Scan barcode
A review by alice94
The Story Collector by Iris Costello
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I received this book as a ARC and I based off the synopsis I was very excited to read it, even as I started the story I was still excited about being able to read this book as I like mysteries and it is a type of book that I typically enjoy. It was originally put down as a romance book but there is nothing in the book that I would class as a romance book.
It is a story of three different time lines and how people's lives can intertwine together with them even expecting it. I know that in the synopsis it does say that it's the story of three women but as you start reading the book you realise that actually it's the story of time and how it effects those in it instead.
First part is set in London during WW1 however it's not just her story but also the story of everyone in London from all various social statuses who have different needs and what the war was like for those left behind while the men fought in the trenches. The second part, is in the prison camps from the perspective of Germans (especially those to sympathies with the Allies prisoners) and how every decision you made during the war despite it's side had a consequence. Then the third part, was from present time and how the decisions and lives of both those in the trenches and those left behind shapes the world as we know it today.
The reason why I gave it three starts instead of four or five is that despite the synopsis and how much I liked the story overall the world building was the main focus and sometimes even pushed the main story aside to the point that it was hard to read and hard to understand. I wish that some parts of the story would have been cut, not because they were irrelevant to the times but rather because they took away from the overall story overwhelmingly and you found yourself wondering how it relates but you were left feeling like it didn't.
It is a story of three different time lines and how people's lives can intertwine together with them even expecting it. I know that in the synopsis it does say that it's the story of three women but as you start reading the book you realise that actually it's the story of time and how it effects those in it instead.
First part is set in London during WW1 however it's not just her story but also the story of everyone in London from all various social statuses who have different needs and what the war was like for those left behind while the men fought in the trenches. The second part, is in the prison camps from the perspective of Germans (especially those to sympathies with the Allies prisoners) and how every decision you made during the war despite it's side had a consequence. Then the third part, was from present time and how the decisions and lives of both those in the trenches and those left behind shapes the world as we know it today.
The reason why I gave it three starts instead of four or five is that despite the synopsis and how much I liked the story overall the world building was the main focus and sometimes even pushed the main story aside to the point that it was hard to read and hard to understand. I wish that some parts of the story would have been cut, not because they were irrelevant to the times but rather because they took away from the overall story overwhelmingly and you found yourself wondering how it relates but you were left feeling like it didn't.