3.7 Stars

One Liner: Needs patience in the first quarter 

 

Dr. Rowan Thorpe prefers stories to humans and is content in collecting the old folklore to document them. She lives alone and spends most of her time in the tiny room behind the library in Yorkshire. 

The arrival of Professor Conner O’Keefe, a historian, doesn’t sit right with her. The charming Irish professor is unfazed by her rude behavior. As they get to know each other, both realize they are bearing the burdens of their past. Can they help each other heal? 

The story comes in Rowan’s first-person POV with a few short chapters from the past. 

Firstly, my thanks to a Goodreads author-cum-reviewer friend (Sally) whose review prepared me to give the FMC some leeway. It helped a lot since the book is from the heroine’s first-person POV, and she is annoying until we know why. 

I wish the reason was revealed sooner at least to the readers. While there are some subtle hints, none of them leads to a concrete presumption. 

I won’t call this romance though it does have some elements. This is more of women’s fiction with a focus on the characters learning to be something beyond their pasts. The past takes a long time to be revealed and then we wait more for them to start to move on, so the love story as much occurs only in the last quarter. (closed door/ fade out) 

I enjoyed the little random snippets from different timelines (though these seem like they don’t impact the plot, there’s a reason for their presence). Halfway through, I noticed the pattern and realized that the truth is something else (this is revealed towards the end). As someone who likes folklore and understands the importance of preserving the oral stories from the past, I know why it matters. 

Even when I disliked the FMC’s attitude, I empathized with her determination to not let the past be wiped out. We already lost so much (and much of it has been misappropriated by invaders who went on multiple conversion sprees). We cannot afford to lose more. 

For a short book, the repeated arguments about the Fairy Stane got a bit boring. I can see both their points and agree to an extent with Rowan. But the way she handled it didn’t make it easy to side with her. 

The MMC is easy to like almost throughout. I find his backstory quite interesting. Not something we often see in this genre, so it does feel refreshing. I also like how it’s tackled with sensitivity. 

I was quite surprised by the repeated mention of the MMC’s Catholic upbringing. Somehow, many elements were woven with this piece of information, so it ended okay. 

To summarize, The Start of the Story is a book about second chances, moving on, acceptance, and the importance of protecting our ancient stories. It’s not a heavy read but not super light either. 

Thank you, Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley