Book Reviews / Fantasy / LGBTQ+

Book Review: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

The Spellshop (Spellshop #1)
Publisher: Bramble
Pub Date: 9 July 2024
Genre: Cosy Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

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.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

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

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Domestic abuse (recounted), death of parents (recounted)

I buddy read this with Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads and I’m so glad we did cos I loved our discussions about this (and thanks for patiently allowing me to bombard you with questions, lol)! 💜

TL;DR: The Spellshop is a whimsical and magical cosy fantasy that many readers have loved and I know many readers will continue to love. Unfortunately, while I liked it, I didn’t wind up loving it the way I thought I would. The best parts of this cosy fantasy are the descriptions of the lush verdant greenery of the island, especially the area surrounding our MC’s cottage in the forest, the magical creatures, and Caz, the sassy sentient magical plant.

WHAT WORKED FOR ME

  • The magical and whimsical setting! Caltrey is one of the outer islands in this kingdom, and it’s a small enough island and community that everyone knows all the nosy details about everyone, and you can’t get away with anything if you tried. I loved the lush verdant forest where Kiela’s cottage was located and how she’s surrounded by so many magical elements including magical creatures. I mean, cloud bears and cats with bird wings are real and I wished they were IRL, too. 😂 They sounded terrifyingly powerful and adorable at the same time! I loved how much the appreciation for mother nature came through in the writing and it fit the island vibe very well. Paired with the quiet and charming air of island village life, and the (mostly) welcoming residents, and you have a very cosy and atmospheric fantasy that makes you feel right at home.
  • Caz. I didn’t think that a magic-made sentient plant would steal the show, and yet here we are! For me, Caz was literally the life of this book. He brought so much sass and personality where I found the other characters fell a bit flat, and it was such a joy to read about him! Even if she wasn’t my favourite, I did love his relationship with Kiela. They were ride or die librarian besties and I loved that for them! There’s another magic-made plant that joins the gang later on and I loved their relationship with Caz, who wound up being like an older brother to them. It was very sweet and wholesome! 💜
  • There were other characters I enjoyed reading about, but was a bit sad we didn’t get to know more about them, especially for how central a role they play in the story. Larran is the biggest example of this. I thought he was an absolute sweetheart from the start and I loved his acts of service and the way he just showed up every time. He was a good egg! I just wanted to get to know more about him from him, not from other people who’d give his story away. Bryn was another character that I really loved reading about, as well as the rest of the ‘secret coven’ members: Eadie and Ulina. They were a great trio who brought such lively and healing energy to the page and I genuinely enjoyed their interactions.
  • I thought the magic was interesting although I wished that we learned more about how it works, where it originated, and emperor’s decree aside, who can actually use it if they had access to the knowledge. For how central a role the magic played in the plot and Kiela’s arc, I would’ve liked to learn more about it.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME

  • There were times the direction of the story left me confused because it felt unnecessary. Certain elements such as our MC making a big decision was done in such a roundabout way that it made what could’ve felt like a natural decision seem contrived and rather too convenient. That’s just one example but it would crop up here and there, especially towards the end with lots of ‘new reveals’, and sadly, it did lessen my enjoyment overall. I just wound up thinking “but why?” instead of focusing on what was happening!
  • Kiela. Oh, I don’t know where to start with her. I don’t want to be too harsh but there was so much hypocrisy in her character’s thoughts and actions that it really got under my skin. I understand how hard it is to interact with people when you’re more used to spending time alone, but I would never reject other peoples’ kindness. She did that a lot, especially with Larran, and the longer it happened, the more I didn’t understand it. There were things she kept secret due to paranoia but this was another thing that confused me because it felt unnecessary. Why was she so reluctant to be truthful about what was happening in the city? Why was she getting frustrated by peoples’ kindness? What made her so distrustful and closed off in the first place because that I never really understood either because it wasn’t ever explained (unless I missed it?)!
  • The romance. Considering my mixed feelings about Kiela, I guess it’s no surprise that I didn’t feel the romance. The flip from disliking Larran to being unable to stop thinking about him and then wanting to be in a relationship with him, felt too sudden and forced. I didn’t doubt Larran’s feelings for a second but I didn’t feel the same from Kiela’s side.

And well, I could go on but I’m going to leave it here. Ultimately, the mixed reviews that I’ve seen for this now all make sense because I also have some very mixed feelings about it, if you couldn’t tell. 😉 Does that mean I won’t be reading the next book? No! I quite like the sound of the second book and I’m looking forward to giving it a try, but I don’t think I’ll be jumping to get first in line and reading it as soon as it comes out either. I’ll wait for a good deal first! 🙂 

Have you read The Spellshop or is it on your TBR? Did you enjoy it or did you also struggle with it a bit?

21 thoughts on “Book Review: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst”

  1. I read this recently and loved it! I did have to ignore some plot points that did really make sense though. I also didn’t get the point of making the protagonist someone who literally never left the library or spoke to a single person in years. That’s just extremely odd and she should probably have some mental health issues from that. She could have been private and introverted in a normal way!

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    • I’m so glad to hear that you loved it! And haha, yeah, I do wonder why Kiela was written that way when she could’ve just been like any book loving introvert, as many of us are! 🤭 I hope that the second one will be more enjoyable for me (and I hope you love it too if you read it)!

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  2. This book has been on my TBR for a few months now but I’m keeping it for that cozy autumn season because it seems like the perfect time for it 😂

    I’ve also read a couple of reviews that had mixed feelings, just like you did, and I’m hoping the good will outweigh the bad when I finally get into it 😅

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    • I can see it being a nice cosy read for the cosy season! Even with the mixed reviews, I think there are still more people who enjoyed it—especially for the cosy, whimsical vibes—than who didn’t. I hope you wind up loving it whenever you do read it 😃

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  3. what a great review dini! agreed, i’m considering giving the book a similar rating (from what i’ve read so far)+ i found that kiela feels like an “incomplete” protagonist she’s got her story and everything but she still feels like a stilted character and some parts of her personality aren’t explored enough…😭✨

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    • Yeah, I think one of the bigger disappointments for me was the lack of character exploration. I think there was a lot of potential there to expand on character arcs and it wasn’t taken. I found everyone a bit flat, tbh. I’m sorry that this wasn’t a hit for you either, but it’s nice to commiserate, haha 🤭

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  4. Great review! I still haven’t read this one yet, but I’ve got the second book on deck for my next audiobook listen. It became available at the library, and I decided to just go for it since they are supposedly standalone books.

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  5. Your review really echoes what I felt about this. I never really engaged with Kiela and I think that cosy fantasy really needs you to like the central character as there often isn’t a lot of plot. I did love the setting though and I’ve got the second one on hold at the library so hoping that the characters work better in that one for me.

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    • It’s nice to see other people with mixed feelings about this—I almost felt as if I was reading a different book to everyone else that loved it! I fully agree that while the cosy comforting vibes are essential for the cosy fantasies, a lot still hinges on the character arcs. When it’s hard to gel with the MC, it’s so hard to love the story. I hope we both enjoy the second book whenever we get around to reading it! 😃

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  6. I enjoyed our first buddy read experience too, even if the book was pretty frustrating at time. Kiela’s lack of common sense and hypocrisy still make me want to grit my teeth even now. I’m looking forward to the upcoming ones too, they all sound like books that should come with plenty of discussion points.

    I love how you set this review out and think it’s got the good and bad points detailed beautifully. I was sceptical when I saw everyone raving about Caz tbh but he definitely stole the show. So it was a total surprise for me too that I could love a sentient plant 😂 the cloud bears were fantastic, such a nice touch. I truly did love the world which is why I’m hopeful for the sequel still (especially as a lot of the issues were character linked, although if a lack of common sense pops up again I may cry). I definitely agree that the romance was believable on just one side too. It could have worked but there was no real softening of feelings, it was like someone hit a switch.

    I’m still sorry that our first buddy read book was a mixed experience. At least we both enjoyed the experience though.

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    • Total mood because every time I think about her I feel the same way! 🤣

      I’m trying something new-ish with this review. I thought it’d be easier for me to get my thoughts down by breaking it up to what worked and what didn’t, especially since I’ve been struggling to write reviews this year, lol. It did help with making this review happen! I can’t believe that I didn’t hear about Caz before picking this up but he was such a great character and really the one I loved most out of the lot. I hope that we get an awesome sentient something to love in the second book as well!

      I’m so glad we read this together and were on the same wave-length about it as well. Let’s hope the second one will be more enjoyable for the both of us—and that common sense prevails! 💜

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      • 😂😂 it’s a shame Caz loved her too much to slap some common sense into her 🙈

        Aww well it worked wonderfully. I always think it’s a fun way to check out people’s thoughts too as it clearly divides the good and the bad ❤️ I’m glad it helped make writing your thoughts down easier. Here’s hoping 🤞 it’s about his creator so I’m sure she’ll meddle somehow again.

        Yes here’s hoping 🥰 if the detective lacks common sense I may well cry 🙈 surely that won’t be the case with the hype though??

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        • Hahaha, honestly, I don’t know how Caz managed to *not* do that! 🤭🤣 Also, if the detective lacks common sense I’ll defo be crying with you! Let’s hope that’s not the case and that the hype proves right this time! 🤞🏽

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