The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst: A Comfort Read

I love fairytales (shocking thing for a fantasy writer to say, right?). Growing up, I read and reread anything by Gail Carson Levine constantly. Her stories are beautifully woven and so comforting. I wish she'd join in on the trend of YA and middle-grade authors turning to adult literature to grow with their audience. For the end of 2024, I was craving something akin to Levine's stories. Comforting and nostalgic. An incredible bookseller near me recommended The Spellshop, and I'm so glad she did.

Durst's story follows an introverted librarian, Kiela, in her kingdom's capitol city. When revolutionaries set the library on fire, Kiela and her assistant, a sentient plant named Caz, must flee with any books they managed to save. And where do they have to go other than Kiela's home island. When she arrives, her parents' old cottage is overrun with greenery. Needing both a source of food and income, Kiela takes advantage and starts making jam. As she stays on the island, Kiela sees how much the people and nature are struggling. Wanting to help and make extra income, she defies the laws against sorcery and uses the spell-books she saved to sell "remedies".

Of course, her business is not without its issues, but I'll let you read about those yourself. The Spellshop is just so quaint. I mean, it has a sentient plant. A sentient plant! That is cozy magic if I've ever heard of it. Another piece that makes this story so special and heart-warming is Kiela's emotional arc. She starts as one of the most introverted MCs I've read to date. She did not make friends with any other librarians when she was in the capitol, then she mentions numerous times that she wants to interact with the locals as little as possible when reaching the island. Talking to the bakery owner is even an inconvenience. She gets annoyed when her neighbor drops off food for her (hello, love interest). The islanders force her to grow simply by being who they are: kind, welcoming people who protect their own. Kiela starts only having a plant for a friend and ends with an island full of people willing to go to bat for her.

My one critique is that I was hoping the love interest would be described more physically. Pretty much all the detail we get is that he's tall (constantly mentioned) and hot. I wanted to know more. Him being tall and hot isn't really a great description. Perhaps Durst did that to let the reader picture what they want, but I didn't love that.

The Spellshop is exactly the kind of comforting story I was craving, so I have to recommend it. That being said, this is my official call to Gail Carson Levine that I want an adult fairytale.