The Enchanted Greenhouse, a Review

Fan art by me!

Can lightning strike twice? Actually, that might be too violent an idiom for Sarah Beth Durst’s cozy fantasy writing. Let’s start over. Can a magician create two perfect fluffy magical creatures in a row? In both cases, the answer is an emphatic yes when it comes to The Enchanted Greenhouse, the sequel/companion novel to Durst’s runaway bestselling 2024 cozy fantasy book The Spellshop. 

I am loath to compare apples to oranges, or perhaps once you’ve read the books you’ll prefer to say raspberries to oranges, (inside joke nudge to the handful of people who have read both) so I won’t say if one of these books is better than the other. But I can confidently say that they are both magnificent reads, full of comfort and happiness. They are books that make you feel better about everything once you’ve read them. They are a sanctuary away from hard times, but interestingly, this second book actually also addresses some of the trials of these current times, albeit in a non-jarring, non-traumatizing way.

One thing I truly adore about Durst’s writing is that you can tell she’s also writing for her own serotonin. She has said in multiple interviews that she shamelessly wrote The Spellshop by starting with a list of things she loved, and then finding a way to incorporate as many of those things as possible into the novel. In the hands of a less skilled author, this might result in a hodgepodge of saccharin twee-ness. But in The Spellshop you find yourself saying “hell yeah, bring on the unicorns and cloud bears. Let’s go rescue some flying cats from a flood and then go have some raspberry jam.”

For that reason, I am happy to report that Durst allowed her imagination to take flight just as much, if not more so, in The Enchanted Greenhouse. After all, when a skilled magician makes an island full of themed greenhouses, it’s a blank canvas rife for the imagination, and the results don’t disappoint.

I truly loved every character in this story, and didn’t want it to end. The grumpy/sunshine trope is done to perfection, and the chemistry between the main characters was delightful. And our protagonist!!! Oh, I just adored Terlu and her body positivity. Her extroversion masking a deep-rooted history of rejection and trauma gave her character depth as well as relatability. She was an absolute delight.

Five out of five stars, can’t wait to listen to the audiobook to find out what sorts of voices the narrator gives to these characters I already love. This will, like The Spellshop, also be a repeat comfort read I know for sure.