The Faraway Inn is a sweetly engaging YA fantasy standalone story by Sarah Beth Durst. Released 31st March 2026 by Penguin Random House on their Delacorte Press imprint, it's 384 pages and is available in paperback, library binding, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
The author is quite adept at writing cozy-vibe romantasy (see backlist books). This one is marketed for the YA market, and does a good job of being warmly engaging. That being said, (especially since it's a YA book) there are a few problematic points. The 16 year old MC is getting over a traumatic breakup (her bf was unfaithful) and goes to her aunt's bed-and-breakfast to recharge and rebalance, where she immediately falls into a rebound relationship with Jack, the groundskeeper's son. Her aunt (the "responsible" adult) -disappears- and she keeps it secret for -weeks-. Some of the secondary characters are more or less sketched in and not at all three dimensional.
On the other hand, it's escapist fantasy fun. The author does a good job with setting and the dialogue is solid. It would make an excellent vacation or holiday break read, but might not be the best choice for resource professionals (librarians, media resource) to recommend for teen girls.
Four stars. It would also make a good buddy read for fans of the genre.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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