The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Spellshop

Series: Standalone

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Cozy. Romance

Rating: 3 stars

Review:

Kiela struggles with people. Since she is a librarian, she doesn’t have to deal with people too much and can retreat into the comfort of her books. When the revolution causes the library to burn down, Kiela escapes with Caz, the magical spider plant, and precious spellbooks from the library. They go to Kiela’s home island Caltrey, where they attempt to lay low. But needing money and noticing that Caltrey is struggling more than Kiela remembers, Kiela decides to open a jam shop while also secretly using spells to improve life on this remote island.

Characters

Kiela: Kiela was a realistic character, one that I empathized with. She wasn’t my favorite main character, but she wasn’t the worst either. In general, she was just okay.

Caz: I think this may be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Caz was just okay. I think the concept was interesting, but he was an aspect that fell flat. He was kind of annoying, though I don’t know exactly what it was about him that irritated me.

Larran: I liked Larran. He was very sweet, and almost shy. He was adorable and perfect for Kiela. I also loved how much he loved his merhorses. It’s nice seeing a big, strong man care for these little animals. I was wanting more backstory on him, though.

The Pine Cone Society: An interesting, gossipy group. I love gossipy characters and these ones were fun. The main members of this group, besides Kiela, are Bryn, Ulina, and Eadie. They were a fun group, the perfect part of the small town of Caltrey.

Story

I didn’t like this book a whole lot. I have heard many things about it and how good it was. I hesitate to read the traditionally cozy books because I find them boring sometimes. The Emily Wilde series was an exception. The Spellshop didn’t meet everything that I have heard about this book. I felt like not a lot happened.

I also wasn’t super attached to the characters. They were cute enough, but it all fell flat for me.

If you want a book with a cute protagonist, an adorable romance, but with little action, similar to Legends and Lattes, then The Spellshop is for you!