BOOK REVIEW: The Spell Shop - Sarah Beth Durst (2023)
So, remember how I recently wrote up the book Princess of Potential by Delemhach and said that I admittedly sometimes buy books based on—in that case—their names, and occasionally, their covers? Well, perhaps it happens more often than not, because, when I was in Sweden in October 2025, the friend I was visiting and I went to a fantasy/sci-fi shop and picked up some books, and I decided to grab one at random based on its cutesy cover. It was, of course, The Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst, which I’ve finally gotten around to reading. Up front, I can say that I really enjoyed it, but what impressed me most was the way she took a common fantasy trope—shut-in female librarian—and managed to make her really likeable, despite how genuinely insufferable she could be.
There are some thematic and romantic mild spoilers here, not naming names, and some talk of the journey the main character goes on, but for the most part I’m trying not to spoil anything too significant.
Premise
The Spell Shop is cozy fantasy at its finest. While the great revolution against the empire is raging in the background, reclusive and antisocial book-lover Kiela and her sentient spider-plant assistant/companion, Caz, flee the capital and return to Kiela’s cozy cottage home out in the boonies, which her family left behind some 20-odd years ago. Hoping to continue her life reading books and not interacting with people proves difficult in a small town where community means everything.
What I Loved
Okay, so admittedly, the reclusive female book-lover is a pretty tired trope, and yet, I’m a sucker for it when done well, I won’t deny. I love Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I love Anne from Anne of Green Gables, and I love Fauna from Aphrodite Rising. If you do a trope right, you can do it a thousand times and it’s still a good story. Such is the case with Kiela.
The way the author got me to love and hate her right away was by showing her dedication to her work and her genuine love for books, but she became immediately awful to me when listing some of the books she was saving—there seemed to be no sense of “what is most helpful or useful or rare,” rather, she saved books based on what she liked to read and apparently what she liked to read was obnoxiously boring scientific studies. Uuuugh, you insufferable dorkus! So while I could imagine that Kiela was very book smart, she did not seem to be even the slightest bit world-smart, and sending her off into the world without a plan seemed like a pretty good journey for a character to go on, especially when she’s not great at dealing with other people.
Now, is this story realistic? Because I’m all about realism in my fantasy, and yet despite everything working out quite well, getting a “happily ever after” ending, I don’t find the book to be deeply unreasonable. Yes, everything does work out to the advantage of the good guys, and the antagonists are pretty sympathetic and reasonable. That latter part’s maybe not so true to reality, even if it should be. This story shows off what a complicated and messy, if still somewhat kinder world than ours could be like, if people wanted what’s best for one another. Since that’s how I write my own fantasy, I surely can’t complain.
Perhaps you’ve heard my Do We Need a Better Fantasy? convention talk from 2025. Its about the flood of grimdark fantasy in mainstream media, which has rather run its course with me. I believe fantasy should be fantastical—as in, doing the unlikely and improbable—and while I like realism for the sake of learning and expectations and that sort of thing, I also seek escapism. I write about better worlds than ours because I want to live in a world that’s kinder and better than ours, and when I can’t, that’s where I go to escape reality. So, while mainstream media seems to be largely focused on showing us a dirty mirror of our lives, apparently the not-so-mainstream has taken up cozy fantasy and I couldn’t be happier.
Plus, I just liked the whimsy. Like, yes, I do roll my eyes at overused and abused fantasy tropes, I won’t deny it. Yet, things like spells to reinvigorate nature, flying cats, merhorses, merfolk, and spell-born characters like Caz and Meep all made the world feel full and rich and fun and whimsical, which is what I like from my fantasy. I would definitely have loved to move to Caltrey to start my life over, if I believed there was a Caltrey in real life. Did I wish I was Kiela and living her life? Frequently, so I think the story did its job.
The best part of this book, though? The not-very-subtle depiction of how community is everything. And that’s so valid to real life! The longest-running study on mental health and life satisfaction has stated clearly that the #1 thing that gives people long, happy, healthy lives is community, and the why of that is no more evident than it is in this book. Yes, Kiela could try to do everything on her own and be a recluse and so on. But in the end, she sees the value in friendship and community, and embraces it wholeheartedly, as she finally sees its value when everything isn’t just given to her by her job.
It’s also good that she’s not obnoxious or entitled. Characters like that tend to lean towards disdain to others and while Kiela does start out that way, she’s only kind of a jerk sometimes. She warms up pretty quickly. It’s nice.
What Could Have Been Better
Honestly, I don’t really have any complaints about this story. The main character does tend to be pretty rude and unlikeable at first, but she also sets a good example about honesty and boundary setting. She never has to explain herself or why someone needs to respect her privacy, it’s just taken at face value: Kiela doesn’t like when you get into her personal space, so please ask first. There’s a fun immediate conflict between the nosy small-town neighbors who remember her from when she was 6 years old, and how they’re already back sticking their noses into her business again.
Perhaps I feel like the one antagonistic villager got off a bit too easy. His motives were never explained and so he’s a bit of a one-note character who’s just there to cause trouble and then bails when he realizes that he lost all the town’s loyalty by being a shithead. Maybe that part wound up a bit too tidily for it to be satisfying, but he was such a shithead that I was mostly just relieved to have him gone by the end.
Also, I do objectively dislike when characters get engaged after a few weeks of knowing one another. While it is, technically, fantasy, it echoes too much of unhealthy relationships. Do I think this relationship was unhealthy? Nah, all of the romances in this tale will probably work out for the best, and it’ll be great, largely because these characters really liked who one another were and supported each other enthusiastically. But I do think that, every once in a while, books should just end with “they’re a couple now,” and not “they’re getting married now.” That’s a bit much.
What Would I Like to See?
My first thought was queerness, but honestly, I feel like there’s tons of queer fantasy these days and there were queer side characters. I’d be a hypocrite if I said my MCs don’t have straight-passing relationships in my own stories, so I’d be quite the pot calling the kettle black, and I did enjoy the hinting at a queer romance blossoming amongst side characters. On the front of feminism, I didn’t find the relationships to be shady or patriarchal. So in the end, I don’t think I have any notes. I liked this story, it was warm and cozy and just the sort of thing I like to read right now.
Overall
I’ll gladly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys cottagecore fantasy, with simple living. If you dream about escaping to a small cabin to live off the land near a small town where everyone knows one another and everyone cares about one another and everyone looks out for one another? This book will probably be exactly what you need. I enjoyed reading it, but it wasn’t so gripping that I couldn’t put it down to, say, feed myself or do some chores, which is a bit of a bonus when you take into consideration how ADHD and single-minded I can get. So, maybe we should judge books by their covers once in a while, because I’d have missed out on this one if I hadn’t.
Curious about Bear’s fantasy? Check out the teaser sample of The Vitmar Chronicles, Volume I: An Ending & A Beginning!
