The Enchanted Greenhouse - Sarah Beth Durst - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Sarah Beth Durst

NARRATOR: Caitlin Davies

SERIES: Spellshop #2

GENRE: Cozy Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: July 17, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A cozy fantasy linked to and continuing from the events in ‘The Spellshop’. Part of the same world, but works as a standalone. Despite being the same genre, the storyline isn't similar. The titular greenhouse is outstanding. The leads are nice, but the stars of the show are the talking plants. Though it has its flaws, I like this book better. A good option for those who enjoy cozy fantasies without much darkness.

Plot Preview:

Terlu Perna once worked as a junior librarian in the great Library of Alyssium. But when, in her loneliness, she broke the law and used magic to create a sentient spider plant for company, she was given a harsh punishment. Turned into a wooden statue, she has been tucked in a corner alcove of the library in her statue form since she doesn’t remember when.

Then one day, Terlu suddenly wakes up, and finds herself not in the library but on a deserted island full of magical greenhouses. The only human on the island is an introverted gardener named Yarrow who isn't much of a talker but offers Terlu food and shelter until she is ready to sail back home. But Terlu cannot return, not when so many of the greenhouses seem to be failing and Yarrow has no one to help him. Though petrified of being caught, Terlu decides to break the law once more, and to use magic to fix the spell that will save the greenhouses. So what if she’s only a librarian and not a sorcerer?

The story comes to us in Terlu’s third-person POV.

‘The Spellshop’ was a big hit with most cozy fantasy fans in 2024. While the book wasn’t a top favourite of mine, I still liked it enough, especially its sentient spider plant named Caz. At that time, I didn’t know that it was the first of a series.

‘The Enchanted Greenhouse’ is set in the same world as ‘The Spellshop’, but the story is mostly independent. If you have read the first book, you might recollect the story of how Caz was created and what happened to his creator. Now we get to know in detail about the woman who brought him into being: Terlu, and her fate as a statue and beyond that.

Though both books are part of the same cozy fantasy series, the content contrasts in some interesting ways. Kiela, the FMC of Book One, hated being around people while Terlu feels lonely if she doesn’t have people around her. Kiela found herself wishing for solitude but landed in a village with overfriendly people. Terlu longs for company but has landed on an island with only one human, and he too wants to avoid her at all costs.

At the same time, the books also have some things in common. Both begin with events connected to the Great Library of Alyssium and the revolution that triggered a huge change in the fate of their FMCs. Both books also have sentient plants, MMCs whose love language is service, and plenty of yummy dishes. And of course, both have good representations of inclusivity and diversity.

Bookish Yays:

🌿 All the lush greenhouses and their vivid descriptions. Even better than the spell shop in the first novel. The magic involved in their working is also amazing.

🌿 The stress on how Terlu is a different kind of librarian: one who prefers interacting with patrons instead of just shushing at them from behind the desk. It is refreshing to see a fictional librarian shown caring more about interactions.

🌿 The inner monologues are mostly on point and often hilarious. I love how they show Terlu’s uncertainty and anxiety – perfectly understandable after her long stint as a statue.

🌿 Yarrow the grumpy gardener – so hesitant around people yet confident in his skills as a gardener and as a cook. At the same time, he is also quite dramatic, being the embodiment of ‘Still waters run deep.’ I love that he isn't portrayed as a perfect person. Memorable characters need flaws!

🌿 All the wonderful baking done by Yarrow! I am quite envious of his culinary skills and saddened that AI hasn’t reached the point where we can sample dishes mentioned in books/websites.

🌿 The sentient plants. Much more in number than in Book One and just as satisfying. I loved all of them, but Lottie and Dendy were my favourites. (Some of the plants use the they/them pronoun just as in Book One, but this time, I was better prepared for it.)

🌿 The other characters in the book, whether human or creature. The latter obviously hold a big advantage over the humans because of being so magical and loveable.

🌿 The right balance between cozy and fantasy, unlike the first book where ‘cozy’ was more dominant.

🌿 Yet again, a minimal plot, which is further challenging if you remember that there are only two active human characters for a great part of the book. But this time, there are many thoughts and deeds to keep the proceedings interesting.

🌿 The humour, coming not just through banter but also through character actions and reactions.

🌿 The epilogue, with a special mention to a couple of people we know from earlier. Lovely!

🌿 The cover – gorgeous! Yet again, it has a winged cat, and this time, the winged cat has a longer role in the story.

Bookish Okays:

🌱 Terlu as a character. Somewhat whiny and naïve and even a bit ditzy at times, but this is partly because of her experiences and probably also because she is quite young (mid-twenties). Her self-doubt gets a bit annoying after some time as it gets reflected in her inner monologues, so you need to have patience with that. I think she’s a strong lead even when she isn’t entirely likeable because we can see the growth in her arc.

🌱 The first book had barely any physical descriptions about the characters, but this one goes overboard on the opposite end of the spectrum. Then again, it is better to have a clear picture of the characters even if it comes from repeated references to their physique than to struggle to picture them (as happened to me while reading Book One.) Moreover, I love Terlu’s slightly plus-sized physique, and that she is chubby and yet perfectly comfortable with her curves.

🌱 The ending felt a little tame after all that buildup. It’s not a bad ending, but also not a memorable one. I wanted more action and tension.

Bookish Nays:

🌵 The romance – surprisingly boring. Such a good potential pairing but written without no oomph. While we can root for the couple to come together, it is still a flat love story, where one character rambles on and on about the same few points and the other doesn’t talk about his feelings directly. The second half is even more frustrating in this regard because by then, the couple’s feelings are clear to everyone except themselves, which is strange because they both mention their feelings several times but the opposite person still seems unaware of them.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 13 hrs 32 min, is voiced by Caitlin Davies, the same narrator as the first novel. She is just as exuberant in her tone as she was in the first book, but this time, it works amazingly because her tone matches Terlu’s personality way more than it did Kiela’s. Davies also voices Yarrow convincingly, but the most awesome are her voices for the sentient plants. I think this book works better in the audio version because of the amazing narrator. The storyline is linear, so this format ought to work for audio newbies as well.

Overall, this plot grips right from the start, and for the most part, it works fine. Though I am not a big fan of the repetition and the romance, I love everything about the greenhouses and whatever they contained. The fact that a librarian starts working magic just by reading books also has to be one of my favourite parts of the plot. After all, as we know, the most magical non-magical people in the world are librarians!

I am not sure if the series was planned beforehand, or if the massive success of The Spellshop led to its conceptualisation. Either way, I am not complaining. It is a charming series filled with a lot of sweetness and magic that most cozy fantasy lovers will enjoy. Book Three is coming out in a couple of months and Book Four in January 2027. I am definitely going to read both; the lead character of the next one has a small appearance in Book Two and she is amazing!

Definitely recommended. Both the books are standalone, but if the series interests you, I’d recommend going through the books in series order.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing the ALC of “The Enchanted Greenhouse” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.