Review: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

The Spellshop (Spellshop #1)
by Sarah Beth Durst

My Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Join Kiela the librarian and her assistant, Caz the sentient spider plant, as they navigate the low stakes market of illegal spellmaking and the high risk business of starting over.

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

She and her assistant, Caz, a magically sentient spider plant, have spent the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz save as many books as they can carry and flee to a faraway island Kiela was sure she’d never return to: her childhood home. Kiela hopes to lay low in the overgrown and rundown cottage her late parents left her and figure out a way to survive without drawing the attention of either the empire or the revolutionaries. Much to her dismay, in addition to a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor, she finds the town neglected and in a state of disrepair.

The empire, for all its magic and power, has been neglecting for years the people who depend on magical intervention to maintain healthy livestock and crops. Not only that, but the very magic that should be helping them has been creating destructive storms that have taken a toll on the island. Due to her past role at the library, Kiela feels partially responsible for this, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right: by opening the island’s first-ever secret spellshop.

Her plan comes with risks—the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the kind and quirky townspeople of her former home, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must learn to break down the walls she has built up so high.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

My Review

When I was going through a stressful time in my life someone recommended this book to me. I already had it it on my wishlist for a while and heard lots of good things about it. I love cozy fantasy books so I knew I wanted to get to this one at some point. Then when I got this recommendation for it while I was super stressed I decided to buy it and read it. This was just the perfect book for my stressed mood. It’s so cozy and calming and filled with kind characters who are starting anew and finding a new home. And I just loved every second of this book. I had so much fun reading this book and spending time in this magical cozy fantasy world the author has created.

The Spellshop follows Kiela and her best friend spider plant Caz. They work at a big library that houses spellbooks, then one day the rebels attack the city and burn the library and Kiela and Caz escape with a small amount of spellbooks on a boat She ends up at the island she was born and tries to settle down there. She plans to stay hidden and keep to herself, but eventually finds herself connecting with the islanders and helping them. The books she might sort of have stolen and shouldn’t use become her way to help the island.

I just loved this book. I liked Kiela and her personality. The way she interacts with Caz is great and I really liked their friendship. I liked seeing her slowly open up the islanders. Her friendship with Bryn and later some of the other islanders was wonderful to see and the way they were there for each other and helped each other out. There’s also a bit of romance and while I would’ve liked a few more scenes of them really getting to know eahc other, I did like them together and the way their relationship developed. I also liked the ways Kiela starts helping the people and the island recover and it was nice to see how the island changed and did better thanks to Kiela’s help.

The cozy vibes of this book were perfect. I liked reading about the island, the cottage, the jam shop, the town and those who lived there. There is a bit of danger with the hidden spelbooks and the threat of someone discovering them and that Kiela uses them, but I thought that fit well in the story. And I liked seeing how they dealt with everything.

This book also felt very magical in a fun and wonderful way. I liked reading about the magical things and creatures like Caz the spider plant and the merhorses and mermaids, but also how the spells worked and what happened when they don’t follow the exact instructions. I liked the magical vibe this book had, but I also appreciated how it felt there was some sort of logic to the magic as well as how the spells worked.

To summarize: This is such a cozy and magical read and I loved every moment of it. I picked this one up during a very stressful time in my life and it was just the perfect read for that moment. I liked the cozy vibes and the themes of finding a place to belong. I liked reading about Kiela, Caz and the islanders she befriends and gets to know. I liked reading about the magic and how it all worked. I bought the next book in the series before I even finished this one and I look forward to spending more time in this world.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.