The Faraway Inn Published by Random House Children's Books on March 31, 2026 Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Clean & Nonviolent, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Pages: 384
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Reading Challenges: All books#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn—only to discover that the fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret—in this cozy and irresistible new young adult fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.
“Frosted with whimsy and sprinkled with joy, The Faraway Inn is a testament to why Sarah Beth Durst is the queen of cozy fantasy!”—Tricia Levenseller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Darkness Within Us
When sixteen-year-old Calisa arrives at her great-aunt’s B&B in rural Vermont for the summer, she’s shocked to find a rundown inn rather than the cozy bed-and-breakfast she was expecting. Grumpy and eccentric, Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn . . . even though she clearly needs the help.To convince her great-aunt to keep her around, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper’s (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the surer she is that there’s something strange about the B&B—and its guests. 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 before it’s too late.
Beware of Magical Inns and Charming Boys
Reading The Faraway Inn felt like being handed a mug of cinnamon tea, then immediately shoved through a magical closet door into emotional damage.
Calisa arrives at this rundown Vermont inn after getting absolutely wrecked by heartbreak, expecting a quaint summer reset. Instead, she finds a crumbling inn, a terrifyingly stubborn great-aunt, weird guests who are definitely not normal, and enough magical chaos to make every “do not open this door” instinct start screaming. Naturally, she opens the doors anyway as she should.
This book is a cozy escape in the best way. We’ve got pancakes. Gardening. Dusty libraries. Magical portals. Emotional trauma. A suspiciously charming groundskeeper’s son. A possibly vampire-coded guest was lurking around as he wandered out of gothic fanfiction. It’s cottagecore with abandonment issues.
And the INN itself? Fully a character. I would die for this weird little magical disaster building. Every room felt like it was holding a secret. The atmosphere was giving “Studio Ghibli meets emotional support haunted house,” and I ate it up.
Calisa was such an easy protagonist to root for because she’s messy, determined, emotional, and constantly trying to hold herself together, like all true teens. She’s trying to navigate the world before she heads off to college, with new romances and old ones. The emotional fallout in a time when her hormones are trying to call the shots and the world is expecting her to know what she wants to do with her life. At the same time, the universe keeps throwing magical nonsense at her face. Her relationship with Auntie Zee absolutely carried so much of the emotional weight, too. Under all the grumpy “leave immediately,” there was this aching fear of change and loss that honestly got me right in the chest.
And Jack? Listen. Sarah Beth Durst knows exactly how to write the soft, sweet boy who helps repair broken magical inns while looking at the main character like she personally hung the moon. The romance was adorable without taking over the story, which honestly made it hit harder.
The magic in this book feels whimsical at first, and then, suddenly, you realize the story is quietly exploring grief, loneliness, family expectations, and finding a place where you belong. One second you’re giggling over magical chaos goblin energy, and the next you’re staring at the wall having feelings.
If you love cozy fantasy with actual heart, magical inns, portal fantasy chaos, found family, and emotional healing wrapped in cottagecore nonsense, this book is going to crawl directly into your soul and start paying rent. Don’t forget about Steve, the adorable sidekick character that everyone will want to take home.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
