It is really a blessing how an assumingly simple fiction book can make you analyze your life and make you think about the people in it in a different way. Characters in a book, or real-life people are composed of many layers, like an onion. On the surface they present something that is not always what is inside and certainly does not show all the life experiences that they went through to become the current person you know.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and find myself thinking about it often. I finished it several days ago and wanted to absorb it before trying to write a review.

The book I read previously to this one was not in my comfort zone. I managed to finish it, but I am definitely not reading the next two books in the series, even though the solution does not come until the end of the third book.

This wonderful book by Sue Heath set my reading world back on its axis. This is the type of book that I truly love to read. Although it could be classified as a “romance”, I think it is more a “Women’s Fiction” classification. I do think a man could enjoy it and get quite a bit of self-knowledge from it also.

I suppose it is a sad fact that, within the pages, I found myself being judgmental in my life, however I have taken the lesson to heart and am trying to change my outlook. I think that is the highest compliment I can pay to an author. Their words not only gave me great joy while reading, but also, they influenced my life.

I highly recommend this lovely book and hope that readers will pick it up and find joy and insight within the pages!

A sincere thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter | One More Chapter and NetGalley for giving me the immense pleasure of reading the advance reader copy, with no obligation to write a review. My review is written freely as a hobby, and is totally my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

Heartwarming. Comforting. Uplifting. Engaging...

The community library is a place to share ideas and stories, chat about family and neighbors, relax with a book and a cup of coffee, or bring a book home on loan. What could be better than that?

How about four vastly different people who find one another there, who wouldn't have met otherwise:
Hattie looks for a connection from long ago.
Avril finds a place to think.
Stuart contemplates a new niche.
Will, the librarian—where or what is next?

Then a flyer about a writing competition brings them together, and creating a story as a team gives them a purpose...

I love reading a book about books. This one is a layered story; sort of like a story within a story, but not really. It's about the four main characters who are writing a story and getting to know each other, and themselves, better in the process. The character mix is diverse, and they're fun and funny, so trust me. This is a good one.

"The Storytellers" proves that connections with books and like-minded people make one's life a whole lot fuller. That's a fact, folks!

3.75⭐

Thank you to One More Chapter and Sue Heath for the gifted DRC through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review. Publication date: 8/1/25!

There's something about books about libraries or bookstores that just ooze charm. and then there's the added bonus when the book takes place in the UK (one of my favourite places)...so with those two in mind, I knew this book would be one for me.
And it was.
Charming.
Cute.
Satisfying.
A total "Up-Lit" book that focuses on empathy and community.

I would also say it's a book cleanser of happy <3

So I don’t want to give the story away but I would recommend this book whole heartedly. It is like being wrapped in a cozy blanket and whisked away into the story. An excellent cozy read I would highly recommend it.

The concept of completely different characters coming together to form a group at their local library to write a story for a competition was great, and it was wonderful to read such positive representation of libraries and their importance in the community for all different ages. I found the pacing of the story a bit slow and the different perspectives felt like the story jumped about a bit for me, but the concept was sweet and heartwarming and I enjoyed the feel good ending

The library - a place where people meet, escape to another world, read books, and many more reasons to enjoy a hub of the community.

WIll escaped his Cambridge book shop to help look after his parents and takes a job in the local library, Hattie has recently been widowed and moved home to an apartment with many retirees - who want to interfere .... she visits the library with the aim to learn how to use a computer to look up an old friend.... Avril has walked out on her job as a hairdresser.... and finds the library when she returns a book she found in a cafe. Stuart has recently taken redundancy / early retirement and is at a loss of what to do... 4 unlikely friends who unite in a library competition to write a story.... each person has to write a different chapter starting from where the last one ended.

A great read, on how different people can join forces and become friends and support for each other.

The Storytellers by Sue Heath is a sweet story about how four people’s lives interact at a library in their town when they decide to enter a writing competition together. As their lives intertwine, friendships grow and lives will be changed.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put this book down! I loved the characters. They were three dimensional and well developed. I also enjoyed reading their story interspersed within their chapters. I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Four people who are feeling a bit more lost and lonely then they might be able to admit find each other at the library. Through writing a novella together as apart if the newly formed writing group they find themselves.
This was a really sweet story about self discovery and unlikely friendship. I enjoyed getting to read the novel within the novel as the characters wrote it, and enjoyed how it gave more insight to the characters hearts.
Thank you to @onemorechapterhc and @netgalley for letting me have an advanced copy of #thestorytellers by @zarastoneley
Look for this one August 1 2025
#bookstagram #bookreview #readmorebooks #reading #summerreads

I enjoyed this book, it was a bit different in subject matter. I loved the main story, about the group who get together to write a novella, writing alternate chapters within the group. The characterisation of the main story is excellent, and I felt I got to know the different group members. Hattie, the elderly lady who persuades them all to join, Will the young part-time librarian, Stuart, the recently retired high- powered businessman, and Avril, the young woman floundering as she tries to make sense if her life, and where it is going. All of their back stories are interesting, and they seem an unlikely group of people who would probably never have got together were it not for the novella competition.
Where I had a problem was with the novella itself. I found it confusing and disjointed, not surprisingly given that each contributor wanted to bend the ongoing storyline to their own desired narrative.
I got no sense of the characters in the novella, they were all a bit one dimensional and unconvincing. I suspect that was due in part to my eagerness to return to the ‘main’ story, and find out what was happening there. The novella pulled me out of that narrative when I wanted to read on with the main characters, so I skimmed over the novella story, and didn’t really care what happened there, to be honest. Therefore I don’t feel that this plot device worked well for the main body of the book.
It was a heartwarming read, and I did enjoy the continuing awareness of their own lives and problems that happened to each character as the book progressed. A cosy, feel- good book. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars for me..
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

The local library is a place where all sorts of people meet and all for different reasons.
Its a place where friendships are formed and maybe romance as well.
Will is the librarian and when a flyer appears about a writing competition he inspires his three friends to enter.
But for each of them its not only a story its their life story and it helps them all to write things down but can they win the competition?

Four strangers, who happened to be in their library at the same time,agreed to form a story telling group to enter a contest to help the library win money. Will is a a temporary librarian who is in town to help his parents. Avril, a hairdresser, realizes she is not passionate about her profession and is seeking a new job. Hattie, a recent widow, who is using the library computer to find her old boyfriend.And Stuart, who is recently retired and hanging out at the library because inherited doesn’t know what to do with his free time. Each person has to write their own chapter, after they have read the previous chapter. The group cannot discuss the book, so no one knows how it will end. As each person writes their chapter, a bit of their life is revealed to the others. As the story progresses, friendships grow, and they begin to truly understand each other.
This is a wonderful book, so go to your library to check it out. Who knows what lovely people you may meet, who could change your own story?

This was my first by this author, the title and premise really intrigued me and once I started reading the characters really pulled me in.

I thought that this book would be not only about the characters but also about writing, that there would be writing technical speak but there wasn’t and on reflection, there really wasn’t much talk about what they were actually writing, but it was what they were writing that was really interesting. A story within a story. Each characters writes their chapters how they want, the only constraint is that they have to go with what the previous person has written.

I really enjoyed how each persons chapters were truly unique to them and the character and plot twists reflected something within their own personal life, yet put all together it makes an interesting puzzle to put together.

Avril and Hattie are great together, they have a solid friendship despite only just meeting. Stuart is great too, I loved how he took time to reflect how much he loved his wife and that he wanted to change to show her how much he loved her. Will was a great librarian and it takes a lot for him to open his heart again, but Avril is the best person possible to keep it safe.

Each character brings their own plot and twists, just like the chapters they write. It was really clever how it was woven together and I felt really invested, especially with the search for Peter and Avril’s mum. Such great writing.

Libraries are such special places, and it’s in one of these local havens that Hattie, Avril, Stuart, and librarian Will cross paths. For Hattie and Avril, the library starts out as a place of escape—but soon becomes much more. Hattie is on a journey to recover something she’s lost, while Avril is seeking a brighter future. Stuart, newly retired, is simply looking for purpose and a way to fill his time. Their lives intertwine when they decide to enter a writing competition together.

This novel is a charming and refreshing departure from my usual reads. It’s a heartwarming story about connection, loss, resilience, and the unlikely friendships that form in the most unexpected places. The narrative is cleverly layered—a story within a story—and it’s all tied together beautifully.

The characters are engaging and relatable, each bringing their own personal history to the group. The writing is light and accessible, with moments of gentle humor—many of them thanks to the ever-endearing Hattie. The growing bond between the characters is genuinely touching; they support and inspire each other, not just in their writing, but in life.

The story wraps up on an uplifting note, showing how powerful and transformative friendships can be—regardless of age or background. It’s a tender and inspiring read that left me feeling hopeful. While I enjoyed all the characters, Hattie especially stood out and left a lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and author for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The “Storytellers” is a beautifully told tale of a group of three strangers who come together via a library competition to write an original story. Each one is to write a chapter then continue where the other has left off like the game consequences.

The main characters both the storytellers and those in the story they tell together, are complex and full of long held emotions and anxieties that are released in the company of their new found friends. As they meet and write they learn new things about each other and themselves. We are treated to each chapter of the developing story alongside snippets of the lives of the storytellers themselves.

The characters are all at different stages in their lives but all equally insecure about the paths they have taken and choices they need to make. The book is a celebration of multi age friendships and the soothing power of words both creating, reading and sharing. Sue Heath is a master storyteller she brings together unlikely souls and weaves tales that mesmerise the reader, none so fantastic that they can’t be real but soft, kindly told emotive stories well worth telling.

Delightful!

The local library is more than just a place where you can borrow a book-It’s a place where community members can gather.

And, that is why when this library announces a creative writing contest-it wants the entries to be a collaborative effort-one written the way a FIRESIDE TALE is told-with one person starting and the next person continuing the story in their own voice, and in their own handwriting.

Recently widowed Hattie, is looking to reconnect with someone from her past-afraid of wasting however many years she may have left.

Avril, has just quit a job she wasn’t enjoying but she isn’t sure what she should do instead.

Stuart, has just retired and isn’t sure how to fill his free time, but he has always wanted to write a novel.

And, Will is a bookstore owner from Cambridge, working as a librarian here, temporarily, while home helping his sick Dad.

That is how these four very different individuals find themselves in the library together the day when a determined Hattie sees the flyer and decides she wants to enter! She won’t take NO for an answer, convincing the other three to join her team and that is how their novella is born.

📖 ✍🏻

We are treated to a STORY WITHIN A STORY, as Hattie begins the tale, and the others have no idea what they will receive when the notebook is passed to them, and it is their turn to continue the story…

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

It ends up being a very therapeutic exercise for each of them as they explore their own emotions through the characters in their story, and form new friendships with each other while doing so.

I really enjoyed the concept, and even the story within the story is good, although I don’t think each of the team’s writers really had a distinct voice. And, while we scratched the surface of what drew each character to the library, I don’t think we delved deep enough to bring me to tears (happy or sad) by the end.

In this World which seems anything but- I am finding myself being drawn more and more frequently to “Up Lit” (a literature trend, written to be uplifting-which explores deeper themes with a positive outcome, focusing on kindness, empathy and connection) and if you are too-this is definitely a story which I wouldn’t hesitate to RECOMMEND!

AVAILABLE AUGUST 1, 2025!

Thank You to One More Chapter for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I expected a lot more from this book but I was underwhelmed. It reminded me of something read recently called The Midnight Bookshop and actually that book is advertised in the endpapers..

It is really just "once upon a time four people met and became friends, some small problems are resolved and they all live happily ever after.

This book is very slow and repetitive. I found the characters to be flat and was not very interested in their backstories/problems. I didn't learn anything new , there is no tension; no one has any interesting secrets or is acting in a duplicitous or gaslighting way. it is not in any way moving and my heart remained unwarmed.

For such a simple tale it took me ages to read it, probably because I found it and the characters, apart from Stuart I suppose, exasperating. Everything is spelled out and reiterated throughout the book, I don't know how many times we are told how amazing and adventurous the supremely irritating Harriet is or how many times we hear Will mooning over how marvellous and different Avril is. Lisa's complete volte face at the end seemed particularly unbelievable.

At first I preferred the story within the story that they are writing for the competition but after a couple of chapters I could not work out what was going on and was entirely confused by it all.

The epilogue is just what you would expect.

I have given this book a 3 because although I did not like it, it is a fairly good example of its type...

a story about stories and how much we adore stories. and also how much we adore our libraries. this book wraps itself around you like a giant comfort. i loved every moment of being involved in this story and the characters within it.
this library is where we meet our crew for this book. we've got Hattie,Avril, Stuart and Will. they all meet here. they all go or are there for one thing but end up finding so much more. this book is a wonderful way of talking us through the importance of connection and how much friendship, love and o support in life is something of a blessing. and it can lie in the unexpected places and with unexpected people.
i love how we learn of them through their time together but also their own individual journey and tale was so captivating and important too,
the added little bonus of the competition they all bond over is such a wonderful detail. its like a Russian dolls of stories this one and i loved that effect.
this story is wonderful. thats it. that all. that is all you need to know. oh and to read it. if you need to feel better today choose this book.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Published: August 1, 2025
Series: Novel
Pages: 384

Not sure why I waited to read some stories, but the wait was well worth it. “The Storytellers” is the first read by Sue Heath, a new author to this reader. This was a heartwarming story of four characters connected by a library who decided to write a story together for a competition. It is filled with second chances of hope, faith, courage and healing while overcoming the struggles that embodies their lives. I did love the idea behind Ms. Heath writing this story and thought it was well-written and the characters well-developed forming lasting friendships. When I read One More Chapter novels, they are truly inspirational. Recommend the read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an eARC of this book via NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a book where a group of strangers come together, with random backgrounds and experiences yet strive to meet a common goal all whilst figuring out their own issues. A lovely tale of community, friendships and working with others, supporting them and being there when things go wrong and right! Great characters, a lovely story about seeing things in other ways and the power of words.

Chance meeting in the local library and joining forces to enter a writing competition. Stuart who has retired and feeling adrift and feeling surplus to requirements.
Hattie newly windowed and free to find I love of her life, after decades in a stifling marriage.
Avril who has finished her hairdressing job and is looking for something that inspires her.
The back story's of the three as they each write chapters to complete the story .
Inspired and encouraged by will the temporary librarian who has his own story to add to the mix.
Very different people working together and finding common ground, friendship and respect