THE SPELLSHOP

As the city of Alyssium and its vast library crumble and burn around her, a young librarian who’s spent 11 years sequestered among dusty bookshelves—with only a sentient, research-loving spider plant to keep her company—finds herself on the run.

After leaving the ruins of Alyssium’s great library behind—keen-eyed readers might notice the distinct parallels with the ill-fated Library of Alexandria—Keila makes her way across the open ocean to Caltrey, the picturesque island where she grew up, carrying Caz the spider plant and a boatful of spellbooks she could be punished for having taken. Hoping to lay low for a while and keep out of the locals’ hair, Keila moves into the long-abandoned cottage where her late parents raised her. What she doesn’t expect is to be welcomed by the locals with open arms; to meet her kind—and incredibly handsome—merhorse-riding neighbor, Larran; or to learn that the empire she left behind is draining the magic from her new home. The use of magic is strictly prohibited by the empire and is a punishable offense if you’re a member of the general population caught using it, but, determined to return some of the kindness that’s been shown to her, Keila decides to utilize her rescued spellbooks and opens a secret spellshop under the guise of making different berry jams. She proceeds to use the spells herself to help slowly return the island to its much more magical state. While Durst’s novel boasts a wide array of fantastic characters of both the human and nonhuman variety—Keila is described early on as having blue skin and hair—if readers are looking for any high-stakes conflict, intense political intrigue, or action-packed battle scenes in their fantasy novels, they won’t find them here. Similarly, the romance in this book is sweet but somewhat shallow. With this in mind, it’s a delightful, easily digestible palate cleanser with a story that feels like a whimsical, warm hug.

Kindness is king in this soft and breezy low-stakes cottagecore fantasy.