📘 [Review] The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
This last December was hard. It was easily one of the worst months of my life, and one that I'll always remember. Without getting into it, I needed something to distract myself from what had happened, and ended up looking over my bookshelf. I wasn't in the mood for anything on it, though; my usual reading preferences just weren't good choices for this time.
My mom must have sensed exactly that somehow, because I got a phone call from her not too long after asking if I wanted to check out some local bookstores that weekend. Apparently there were a couple neither of us had heard of before and she wanted to see them. So of course I went with her.
That led me to picking up The Spellshop, a cozy romance book.
Instead of grabbing the Goodreads cover, I'm taking photos now, haha.
Quick Review
| Category | Notes |
|---|---|
| Characters | I wasn't thrilled that there were talking plants as part of the cast, as they feel a bit too "animal side-kick" to me, but I ended up liking the first one introduced after a while. Most characters I enjoyed. |
| Writing Style | Nothing to note but nothing to complain about. |
| Editing | Same as above, this was fine. |
| Story | I wasn't really sure what to expect, but at the same time I was. I wasn't really sure how much conflict to expect, but the general direction of it was what you'd expect. |
| Overall | 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩶 4/5 |
Summary
Kiela is a librarian for the emperor in the Great Library of Alyssium. She has a very cushy job; she lives in the library, spends most of her days alone (except for her companion, a talking magic-made spider plant named Caz), carefully manages the books of her section, assists mages and scholars who need to find certain works, and has all her meals prepared and delivered to her. She takes her job very seriously and enjoys the solitude, as there's no one to get in the way of her work and personal research. She begins to hear rumors of revolutionaries forming, sees some of their pamphlets now and then of their views but doesn't pay them too much mind; until the Great Library starts to burn. Though she hadn't taken the rumors too seriously, she fortunately had pre-packaged some books on a boat that could need to be moved if something were to actually happen, and so had her escape vessel ready for her departure. Uprooted and confused, she decides to sail for her home island. Maybe she can hide out there with Caz, wait out the revolution, and return a hero with boxes of unharmed books.
She arrives at the island and begins to make a secret home for her and her plant, but a neighbor notices their arrival and comes by. Larran, a strong but shy man, remembers Kiela from when they were both younger. But she doesn't remember him at all. As Kiela prepares to settle in for who-knows-how-long before it'll be safe to return to Alyssium, she fears she'll be discovered for holding books of the royal library, and misunderstood as a thief. Top that off with her having no idea how to take care of herself, and this pesky handsome neighbor keeps coming by to try to help her, she begins to realize she needs to do something to survive her time here.
My Thoughts
This was a cozy romance story, which to me means two things: 1) there's no explicit scenes, and 2) the overall vibes of the story feel kind of like playing Stardew Valley. While there are things for Kiela and Caz to worry about and there is a proper climax, the overall feel sort of takes you along and lets you enjoy your time. Honestly since I haven't really read "cozy" styled books before I wasn't sure whether or not there would be enough conflict to interest me, but there was plenty. The island has problems that need to be solved, Kiela is worried she'll be arrested by the emperor's knights, etc.
And, side note, this was my first sprayed-edge book. I've seen people online talk about how they're tired of sprayed edges, and also seen some say specifically they like the ones with designs but not the flat-color ones. This is a flat color, a pretty lavender that I just love. And the spray paint gives the book a little bit of a peel as you turn from one page to the next. Obviously this won't stay and was a first-read experience, but I really enjoyed that! I've been holding out on buying books with sprayed edges because I wanted to get something I think I'll actually enjoy, and a lot of the ones with sprays are the "popular" new releases that I don't think fit my tastes. So I was excited to finally decide to get this book and have a good time with the paint.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Like I said, my concern was there wasn't going to be enough conflict with the "cozy" label, but this did a fine job of creating problems for the characters. And the story around it felt like coming home, with the island itself inviting Kiela back and telling her in its own way that she belonged there.
I mentioned in the quick summary that there was more than one talking plant, and the second one introduced I didn't care for. On one hand, I thought it was interesting because I guessed a second one would show up. Caz was created by a woman illegally practicing magic. He himself is allowed to exist by the emperor because he had all his paperwork done after being created, but his creator was punished for her crime. As Kiela and Caz begin to uncover what's in the books they brought, they accidentally create their own talking plant. I thought this was fun. But the plant itself felt a little shoe-horned in. It didn't contribute all that much at all to the story but was in most of the scenes going forward. But that was fairly minor, honestly.
Kiela herself starts out as a bit of an ass, to be honest. She's so used to not dealing with people all that much (outside of self-absorbed scholars) that she's annoyed when Larran tries to come over and just be nice. But this isn't a case of the author not knowing, as Caz will sometimes sigh in disappointment when she makes her social faux pas. He's clearly rooting for her to realize Larran is into her but she's guarding herself without realizing it. Over time, she comes out of her shell more as the island shows it, along with the inhabitants, want her there.
This book was exactly what I needed it to be and I enjoyed it so much, I went back to the bookstore after finishing to order the next two. The Enchanted Greenhouse is now sitting on my shelf and I think I'll read it soon, and Sea of Charms is on pre-order as the book hasn't released yet.
I recommend The Spellshop if you've been considering it.