This is a beautifully told story. The story takes place in two time periods, easily distinguished with a cast of wonderful characters. A great read for book lovers.

The Story Collector by Evie Woods is such a cozy story; it is a book that should be read by a fire, bundled in a blanket if at all possible. As the title suggests, The Story Collector explores the stories of people, both as they unfold and as memories recounted. This book is perfect for readers who love stories that are ultimately about the nature of people, and the folklore that ties communities together.

Loved this sweet story. It toggles back and for the between two time periods. Both stories had some depth to them. A little bit of mystery, love and grief all put together in one book.

Utilizing the dual timeline narratives, the author alternates Anna in 1910, and Sarah in 2010. When Harold, an American, comes to Ireland to research the fairies, he employs Anna to assist him. Anna is from a farming family, but is deeply enmeshed in believing in the fairies. Flip to 2010, and Sarah finds herself in the same town in Ireland, escaping a traumatic event. Sarah finds Anna’s diary, and that is how we learn of the events in 1910. There is magical realism, especially related to the stories of the fairies, but it was a good distraction from everyday reality. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a DNF for me. I'm at 40% and have no interest to continue.

I loved the prologue. It pulled me in right away! I also enjoyed the story from 1911. I didnt care for the journal entries, though. I wouldn't even consider it a "journal". What teenager journals like that?

I didn't like the main character from 2011 or her story. At 40%, her and a male character were suddenly buddies? After an unpleasant first encounter, the sudden friendship felt forced and I didn't feel any chemistry between them.

I still find the premise interesting, but this book just isn't for me.

Evie Woods has crafted another really good read! I thoroughly enjoyed The Story Collector from beginning to end-the characters, premise, plot and twists. I especially enjoyed the old Irish tales that formed the backbone of the title.

Thanks to #netgalley, #onemorechapter and the author for this ebook to read. Review opinions are solely my own.

Sarah and Anna lead ordinary lives, one hundred years apart. The secrets they find shed light on the magic around them and threaten the lives they think they know. A heartwarming story with mystery, discovery, trusting your instincts and a little magic along the way, make for a cozy read, that I could not put down!

I have been dipping my toes into the waters of cozy stories a bit more and liked the atmosphere of this. More so in the past but I did enjoy the back and forth between past and present.

I kept waiting for a little bit more to happen. But it’s more just about grief than fairies, I guess.

What a fun book! I loved The Lost Bookshop so I was really looking forward to this read, following following Sarah around on her adventures. Makes me want to jump on a plane, go to somewhere random, and live there for a while...

A book about Irish folklore, romance and mystery sounds ideal to me. However, it started slowly for me. It finally turned into a good dual timeline story about 45% into the book. It takes place 100 years apart. Sarah in 2010 travels to Ireland after leaving her husband where she finds Anna's diary from 1910. I enjoyed Anna's story more than Sarah's.
Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

An interesting read and perfect for lovers of books. I enjoyed how Anna’s story unfolded through Sarah’s reading of her diary 100 years later. I would have liked to see Anna end up with Harold rather than the trying experience she had with George, but appreciated that she felt duty first to her family. I enjoyed the relationship between Sarah and Oran and was happy to see Sarah find herself and happiness again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a lovely historical fiction read with a bit of Irish fairy magic for good measure. Dual story line following two female leads - Sarah in 2010 and Anna in the early 1900s.

Sarah, grieving the loss of her marriage, decides to take a spontaneous trip to Ireland. She ends up in a small Irish town, lands in a tiny cottage owned by a local family and stumbles upon a diary which belonged to Anna (1910). Sarah is fascinated by Anna’s story and befriends the family who owns the cottage where she is staying. Ultimately she falls in love with the village, the lore of the Good People, and with Orran, her widowed landlord.

It's 1910 and Anna's simple farm life is becomes much more exciting when an American visits her farm. Harold attends Oxford and has come to Ireland to work on a paper about the fairies and the Irish folklore surrounding them. Harold chooses Anna as his assistant to interview townspeople in order to collect these stories. As they spend time together a friendship and then a romantic relationship develop, but their relationship is threatened by Anna’s secret and a threatening local.

I struggled a bit getting in to this story and definitely was more engaged in Anna’s storyline. Sarah’s character and storyline felt less developed and I wanted to know more. Overall, I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading “The Lost Bookshop” by the same author.

Trigger warnings: cruelty to an animal, attempted rape, alcohol abuse, death/grief, and miscarriage.

This was a very intriguing historical fiction/ mystery with magic. It definitely is a slow burn but I enjoyed the ride!!! What I loved the must was that books were involved!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper360 for the Arc

3.5 - This was a really unique story set in two timelines in Ireland. The historical time is a man coming to document stories about local "fairies" and the woman who helps him. The modern has a woman running away from her life in America. Both have people in need to healing.

Sarah is losing her self-control. In the midst of a divorce, drinking too much, she impulsively gets on a flight to Ireland instead of going to stay with her sister in Boston.

Two timelines start, 100 years apart, when Sarah finds the diary of Anne, a local Irish girl, and her role as the assistant/translator to an American scholar, Harold Griffin- Krauss (based on the real scholar Walter Evans-Wentz) to collect stories about fairies.

A truly enjoyable read.

As are the characters in her book, Evie Woods is a story collector. In fact in her book, The Story Collector, she gives us two stories that take place 100 years apart.

After arriving at Shannon airport through the oddest of circumstances, Sarah finds herself in a world of folklore, fairies, a small Irish town and its inhabitants, kindness and love. And, after finding the hidden diary of Anna, she is transported back to a mystical time a century before.

In Anna’s diary, Sarah learns that fairies roamed the streets and backwoods of Thornwood mostly unseen. They intervened in people’s lives. And when we learn more about Sarah’s life, we wonder if they still do.

We want to know what will happen to Sarah and we want to know what did happen to Anna. Do they stay in Thornwood or are they bound for America? Will it be Harold or Jackson or Oren? And what stories will the Story Collector hear as he goes about learning more and more about the “Good People” (aka fairies) who live in the special Hawthorne tree?

Evie Woods spins a good tale that I just sank into.

Special thanks to Harper 360 and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I think if you're a booklover you will enjoy it as well. Also it is about a woman named Ann who goes to Ireland to translate fairie tales from Irish to English and this brings Ann somewhat of a problem.

Also if you are a book lover, I think we all are, this book is extra special because it's about books and lost manuscripts and I think it is worth the read. I'm giving it 4 stars bc I enjoyed it so much.

Books, libraries, history, secrets/ really, what more could one want? A solid book that I wish had more -
Only because I was sad to finish it!


Thank you NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed the magical elements this book offered, and the character growth shown. It kept me engaged with dual timeline as well!

I really appreciate a look into different cultures’ lores and traditions. I loved the cozy Irish setting.

I’m not a huge fan of diary entries that don’t read like diaries. I had a hard time buying into the romantic relationships— I want to feel the chemistry, not just be told that there is chemistry.

The pacing felt slow as well… and that may very well be because I wasn’t in the right “mood” for this one. Books can feel different at different times.