“It wasn’t that she didn’t like people. It was only that she liked books more.”
Cozy cottagecore fantasy meets small-town romance in Sarah Beth Durst’s The Spellshop, a charming but slightly too wholesome adventure full of whimsical magic, second chances, unexpected friendships, lively sentient plants, and blooming love.
When rebellion in the capital brutally turns Kiela’s comfortable life in the library upside down, she and her sentient spider plant Caz save as many forbidden spell books as they can and flee to the small sheltered island where Kiela grew up. In order to survive, the introverted and socially awkward librarian decides to open an illegal spellshop disguised as a jam shop, and soon she is faced with all the delights and horrors of a small-town community; town gossip, meddling friends, rude customers, and of course a very handsome nosy neighbour who might be able to help her outrun the past that is catching up to her.
Now, I will have to admit it’s honestly quite an impressive feat of writing when the best character in a book is a sassy and slightly anxious sentient plant; where can I find myself a companion like Caz? If only the rest of this cast of intriguing characters had been just as vibrant and full of personality, this book could have been an absolute gem for me.
Honestly, if I think of The Spellshop as a small-town contemporary romance with some whimsical magical elements, it absolutely works. But as a proper cozy fantasy that tries to introduce solid world building and political stakes, it honestly just falls apart. Despite its slow pacing, the plot is quite hectic and hinders the development of the characters and their interpersonal relationships, which should have been the heart of the story.
On the surface, I quite liked Kiela as a protagonist, and I probably related a lot more to her disastrous social awkwardness than I would probably like to admit. Even though she lacks some emotional depth and has a very predictable character arc, I still enjoyed following her as she reinvented herself and refamiliarised herself with the little town she grew up in.
Her dynamic with the townspeople was honestly quite amusing and heartwarming, and even though their relentless kindness felt a bit unbelievable, I still liked the found family vibes that slowly started to develop. And then there’s the muscular seahorse breeder with a tragic backstory… cue the romance! Again, I liked their sickeningly sweet dynamic on paper, but I would have loved to spend more time actually developing their romance to really feel all the feels. Plus, there are significant hints at a traumatic backstory for multiple characters that we just do not explore at all, which really hindered my immersion and emotional investment.
Ultimately, I think The Spellshop is just a perfectly okay version of a romantic cozy comfort read that delivers exactly what it promises; the atmosphere of the small town on the isolated island is delightfully quaint, the magical elements are wonderfully whimsical (sentient plants, winged cats, tree sprites, unpredictable spells), and the tender childhood friends to lovers romance is entirely too wholesome.
Even though it lacked a certain little spark for me that makes it stand out from the rest of the cozy crowd, I still think The Spellshop is a nice light-hearted escapist adventure if you just turn off your critical brain. If you want a more high-stakes and romantic version of Legends & Lattes, I’d recommend giving this a shot. And if nothing else, read it for Caz the sentient spider plant!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
