This book was provided by Pan Macmillan through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I keep getting five star books and discovering amazing authors
through NetGalley, I love it !

This book should be read by people who wish they could time travel to the Great Library of Alexandria, to save books from the fire.

The main character, Kiela, is an antisocial librarian who escapes the fire of the Empire's Great Library with 5 crates of extremely rare spell books, on a little boat, with her assistant, Caz the sentient spider-plant. Not knowing where else to go, she decides to go hide on the island where she grew up, far away from the Empire's capital.

There, she rediscovers life, through friendship, love, gardening, even jam-making ! This book made me buy so much jam, because the descriptions of Kiela's jam spread on the baker's freshly baked goods made me really hungry !

This book is a good cozy fantasy, where enough happens to make the story interesting. But the author doesn't forget to spend a lot of time describing food, gardens, shelves building, gossip sessions with new friends, and all the stuffs we love in cozy fantasy.

Sarah Beth Durst creates a really interesting world. The characters look very interesting : some of them are blue, some of them have four arms, some of them have hooves. The cats have feathers and the horses are merhorses. Magic is needed for trees to grow, for the weather to be good, for animals to reproduce.

This book really feels like it should be made into a Studio Ghibli movie.

I'd like to begin by saying I regretfully DNF'd this book around the halfway point - but I still absolutely do recommend this book. If you're a cottagecore book lover with a tendency to avoid other humans, this book will absolutely speak to you. And it won't just speak to you, it'll comfort you - telling you everything will be okay. There isn't a moment that passed in this book that didn't leave me feeling a sense of ease.

In a similar ilk to Legends & Lattes, this cozy fantasy explores friendship, romance and belonging except with spells, magic and books instead of coffee.

There's low stakes, which is to be expected. But unfortunately the low stakes in The Spellshop are a fraction lower than I like in my cozy fantasies of this length. I prefer cozy fantasies around or above the 400 page mark to have slightly more oomph in order to keep my attention span engaged. I am in no way going to rate down for this though as I know for a fact that many readers would adore the pacing, the stakes and the length of The Spellshop. I am in no way about to let my struggling attention span be a reason for this books rating to suffer when it did exactly what it set out to do in a beautiful way. Despite this not being an ideal book for my preferences, I would still recommend this to any cozy fantasy fans, I enjoyed what I did read and I can see myself picking this up again.

Kiela gets thrown back into the real world and has to escape from her beloved library. Caz her sentient plant goes with her as they start their new adventure. This book was so adorable, it was the cosiest of cosy fantasies and honestly, it gave me all the feels. If you loved the other popular cosy fantasies that have popped up in recent years this one will not disappoint. I loved it and really hope there might be another story in the world.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 | 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭 | 𝟒*

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟
⟡ Cosy fantasy
⟡ Librarian MC
⟡ Sentient plant companion
⟡ Isolated island setting
⟡ Illegal magic
⟡ Found family

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰:
Picture an island full of mythical creatures, a cottage setting with an abundance of berry bushes, a handsome and kind neighbour who is also some kind of water-horse farmer, and five crates full of stolen books—what more could a girl want?

Except for Kiela, this is all just a means to hide herself and her books from the city and its fatal revolution. Except it’s difficult to remain so unfriendly when most of the locals welcome you with open arms. This prickliness and guarded nature frustrated me at first, but after the halfway point when Kiela is softening, I was able to sink completely into this book and appreciate its character development.

And I loved what I found. This is a wholesome, low stakes (but not to the point of boredom) cosy fantasy with a gorgeous and interest setting full of a colourful cast of characters, impossible beings, and is just begging for the magic Kiela has in her books. The focus of this story seemed to be on books, nature, friendship, and… jam. With the complete concoction being as sweet as it sounds.

𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:
“𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.”

“𝘊𝘢𝘻? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺?”
“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘣𝘦?”
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴.”

“𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴?”

When I read Cosy Fantasy, I was sold. This genre has concoured my heart and this book is definitely no exception.
The world building was incredible. The concept of the main character opening some sot of business - be it a coffee shop like in Baldree's Legends & Lattes, or a bar like in S.L. Rowland's Cursed Cocktailes - is certainly not new, but it always tickles a certain part of the brain that that you didn't know you had.

Keila is a librarian that loves books and jam and plants. If that is not a convincing and relatable main character then I don't what is.
After her workplace bruns down she finds herself in her parents cottage where she makes herself at home, with the spellbooks she rescued and her sentient plant Caz. Soon she decides to also use the cottage that is a bit too big for her and Caz alone, to open her own business.
A jam shop. Jam induced with spells.

As her little shop starts getting traction and she, willingly or not, meets new people, we get introduced to Larren. Between the two a relationship blossoms that is almost as sweet as the cinnamon buns with rasberry jam they talk about.

I am often taken aback when a fantasy story puts itself in the Romantasy subgenre as I've seen so many romantasies in my bookshop that at somepoint revert to showcasing explicit sexual content that I'm not a fan of most of the time.
Tho I have found The Spellshop and other Cosy Romantasies, such as Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of faries, are just the thing I'm looking for! So I am excited to discover more books by Durst and other Cosy Romantasy writers

Phenomenal.
There are a lot of cozy fantasy novels being published at the moment, but I have to say that this is probably my favourite (apart from Legends and Lattes) yet.
It has warmth, humour, wonderful characters, a joyful descriptive style and just everything I want from a book: romance, books, flying cats, a merbaby, a sentient plant (or two) cloud bears, magic, and so much more.
This is going to be top of my recommendation list.

An absolutely gorgeous story of friendship, found family and kindness, with cottagecore vibes and a cast of the most colourful characters. Think magical beings living a slow paced life on a secluded island with spells, delicious baked goods, homemade jam and a tight knit community. It’s a low stakes kind of plot but is not without obstacles. Inclusivity and acceptance are at the heart of the story, as is the sweetest romance. The writing is wholesome, packed full of fun and leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I really, really enjoyed it! 💕🌻✨

The majority of my review will be in bullet list format, but before that, I just want to say a couple of things: first thing first, this book is just so darn cute. It is so full of beautiful things, places, magic, and people, the sheer beauty of it all was astounding. The author said that she wanted to write a book “that felt like a warm hug” and that she wanted to write about things that bring her joy and I think that she managed it superbly.
I loved this book to pieces, even if there is a small caveat: I loved this book and I think it deserves 5 stars because it does its job amazingly well: it is cozy, it is beautiful and it is joyful. That said, I had some problems, from time to time, to really immerse myself in the story. It always required more time than what’s usual for me, and I think that it is in part due to the huge number of beautiful things, maybe they were a bit (just a tiny little bit, mind me!) too much, and my constant “awww” and “wow” just threw me out of the flow, if this makes sense. But still, in the end, I appreciated this book a lot, and I really think that it is like a warm hug, so even if the reading experience as a whole could have been a tad better, I still think that this book is amazing!
And now let’s see why you should read this book too!

1)The beauty of it all. There is so much beauty in there. Every single place sounds beautiful and magical and I wanted to see every one of them with my own eyes. The sheer beauty of everything is reason enough to try this one out!
2)All the magical creatures. We have winged cats! An unicorn! Cloud bears! (*_* I loved the Cloud Bears!!). And more… so much more!
3)Caz. Okay, now we start to get serious. Caz is amazing. I need him in my life. He is an anxiety-prone plant. Assistant librarian extraordinaire and loyal friend. He also loves books to a fault, and he is scared by goats (to death!), creatures that eat leaves, and by the possibility of becoming blind and not being able to read anymore. And yes. He is a plant and he does not have eyes. And he and Kiela talked about that. And these conversations were a stroke of genius. I loved them to pieces. They were fun, quirky, and just so so good! So yeah, Caz is the best, and you need him in your life too, trust me on this. (Ah, I told you that he is anxiety-prone? And a tad morbid too, maybe??)
4)Meep. I won’t say anything about them. But you need to meet them. Just trust me on this. I won’t spoiler anything here, because seeing all this for yourself and not knowing what it’s coming is the best thing ever. And there is a scene, I can only say “Wheeeeeee!” about it, and you’ll understand if you read the book, that for me was the most wholesome scene ever. I don’t really know why or how, but when I read this scene I laughed out loud so much and I decided that I didn’t care about anything else, this book was amazing and that was it.
5)Kiela. She is a librarian, she (obviously) loves books, she is socially awkward and she has a strong need for personal space. And she is so relatable! From time to time she can come out as harsh or rude, and Larran is often the one who took the brunt of it. And I am sorry for him, really, because he is the purest soul ever but still, I get Kiela and I feel her, strongly. Also, her dialogues with Caz are usually amazing and quirky and funny and… I loved them!
6)Larran. Okay, technically speaking, Larran is not the most developed character ever, he is the love interest and he is the purest soul ever. That’s it. But he is like a really well-trained Golden Retriever. So you just have to love him, at least a little bit.
7)The Secondary Characters. To be completely honest, they are a bit like Larran, good but not as well portrayed as the main ones, they are a tad cliche but… but not much, really. And they are all lovable. They are good people, they are loyal and I loved them! So yeah, maybe they are not the best-developed characters either, but I didn’t really care.

So yeah, this book is not the best book ever, but it is amazing and I loved it. Also, the author succeded in her intentions, and that’s a big plus. It was funny, I laughed a lot while reading it, and I was constantly in awe of something or someone. The banter is brilliant, the atmosphere is cozy and the book is really worth reading (and you need at least Caz and Meep in your life!). I am happy to have read this book, and I read it back in April but I can still feel its warmth and its cozyness every time I think of it so… yeah, I loved it and I really hope you would, too!

The Spellshop is such a wonderful story to read. The beautiful cover immediately caught my eye, and the story itself was truly heartwarming. There is a librarian who loves books, talking plants, jam, winged cats, and romance. It was the perfect combination for me. I adored the world and the characters. I highly recommend it. Thanks to the Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

✨4 stars✨

This was a really cute cozy fantasy so if that’s the type of fantasy you enjoy then I would recommend this book!

Similar vibes to the found family vibes in “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by TJ Klune and “The Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna so if you enjoyed either of those books you will probably like this one.

Contains w cute romance, interesting characters (merhorses!!) and the overarching theme of finding a place to call home where you belong.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Despite starting with a burning library and a rebellious uprising, the book is pretty low-stress for me as a reader. It’s a charming cottagecore feel-good fantasy with a dash of whimsy thrown in there for good measure. There’s a sentient plant, a librarian using illegal magic to help her old home island to recover from being neglected by the capital, and quite a lot of jam.

It’s so sweet and reading it felt like being wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket with a warm mug of tea. The way the magic works, and the trial and errors of the spells reminded me of my favourite book when I was younger - Frogs and French Kisses by Sarah Mlynowski. It’s just so cozy and I love it! It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me wish I lived on this magical island with amazing friends. Also the main interest is an absolute sweetheart, he adores the mc’ and her love of books, and even builds her floor to ceiling bookshelves! The man of my dreams.

The writing is very descriptive and even though there are some plot holes, when you stand back and think about it, I don’t care. The vibes were off the charts and the sense of community of friendship in the story made me feel happy and hopeful. It was the break I needed from the craziness of the real world.

I'm hesitant to compare anything to Legends & Lattes but this... this is pretty close!!

HUGE found family and cosy vibes here. Plus, a sassy, sentient spider plant side character!? YES. So cute!

This did take me a little longer to get through than I was expecting but it was my fault, I was getting distracted by other books! But, I'm sure this could easily be read in 2 sittings and would probably be better for it.

It's very cosy, very magical, and has such a compelling group of characters, I can tell a lot of people are going to love this!!

I can't say it made me emotional, but it was very heart-warming for sure.

If you're okay with surface level world-building, low-stakes, and primarily one location setting... AND you're after a sweet and cosy read that can fill the void of L&L? This is perfect for you!

3.75/5

-Sarah

Kiela and Caz (her animated spider plant sidekick) have to flee the Great Library of Alyssium when a revolution gets a tad out of hand. With five crates of books, and very limited other supplies, they escape to the tiny island Kiela grew up on, and never expected to see again. Thankfully, the locals are more than happy to help, because Kiela… well, she’s very book-smart but otherwise not exactly worldly, so attempting to cook dinner nearly sets her house on fire. You get the gist.

Magic is *technically* only allowed to be performed by sorcerers, but with no food, no relevant skills (the island doesn’t have a library full of grumpy scholars for her to assist), and limited time to adjust, Kiela and Caz decide some *small* illicit magic might be worth it - no one will notice after all. 👀

I absolutely loved the host of quirky characters, the tiny island they call home, and the grumpy x sunshine romance that develops through the story. If you’re a fan of cosy fantasy, I would absolutely recommend The Spellshop, and I can’t wait to read more from this author! 🤩

Look, I get not every book is going to be unique. It's just not possible. But I just felt that The Spellshop read a little like the author had read a 'how to guide' on writing cozy fantasy and followed it a little too closely. It all just seemed a little formulaic to me, a little forced and I don't really feel that anything, apart from the magic, was developed enough for me to thoroughly enjoy it. That being said, if you enjoy cozy fantasy I do think you'll like this one, I enjoyed it, I just didn't love it.

The story follows Kiela, a librarian who escapes from her section of the library when the capital is set under siege with what few books she managed to salvage and her aid, a sentient spider plant called Caz. Looking for somewhere to escape to, Kiela finds refuge on the Island she used to call home. Returning to Caltrey brings back some painful memories for Kiela, but it also shows her how little attention the Empire has paid to these outlying Islands, allowing them to wither away without the help of magic. Determined to help in whatever way she can, Kiela decides to open an Jam & 'remedies' shop, hoping to use the knowledge she has saved to help the people of the Island. But opening a spellshop as a commoner comes with a death warrant under the current government, and when someone washes up on shore looking for a rogue sorcerer, Kiela will have to rely on the bonds she has forged in her short time on Caltrey if she is to survive unscathed.

Now, for the parts I did enjoy. I really loved the magic system, and how the author managed to weave it into a story about the love and importance of books... we all love a good book about books right? It's a pretty simplistic magic and world filled with the kind of magical creatures we grew up reading about; mermaids, unicorns etc, there was nothing overly unique about it, except for the sentient spider plant that is, but I enjoyed that the author never asked too much of us in this aspect. It's not a fantasy book that needs to have a intricately built magic system with well explained rules, rather one that relies more on the whole 'magic exists' and it's as simple as that.

Kiela was a little flat as a character, in fact if i'm being honest, most of the characters fell a little flat and stereotypical for me. They all fell perfectly into the little places the author needed them too: the friendly baker who invites Kiela into the town, the attractive and kind neighbour, the grumpy and nasty old man who constantly adds a few low stakes. They worked for the story, but they didn't really evoke any kind of emotion out of me. In fact, the character I enjoyed the most was Caz, our sentient spider plant. He definitely had the most personality out of all of them, and bizarrely was the one I empathized with the most. He was snarky, witty and had a heart of gold and I loved him... oh and Meep who is just the cutest and cleverest little cactus.

The story itself had a few pacing issues. I felt that there were too many conflicts thrown in, all of which seemed to be over within record time, and I definitely felt like we could have dropped one or two and the story would have had a much better flow. I also felt like the relationship development, both romantic and friendly, was somehow both too slow and rushed in a way. Larran is our love interest and while he was cute and friendly, I just didn't really feel the romance between himself and Kiela. It seemed a little too rushed, and I also didn't feel like they had enough interactions to really build the level of romance they developed.

Overall this was a little meh for me. It just felt too forced and formulaic, and the fact I struggled to bond with any of the characters didn't really help. If you enjoy cozy fantasy, I would still give this one a go because it could absolutely be a 'it's me not the book' kinda thing, but it just wasn't for me.

This was so cute and cozy and a perfect read for a rainy day. I am officially a fan of cozy fantasy books!

Taking one and a half star off because the world building and all the different creatures were pretty badly explained. But the book was cute and wholesome, so I didn't mind that I couldn't follow along with everything.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Kiela has to flee amidst a revolution accompanied by her assitant Caz and the speelboks they rescued, returning to her hometown, Caltrey on an isolated island. She finds the village its not what it used to be and decides to bring back its magic. If i say more i would spoil it but these buzzwords should be enough: merhorses, cinnamon buns, a noisy but kinda cute neighbour, magical creatures, ghibli vibes...

This book promises cottage core, magic fun and cozy vibes galore, and it really delivers. In the author's note, Sarah Beth Durst speaks about wanting to put all the things that make her feel good into this book, and she clearly managed wonderfully. This is cozy, this is sweet, this is low stakes, this is full of love. Stardew Valley vibes, if you will.

Our protagonist is Kiela, an imperial librarian that fleds a justified rebellion to the cozy little island she was born on. With her are some crates of spellbooks she saved from her burning library and, most of all, the star of this whole show: the sentient spider plant Caz. the island isn't quite the paradise she remembered, though: its health, just like the wellbeing of all the other outer islands, depends heavily on sorcery, but the only people that are allowed to use that sorcery are the imperial sorcerers, and they don't care about some islands anymore. As a consequence, nature suffers, the farms are dying, the magical merhorses don't foal anymore and terrible magical storms bring destruction and suffering. Though maybe Kiela and her spellbooks can do something about that?

The world in "The Spellshop" is an interesting one, although there is not that much we learn about it. I loved all these different creatures and people living on our island - centaurs here, ghostbears there, mermaids in the seas. Kiela herself is blue-skinned and blue-haired with cute magenta freckles. I loved all this, it was a joy to read. Caz is, as mentioned above, the absolute best thing about this book. Apart from Kiela and Caz, the characters are a little lacklustre to be honest. They're mostly rather one-note and either super nice or super not nice, barely any grey to be found. The love interest is the nicest of the nice people, and while that was very sweet to read and their romance is a little instalovey but very cute, he was just a bit too one-note as well. He has about one and a half personality traits (and a tragic past) and that's really it. Even cozy fantasy romance can do more than that with their dreamy love interests. Kiela herself is a wonderful and sweet protagonist, although she falls into the "yes I have flaws! (but all my flaws are really cute and make me more endearing)" category of FMC. I didn't mind so much, though, I just genuinely liked her and her relationship with Caz.

The plot tries to up the stakes here and there by reminding us that practising sorcery is outlawed and could lead to terrible consequences, but really, when those consequences come knocking it's dealt with very quickly and easily. It's as low stakes as it gets. Even the supposed "antagonists" that Kiela meets are either actually really nice or just evil caricatures easily disposed of. Which is, I guess, why I did admittedly get a little bored around the middle of the book. I like cozy fantasy, but maybe this one was a bit too cozy for me. Maybe I just need some more drama in my book life.

Still, absolutely recommend this if you want some low stakes sweet cozy cottagecore fun with sentient plants. 3,5 stars, rounding up.

I know the cover shouldn’t have been the reason I picked this up but it’s so beautiful and I just needed to know the story inside. I think it’s in the author note where Sarah Beth Durst says this was supposed to be a cosy comfort read like hot chocolate and a warm blanket. It certainly is.

The Spellshop is exactly what I’d want a cosy magical read to be. I loved the world and all the characters. I also liked the subtle build for the romance. The first few chapters strike a good balance of the dark of the revolution and Kiela’s escape without it feeling disjointed from the cosy-cute of her rebuilding her life.

The fact that I read this as an ebook when I rarely read ebooks shows how much I enjoyed it. I will be buying my own copy when it comes out because I’m sure I’ll be rereading it.

The Spellshop is a cosy fantasy story that was so enjoyable to read. I did struggle a little getting into it, but after the first few chapters I settled into the flow of the writing. The characters are well written and the world is an interesting one. I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I absolutely LOVED this book. It has everything you could possibly want from a cozy fantasy, and although I have read quite a lot in this sub-genre recently this really stood out with the strength of its world building and characters. Caz in particular made me wish I could have a sentient plant companion. Highly recommended.