which adds a lot of the comedic relief throughout the book.

Kiela, our FMC, is a very dynamic, extremely realistic character. Her distaste for social life had me giggling and saying "Me too, girl." She's truly clueless about the social cues of others which leads to some funny misunderstandings. I just want to hug her and call her "bestie".

The romance is secondary to the plot. I wouldn't really label this a romantasy, as I feel the romance isn't a big focus. It is a slow burn, that's present throughout the book, but if it was removed, the story would be more or less the same. The moments we get are sweet but if you're looking for a romance, you may be a bit underwhelmed.

This is a cozy fantasy, with even pacing and few surprises. It's a great comfort read if you want something soft on your soul. It's one that I will think back fondly on.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for my honest review.

"The Spellshop" has a great premise. A woman escapes back to the island she hasn't seen in years and restores her childhood house.

Unfortunately, the main character, Kiela, has few redeeming qualities. She is incredibly incompetent but somehow manages to do everything easily and on the first try. At the beginning, she is presented as a recluse who hasn't left her library home/job for years. She hasn't been back to her childhood island since she was nine and has no plans to ever go back. However, when she finds herself in a boat in the middle of the ocean, she somehow is able to pilot her ship directly there with no maps or compass or any experience with navigation. It was also unclear if she was rowing this boat or if it ran on gas or spells or how it maneuvered.

Many things in this book are underdescribed. Kiela immediately finds her abandoned childhood home without any wrong turns, and although there are sticks and leaves inside, there are no animals or mold or water damage or any form of lasting destruction. It's unclear how long this house had been abandoned since we never find out Kiela's age. The island is lush yet humidity-free, and Kiela slides by every difficulty on her obliviousness and rudeness, all the while complaining in her head.

The one redeeming aspect of this book is Caz, the talking, walking plant. Although I wish he was in a pot and not walking around as a ball of loose soil spilling all over everything.

I listened to the audio version of this book read by Caitlin Davies, who does an excellent job with the material she is given.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for access to an early audio version of this book.

The Spellshop is the ultimate low-stakes, cozy fantasy book. It was such a lovely read, and the narrator did a fantastic job. I mean, there is a talking plant, magic books, and a little bit of romance. I love it so much. Thanks to NetGalley for the audio arc. I'll post my review closer to the publication date.

Thank you NetGalley and Sarah for the opportunity to read an arc of your upcoming book. In exchange for an honest review ❤️

I want to start out by saying that this book is a good book, but I don’t think that it was made for the intended audience. Although this book is rated Ya there really wasn’t much that in my eyes made it considered YA. besides, some moments with the background story for the main male character, other than that, I just kind of felt like the female character was a little annoying. She did have a character ark later on but in the beginning of the book, it was really hard not to DNF. I am glad that got better. I am glad I finished the book however, I don’t think that I would ever read it again , that being said this is strictly my opinion. And I always encourage you to try it out. You might love it 😊 as for me, though it was a solid 3.5 stars.
I did LOVE the plant familiar ❤️❤️❤️😍

I really thought it would take my much longer to listen to this audiobook because it was around 12 hours long. Pleasantly it took me 4 days almost because I couldn't stop listening to it. It's a very cozy story which is my favorite type of books these days. I really enjoyed Caz he was my favorite of the whole story. The voice created for him was perfect too.

I was gutted when I was turned down for an ARC of Durst's new cozy fantasy novel, given what a huge fan I am of her writing. So I was (pendulum swing!) thrilled to then be approved for an ARC of the audiobook, which was very well narrated by Caitlin Davies. This book was just a hug of a story, complete with Durst's usual assortment of wonderful characters and interesting world-building. Kiela is an introverted librarian who works (hides) in the empire's grand library, along with her assistant Caz, a sentient spider plant. When there is a revolution, Kiela and Caz flee the burning city with as many magic books as they can rescue, ending up on the distant island Kiela was born on. There's a hot neighbor, new friends to be made, jam to be created, spells to dabble in, so many magical creatures, and a tiny and rather inane conflict that is quite easily resolved. This book was exactly what I needed, and the themes of sharing knowledge and supporting people - even those you disagree with - are ones to take to heart. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a review copy.