“It wasn’t that she didn’t like people. It was that she liked books more.”
With this quotation from The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst won my heart. Durst presents her readers with a cozy fantasy novel about a young woman named Kiela who works in the Great Library of Alyssium. When revolutionaries attacking the Crescent Island Empire force Kiela to flee the library toting all the ancient (and heavily guarded) spell books she can carry, she must journey across the sea to the island where she grew up, starting a new life in the old cottage that once belonged to her parents. Although Kiela has spent so much time among books that she has lost touch with her social skills, she soon learns that to survive on the outer islands, she will have to talk to people, make friends, and find a community. She decides to use a spell to bring her parent’s garden back to life, and tensions mount when she opens a secret spellshop to restore magic to the people, disguising her intent by selling jam. Alongside the debate about who should have access to magic is a sweet, budding romance with an old family friend named Larran.
The Spellshop is a book filled with delights! There are mermaids, merbabies, singing apple trees, winged cats, and even merhorses (half-horse, half-fish) who swim in the magical waters around the islands. Kiela’s best friend is a sentient spider plant named Caz, and his quick-witted quips made me laugh out loud: “I’m blushing. You just can’t tell because of the chlorophyll.” In her author’s note, Durst explains that she wanted to write a book that read like drinking hot chocolate, and in this, her novel succeeds. The lovely prose will leave readers longing for cinnamon buns and raspberry jam, and the happily-ever-after will lend a touch of nostalgia to readers weary with the challenges of the real world.
The Spellshop is a lovely, quick escape best enjoyed on the beach or curled beneath a cozy blanket. Its humor, light magic, and optimism reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones' novel Howl’s Moving Castle, and readers (young and old) will find much to celebrate in its pages. You can find it here.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.
Kelly Jarvis works as the Assistant Editor for The Fairy Tale Magazine where she writes stories, poems, essays, book reviews, and interviews. Her poetry has also been featured or is forthcoming in Blue Heron Review, Mermaids Monthly, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, The Magic of Us, A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, and Corvid Queen. Her short fiction has appeared in The Chamber Magazine and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/