The Bookshop Below

This one was such a wild and creative read! It follows Cassandra, a fallen bookseller who ends up with the chance to run one of the most powerful magical bookshops out there. These shops aren’t your normal bookstores either — they kind of appear out of nowhere, and if you’re lucky enough to find one, you can bargain away something precious for a book like no other. But things start getting dark fast: bookshop owners are disappearing, and the magic that keeps everything running is starting to fade.

The whole idea of magical bookshops, secret book societies, rare book auctions and grand old estates was just chef’s kiss. It’s every book lover’s fantasy. I loved how alive the shops felt — like they had their own moods and tempers — and the idea of trading your most prized possession for a rare book was such a cool twist. Plus, the morally grey main character and the grumpy love interest? Absolute perfection.

If I’m honest, the magic system lost me a few times. There were a lot of moving parts — Lady Fate, the river, magical ink, the power of reading — and I’m still not totally sure I understood how it all worked. But even with that, I loved the vibe, the imagination, and the slightly dangerous edge to it all.

It’s one of those stories that feels made for readers — messy, magical, and full of love for books.