Book Review 2025 #6 - Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: July 9th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)
When fleeing a revolution it's hard know to what books to pack. Kiela Orobidan is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium. She's spent the last eleven years safeguarding the spellbooks contained therein, third floor, east wing. Now that the emperor has been defenestrated and the flames are coming closer, Kiela, and her best friend Caz, a sentient spider plant, have to flee. She's been packing and repacking the library boats for about a week in case of this eventuality, constantly conflicted over which books are the most irreplaceable, and now that the day has arrived, well, she doesn't know what to do. If she's honest with herself she didn't think the day would arrive. Rulers come and go but libraries are eternal. She thought the library would be secured by the rebels not looted! After all who doesn't love books? Perhaps the revolutionaries when the knowledge has been hoarded and kept out of the hands of those who could use it.... Well Kiela and Caz have their hoard and given the destruction they've witnessed, they might possess the last of the greatest treasure of the Crescent Islands Empire. The books have to be protected, first and foremost, and after much contemplation a plan is formed. It might not be the best plan, but it's the only plan they've got. They are returning to Kiela's home island of Caltrey. Her parents left to live a better life and give Kiela more opportunities. She might have gained a calling in the library but she lost her family, her freckles, and gained a host of antisocial disorders. Coming back though will only be temporary. They'll protect the books and not think about the fact they could be charged with theft, and lay low until this whole revolution business is settled. Upon returning to Caltrey the plan is to hide out in the house where Kiela grew up in, which is technically hers she realizes. Pretty soon though it's clear that there will have to be some interaction with the islanders. She has to eat. Also, there's her neighbor, Larran Maver. He's cute and way too helpful. Years ago she was kind to him and now he wants to repay the favor. Only Caltrey is suffering. It used to be that the emperor would send his sorcerers out on a regular rotation to tend to the outer islands. They'd cast spells that balanced out whatever nonsense they'd done in the capital city to build their palaces and fuel their lavish lives while ordinary people suffered. This threw the weather out of whack but then sorcerers stopped coming and the problem continued. Fish began to get scarce, and the merhorses, which Larran breeds, have dwindled. Kiela feels a need to do something. But protecting the spellbooks is a whole different kettle of fish than using them. If she's caught it could be disastrous. But if she doesn't help all of Caltrey will suffer.
I have been trying to not buy as many books and utilize my local library more. But then I borrow a book like The Spellshop and my resolve is out the window. Before I even finished reading it I was trying to find out where to get a signed copy of it and it's "sequel," The Enchanted Greenhouse. The Ripped Bodice in Los Angles came through for me and I'm hoping they will again this year when Sea of Charms comes out. Because I had to have a signed book. When I go all in on a book it isn't by half measures. And this book is my jam, in more ways than one. As literally everyone I know has said, this book is like the hug you didn't know you needed. This book embraces you in a world of sentient plants and jam and merhorses and winged cats, I mean, come on, winged cats! I want a winged cat. I also want some jam too. Yes, you will get hungry reading this book but you will also be satiated. The Spellshop is about finding your home, found family, and realizing that the more friends you have the safer you are. It's about building a community and coming together when times are rough. And, well, times are very rough, so I think we could all use a little bit of compassion. I want to live in this world. I want some defenestration and good trouble. What I love about fantasy is that it is magical and wonderful but it also holds up a mirror to our world. Basically the Crescent Islands Empire is in the midst of their own French Revolution. They literally cannot take the corruption for one more minute. Sound familiar? But what I love is that Sarah Beth Durst shows how, in this world, climate change is happening because of magic. Caltrey and other islands are almost destroyed by these horrific storms and it's all because the emperor has stopped sending out sorcerer envoys to fix the problems. They keep doing what they're doing, fiddling while Rome burns, and they just say damn the consequences. Does this sound relevant? As I write this the EPA literally just said they no longer care about the cost of human lives. As long as the rich are getting richer why bother trying to save people who they really don't want to save in the first place? But that's why we form communities, that's why we help each other, that's why we need at least 3.5% of us to finally have had enough. On a more personal level though this book help up a mirror to myself. The awkward book nerd who just wants to sleep in the stacks and be left alone. Whose anxiety at interacting with others is occasionally off the charts. I am Kiela. So can someone point me towards my sexy merhorse breeder? I'd even settle for a sentient spider plant!
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
Motherbridge: Seeds of Change by George Mann and Aleta Vidal
