Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not sure what I think about this book really, I enjoyed it but did not like it. I will let other readers make up their mind.

I don’t know who prices these books but I am amazed that Kindle has a pre-order price of $2.99. This is one book that I liked so much and would gladly pay more for it. Anyway, this book has two timelines (easy to follow switches). It is set in present day and in the 1920’s. There is love and fantasy (magic) in both times. It has mystery, villains and best of all….it is about books and a lost bookshop. I rate it 5 stars. This is one of those books that you constantly ask yourself “how did the author come up with this great story?”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


The Lost Bookshop is a truly joyful magical book. The two running timelines were well paced and well explained, never confusing and always intriguing. Weaved with magic throughout, this story will capture your heart.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods was a very unique and heartwarming story.

The characters are so very well developed that it makes you feel that you are there with them sharing their stories too.
This was such an engaging book!
Wonderfully developed characters with a terrific story.
Woods writes in a very engaging style that kept me turning the pages even though my eyes started crossing.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and One More Chapter for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

"The Lost Bookshop" by Evie Woods is an endearing little read. It's part mystery (loved the fact they were searching for a lost Bronte manuscript), part love story (for people and books alike) and pure fantasy. Perfect for a read on a day when you want to escape from the real world.

Told from three points of view, a charming story with tragedy and hope. Martha is a sensitive young woman who has married a brute. After one beating too many, she escapes her small village in Ireland and heads to anonymity in Dublin. Answering an ad for a housekeeper seems a dream come true, escape from abuse with room and board covered. Shortly after arriving in Ha’penny Lane, Martha meets Henry, a Phd student who is researching an early 20th century bookseller, Opaline Carlisle. Obsessed with Ha’penny Lane, Henry is convinced Opaline’s bookshop was situated right next to the house Martha is now living. It’s all very mysterious as no building stands and nothing shows up on historical maps or plans. The third narrator is Opaline herself. Born near the beginning of the 20th century, Opaline had an extremely difficult life. Born into a wealthy family, with an unloving mother and a cold older brother. Interested in literature, Opaline yearns to be a book dealer. Her family have other plans and expect her to marry into another wealthy family. Like Martha, 100 years earlier Opaline escapes. Weaving magical realism throughout the story, we find connections both past and present. Fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Heather Weber will enjoy this book. Thank you to netgalley and HarperCollins for this advance copy. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

I found “The Lost Bookshop” to be utterly magical and absorbing. It is a dual timeline novel. In the prologue we meet Martha who runs a beautiful shop “Opaline’s Bookshop” that tempts a small boy inside before school. Martha tells the curious boy the tale of Opaline the previous owner of the shop who first found it in 1921.

Each chapter is told in the first person in turn by Opaline beginning in 1920’s Dublin, Martha in the recent past and that of Henry her recent acquaintance.

Opaline is running from her family and tyrannical brother, who wish her to marry. She runs abroad to Paris and using her genuine love and knowledge of books gets a job at the bookshop Shakespeare and Company. Unfortunately she ends up having to run again and finds herself in Dublin where she rents an old curiosity shop and slowly adds her own flair to the shop, she sets herself up as a successful bookseller. All the while trying to hide her true identity.

Meanwhile Martha’s own story is told she is also running from a violent husband. She finds herself a job as a housemaid to a strange old woman in a large Georgian House, ideal for hiding yourself away. It is from the window of her small bedroom that we meet Henry. A slightly obsessive academic. He is convinced that a bookshop should be on the site of the house Martha is living and working in, all he has is a letter from a rare book collector to the owner of the shop, Miss Opaline Gray to prove it once existed but things get lost books, manuscripts even libraries.

I completely lost myself reading the book. The compelling stories covering addiction, violence, war, grief and other topics as they touched the lives of the three characters. All the while the mysterious bookshop and also the promise of finding a long lost manuscript haunts the pages of each of their stories. Despite the taint of sadness that is woven throughout the book so too is a hint of magic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

3.5 stars


A lot of this book follows storyline I've read before, so I knew where they were going.
No big surprises.
They were well written, with engaging characters and it was a lovely book.
What elevates it for me, is the bookshop scenes, that just have a tiny bit of magic about them.
The dual narrative works well, and the ending was all I'd hoped it was going to be.

A cute and fast read. I enjoyed it and the vibes of the book were perfect for lounging outside or in my library.

It was ok not what I expect but I love the title and the cover. Good writing too but not the best plot

I absolutely loved this book! It had an enchanting plot, fabulous characters, and some good historical fiction moving through it. It’s one of those books where I found myself researching online some of the facts that were used and for me that’s an indicator of a really good book. I found myself imagining it as a Netflix series or fabulous indie movie. This will be one book I’ll be recommending a lot.

The Lost Bookshop by E. Woods is a full-length, stand-alone novel set in the golden twenties of the 20tieth hundereds.
I had high expectations for this book, but sadly it wasn't my cup of tea. There are just too many holes : like you just can't get a telephone number from another character's phone in 1921. And so it goes on I had too many scratch my head moments with this story.
On the upside, the book is well written, complex, spans the whole birth, death, passion and crime trope. There were lots of characters thrown at me, sometimes too many, a bit confusing.
All in all - and I really, really dislike being a debbie downer, TLB is not a read I'll do a re-read over - just quietly moving on to the next read that's gonna be fantastic, I just know it.