This Sentient Bookshop Fantasy Had Me Hooked (Even When It Ran Long)

Read time: 3 minutes

📱📖 Read on Kindle | 📃 484 pages ⏱ Duration: 4 hours 🎟️ ARC via NetGalley 🏷️ Published September 26, 2024 by Dolce Villa Press 📚 Genre: Fantasy

Book Blurb:

Eccentric heiress Maida Westbrook loves her quiet, “ordinary” life — beach walks, cozy nights by the fire, and getting lost in myths and legends. But when a distant relative disappears and a body turns up, Maida’s dream of owning a bookshop suddenly comes true, with one catch: the shop is sentient, and it’s hiding. To claim her inheritance, Maida must step into a world where magic is real, her neighbor might be a shapeshifter, and the local barista brews more than coffee. Unraveling her past means risking everything, including her heart.

Let’s talk about the book:

The hook that attracted me to this book delivered fully. An “ordinary” woman, a sentient bookshop, and a mystery that refused to stay buried. Maida Westabrook’s slow unraveling from ‘can’t even believe in a crossed-finger wish’, to ‘fairies and shape shifters are her family’ was brilliant. Primrose Court is the real star in the story. Ciara Blume built a world stuffed with faeries, dragons, shape-shifters, a delightfully chaotic cast made me truly not want to leave the world. Arthur, Will, Buffalo, Miranda, Zephyr, Granny Luna all made sure I am invested in the storyline. There’s a coziness to the magic here that makes it all feel like a warm blanket on a cold day.

However, I still can’t give this book the 5 star I thought it deserved. At almost 500 pages, this book could have used a little bit of trimming. Mulitple POVs retelling the same storyline made it feel padding heavy rather than having depth to the story. Around the 75%, I found myself checking how much runway was left rather than getting excited about the upcoming storyline. The ending does land, but I closed the book feeling more relieved that it’s finally over than being swept away by the story.

Still, Primrose Court has a hold on me. Book 2 is calling, even though I am bracing myself for another long haul.

Would I recommend it?

If you love immersive, character-stuffed fantasy worlds and don’t mind a slow burn, this is a cozy-meets-magical mystery worth sinking into. The world-building is enthralling. just prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.

★★★★

5 Book Recommendations for This Mood

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — Same cozy-magic-meets-found-family warmth, minus the marathon page count. Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
2. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — For readers who want their magic served with a side of coffee shop coziness. Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
3. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow — Another heroine stumbling into a hidden magical inheritance she didn’t know she had. Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
4. Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel — If the mystery-with-a-side-of-charm angle is what hooked you here. Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
5. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman — Shapeshifting neighbors and secret magic woven into ordinary life? This one scratches the same itch. Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy

Bookshop Secrets and Shapeshifting Neighbors

Would you trust a barista who’s “brewing more than coffee”? Tell me in the comments: team Maida, or team “I’d have run the other way”?

Book Links:

Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal

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