4.5 stars

The Spellshop is the perfect summer cozy fantasy read! It was hot chocolate on a winter night (or a good lemonade in summer because this book is set in summer), a warm hug, or a sunny afternoon. I loved all the fantastical elements in it. I loved that not all characters were human-like. There were centaurs, people with blue skin, etc. I loved imagining all the unique appearances. The other awesome thing in the book was the magic system. It was simple but very satisfying.
My reason that the book is not a five-star read is that after the appearance of Radane, I didn't enjoy the book as much as before. And the romance felt rushed.

Well, I absolutely loved this. The Spellshop had super cosy vibes and a low stake storyline that moved consistently. The characters were all saccharine sweet in the best of ways and the romance was slow, gentle and lovely.

The main character Kiela is a plant loving bookworm/entrepreneur with a penchant for gardening and turning her crop into jams so I couldn't relate to her more if I tried. I loved her character so much; tough and resourceful but kind with a heart of gold. Even if this book didn't have a story, I would have just loved reading about the idyllic cottage life she carved out for herself.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who loves a cosy, easy reader. It reminded me of Legends and Lattes, both in how well written it was and how it made me want to curl up with warm baked goods and my book.

"The Spellshop" is a cozy fantasy written by Sarah Beth Durst. A sweet, placid and funny novel with little action and many tender scenes. A magical book, embellished by enchanting and evocative prose, which completely captivated me!

The world building is limited to the strict necessary, but still enjoyable. The story takes place in the Crescent Islands Empire, in turmoil after rebels attacked Alyssium, the capital, and killed the emperor. More specifically, the story is set on the small and remote island of Caltrey, which consists of a single village surrounded by nature. A peaceful, picturesque place, home to flying cats, mermaids, merhorses and much more. A place in danger because of the prolonged reckless use of magic by the empire. The magic system consists of spellbooks, prerogative of a privileged few sorcerers, based on the concept of balance.

Kiela, protagonist with her only third person pov, won me over. A librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, when the library goes up in flames during a violent rebellion, she flees with all the spellbooks she can retrieve and takes refuge on the remote island of Caltrey, the place where she was born and raised. Here she decides to settle in her family's old cottage, hoping not to be tracked down. Kiela is an introverted, reclusive and grumpy woman who prefers the company of books to that of people and has only one friend: her assistant Caz, a sentient spider plant, who escaped with her to the island. Gradually, the presence of the islanders and that of a neighbor who is as handsome as he is nosy, push Kiela out of her shell. The secondary characters, funny and lovable, convinced me. The found family and romance, light and marginal to the story, warmed my heart with their tenderness. My absolute love though goes to Caz, who made me giggle, smile and melt repeatedly with his interactions!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an arc!*

The Spellshop is like a cup of hot chocolate or a freshly baked bread with raspberry jam. A cozy fantasy with low stakes, a charming, bookish heroine, and her faithful friend, a talking plant. Written in the same vein as Legends and Lattes, and The House in The Cerulean Sea, this story is a must for lovers of cozy fantasy. Forced to start over, Kiela arrives at the peaceful island she grew up at with nothing but a stack of illegal spell books and Caz, her best friend- who just so happens to be a plant too.
On the island, Kiela is forced to do something incredibly dangerous… talking to people. Once a librarian, talking to people is not what she’s best at, and her first meeting with her new neighbor Larran, is awkward to say the least.
In her parent’s old cottage, Kiela starts a jam shop- at least that is what she tells everyone- and slowly, she discovers that perhaps it is possible to start over after all.

I loved the description when I saw it and was super excited to read it however from the start I felt a disconnect. I could not get into the stiry wholeheartedly, it felt a little young and imbalanced. Unfortunately not for me.

I found great delight in this book. Kiela, a librarian, finds herself amidst an uprising and flees the library with her faithful companion, Caz the plant, and a handful of cherished books. Seeking refuge on her birth island, she discovers it in turmoil, its people on the brink of starvation due to the depletion of magic by the world's sorcerers, leaving the land barren. However, Kiela holds a secret: the spellbooks she salvaged. With them, she embarks on a mission to restore the island's vitality, one spell at a time. Yet, her actions attract unwanted attention, as an Imperial investigator arrives, determined to uncover the source of the unauthorized magic.

This tale is a delightful blend of magic and adventure, and I found myself thoroughly engrossed in its pages.

Whimsical and enchanting, like a great big hug for the soul. This book brought me right in to the cover, which is absolutely fantastic.

While cosy fantasy is not usually a genre I read, I had a fun time with this story about a woman and her talking spider plant having to try and build a new life for themselves in the village her parents left when she was a young girl. All they have is an abandoned cottage, an old cookbook and a few crates full of illegal spellbooks. There's some brief peril here, but mostly resolved quickly for a calm novel about someone finding their sense of community. The protagonist's initial isolationist attitude and self deprecation can get a little grating, but it's otherwise a sweet story.

I really enjoyed this book. Kiela is a librarian, there is an uprising and Kiela escaped the library with her pet plant caz, some of her precious books and escapes to the island where she was born.

When she gets there the island is in disarray, the people are on the verge of starving because the worlds sorcerers have depeleted the island of magic and as a result nothing grows. Kiela has a secret though, the books that she took from the library are spellbooks and so she starts to heal the island one spell at a time. However that draws attention and an imperial ship arrives with an Imperial investigator determined to find the cause of the illegal spell casting.

I thought this was a lot of fun, magic shall we say, and i really enjoyed reading it.

I absolutely loved The Spellshop!
Cozy fantasy has become one of my favourite genres recently and I just can't get enough of reading it! I almost always love every one I've read and The Spellshop was no exception!
It's probably one of my new favourites.of the genre as well!

This writing was amazing and I'll definitely be reading more by Sarah Beth Durst. I actually recentlynfound one of her books on my shelves (The Bone Maker) and I'm really excited to read it.
The plot had great pacing which was great as some cozy fantasy books can be a little slow.
I really loved all the characters though Caz was my favourite! I also really liked the romance though I wish we had more of it!

I definitely highly recommend this book especially to any fan of cozy fantasy!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

The writer says in her acknowledgments that she wanted to write a book that felt like a warm hug. I definitely think she succeeded in that.

I ate this cozy fantasy book up. I loved the atmosphere of the island and how the characters all had their quirks.

The thing why I wouldn’t give this five stars is that the plot in the end felt like it was an and and. It could have ended with the first villain but that an other comes immediately after felt like a bit much. But the rest of the plot I really enjoyed.

This book is a good match for people who liked legends and lattes or flowerheart.

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a nice cosy mystery and with magic too!
I found the book to be well written with a good steady plot. The world building was fantastic and I loved learning about the unique magic system, the rules and the politics that were hinted at too!
I really enjoyed all characters and found that they had good depths to them. I especially loved the side characters and the plants too!! This was one of those books where once you start you can’t stop reading for wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Tor for an advanced copy of The Spell Shop.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is cosy fantasy mixed, with light academia and romance mixed in for good measure.

I thought the world building was really great and it really immersed me into the world for the time I was reading the story. I thought that Kiela with Caz as her botanical sidekick, made a wonderful duo and their love for each other was a beautiful constant throughout. And the addition of Meep was hilarious!

The themes of friendship and camaraderie really shone through and I would love to hear what the Pinecone Coven get up to in future books.

This is the perfect story to snuggle up with and enjoy with a 'mug of hot chocolate', as the author says!

I loved this a whole lot. So cosy and fun. Highly recommend this fun adventure. I had a great reading experience. Everything was just so sweet.

4,5*
Thank you Pan MacMillan, Tor and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

The Spellshop is the first book written by Sarah Beth Durst that I’ve read by this author. I have one of her other books Race the sands on my shelves and after reading The spellshop, I’m definitely going to read that soon.

We follow Kiela as our FMC who escapes a coup and a big fire in the Great Library where she works and lives with her Spider plant friend Caz. They decide to return to the island where Kiera grew up and start a shop; selling jam and spells to help the islanders living on this island because they have difficulty now the sorcerers don’t come to the island.

First of all, I loved, loved, loved the world building and every creature living in it. It is really an one of a kind world building and I loved living in it while reading this book. The writer was creative and wonderful in creating it and this alone makes me recommend this book!
The characters were divers and lovely. From the beginning of the story I felt a connection with Kiera as a main character and the journey she went on. Almost all the characters in this book were nice and developed and the character I didn’t like in this book, didn’t stick around so that cleaned up nicely.

The spellshop is a cozy, heart warming, romantasy book with all the elements you’re looking for when you want to sit on the couch, a warm drink in your hand, getting lost and found in the world building, laughing out loud and swoon with the romance that is just lovely to read.

Are you looking for a cosy cottagecore fantasy book? If the answer is yes, you found your next read! The story of Kiela and Caz is so fun to join and the side characters were amazing as well. I liked the writing style, even though the story could've been more fast paced for my liking. The whimsical world was just great and the romance very sweet.

`Delightful fantasy with a really sweet romance. Great world building, I particulary loved the side characters too!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ARC that I received in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of fun with this, it built enough lore for magic and the environment to make sense without getting too wordy or too far from the core cosy goals. The gentle process of character development was really pleasurable to read and I genuinely did feel warm and fuzzy at times whilst reading. Definitely recommend you pick it up when it comes out!

The author of the book says that she wanted to write a book that "felt like drinking a mug of hot chocolate" and I'd say she nailed the brief. Kiela is a librarian in the capital city of an empire in the midst of a rebellion. When the great library she works and lives at is set on fire, she and her assistant (a sentient spider plant, Caz) must flee taking as many of the magical tomes as they can carry. She decides to return to the island she was born on, in the outer reaches of the empire to escape the chaos in the capital and hopefully be left in peace with her books and plant. Well the inhabitants of the island have other ideas and gradually bring Kiela and Caz (and later Meep) into the fold and make them a real part of the community! Of course there is a smattering of romance and some mild stress where there's a worry that secrets may be uncovered but again this is all resolved by the end of the book. It's a nice cosy read that won't cause you any undue stress while reading and the side characters will stay with you after finishing - I feel like I need a lot more talking plants in books now.

This is a lovely cozy fantasy, with delightful characters. There is a delicious romantic vibe too. It's such an easy read, I felt so warm and snuggly reading it.