Read time: 5 minutes
🎧 Listened in audio 📢 Narrated by Caitlin Davis ⏱ Duration: 14 hours
Genre: Fantasy 🏷️ Publisher: Macmillan Audio and Bramble
Book Blurb:
Terlu Perna broke the law out of loneliness, casting a spell that made a spider plant sentient. Her punishment: turned to a wooden statue and shelved away in the Great Library’s reading room. Yet she wakes one winter on a nearly deserted island full of magical greenhouses, taken in by a grumpy gardener with clean clothes and honey cakes to spare. Unable to return home, and unwilling to, Terlu falls for the greenhouses themselves. When she learns the magic sustaining them is failing, she risks breaking the law again to save them. With the gardener and a sentient rose at her side, she must uncover a long dead sorcerer’s secrets before the island, and her fresh chance at happiness, is lost for good.
Let’s talk about the book:
Fantasy is a really fun genre. It takes a life of its own and navigates the reader through areas that force creative thinking to visualize the story. A world of magic where plants talk, dragons pollinate, and librarians can be cursed into being a statue really needs a lot of visualization and creativity to process the story. I enjoy these creative exercises. Not always, but I enjoy a fantasy every now and then, and it is slowly becoming my second favourite genre to read / listen to.
Sarah Beth Durst’s The Enchanted Greenhouse happened as a Libby recommendation to me, and I dove into it without realizing it is the second book in a series. Thankfully, it was a standalone and I could continue with the book without requiring context. Terlu is this over the top librarian who loves books but also loves people. I simply can’t process this antithesis. She is a total opposite of me. But then I also understand how it must feel when you are locked in a statue for 6 years, so I forgive her. Then there’s Yarrow, who loves plants and is a man of few words. Now, that I can relate with, keeping the green thumb aside. This grumpy meets sunshine trope worked well in this book. I enjoyed the slow burn romance, the care for the plants, and the yappy rose plant who always appears at the wrong time.
It was a comforting listen, and I was with the story up to about 60%.
You know how every story needs something to disturb the peace, and then the work towards restoring that peace becomes the climax of the story? This one had it toned down quite a lot. If there is no chaos, the storyline becomes mundane and boring, even though it is very interesting (yes, I see the irony here, but unfortunately, that’s exactly how I felt). It was fun for a while, but then I found myself getting distracted.
I read other reviews and people recommended that book one was better, but I am on the fence about whether I should try it or not. This one really did not encourage me to continue. I did enjoy the storyline while it was going, just not sure if I want to go back to this world.
Would I recommend it?
The Enchanted Greenhouse is a comforting listen for most of its runtime, thanks to Terlu and Yarrow’s slow burn and a rose plant with excellent comic timing. But the “wave” of trouble the plot promises never really crests, and once the conflict fizzled, my attention started drifting too. Readers say the first Spellshop book has more bite, and honestly, that has me undecided about going back. Still a pleasant listen while it lasted.
⭐⭐⭐
5 Book Recommendations:
- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — If it’s the cozy, low stakes vibe you loved here, this one goes even further. An orc retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop, and the whole book is basically comfort in text form.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst — The book that started it all. Since Terlu’s story stood fine on its own, this one might fill in the gaps that everyone says make it the stronger read.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers — Another quiet, gentle read where nothing much goes wrong, and that’s kind of the point. A tea monk and a robot wander a world with barely any conflict either.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — Same warmth, same found family feeling, with a grumpy caretaker of his own and a home you won’t want to leave.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett — For the slow burn and the grumpy love interest specifically. A researcher and her infuriating colleague trade barbs on the way to something more.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Does Your Fantasy Need a Villain?
Some stories thrive on low stakes, and some just feel like they’re missing a gear. Where do you land? Do you want your fantasy to have a real storm, or are you happy with a ripple as long as the characters are charming? Tell me in the comments, and let me know if you’ve read book one of Spellshop.
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
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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