The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Kiela works as a librarian in the city of Alyssium. She and her assistant, Caz, have been living in this library, taking care of the empire’s spellbooks. I should mention that Caz is a sentient spider plant. At first, that made me want to skip this book, but he is awesome. I am not great at keeping plants alive so the thought of a plant that can take care of itself sounds perfect. I would love to have a plant with which I could chat with throughout my day!
A revolution begins in Alyssium, and the library is set on fire; Kiela and Caz flee with as many books as possible. They head to a little island where Kiela was born to wait out the revolution. She hopes to go unnoticed, but right away, a nosy but handsome neighbor checks in on the island’s newest resident. And he keeps checking in on her day after day! Eventually, Kiela realizes she needs to find a way to make a living and decides to open a jam shop. Using her parents’ old recipe book and some illegal magic, she soon has plenty of berries for her jam.
As time goes on, she starts helping the island residents with “remedies”—aka spells—and ends up with a secret spell shop!
I loved Caz, the winged cats that roam the island, and all the human and nonhuman characters. I loved so much of this book. I usually go for thrillers, so this is a big change of pace for me. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. This book was recommended as a cozy book for the spooky season, but I think it is perfect for any season. Grab this book, a blanket, and your favorite bakery treat, and enjoy!
Literary Coffee 