The Spellshop

“But without the library, without its stacks and its order and its historical, cultural, and political importance…What was the point? Who was she with all of it gone?”

This moment establishes how firmly Kiela’s identity is tied to her work and the journey she needs to take to better understand herself. Later, the library’s “stacks and order” come to signify something much more negative, but at this point, it represents safety and security. While its attributes—history, culture, and politics—remain just as prominent, Kiela comes to value something outside these beliefs.

“She was going to have to talk to people.”

This line is structured as a single-clause, standalone paragraph at the very end of Chapter 3. It’s positioned as a traditional cliffhanger, which gives its seemingly incongruous meaning a comical quality. However, its deeper meaning reveals that Kiela is facing one of her biggest fears in leaving her well-established comfort zone behind.

“While the elite used magic to build their palaces and fuel their lavish lives, ordinary people suffered.”

This line encompasses one of the novel’s central themes, Free Knowledge for the People, and the beginning of Kiela’s new understanding of how knowledge and equity benefit a society. Although Kiela did not come from great wealth, she had a place in the “elite” world, kept at a distance from the “ordinary” islanders. Here, she begins to understand that the systems she took for granted are deeply flawed and misguided.

“‘There’s no such thing as a weed,’ Caz said. ‘That’s a cruel term made up by people who label some plants as “unwanted” and some as “valuable,” as if the worth of a living thing is measured by how useful it is to another living thing.’”

What Caz is expressing in this moment, likely without being aware of it, is a microcosm: Traditional gardeners are viewing the diversity of plants in the same way that the ruling class views people. As Caz is also halfway between plant life and what one would normally classify as a living creature, he also broadens the parameters of what constitutes “a living thing.”

“And then, with Caz by her side, she headed home, carrying sugar, wax, and hope.”

This line uses parallelism in a list format and functions similarly to a zeugma—a literary device in which a word, normally a verb (in this case, “carrying”), is used in two different ways. The list format juxtaposes two tangible objects followed by an emotion. This suggests that the three elements are intertwined, each part of a larger picture.

“The emperor had been beyond selfish to recall his sorcerers from the outer islands. Tobin and the revolutionaries were right—the world had become unbalanced, and it wasn’t fair.”

In this moment, Kiela’s worldview expands, and she begins to understand the true extent of the ruling class’s negative influence. There is a subtle juxtaposition in “Tobin and the revolutionaries”; the simplistic ideas of a vulnerable child are contrasted with the inflammatory actions of a political uprising—both come to the same conclusion and share the same perspective.

“The apple orchard was a boneyard.”

This line opens a new chapter and a new scene, and it is used to set the atmosphere of the setting. The narrator uses a metaphor, equating two seemingly unrelated things for dramatic effect. This creates a more obvious juxtaposition between an apple orchard—a source of nourishment and tradition—and the desolate emptiness of a boneyard.

“The empire had squelched questions about magic—restricting access to answers to the elite—and look what happened. Imagine how glorious the empire could have been if everyone with a question had been welcomed into the stacks of the Great Library of Alyssium.”

This moment of observation uses two notable keywords: “stacks,” which Kiela used previously in an earlier quotation to describe her safe place of comfort and refuge, and “glorious,” an adjective normally associated with royalty and prestige. This suggests a blending of class systems and beliefs into a unified whole. It succinctly encompasses the novel’s core theme of knowledge for all.

“The forest hushed just like the library as well, but it was the hush of focused attention, not of sleepiness—a heightened silence that flooded everything.”

This line directly equates the forest to the library, two places that take on sacred significance. Though they are different on the surface—one an indoor manmade construction and one a product of the natural world—they are both places of worship in their own ways. It’s also through forests that the paper for books can be made, so Kiela is witnessing a cycle of life and symbolically contributing to it by revitalizing the trees on Caltrey. Since libraries are so important to Kiela’s being, this moment also implies that she’s finding fulfillment in a new environment.

“Kiela kept picturing the moment when he’d disappeared from view, the waves too high for her to see beyond. She’d felt as if she’d drowned in that instant.”

This line uses water imagery in both a literal and figurative sense to create an overall tone. It represents a major turning point for Kiela as she begins to understand the depth of her newfound feelings. In this moment, she comes to understand that her meeting with Larran has left her irrevocably changed.

“Of course he was worried about the rescued woman—that was the kind of person he was. He was a caretaker.”

This line succinctly summarizes a key component of Larran’s character. From his first introduction, he acts as a protective and affectionate figure to those around him, even risking his life to help another. He embodies The Value of Kinship and Community, acting in a way that Kiela eventually hopes to emulate. This moment deepens Kiela’s understanding of her new friend and gives her a wider scope of his choices.

 “Her mother had loved Alyssium—loved all the shops and the bustle, loved the flowers that draped from every window box. She’d been so excited to get her own window box full of flowers.”

There is a subtle situational irony in Kiela’s recollection of her parents. They left an island community that was intrinsically tied to the natural world for an urban hub; however, what Kiela’s mother loved most was the small manifestation of nature in this impersonal landscape. This suggests that some small part of her island home remained with her even as she built a new life.

“Kiela thought of her happily married parents and how irritating it used to be when they’d pressure her about her love life. She didn’t have what they had—a union, a partnership.”

Although this novel is predominantly a romance, it also presents the idea that romance isn’t essential for basic well-being. Previously, Kiela lived a sheltered and self-sufficient existence, to the concern and derision of her parents. By the end of the novel, she finds happiness with a permanent partner. However, neither is portrayed as more healthy or worthwhile than the other.

“She shouldn’t be punished for what she’d done. Protecting the books was her actual job description, as well as her life’s mission, and as for using what was in the books and sharing the knowledge they contained…well, that should be her job and mission.”

In this moment, Kiela becomes a champion for Free Knowledge for the People and the universal right to access this knowledge. She reassesses why she became a librarian to begin with and what her role in society really means. This subtly echoes some of the political and ethical dilemmas that real-world librarians face when trying to provide knowledge within a politically divided society.

“Back to the library. Back…home? Was that home anymore? When she thought ‘home,’ she pictured a cottage, cradled by a forest, with an overflowing, barely tamed garden behind it.”

This moment suggests that the concept of “home” is a malleable and fluid thing, designated by one’s memories and connections. The biggest difference between Kiela’s life in the library and her new one at the cottage is the number of friends she has made. It’s through these interpersonal relationships that she, unknowingly, builds the foundation of what will come to embody the feelings of home.

“The other women drew closer to her, until Kiela realized they’d encircled her, consciously or unconsciously protecting her from anything beyond them. It felt like an embrace without being touched.”

Throughout the novel, there are hints that Kiela may be neurodivergent. One quality often associated with people with autism spectrum disorder is an aversion to physical contact. Here, Kiela’s new friends are able to communicate their love for her in a way that she understands and can receive and in a way that makes her feel safe.

“We’re not saying you should stay because our boy is sad and needs fixing. Gah, that would be a terrible reason. Never think you need to fix a lover. You should stay because there’s a chance you two could make each other happy, and that’s a special thing.”

The concept of “fixing” a lover is one of the more contentious tropes found in contemporary romance novels. In this moment, the author makes a point to push back against this negative belief that love is a treatment for any sort of trauma or disorder; instead, she argues that there is something “special” and magical about finding love in unexpected and challenging circumstances.

“The idea of sailing away from Caltrey, of leaving her parents’ cottage, of never seeing Larran and Bryn and Eadie and Ulina, even little Tobin…She would never have believed how attached she could become in such a short amount of time.”

This moment again highlights The Value of Kinship and Community. While Kiela’s initial plan was to return to the library and her old life, she finds that her newfound connections with others have given her a new perspective and a new direction. By using a list format to catalog these connections, the narrator highlights the way Kiela’s attitude toward others has changed.

“We’re not murdering anyone. That’s not what librarians do.”

This line uses the parallel juxtaposition that has appeared throughout the narrative to contrast two opposing concepts: murderers and librarians. It also shows how deeply connected Kiela is to her identity as a librarian. Through this identity, Kiela is able to create a strong sense of what she feels to be good and right.

“Bookshelves! That was the most perfect thing anyone had ever offered her. Better than jewels or a feast or a palace.”

The novel is, at its heart, a romance for book lovers, and so this moment is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the author’s target audience. It also shows how Larran has come to understand Kiela better through their experiences and how they are a perfect match despite their differences. Kiela’s deep affection for books inherently separates her from the other elites of Alyssium, who hoarded books to retain power. Meanwhile, Kiela’s passion in life outweighs any of the privileges of wealth.

“She had magic on her shelves, didn’t she? If she could just find the right book, then surely, they could read their way out of danger.”

This line represents Kiela’s somewhat flawed yet persistent worldview: All problems can be solved with the right book. Even when faced with cataclysmic danger, her instinctive reaction is to turn to the written word for help. This use of the close third-person voice helps define Kiela’s core character and beliefs.

“She couldn’t put into words why it was important to do this, but if she didn’t…if she hoarded the knowledge she’d taken and didn’t use it to help, then she’d be no better than the emperor and his sorcerers.”

In this moment, Kiela puts her newfound sense of morality over her own well-being. She has come to recognize the deeply flawed social structure that she was brought up in and makes her own small contribution to a better future. Ultimately, Kiela is rewarded for this risk because she has grown over the course of her journey and embraced one of the novel’s core lessons.

“Consequences might come soon, but for now…flowers were falling like the miracle they were, and Caltrey was safe.”

This moment represents the “return with the elixir” stage of the hero’s journey narrative structure, in which the hero achieves an ultimate transformational goal. Kiela acknowledges that there may still be more conflict to come, but she takes a moment of respite to appreciate her victory. This likewise allows a moment of respite from the tension and suspense of the ultimate climax, incorporating soft floral motifs and language to create a peaceful conclusion.