A review by bibliobethreads
The Story Keeper E/a/I by Anna Mazzola

3.0

Hi everyone I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. Today I’m back with a book review of a novel which seemed perfect for me. It’s set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland just after the Highland Clearances in the mid 1800’s and follows a young woman who is attempting to retrieve and recount all the word-of-mouth folk tales for her reclusive employer. Then a body is found and there are strange links with old superstitions and tales that suddenly make Skye quite a treacherous place to be.⁣

I dearly hoped this book would tick all my boxes - set in Scotland, historical fiction with a quirky, fairy-tale edge. Perhaps that was the problem, my expectations were too high. Yet I must stress this isn’t a bad read, not at all. It’s interesting, atmospheric and mysterious and I was curious enough to read all the way to the end. ⁣

Personally, I was just left wanting more and it didn’t quite hit the spot. The author clearly has a talent for setting a scene and the writing was so detailed, I could picture each moment perfectly. Sadly, I managed to predict too much about the ending and even though the folk tales were really very beautiful and the author has a vivid, imaginative way of writing, I needed something extra to really get excited about it.⁣

Three stars