【 THE FARAWAY INN 】

Genre: Fantasy (cosy)
Audience: Young Adult
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Published: March 2026
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 372 (paperback)

This was very sweet and everything I’ve come to expect from Sarah Beth Durst. Having read The Spellshop, I picked this up in the expectation that this would be a great cosy read – something to really sink into and enjoy the magical atmosphere of; and I wasn’t wrong.

The vibe of this book was as similarly delightful and harmless as The Spellshop, with the main difference, for me, being that it felt a little younger. As we’re following a girl at the end of the high school career, who’s thinking about what she wants to do after school and trying to get over a heartbreak, it immediately pitches things a little younger.

However, that wasn’t a deterrent at all. This has a sweet, innocent romance simmering along in the background, and it was a total delight. The magic of the inn is so much fun to explore as the story develops and everything just gave this overwhelmingly wholesome vibes.

I loved that, as the reader, you are also none the wiser as to the true goings on in this inn. There’s clearly some magic at play, but it’s impossible to put your finger on why Calisa’s grandmother is determined to not have her around helping with the inn. It made the experience of the book feel a little like a cosy mystery combined with the best house renovation show you’ve ever seen. There’s something so deeply satisfying about someone doing up a falling-apart building, isn’t there?

I don’t think I need to sell this anymore because truly, I have no complaints. This was innocent, fun and filled with all the good things like magical travel, magical guests and magical food. What’s not to love?

You may also like …

Title: The Faraway Inn
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Add it on Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Calisa is desperate for a change of scenery after her lying ex ruins her perfect Brooklyn summer. When her parents suggest she head to rural Vermont to help her great-aunt run her cozy bed and breakfast for a few months, she jumps at the chance.

But when Calisa arrives at the B&B, she’s shocked to find a rundown inn with only a handful of guests. And to make matters worse, upon meeting with her great-aunt it quickly becomes clear that Calisa was not invited. Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn…even if it is clear she needs the help.

To earn her keep, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper’s (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the more it becomes evident that there is something strange about the B&B—and its residents. Something almost…otherworldly.

The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she’s come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth of it, and her aunt, before it’s too late.