Kiela is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium when the library catches fire in a rebellion to overthrow the Empire. Rushing to save precious spell books, Kiela and Caz, her sentient spider plant assistant, escape on a boat. Drifting aimlessly until they near Caltrey, the island where she was born.

Even though she left with her parents as a little girl, Kiela has wonderful memories of the island and quickly finds her way to their cottage. Safely tucked away from the Empire and a little run down but filled with potential, she locates her parents’ cookbook and along with Caz, they form a plan to make a living by selling homemade jams. The problem is, they have to survive right now, a little magic won’t hurt anyone, right? Using the spell books only for necessities, Kiela and Caz bring life back to her garden, but not everything can stay secret for long on the tiny island.

Sooo I low key loved this! A cozy low stakes fantasy that just makes you all warm and fuzzy. Kiela was a bit of a recluse but I adored watching her come out of her shell, warming up to Larran and making friends with the islanders. Caz was hilarious, it was all a little ridiculous and adorable. The world building was compact but so charming and cute, I loved the forest spirits, winged cats, mermaids and merhorses, and Meep! 💕

Audiobook narration by Caitlin Davies was simply cozy and entertaining, her voices were effortless and it added lovely intrigue to the plot. The delivery was silly enough that it made the book go by super fast! I think fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea will like this book, it had similar aspects with magical creatures and found family themes.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the listening copy to review, set to publish July 9th, 2024

Title: The Spellshop
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Cozy Fantasy, Mystery, Magic
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️