ALC Review: The Enhanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
- Story Eater
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Release date: 15 July 2025
Rating: 3/5
Narrator: Caitlin Davies
Synopsis: Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.
This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.
But Terlu doesn’t want to return home, and as she grows closer with the unwittingly charming gardener, Yarrow, she learns that the magic that sustains the greenhouses is failing—causing the death of everything within them. Terlu knows she must help, even if that means breaking the law again.
This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by Yarrow and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.
Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.
Review
The Enchanted Greenhouse marks my third Durst book. I first met Durst’s writing in 2020 in Race the Sands. I loved it. Naturally, I hoped The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse would be similar at least in terms of writing vibe, but they’re just not. Aside from the fact that they’re marketed differently, as cozy romantasy, they contrast in essence also. Durst’s narrative voice in Race the Sands felt more genuine, but it seems the newer books in The Spellshop series attempt to get a piece of the romantasy/cozy fantasy train before it stops at the station or just runs out of track.
The Enchanted Greenhouse can serve as a standalone in the universe, but we still have glimpses of characters from The Spellshop. Readers will also see magic used quite a bit more than in the first, and the coziness factor gets turned down quite a bit. In fact, I feel the stakes in this story may be too high for what I would consider “cozy.” One can have cozy settings and atmosphere in high-stakes fantasy, but that doesn’t make it a cozy fantasy.
I do like some of the concepts put forward in the Spellshop series. In particular, talking flora once had a sinister connotation for me by way of Little Shop of Horrors, but they're wonderful companions with quirky personalities in this book. In fact, the Plant Group's dynamics bolster the narrative's attempt at a cozy atmosphere and story.
Davies' narrative style and voice match the cozy genre, but I wish TEG would have had a different narrator to correlate with the new main characters this book follows. As that's my only serious criticism, and it really only has to do with the publisher's choice and not the performance, it doesn't affect the rating overall.
Overall, 3/5 for the story and 4/5 for the narration. Durst can craft good stories, but I prefer those that don't fit into repetitive genre boxes and wipe out an author's creative voice and individual talents. Davies' voice fits the cozy fantasy niche almost perfectly. Perhaps that's where my 4 comes in, as the pitch goes much too high and gives of excessive squeak for my taste.
My thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.