A review by shelleys_book_nook
The Story Collector by Evie Woods

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was such a magical read. It’s about a woman named Sara going on an impromptu trip to Ireland and she ends up healing herself from “the terrible thing”. The story takes place in two different timelines one is Sara in 2011 and she finds Anna’s diary written in 1911. Even though they’re a hundred years apart they have a lot in common and the two timelines flowed seamlessly.

As is usual with me and my preferences I liked the older timeline much more. I think part of the reason was because I didn’t like Sara. And even though she went through something awful I felt no sympathy for her. Anna on the other hand grabbed my heart. What a hard thing she went through, things were so very different back then, especially for women and the underclass. I enjoyed being on the adventure of learning about the faeries with Anna and Harold. I loved being in Ireland, back in the very early twentieth century, with these characters.

This would have been a five-star read for me but I didn’t like that Sara had a romance. The last thing Sara should be doing is getting into a new relationship. She’s an alcoholic and has just left her husband the day before she arrived in Ireland. Why couldn’t she have just found herself and become a strong woman who finally finds her passion? Why did romance have to be in the equation at all? Do we need a man to be happy and move forward?

All in all, I really enjoyed this read and could have read an entire book on Anna and Harold alone. I have The Lost Bookshop by this author on my TBR, I’ll have to bump it up the list.