I could not get through this. DNF at 37%.

This book moved soo slow. The premise seemed semi interesting but I’m almost 40% in and I still don’t see her purpose for any of this. Maybe if I was listening to it I would have had an easier time getting through it but it’s just too slow for me right now.

I might one day come back but for now I am unable to finish it.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***

This was a quaint story about a grieving mother, Sarah, traveling to Ireland and exploring the countryside while discovering herself. She finds a diary of a young woman, Anna, who was alive 100 years prior. In this quaint Irish village, Sarah learns there is a deep belief in fairies and starts to feel the mystical around her.

This book was labeled as historical fiction and romance but the romance was minimal. Although Anna's storyline takes place in 1910, there isn't much to indicate the past. The story was very slow and it didn't hold my interest for very long. I was hoping the slow pace would lead to a big twist/ connection between the two timelines, but the ending was just as slow as the beginning. The descriptions of Ireland and the fairy stories were fun but I might have DNF'd if I didn't need to write a review for NetGalley.

This cozy little book has me dreaming of winter.

2011: Sarah Harper is supposed to be going home for the holidays to Boston after recently separating from her husband, but in a booze-induced impulsive moment, she boards a plane for Ireland instead. Initially she panics at her hasty decision, but as she spends more time in her quiet cottage in the small village of Thornwood, she realizes this “layover” might be the best path forward. With the help of several locals, and a very old diary, Sarah finds her way back to herself.

1911: Anna Butler dreams of a bigger life than the one she leads on her family’s farm in Thornwood. When tasked to help scholar Harold with his research of Celtic folklore, she jumps at the chance to step away from her mundane chores and help. Anna is friendly with almost all the locals and knows the language and is determined to do her best to help Harold learn about the Fey and what they represent to the Irish people.

Though tenuous at times, the connection between the two women and the mythical is an underlying current throughout the whole novel. Both women are in a state of self discovery and though tragedy shapes their paths, they find ways to move forward. The Story Collector is a sweet piece of magical realism that will inspire readers to sit by a fire, have a cup of tea, and dream of mythical guides in their lives.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper 360, and of course the author Evie Woods for the copy of the book. The Story Collector is out on August 13th! All opinions are my own.

This dual timeline book set in Ireland gives a glimpse into the lives of two young women. Sarah is a woman from 2010 who is searching to find herself after her recent breakup with her husband. She leaves her life with him in New York City and boards a plane to stay with her sister in Boston ... but she doesn't quite end up in Boston. The other main character, Anna, is from one hundred years earlier in Thornwood, Ireland. Sarah learns about Anna from a diary she finds near the home where Anna lived in 1910. The two stories are magically woven together with threads of faerie stories from the past and the present. Irish folklore is written so wonderfully and vividly in this charming story, the characters are beautifully captured and you really get to know them well through the author's wonderful descriptions and narratives. Make yourself a nice cuppa, snuggle into a comfy chair, and get to know these two young women and the others in this delightful story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the re-released arc! This is such a charming little story. The details intertwined with the characters and their stories is purely magical! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This was my second Evie Woods book, and I’ve enjoyed them both!

This is a sweet if rather predictable romance about Irish life and folklore, about why women need to warn one another about predators, how family ties are both good and bad, and how "happily ever after" endings come in more than one shape and form. There's some good Irish history going on in the novel to give readers context, and the settings and characters are well-developed and interesting.

A feel good story told in two timelines about letting go of grief and learning to live again. Good characters and rather predictable storyline.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/One More Chapter for the ARC to read and review.

I read The Lost Bookshop by Evie Gaughan and loved it. So when I saw the Story Collector I knew I had to read it.
The story follows 2 timelines, 100 years apart. In the present day timeline we follow Sarah as she navigates loss and grief, traveling to Ireland on a whim. Once arriving to Ireland and settling in she finds a diary. Anne Butler’s diary and now we come to the past timeline.
Following Sarah and Anne’s story we learn about love, loss and the fae of Ireland.
This story was so heartwarming and just what I needed to read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Story Collector by Evie Woods

✨Historical fiction
✨Duel timelines
✨Romance
✨Magic
✨Irish folklore
✨Grief and loss

In the present day, Sarah is grieving over the end of her marriage.

One hundred years ago, Anna volunteers to help an American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English.
The author has a way of painting Ireland so beautifully in the reader's mind! Another 5-star read from Evie Woods!

Thank you, Net Galley and Harper 360 for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Featuring the stories of two women, Anna in 1911 and Sarah in 2011.
On an impulse, Sarah boards a plane to Ireland rather than to her siter's family in Boston. While exploring
the area, she comes across Anna's diary which causes her to seek out more information on Anna and her
family .Anna's life is forever changed when she assists a writer about the myths and lore of her community. As
Sarah learns what happened to Anna, she examines her own life and regains interest in pursuing her artistic career.
Life in an Irish village, full of the magical stories passed down.
#TheStoryCollector #Harper360 #NetGalley

Travel to Ireland to discover a land of fairies. Evie Woods has written a novel full of mystery, love and magic. Set in two time periods, the transitions are seamless. This is a delightful book for a weekend read to get away.

Sarah is at a crossroads in her life. She is dealing with a grief of a tragedy that has ended her marriage. On a whim she decides that she is no longer going to go home but travel to Ireland instead. Once there she finds a place thanks to the kindness of strangers. There she finds a journal written 100 years prior that tells the story of an American man who comes to collect stories of fairies or the Good People. As Sarah reads about Anna’s adventure in collecting these stories she finds the healing she needed to start to deal with her grief.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a sweet story that had some twists and turns but it was a very human story as well. It dives into how we deal with grief and the belief of another world can help us cope but also hold us back. I like the aspect of someone going and collecting these oral histories that often become lost to time. It brought out the magic of what you think when you think about an Irish countryside and was a great summer read. This story was beautifully written and I found myself sucked in every time I picked up the book.

3 1/2 Stars
This all comes together too nicely. I enjoyed the historical section of the book - Anna's diary - but less so the modern period. The romance between her and the Irishman seems contrived and without basis and the book would have been more successful without it, and everything wraps up too nicely in the end.

Sarah is at the airport flying to move in with her sister as she is leaving her husband. She is entranced by a newspaper article of a hawthorn tree being saved by Irish residents and finds herself boarding a plane to Ireland. It’s the Christmas season and the inn is full but she is put up in a small peat cottage. Sarah is still coping with the loss of her baby several years ago. She makes her way through the day, then drinks to sleep, wakes and runs, then tries to sleep again. In her first night in the cottage, she gets up to run yet again but the weather won’t allow it. Instead, she’s drawn to a tree where she finds an old diary in a hollow. The diary is written by a young girl, Anna, who grew up in this cottage. Anna tells the story of an American who comes to her village to hear stories of the faeries and to record them for posterity. This was a good story which you’re quickly drawn into.

This book alternates between Sarah's story (modern day) and Anna's story (found in an old journal) and speaks with compassion about the way that life doesn't always turn out the way one plans or hopes. And throw some Irish fairy stories into the mix!

I truly enjoyed this book! There is some language, and some very heavy topics (divorce, death of a spouse, loss of a child) making this one most suitable for adult readers.

My favorite parts of this story were the portions of Anna's diary, which recounts her time helping an American scholar search out stories of the Good Folk. Anna's story in the diary actually felt more well developed than Sarah's. Sarah's story took several twists that I didn't feel were fleshed out in a way that made sense.

Overall, an enjoyable read!

I received a free ARC from netgalley, all opinions are my own!

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

In 1911 American scholar Harold Krauss travels to Ireland, collecting Celtic stories with the help of young local woman, Anna Butler. In 2011, Sarah Butler impulsively changes her travel plans, intrigued by a news story of a hawthorn tree saved by locals. She finds Anna’s diary, and the
two stories, 100 years apart, connect with lessons and delight. This book is rich with lush descriptions, wonderful stories, characters I will carry with me, and a message hope for going on despite sorrow.
Life has a way of changing our plans, and sometimes those unexpected paths are sad or scary, but often they bring us to wonders. Telling stories, making art, growing or preparing food, we can share our creations with others, and maybe share love as well. As for the otherworldly involvement of the Fae, it’s all part of the mysteries of life. Who’s to say?

The Story Collector is a novel with two women narrators, one in 1911 Ireland and the other in 2011 Ireland. These two women embody the title--they are story collectors. Evie Woods' novel is a dual time line and a dual POV. I will be honest, I liked this novel much better after I finished it, then while I was reading out, I had to resist skimming. The Story Collector was very slow in the first half, and I needed to push myself to get over the slow start and hope that the narration would pick up, which it did.

At its heart, The Story Collector is about someone who collects stories and someone who tells stories. Both the collector and the teller present one POV in 1911 Ireland. Anna accompanies an anthropologist who is writing a thesis and wants to learn the stories of the fairies in Ireland. She is both translator and narrator of these stories, which she records in her journal. In 2011, Sarah is escaping grief and a failed marriage to "find herself" in Ireland, the land of her ancestors. She finds Anna's journal and as she reads it, readers enter Anna's world. As a result, Sarah learns these fairy stories and also becomes a collector of stories, which she finds a way to interpret.

I liked the theme of how people need stories to live, as a way to also heal. Shared grief works as a way to acknowledge grief and its power. However, I was bothered by depictions of excessive drinking and the escape into drinking. Any reader with any kind of family history of alcoholism with likely find this a difficult novel to read. The alcohol is unnecessary to the story, and I wish Woods had left it out.

Thank you to publisher, One More Chapter, and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. I am recommending this novel.

This was a very magical, enjoyable read. Told in two different POVs and in two different eras.

Sarah lives in the year 2011, she's leaving her husband in NYC to go back home to her parents in Boston to heal from a traumatic experience. At the airport, she hops on a flight to Ireland at the last minute. There Sarah finds the diary of the daughter who lived in the cottage she's staying in 100 years ago. There, she finally heals from an event that had changed her life.

Anna lives in Ireland in 1911, she's the daughter of a farmer in a small village. The people of the village rely on the tales of magical fairies who protect them. When an American student comes to the village to hear stories about magical beings, he falls in love with Anna at the same time. He's known as a story collector, trying to preserve ancestors' stories for the next generation to learn.

This book was a wonderful read!

*Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this story. It was cool to see the storylines go back and forth. Both had great moments and were very engaging. The only thing I didn’t really like was the super quick nature of the relationship that formed in the present day storyline. Also, the two storylines didn’t integrate like I thought after reading The Lost Bookshop. I was expecting them to relate to each other more than they ended up doing.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿
𝘣𝘺 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴

Sarah boards a plane to Ireland in 2011, unaware that it will change her life forever. Upon arriving, she discovers Anna’s diary and is transported into the past. Reading and learning about Anna’s story the more she reads. All while trying to navigate her day to day in a new place with new friends.

Anna, a young woman living 100 years earlier, writes about her adventures with Harold, a man who she helps translate the folklore stories from her town.

The stories beautifully intertwine, with both women finding themselves after struggles and discovering love when they least expect it.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 is a cleverly written magical historical fiction and folklore love story that draws the reader in with detailed and heartfelt situations. Evie Woods has a way of making the reader feel the emotions of her characters, which left me feeling slightly heartbroken at several points during the read.

Qᴜɪᴄᴋ ʀᴜɴᴅᴏᴡɴ
- Dual POV
- Romance, but it's not the focus of the plot
- Mild-paced reading

This review is based on an ARC copy I received from NetGalley. These opinions are my own and were given freely.