The Story Keeper

Scottish folklore is one of my favourite things so I was eager to read this book, but it was a bit of a let down to be honest. Despite the main character, Audrey, journeying to the Isle of Skye to ‘collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her', there was scant mention of folklore in this book. Indeed for most of it, nobody wanted to talk to Audrey. The story was painfully predictable, the mysteries not terribly mysterious, and the ending rushed and overwrought, with all the loose ends tied up in a pretty bow.

If you want to read a better mystery set on an island and featuring Victorian feminism and independent women in the age of man, try The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge, which this book seemed like a poor imitation of.

NB. This should be marketed as a YA book, not adult fiction.