Reading with teafortiffany

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“Keila never thought the flames would reach the library.”

–Sarah Beth Durst, The Spellshop, First line

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Hello friends!!!

It’s a Saturday post this week! I know, the scandal. Really, it’s primarily because we are supposed to get quite the heavy winter storm Sunday into Monday, and I wanted to make sure I got a post out to you all before the storm hits and I potentially lose power. Do I think I will lose power? Not really, but I’d rather be prepared.

Not much to really talk about this week. I do post quite often on my Instagram a short-form review for some of the books I read. If I continue reading at the pace I have been so far this 2026, I won’t be doing longer reviews on the blog for every single book I read and will probably post the shorter reviews there, so follow me there if you want (no pressure, of course!)

I suppose, let’s get on with the show!

Cozy Fantasy is a genre that I am happy to add to my list of genres that I enjoy. This is not my first cozy fantasy by far, but it’s something that brings me joy and comfort without super high stakes. Honestly, a lot of the Historical Romance gives me the same sort of vibes, just without the fantasy context. That being said, I haven’t read a cozy fantasy so far that I did not enjoy, and this book is the same. I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be keeping it in my collection.

The basic premise of this book is that a librarian from the city saves a bunch of books from the library as it’s burning down during a revolution. She takes these books and a sentient spider plant back to her first home on an island way on the outskirts of this world.

Our main character here, Keila, is a classic introvert librarian type of character. She prefers the company of books to people (same honestly) and really only interacts with her spider plant assistant/friend, Caz. Caz is probably my favorite character in the book. He’s got just enough sass to him to be fun but not so much that you want to punt him across the room.

I also really enjoyed the location of a distant island and its protective residents. I grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, and honestly, I know these people. Granted, the people I know are not centaurs or anything, but I know these personalities. That endeared the location to me more than it might for others. I felt connected to this place, despite it’s ficticious nature. I liked that.

As far as the other side of the review goes, I wish I had had more of a description of some of the characters. I felt like I couldn’t imagine Larran at all outside of “he’s tall”. I also would like to have seen the romance in the story bloom a bit more. I feel like there were moments scattered throughout, but I didn’t feel like I got that one big moment that sort of tied it all together. It just sort of happened.

I feel like it’s a bit difficult to really truly review these cozy fantasy novels but I’ll try all the same. This was a great book to read after my murder mystery fantasy extravaganza from before. It brought a lot of motifs that I enjoy into a single book. I did want more from the romance side of things. I’m a sucker for a cute romance and this had so much potential that just didn’t quite reach where I wanted it to.

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That’s all for this week friends. I’m wondering if this might work better for posting, so if you like a Saturday post more, let me know. I am open to changing things (within reason of course). Until next time!

Bye friends!!!!