Book Review – Sea of Charms

13 Oct 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

After spending time immersed in cozy fantasy at New York Comic-Con, I’m back to writing book reviews. Next up on my backlog for review is Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst. This is the third book in The Spellshop series and I just reviewed the second book, The Enchanted Greenhouse, last week.

You can find my reviews of the previous books and purchase links below:

  • The Spellshop – review here / purchase here
  • The Enchanted Greenhouse – review here / purchase here

And for a disclaimer – I received Sea of Charms courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Book cover for 'Sea of Charms' by Sarah Beth Durst featuring a serene seaside scene with a sailboat, lush greenery, and vibrant flowers framing a wooden gate.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Marin had always belonged on the great blue sea. When the man she thought was the love of her life schemed to ruin her parents’ business, she did what her heart knew best: she fled to the sea.

Now working as a supply runner on her own boat, Marin sails from island to island, delivering a varied array of goods: letters, flour, stories, and even the occasional enchanted statue. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers. Besides, she’s got the company of Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub. They’re the best crew she could ask for.

On one of her routine trips to the capital of the Crescent Islands Empire, Alyssium, Marin finds the city on fire and a revolution underway—so she offers transportation to Dax, a composer friend who refuses to leave behind his instruments. What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a (temporary) member of her crew if he becomes her pretend boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.

Against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile—and realizes that perhaps she isn’t saving him. Maybe it’s the other way around.

Sea of Charms is a cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself.

This book felt different that the earlier ones in this series because it took our characters to multiple islands across the Crescent Islands Empire. While the other books in the series work well as stand-alone novels, this one ties in to the events of those earlier books and would be best read after the other two. Marin is a side character in The Enchanted Greenhouse, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that we see where her adventures overlap with the events of that book.

The timeline in Sea of Charms takes us back to roughly the start of the revolution in the capital city, Alyssium. This book also takes place over a longer time frame than the earlier ones, but with a broader world to explore, that made sense to me. For part of the book Marin sails without any human companions, so the romance aspect of this story takes time to develop as it requires Dax to be around Marin enough for their relationship to develop.

I loved how Marin tried to be a loner and refused to take on a crew or passengers, only to bend her rules as circumstances changed. She was unable to refuse people in a desperate situation and I think she empathized with their desire to flee their homes as she herself had done when she went to sea, even if the reasons were different. Dax was also a wonderful character who starts out naive and sheltered, but he yearns to see the world. His role as a talented composer and musician put him in a different social class than most of the other characters we see in this book, but opposites attract and made him the perfect partner for Marin. Dax is obviously enamored with her throughout the book, but it takes time for Marin to heal from her past experience and to learn that she can fall in love again. Like the earlier books, the romance is sweet and stays simple.

Once again, a talking plant was probably the most endearing character in this book. We first met Ree the wax myrtle in The Enchanted Greenhouse, but in this book we see him learn how to sail. Like Dax, Ree is also naive but eager, and his joy in becoming a sailor helps to soften Marin’s heart.

The places that Marin and crew visit in this book were one of my favorite parts of the book. We get to see Alyssium during the revolution, as well as Marin’s family home with an abundance of winged cats. Together the crew braves a dragon and a magical storm, and even encounters unicorns. Overall this was a delightful and inventive story that tied together some of the pieces of earlier books, while remaining focused on its own central plot.

The next book in the series will be The Magical Cheese Emporium and is expected to be published January 19, 2027.

Have you read any of Sarah Beth Durst’s books other than this series? Which would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – The Enchanted Greenhouse

08 Oct 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I’m looking forward to attending New York Comic-Con (NYCC) this week and started to look through the list of panels and attendees. NYCC is hosting a panel on cozy fantasy, with one of my favorite cozy authors in attendance – Sarah Beth Durst. Since I’m working through my back log of book reviews, I thought this would be a great time to catch up on reviews of a couple of her books that I’ve read this year.

The Enchanted Greenhouse is the second book in the loosely connected Spellshop series. You can find my review of the first book below, as well as one for a stand-alone fantasy novel by Durst that I recently reviewed:

  • The Spellshop – review here / purchase here
  • The Faraway Inn – review here / purchase here
Book cover for 'The Enchanted Greenhouse' by Sarah Beth Durst featuring a magical greenhouse in a snowy landscape, with an intricately designed structure and a cat with wings in the foreground.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.

This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.

But Terlu can’t return home and doesn’t want to—the greenhouses are a dream come true, each more wondrous than the next. When she learns that the magic that sustains them is failing—causing the death of everything within them—Terlu knows she must help. Even if that means breaking the law again.

This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by the gardener and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.

Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.

While readers of The Spellshop will instantly recognize the character of Terlu from a tale told in that first book, no prior knowledge of this series would be necessary to jump into this not-quite-a-sequel second book. When Terlu is reanimated in an unfamiliar forest, she knows as much about her surroundings as the reader does.

As Terlu explores her new environs and meets the denizens of an island filled with a series of enchanted greenhouses, she brings the reader along in that discovery. I found myself completely invested in the mystery of the failing magic. Like The Spellshop, this book is also a light romance, with some nice moments and captivating settings to be found within the magical gardens.

If you enjoyed the sentient spider plant, Caz, from the first book, there are more of his relations to be found in this novel. These non-human denizens were essential to fill out the cast of characters since both Terlu and the gardener, Yarrow, are essentially trapped on the island through their circumstances and choices. This limited setting leaves fewer potential plot complications, but the ongoing failures of the greenhouses provided enough twists and mystery to keep me interested in the book.

Cozy fantasy seems to always involve some level of cuteness in regard to the creatures, and I am all here for this. In this book we have a winged cat and some tiny dragons. The shrub who wants to be a sailor was a particular favorite of mine.

The Enchanted Greenhouse delves more into spells and the practical use of magic that we didn’t see in the first book, and I enjoyed seeing the characters think through their problems, spend time researching, and then learn how to work their own spells. The necessity of this was a nice counterpoint to the prohibition against lay people performing magic.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I can’t decide if I liked it more than The Spellshop or not. Anyway – I’ve already read the next book in the series, Sea of Charms, and should have a review of that out in the next few weeks. It looks like a fourth book will be out in 2027 titled The Magical Cheese Emporium.

Have you read this series? What did you think? What other cozy fantasy books should I read? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – A Sorceress Comes to Call

06 Oct 2026 1 Comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I need to do a better job keeping up with book reviews, so I’ll start by looking at a recent stand-along novel I read, A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. This is a fantasy novel that is a retelling of a Grimm’s fairy tale.

I have read and enjoyed a couple of other books by this author, but have not had a chance to review them yet. She is someone who my husband met many years ago through his work in online gaming and first came to my attention as Ursula Vernon with her “weird fruit” art that you can still see at her DeviantArt page.

These are the other books by the author that I’ve read:

Book cover for 'A Sorceress Comes to Call' by T. Kingfisher featuring stylized trees and celestial elements on a dark background.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn’t allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother’s beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this book was that I was not familiar with the fairy tale it was based upon. In the first few chapters, I didn’t know if I should be rooting for Cordelia or her mother, Evangeline, and I had no expectations about where this tale would go. It was set in a generic medievalesque fantasy world which didn’t take anything away from the story because that vaguely European feudal setting is what I’d expect by default for Grimm’s fairy tales.

I enjoyed seeing the character of Cordelia grow as the story unfolded. She was initially meek and defeated (but for good reason as we see after the first few chapters), and her reluctance to act was believable in the first half of the book, rather than frustrating.

Evangeline was a fitting villain and her power to make others “obedient” was a terrifying ability. I did wonder why she hadn’t made better use of her powers, and how she ended up in her current circumstances when it seemed like she could have done so much more with her abilities. Yet there were hints about the limits on her power and how much magic she was capable of working at once.

I loved Hester as a secondary protagonist, particularly since Evangeline discounted her as a threat and wrote her off due to her age and disability. Hester looks out for her brother and immediately saw Evangeline’s ingratiation with their family for what it is, even if she didn’t appreciate the sorcery at work to start with. When events became deadly it was too late for anyone to escape the situation.

I liked the idea that the author planted in regard to sorcery and the perception of magic in this society. People generally saw sorcerers as fraudsters and cheats, rather than serious threats. In the past, those capable of powerful sorcery were hunted down so that those few who remained now keep their powers secret. This explained why little was known about the power of sorcery to the characters in the novel.

I read about the original fairy tale before writing this review, and I would say that this book is only loosely based on that material. Sorcery does not play a role in the fairy tale and the courtship aspect is not featured. Only the character of the horse, Falada, took its name from the fairy tale and followed some of that original plot. The geese made an appearance in this book, but were not central to the story.

While I initially thought of this book as a light read, I think I mean more that it was an easy read. The prose was straight-forward and none of the worldbuilding or setting were complicated, with only a few characters who were central to the story. The plot took a gruesome turn near the end which didn’t bother me, but it might upset some people (animal death, but not really). To be fair, that part of the novel took more direct inspiration from the source material.

I definitely plan to pick up more books by this author. Have you read any that you really liked? Let me know in the comments!

You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – Alien Clay

28 Aug 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

While I have a back log of reviews to get to, it’s always easiest to write a review when the book is fresh in my mind. Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a stand-alone science fiction novel that I recently finished in August for a book club discussion (paid link). You can find out what I thought below.

Alien Clay was nominated for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2025 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. It also won a Special Citation in 2025 from the Philip K. Dick Award. I wasn’t aware of this award but it is given by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society together with the Philip K. Dick Trust for the best original paperback published in the U.S. that year. Looking through the list of winners, citations, and nominees, I found that I wasn’t familiar with most of the books on it. Next time I’m looking for new science fiction to read, this list might be a great resource.

I have previously read and reviewed one other book by this author:

  • Elder Race – review here / purchase here

In writing this post, I also just discovered that the author has a sequel to Elder Race coming out on September 1, 2026, called Engines of Reason. You can pre-order it here.

Book cover for 'Alien Clay' by Adrian Tchaikovsky, featuring vibrant yellow and blue colors with alien flora in a surreal landscape.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there.

In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln, but distant Earth as well.

I had some trouble starting this book, but that was mostly due to a busy schedule and lack of sleep on my part, rather than due to any problem with the book. The first pages include a Dramatis Personae, but I found that I never needed to flip back to reference this. Once I had more free time to dedicate to reading, this was a stellar book that I (mostly) read in two days.

The opening shows both the protagonist, Arton Daghdev, and the ruthless attitude of the Mandate as Arton arrives on the planet of Kiln. The idea of “acceptable wastage” is introduced, basically acknowledging that some prisoners will die quickly and as long as the numbers aren’t too high, no one back on Earth will care. The prisoners are essentially freeze dried for one-way transport to their alien prison, while the leadership and staff get to ride in a safer ship that allows a return voyage when their period of work is done.

The novel interweaves two main themes: rebellion against an oppressive regime and weird and poorly understood planetary biology. The Mandate wants to force the science to fit their philosophy, so while the main antagonist, Commandant Terolan, is tasked with enforcing order on Kiln, he also needs those prisoners with an academic background in relevant fields to help the stalled research of his regular staff. Arton receives special attention from Terolan and waffles between wanting to study the alien structures and the ecology of Kiln, while also continuing to rebel against the government that sent him here.

His fellow prisoners are not welcoming initially and a minor theme throughout the book is trust. Arton already knows several of the inmates and while he knows that he never snitched on anyone, he both realizes that someone had snitched on him on Earth and fears that the others believe he did the same to them. Arton’s character is believable in how he waffles between his own fear of further punishment and his deep-seated need to continue to fight against the oppression and poor science of the Mandate.

One of the best parts of Alien Clay is the biology of the life on Kiln. Arton is not given full privileges to engage in research because he is still a prisoner, but gradually gleans information from his captors as he is allowed to work for the official scientists. Arton’s past as a well-respected researcher in academia also flavors the story, and I imagine readers who work in academia will appreciate this more than others. No one who is a leader in their field has chosen to come to Kiln to work, but those less successful academics who did join the colony oversee prisoners with more publications and expertise, leading to snarky lines like this one from Arton:

“We know it all. Lay down your guns and I’ll let you and Terolan peer-review my paper on it.”

As an aside, the life on Kiln reminded me in many ways of the 2023 HBO animated series, Scavenger’s Reign. While this show was unfortunately not renewed for a second season, the first season was incredible and still worth watching for anyone who likes science fiction involving a lot of biology.

I don’t want to spoil anything about the mysteries of Kiln or the ending of this book, so I will only say that the author brings all of these ideas together to a satisfying conclusion that left me thinking for days afterward.

Have you read other science fiction books that lean heavily on biology rather than physics or engineering? Which ones would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

July 2026 Reading Wrap Up

26 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Next up is my summary of my worst reading month of the year so far. July found me struggling to find the time to read, and my focus for listening to audiobooks also faltered. Yet I did still manage to finish one book. This doesn’t tell my full July reading story, because I did read most of another lengthy book. However, I didn’t finish that one until August, so I can’t count it yet.

If you’d like to pick up any of these books and support my blog at the same time you can click on any of the book links in this post.

Book cover of 'Light from Uncommon Stars' by Ryka Aoki featuring a colorful fish swimming in a starry, cosmic background with a quote by Charlie Jane Anders.

Books I read in July (384 pages):

  • Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki was a book club selection and is a tale of music, aliens and donuts – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book cover for 'Light From Uncommon Stars' by Ryka Aoki, featuring a colorful fish against a starry space background with a quote by Charlie Jane Anders.
Book cover of 'The Best of All Possible Planets' by Alex Shvartsman, featuring a spaceship traveling through space surrounded by planets and stars.
Book cover for 'The Winged Game' by Sophie Kim featuring a purple background, a shield emblem with a winged creature, and the tagline 'When rivals collide, sparks will fly.'

New books acquired in July (1 allowed):

I went over my book allowance by two this month and I know I’m going to fail at this again for August. If I can get back on track with my reading then I should be able to do better with this for the rest of the year. I did recently pull some books off my shelves to donate to help thin out the collection. I don’t often re-read books, but there are favorites that I do like to hold on to, as well as all those still waiting to be read.

Since this is a shorter post than usual, I also wanted to include a few words here about my Bookshop.org shop. This site lets you purchase books through a designated local independent book store. If you follow this link to my shop, I have created a few lists to help you find your next favorite read! Here is one example of my lists:

Are you making progress on your summer reading list? If you could finish only one more book for the summer, which one would it be? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review – Sistersong

08 May 2026 2 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I ended up acquiring Sistersong by Lucy Holland when the Science Fiction Book Club closed operations and had amazing deals on books (paid link). I didn’t know much about this story or author before reading it. Find out what I thought below.

Book cover of 'Sistersong' by Lucy Holland featuring stylized hands, a harp, and decorative elements inspired by British folklore.
I read the hardcover edition.

Here is the blurb:

In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, and the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.

All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky. It brings with it Myrdhin, meddler and magician. And Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.

Riva, Keyne and Sinne—three siblings entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, who must fight to forge their own paths.

Their story will shape the destiny of Britain.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This novel is based on the British folk ballad, The Twa Sisters, which has been retold in several other pieces of fiction, as well as a variety of musical styles, and even a quest in The Witcher video game. I was able to easily find a folk version to listen to by searching on Spotify.

This novel feels like historical fiction because it is set in a version of the Saxon realms before England existed, but it also incorporates a good amount of myth and magic. Yet this magic is fading as the new religion of Christianity spreads through the land, and this idea of competing religions is a major theme throughout the book.

This book is also about the relationships between the three sisters. Each one is a distinct person, and the novel explores gender roles and gender identity in this patriarchal society. The sisters all have limitations to their power and goals and each faces this as the story evolves.

I enjoyed this book and found that the story slowly built tension and I was not sure who to cheer for or who to trust. The book has a satisfying, if not altogether happy, ending. It’s a novel that is built to clearly be a stand-alone novel, so the plot threads are all brought together by the end and character arcs are resolved. I’m happy I chose to read this one and I’d consider reading another novel by this author.

What historical fantasy books have you read and enjoyed? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – The Kaiju Preservation Society

05 May 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I have enjoyed a couple of other books by John Scalzi, so I was excited to start The Kaiju Preservation Society last year (paid link). I didn’t know much about the premise so I went into this read blind. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Wil Wheaton.

I previously reviewed Starter Villain by the author and you can find my review of it here, and a purchase link here.

A close-up image of a weathered identification tag displaying the title 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' by John Scalzi, with a quote from Joe Hill, set against a background of green foliage and pine needles.
I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.

What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous panda and they’re in trouble.

It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that’s found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too–and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.

⭐⭐⭐

Like other books by John Scalzi, this was an easy read (and listen) and started quickly by putting the protagonist in a tough situation and throwing him into a series of surprising events.

Jamie learns that the Kaiju Preservation Society (or KPS) takes care of gigantic Godzilla-esque creatures on an alternate Earth. His experience as a food delivery driver is ironically being put to use in his new role as a messenger with the KPS. He works hard and is excited to be able to help. Most of the story in the first part of this book shows Jamie experiencing the reveal of the secrets of Kaiju-Earth.

The biology of the kaiju was inventive and surprising, but also features in an important way as the plot develops. Even weapons training is a fun (which is synonymous with dangerous) excursion, at least for the trainers.

One of the weaknesses of this book was that all of the young scientists felt like the same character to me. Scalzi tries to give them quirks to set them apart, but this didn’t help enough. My favorite character was Martin, the helicopter pilot who takes Jamie and crew out to see one of the local kaiju, Bella. He becomes a pivotal character and his daring and skilled piloting is critical to the story.

While I enjoyed the ideas in this book, for most of the story it lacked conflict. Jamie visits Kaiju-Earth and sees the sights, but nothing goes wrong until very close to the end of the novel. The story generally lacks an antagonist and then rushes to fill that gap with a flurry of action in the final quarter of the book. I wish that the story had been more evenly paced.

Wil Wheaton as narrator is a hit, of course. He does the narration on many of Scalzi’s books, but I have also listened to him on Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (paid link).

Have you read other books that feature kaiju? Let me know about them in the comments.

You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – The Faraway Inn

13 Apr 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I reviewed The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst in my previous post and I wanted to follow that up with a review of the new YA cozy fantasy novel by the same author, The Faraway Inn (paid links). Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Faraway Inn was just published on March 31, 2026.

Book cover for 'The Faraway Inn' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical, illuminated inn surrounded by flowers and greenery, with elegant text at the top.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

After a devastating heartbreak, a teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn–but this fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret–in this cozy and irresistable new fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.

Sixteen-year-old Calisa is desperate for a change of scenery after her lying ex ruins her perfect Brooklyn summer. When her parents suggest she head to rural Vermont to help her great-aunt run her cozy bed and breakfast for a few months, she jumps at the chance.

But when Calisa arrives at the B&B, she’s shocked to find a rundown inn with only a handful of guests. And to make matters worse, upon meeting with her great-aunt it quickly becomes clear that Calisa was not invited. Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn…even if it is clear she needs the help.

To earn her keep, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper’s (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the more it becomes evident that there is something strange about the B&B—and its residents. Something almost…otherworldly.

The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she’s come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth of it, and her aunt, before it’s too late.

I believe that this book is being presented as a YA novel, and I think it does fit that description. Calisa, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year-old who is having some common problems for a teenager. Following the author’s recent trend in her writing, this is also a cozy fantasy story, or one in which the stakes are generally low. That doesn’t mean that nothing important happens to the characters in such a story, but rather that the world isn’t going to end (or similar catastrophe) if the protagonist fails to meet their goal.

This book was easy to read as long as I didn’t stop to think about the details of the story very much. Calisa finds herself at a magical inn that is run by her reclusive aunt, with the help of a teenage handyman, Jack. Jack’s dad is missing, only a few guests are booking rooms, and the inn is in a state of serious disrepair. In an attempt to ingratiate herself with her aunt and because she genuinely wants to help, Calisa starts to clean and cook for the guests.

As Calisa takes a more active role at the inn, I had to wonder how the place functioned at all before her arrival. Auntie Zee was too much of an enigma and was not present enough for me to believe that she had even managed to provide for the minimal guests who were present. She was the one character that I didn’t find believable in this book. However I did enjoy the secondary characters, particularly one guest who had an odd affinity for trees and shrubs.

This book is also a light romance, and while it follows a predictable pattern for that genre, it wasn’t the main plot of the book. The level of spiciness was low, for those who rank that kind of thing (fitting with this being a YA book). I found the small magical items around the inn to be creative and engaging. My favorites were the firebird who lit the fireplaces and helped with communication, and the tea set that always seemed to know when it was needed.

The Faraway Inn is a stand-alone novel and can be read quickly. I’m planning to read a couple more of this author’s books throughout this year.

Have you read other cozy fantasy novels? Which were your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – The Spellshop

26 Mar 2026 4 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , ,

I listened to the audiobook edition of The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst last summer without knowing much about it going in (paid link). This book that is considered part of the new trend of “cozy fantasy” novels. I’ve enjoyed a few books like this already so read on below to see what I thought of this one.

A whimsical and colorful illustration of a magical cottage surrounded by lush greenery and flowers, with sunlight filtering through the trees, featuring the title 'the Spellshop' by Sarah Beth Durst.
I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

I enjoyed this book a lot and finished it quickly. The protagonist instantly inspires sympathy as she flees from an empire under attack and steals saves several spellbooks to keep them safe. Who wouldn’t try to save the library books they’ve been caring for under such dire circumstances?

It is clear early on that this book is also a light romance, with a single and handsome merhorse wrangler appearing frequently to offer help to the new inhabitant of the island. Besides the romance aspect, this story also features found family, and a small community that stands up for its own people. The writing style was easy to read, although I did listen to the audiobook, and that format often makes for an easier experience for many books for me.

I also loved the sidekicks and humor in this story. Caz the sentient spider plant provides a way for Kiela to have someone else to speak with as she fights to stay isolated in her new home. This allows the author to minimize inner monologues but many still slip through and Kiela’s voice is a bit annoying at times.

Kiela’s baking and spellcraft overlapped and made for a fun combination that made me wish that I had some of her creations to snack on. Of course magic never quite works the way the user anticipates and this provides some intriguing effects that moved the plot forward.

This is the type of fantasy story that perhaps would not stand up to close inspection. The way that magic works is more arbitrary than in other genre series, and the politics that are crucial in driving Kiela to flee with her books initially don’t have a huge impact on her new home. Yet this novel fills a niche for someone looking for an escapist tale that is easy to follow and finds a happy ending. I also loved the cover — yes, there are winged cats.

The Spellshop is a stand-alone novel, although there are more books set in the same world that I have yet to read.

Have you read any cozy fantasy books? Which would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – Katabasis

20 Feb 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I loved the two other books by R.F. Kuang that I read, so when I heard that she had a dark academia book coming out, I pre-ordered it. Then I received a prettier copy of Katabasis through the monthly subscription service Fairy Loot (paid link). Did the book live up to the hype I’d built in my head for it? Read on below to find out.

Here are my reviews of the other two books by R.F. Kuang that I’ve read:

  • Babel – review here / purchase here
  • Yellowface – review here / purchase here
I read the Fairy Loot special edition.

Here is the blurb:

Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The beginning of Katabasis delves immediately into Alice Law’s attempt to transport herself into Hell in the pursuit of her advisor whom she believes she accidentally killed. The magic in this world is build upon the concepts of logic and mathematical paradoxes, with each use requiring the drawing of mystical figures with special chalk. Like in Babel, the story takes place in our world but with a minor change. The magic in Katabasis is used for mostly scholarly purposes and an occasional show and has neither influenced great events nor been a fixture in mainstream society.

Unfortunately this novel didn’t draw me in as much as the author’s other works. The structure reminded me heavily of Dante’s Inferno, and there are certainly references to that classic work. However there are also tons of other scholarly literary references that I didn’t understand that presumably added to the depth of this story. For myself, I could follow the main thrust of the plot and Alice’s interactions with fellow student Peter, but any deeper themes that the novel was trying to convey were lost on me. I suspect that much of this book was influenced by the author’s own graduate school studies, so perhaps someone more knowledgeable in that arena may get more from this book.

The structure of the novel uses flashbacks heavily to explain Alice and Peter’s reasons for traveling to Hell, as well as their past relationship and their interactions with Professor Grimes. This worked well and gave me a nice reprieve from the depressing monotony of journey in the underworld.

This is a stand-alone novel and I’m glad that I read it, but it will sit on my list as my least favorite of R.F. Kuang’s books so far. I also thought it odd that the title is never explained within the text. I had to look it up – katabasis is a term for a descent into the underworld in classic mythology and literature, so that’s appropriate.

Have you read any of R.F. Kuang’s other books? Which one was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

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