Week 24 Review: The Spellshop

From Goodreads:

The Spellshop is a cottagecore cosy fantasy following a woman's unexpected journey through the low-stakes market of illegal spell-selling and the high-risk business of starting over . . .

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn't had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire's precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city's elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She's hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she's determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks—the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high.

Perfect for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune, The Spellshop is a romantic and cosy fantasy.

My Review:
This was a really fantastic read! I loved reading about this librarian who all she really wanted was to protect the books, and the circumstances that came up in her way to keep her from doing that. It was such a delight to read!

The laws about magic, and spellbooks, in this magical world, oh, man, I just wanted to shake those with power, because they didn't care about everyone else, no matter how affected these other people are if they aren't allowed to do small magics like they used to, and you're not sending out magicians to maintain the various magics that keep the island going. Bah! 

Kiela is not a people person, she'd rather have her nose in a book. But when the revolution happened, well, going to the island where she was born, which was small and not well known, seemed like a good place to ride out the upheaval. 

This cast of characters was so great, and watching Kiela find her place there, and all the various schinangans that happened, to keep the books safe, to make a home there, yeah, it was all so much fun to read! I loved how it ended, that was a good place for the future to go from here! 

Love dreading this book and I can't wait to read more by Sarah Beth Durst! 

Author: Sarah Beth Durst 
Read: June 11th, 2024
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it sounded great and it's a SAC 2024 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Expected Publication: July 9th 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars