As soon as I heard about this book, I was hooked. I’ve enjoyed lots of books by Sarah Beth Durst in the past, but a cozy fantasy starring a librarian – with jam and a sentient plant friend – was absolutely irresistable. I requested it from my library to make sure they would have it, but I definitely want to own it for myself, too. The only question is whether I want the print, the audio, or maybe even both.

The Spellshop
by Sarah Beth Durst

Bramble, 2024

ISBN 978-1250333971

Read from a library copy.
Ebook and audio available from Libby.

Kiela has loved her life as a librarian in the Great Library of Alyssium. She has the best assistant she’s ever had – Caz, a sentient spider plant – meals delivered, all the book access and interesting research questions she could want. But when revolutionaries actually start burning the library, she and Caz flee with the few crates of spellbooks they’d packed up in one of the library delivery boats. They go to the only place Kiela can think of to go – the remote island of Caltrey, where she lived as a child until her parents decided to move them to the city in hopes of a better life. Now, though, with her parents dead ofr years and the city in flames, a quiet island life seems like the best option.

Kiela doesn’t dislike people, exactly – but she’s always been more comfortable with books than people and is certainly out of practice dealing with them. (This tells public-librarian me that Kiela’s Great Library was much more an academic library, as public libraries are very social places, despite the number of introverted librarians working at them.) She thought she could sneak into her parents’ old cottage and live there unnoticed – but a young and overly friendly neighbor named Larran discovers her on the first day, and keeps showing up, fixing her chimney and bringing her food.

Kiela realizes that she is going to have to people whether she likes it or not and is instantly befriended by the town’s baker, Bryn, whom she later learns also fled a different life to make a home on Caltrey. Even though magic is forbidden for any but trained sorcerers to use, Kiela sees the hardship that the island is suffering as magical overuse in the capital leads to hard storms and failing harvests on Caltrey. She determines to use her magic books to make small spells to help and her parents’ old cookbooks to make jam to earn enough to keep going. Her adventures are both hilarious and filled with wonder as spells go wrong and forest spirits ask for help.

This book, with multicolored, multifantasy people feels like it could be illustrated by Kay O’Neill, with blue-skinned Kiela keeping company with antlered Brynn, a Black centaur lady, and a four-armed harper, among others. The island also has a flying cat population and is known for herding merhorses. Kiela’s journey towards joining the community, not just hiding in the cottage, is slow and satisfying, with experimentation around spells and jam, bad storms, a grouchy village resident, and unwelcome arrivals from off the island providing conflict. While we the readers can tell from the beginning that there’s going to be a romance with Larran, Kiela’s social skills are undeveloped enough that it takes her an endearingly long time to recognize it herself, and suitably for her character, stays at a kisses-only level. I also really appreciated the deeper thoughts on magic and power – who has it and why laws are made around it. With charm, found family, and self-discovery, this is a beautiful comfort read to return to over and over again.

For more Sarah Beth Durst, try her middle grade titles Journey across the Hidden Islands, The Stone Girl’s Story, Spark, and Catalyst. I also enjoyed her adult Queens of Renthia series, though it is considerably bloodier. For more cozy fantasy beyond TJ Klune (who is great!), try The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna and Good Neighbors by Stephanie Burgis.