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.

I was immediately drawn to the cover. My first novel by the author but I will definitely check out The Lost Bookshop now.

I've discovered that I am very into books involving faeries aka The Good People. This book has a great combination of storytelling mixed with real emotions. The book's major theme is about grief and how we process it in our lives. Almost every character in the book has dealt with grief and they are all dealing with it in different ways. Some better than others.

Thank you to NetGalley, Evie Woods, One More Chapter Publishing and Harper 360 for the opportunity to read The Story Collector. I have written this review voluntarily.

The Story Collector is an adorable historical fiction, dual timeline story by Evie Woods.

Sara, the FMC, find herself in Ireland right at Christmastime in 2010 after some life changing events. While out walking Thornwood she discovers an old diary written by Anna back in 1911. This book goes back and forth between both women connecting each other through many years. In 1911 Mr. Krauss, the story collector, is on a journey to collect the stories of fairies’ faith, superstitions and beliefs from the Celtic people. Anna becomes his assistant, taking him to the locals and translating the stories they have. She has her own fairy story to tell that has her eventually causing problems with another local. This book does not end how you think it is going to end and I loved that. Not everything is a happy ending for everyone in life and I appreciate that author, Evie Woods, brings that into her story.

I adore the magical feeling this book brings throughout both timelines. I have always loved the fairy stories from Ireland so I really enjoyed reading this book. The Story Collector is a quick and easy to follow read. Perfect for the start of fall and getting all cozy at home with a good book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced time travel through time book. I have had Evie’s first book, The Lost Bookshop on my TBR since it was published. I had heard great things so when I had the chance to get an ARC of The Story Collector I jumped at the opportunity. I will definitely be reading any books she writes in the future as well as her previous book under the name Evie Gaughan.


Thank you to NetGalley, publisher HarperCollins360, and author Evie Woods, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

This is a beautiful story about rebuilding your life after it falls apart. The characters come alive in the page and swirl with mystery, love, and ultimately, hope.

This a story told in dual timelines and featuring some wonderful fairy stories, though they're not necessarily the main point of the plot. Anna's story, told in her diary from 1911, is by far the stronger of the two. Her interactions with Harold and the revelations of her past are more interesting than the somewhat cheesy romance in Sarah's modern 2011 timeline. Ultimately this was an easy, cozier blend of historical fiction, fairy encounters, and emotional moments.

A note: Especially in the beginning, Sarah, a Boston native, thinks about how her suitcase is going in the boot of the car and how she is walking down the tarmac outside the cottage -- the author is clearly not American. :) This isn't a problem and it goes away fairly quickly, but it is noticeable since it happens so early in the narrative.

Thanks NetGalley and Harper 360 for an advanced copy of this book.

A dual timeline story with a bittersweet ending. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Thestorycollector for advanced digital copy.

I liked this book more than the previous book from this author for a few reasons:

1. The main characters, while clichéd, were more complex than in The Lost Bookshop. And that wasn’t just true for the main characters, it was also true for some of the secondary characters. I loved reading about Marcus and Fee, and Tess and Paddy!

2. The plot, in both the past, with Anna Butler, and the present, with Sarah and Oran, was compelling. With Anna’s story, there was a sense of mystery every time another villager shared their story about The Good People. And with Sarah’s story, there was a sense of discovery, and she was learning more about Anna and The Good People.

Were there clichéd moments in the book? Of course. There were certain characters, when introduced, that you could predict exactly what was going to happen with them. But, this book also had its fair share of surprises, and I enjoyed reading it.