Practical Magic lovers - you are going to LOVE this one!

Have you ever felt like you wanted to escape reality for a little while and fly to another country? That’s exactly what Sarah does when she starts to feel like her life is falling apart. She jumps on a plane and flies to Ireland where she finds a cottage in Thornwood - little does she know it’s filled with other-worldly secrets.

The past & present are beautifully intertwined as we discover the pages of a 100 year old diary alongside Sarah as she reads stories documented by Anna from the early 1900s. Turns out Sarah’s life is just like Anna’s.

The storyline is enchanting leaving you on an emotional journey wishing nothing but the best for Sarah. I really loved this book!

Ireland just exudes a certain kind of magic! I adored how the feelings toward fairy folk were portrayed in this book. I found the dual past/present perspective to be intriguing and it kept me wanting more. Every character that was mentioned had a purpose and was significant to the plot. I hope the romance was stronger. I was left feeling a little let down by how quickly the story was progressed in both the past and the present. I did, however, feel that this book was authentic to Irish folklore and that I was fully drawn into the narrative. incredibly charming!

In this dual-timeline book, we follow two women's stories in the same Irish village--one reeling from a recent separation (Sarah) and one coming of age (Anna, 100 years earlier). American Sarah makes a spur-of-the-moment choice to travel to Ireland that leads her to find the Anna's diary. As we alternate between the two timelines, both women explore Irish fairy lore, what it means to cultivate good relationships, grief and longing, and how to come to terms with who they are and what they've lost.

I've read The Lost Bookshop by the same author and was looking forward to this new adventure. Sadly, this book didn't measure up. The pacing was slow, even though the modern-day action takes place over a relatively short time. So much good action and important things happen in the last 20-25% of the book that could have come sooner and led into more interesting storytelling! And the prologue set up an interesting idea of the story of the manor house family that then fizzled.

The titular "story collector" was a minor character and while the idea of the importance of collecting and recording stories was an interesting and valuable idea, it didn't drive the narrative so the title and this idea just felt unintegrated for me. The conceit of a diary to tell Anna's story didn't work for me either as the "diary entries" didn't read as an authentic first-person diary voice. I would have preferred those sections just be third-person as well, as "Anna" including exposition and backstory information in diary entries made them not read like diary entries. The information was necessary for the reader, but it didn't work to present them as if she'd write that in her private diary.

I found modern-day Sarah a hard character to care about from the outset. Instead of heading home for the holidays, she got blackout drunk, read an article, and bought a ticket to Ireland, then didn't understand why her family might be concerned and upset and just turned off her phone to hide from everyone and kept drinking. Within a few days of leaving her husband, she was ready to entertain the idea of a new romance with the implication that she had the tools to do it better this time? There were important pieces of Sarah's story that didn't come out until very late in the book that would have helped make her more understandable and sympathetic.

As with The Lost Bookshop, there were some minor characters I found very compelling, like Fe and Marcus. There were some excellent portions and some valuable ideas that I wish had been fleshed out more. I wanted to love this book and was disappointed.

What a fun Irish ride this was! If you like Irish folklore, women protagonists, and a sweet ending then this book is certainly for you! The author did a lovely job of differentiating the voice between the time periods and main characters. There was a great amount of fantasy and fun storytelling at play between the characters dealing with folklore. As the book unravelled, I was drawn in more and more.

I absolutely adored this book!

I really enjoyed both the past and present storylines, though the past was my favorite. I found the characters well-developed. Anna and Harold were my favorites, but I liked Sarah too. The magical elements were beautifully woven into the story. The writing painted a clear picture in my mind as I read. I loved the folklore and fairy stories that were included. The romance in the present storyline felt a little fast, but it made that plot line more interesting.

This is my first Evie Woods novel, and I am very much looking forward to reading more from her!

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter/Harper Collins for this digital ARC!

I felt some frustration with the main character, and I don’t love jumping back and forth in time during the story, but by the end I loved both stories and wanted to hear more about both of them.

If you like a book with a bit of magic, this is one to read. Loved the two timelines and the two women - Sarah and Anna. Very well written.

I read The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods and absolutely loved it, so I knew I had to pick this book up and can confidently say that you should too!

The Story Collector takes place in small town Ireland and follows Sarah who traveled to Ireland on a whim to try to escape her grief. Sarah discovers an old diary from a girl named Anna, whose family lived in the cottage she is renting 100 years earlier. Anna's diary describes her life as a young woman in 1911 rural Ireland, and we read her experience of being hired by a young scholar to help him compile stories about fairy stories and folklore in her town for a PhD thesis.

This is a beautiful story about processing grief and the love and friendship that can be found along the way. I love the incorporation of fantasy elements through the fairy stories and think that cozy fantasy readers should definitely give this book a try!

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

First my thanks to Harper Collin’s Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity for an ARC copy of this novel 🫶

I adored The Lost Bookshop so when I saw a new title by Evie Woods I knew I had to get my hands on it!

Woods’ storytelling ability never ceases to amaze me. She seamlessly blends past and current POVs to form one cohesive narrative.

Her characters immediately grab you by the heartstrings and you cannot help but connect with them and feel the things they feel as you read.

I found myself laughing and crying while I read this story. I read it so quickly, I couldn’t put it down. I was so invested in the characters and story. It takes place during the winter over the holidays and I can absolutely see myself re-reading this again each winter.

I cannot wait for the next book Evie Woods puts out, I will be the first in line to snag it up!

This was such a cozy read!!! Made me want to be curled up by a fireplace during the holidays just reading it from cover to cover. A must read for any book lover. Big thanks to Netgalley & Harper360 for the Digital ARC!

Sarah, hoping to escape her grief, is waiting for her flight home from Newark to Boston when she is suddenly inspired to make her way to County Clare, Ireland, to see the 'lore of a beautiful hawthorn tree'. With the help of a friendly local, Sarah finds herself in Thornwood and settles into Butler Cottage. On a late-night run, she stumbles upon the diary of Anna Butler, a young farm girl, from 1911. In the diary, Anna documented her work translating for an American academic, Harold Griffin-Krauss, who was collecting stories of fairies. Despite the century between them, the women are linked through circumstance and grief. In both timelines, they find themselves on the edges of something otherworldly and contemplate the possibility that fairies are living among them, sight unseen.

The book felt well-balanced between the immersive Ireland setting, fairy folklore, and empathetic storytelling of intense loss. I enjoyed the quirky side characters and the "story collecting" in Anna and Harold's interviews of locals' sightings of the fairies. My only gripe is that I wish the ending to Anna's story had been given more time and attention; while readers can fill in any gaps in Sarah's story, I felt Anna's was unfinished in its' brevity.

I really enjoyed this. I had mixed feelings about the Lost Bookshelf by the author, but I love book themes. This one sucked me in from the first chapter and was a whimsical ride. I recommend for all book lovers.

Sarah lands herself on an unplanned trip to Ireland over the holidays. Reeling from a divorce. She soon becomes immersed in the legend and folklore of the village.

This book has mystery, romance and exudes a deep sense of love and loss.

A must read.

Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC.

The title in itself is to lure oneself to read this book. A mysterious, romantic, and captivating story that guides you through the life of Anna and Sarah. If you enjoyed The Lost Bookshop you will adore this one.

I received a copy of The Story collector by Evie Woods from HarperCollins and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. I love magical realism and I loved this book. I will definitely read more.

This is an interesting novel that didn't quite go where I expected - which, in this case, made it better. Sarah is an American woman who needs to get away from her life for a little while, and who flies to Ireland to do it, where by chance she finds a 100 year-old diary. The diary was written by Anna, a young woman who lived in the same house Sarah is currently staying in. Anna's diary is very detailed, and gives a beautiful historical perspective of Ireland in the early 1900s. There are parallels between Sarah's and Anna's lives - enough to augment Sarah's interest in Anna's life, to the point that she goes looking for information about Anna's life after she stopped writing in the diary, but not so similar as to seem unlikely. I was expecting more in the way of fairies from this novel; they are present, but in an entirely different way than I expected. The "story collector" referred to in the title is an American scholar, Harold, who is collecting stories about fairies for his thesis - a thesis that is eventually published in a book. This novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys historical novels with a bit of fantasy thrown in, as well as coming-of-age novels set in the past. Recommended for teens and adults.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Evie Woods, for the e-arc. All opinions are my own, and are being left voluntarily.

This was a dual-timeline, historical, magical, and mysterious read. This book was a little slow paced for my liking, and fell a little flat for me.

There is just something so magical about Ireland! I loved the way this book portrayed fairy folk and the feelings towards them. The dual past/ present perspective was interesting and continued to make me wish for more. Each character mentioned was important and intentional to the storyline. I wish there was more romance. I felt that both the past and the present rushed the storyline more than was necessary and left me feeling slightly unfulfilled. However, I do think this book felt genuine to Irish folklore and I felt immersed in the story. Very very sweet!

I want to thank the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute and cozy read for me, and I ran through it pretty quickly. I loved learning about the local fairy lore, but ultimately, think this story fell short. I wish that there was more interaction between the current-time main character and the fairies, and I wish that the dialogue was better. I found myself often cringing at the dialogue between characters - finding it both cheesy and unbelievable.

Unfortunately, I think this is one you could skip.

What a beautiful novel. The descriptions took me straight to Ireland. Again I'm such a fan of dual timelines and it works so well here. If you are a fan of Emily Wilde and want something not "quite" so fantatical, you will love this book.