Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I went into this book hoping to find a lot more of some components that I found were sadly missing. I anticipated hearing a lot more about the bookstore itself, which was a very minor plot point in comparison to many of the other things in this book. The ideas in this book were awesome, but they just seemed to miss the mark for me. I couldn't connect well with the story when it kept jumping around, and it felt a bit like a 'by-the-numbers' approach to the action. Everything was written as a sequence as opposed to being more organic and holistic, and it really was a shame.

I did find the concept really interesting - witches with a cursed family line doing their best to evade a perennial evil that pursues them through time. The characterisation was spotty at best and a bit 'Mary-Sue' at worst (for the main character, at least), but I did enjoy some of the characters (mostly Ambrose & his dedication, and Hades the crow). I think this book had so much potential, but sadly it missed the mark for me.

I also wasn't a fan of the sequel baiting at the end, in that it was rather abrupt and a bit of a immediate and unexpected ending, and not in a fun way. All in all, this is a cute YA-esque read, but unfortunately not my cup of tea.

(3.5 stars)
First let me say that I really enjoyed this story! This was my first book by Helen Phifer and I will be looking to read others in the future.

The Vanishing Bookstore takes place mostly in two time periods: 1692, Salem, Massachusetts (yes, the witch hysteria) and current day in both London, England and Salem. Three sisters are considered witches and are arrested and hanged in 1692, along with one of the sisters’ daughter. Somehow - and for this you need to suspend your disbelief and go with the flow - they are cursed to live over and over again and die over and over again at the hands of a witch hunter from 1692.

The three sisters have distinct personalities, which was great. Dora/Isadora is the daughter of one of them and in present-day, is around 30, running a small flower shop in London. She lives with one of her aunts, nicknamed Lenny, who is a doctor. When Lenny receives a frantic message from her sisters in Salem, she convinces Dora to come with her on a “holiday” - since Dora knows nothing about her history.

George Corwin is the witch hunter and makes an excellent villain. And I loved Hades, the crow, who was the sisters' familiar. They referred to him as their "watcher."

I did have a few issues with the book, starting with its title. The bookstore aspect is barely there, and it wasn’t even really a bookstore at all. The magic wasn’t described well, and it took almost to the end of the book to explain how the women were able to be reincarnated over and over again and how George Corwin managed to seem immortal. There was another character, Ambrose, who tried to save Dora in 1692 and somehow he kept getting reincarnated too, but that never really got explained. Also, while the audiobook narrator did a lovely job, I missed having authentic accents for the characters from England and from Massachusetts. No one had any particular accent at all - and accents, for me, truly make audiobooks come alive. In addition, the epilogue didn’t add anything to the book, unless it was supposed to be a hint about a future sequel.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
I loved reading about the English women, Ambrose and their friends. And even though you kinda know what the outcome will be, I still felt the tension and angst during their journey.

If I have to tell you about the things that I liked less, I can only come up with 2 things:
- for me personally, Dora read a bit young and not like a 33 year old woman.
- the biggest problem they have in every life (in order to defeat Corwin) is solved rather quickly, in comparison to how big an issue it was said to be

Other than that, I really liked to book. It read very quickly and I kept on gravitating back to it.

This book is a split timeline, starting at the height of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, and also following the characters in modern day London and Salem. Isadora and her family are accused of witchcraft. Her friend (and love interest) Ambrose tries to save her when her mother and aunts are taken, but ultimately they are only able to hide Isadora’s family spellbook in his secret bookstore.

During the witch trials a curse is placed on a witch hunter that includes Isadora’s family. It forces them to repeat their lives over and over, always with tragic outcomes, until they can break the curse. In present day London, Dora owns a flower shop and lives with her aunt. She has no memory of the previous lives she and her family have lived. But when the hunter finds her they rush back to Salem in an attempt to bring back Dora’s memory and try to find the spellbook in the long-lost bookstore, convinced the answer to breaking their curse lies within.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book, and loved the descriptions of the settings. As someone currently living not far from Salem, the author describes October in Salem perfectly. This book gave me Practical Magic vibes (the movie, I haven’t read the book), and I think if you like that movie you would enjoy this book. The relationship with Ambrose seemed a little forced, and I don’t think the title is appropriate given how little attention and relevance the “vanishing bookstore” actually has to the storyline. Overall this was a quick, enjoyable read and the Practical Magic vibe was a good way to close out my 2024 reading.

*I received an ARC of this book and all opinions are my own*

I really wanted to love this book. The precolonial time period is one of my favorites and I love dual time stories. The first part of the book I found a bit boring and kept putting it down and returning to it. It improved in the middle. One of the issues I found was that the although the MC is 32 years old, she acted more like a teenager, not a fully grown adult. There were plot points that did not make sense to me, having to do with the past, the 'bookstore' and the resolution. But .. there is enough good stuff to make it an enjoyable read.

“The Vanishing Bookstore” by Helen Phifer spans multiple lifetimes, centering on a family of witches cursed to be hunted in each one. The key to breaking this curse lies in an ancient book of magic, which the protagonist hid in her first lifetime, in a bookstore that has since vanished. Only the protagonist and her friend know its location. However, as the lifetimes pass, the protagonist’s memories of her past lives become increasingly faint.
The story is told across various lifetimes, weaving the past and present together. However, some elements related to the characters’ past lives were not well executed, which impacted the overall experience.
However, the descriptions of their life in Salem were vivid and well-crafted.
I feel like the book would have been much more cohesive if the female protagonist was a young adult, as her being in her early thirties feels a bit off. The magic element also felt a little underdeveloped for much of the book, and the romance backstory lacked depth.
Overall, the book is good and has great potential. I do think that the book’s title does not capture the essence of the story and if it was a witchy, YA book, it would have been more enjoyable. I’d recommend it to people who want to pick up a light, cozy, and witchy read!

This was such a magical read, it was the perfect witchy read over the Christmas break and I did not want to put it down,

The Vanishing Bookstore - Helen Phifer

4 stars

What. A. Beautiful. Story.

This story begins in 1692, with a young woman (Isadora) accused of being a witch. She hides a journal in a secret bookstore that vanishes and is never seen again. Fast forward to present day and this journal is the only item that can stop herself and the women in her family being witch hunted through time.

My initial thoughts when reading this story were: holy shit. ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’ This entire book is a metaphor for being a woman. This story is pure, unfiltered womanhood through the lens of historical fiction. This book really explores female camaraderie, the evolution, the fear of how things used to be and just how powerful a woman truly is.

Helen did an amazing job in painting such a vivid, magical setting. It was an extremely engaging and easy story to read (which is what I whole heartedly appreciate from a fantasy book!) I always find dual timelines can be difficult to write, but Helen absolutely nailed this one! The dual timeline helped keep this as such fast paced read.

“You are women who live without the guidance of any man…” I saw this quote and all I could think was ‘of course they are powerful because they don’t have a man. Of course they are witches. Of course people fear them.’ It broke my heart knowing that the Salem Witch Trials were an actual historical event and just for being an outspoken woman, you were hunted and killed. If you wore lipstick - you were a ‘witch’ and killed. If you were smart - you were a ‘witch’ and killed.

This was such a unique, cozy story that really showed us that the more powerful you are, the more you’re hunted. Truly kill or be killed. I cannot wait to explore more of Helen’s writing!!

Thankyou to NetGalley for a copy of this arc!

📖✨The Vanishing Bookstore✨📖
by: Helen Phifer

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading this book was helpful and healing for me. In 2020 I closed my flower shops and experienced a great amount of grief due to losing my dream stores. Reading about how Dora had a love for flowers helped me reconnect with my own personal love for them. There were a lot of experiences early on in the book that reminded me of day to day life while running a flower shop. Thinking of a flower shop in a playful way allowed me to undo some deep hurt in my heart from losing my stores.

I relished Dora's love story which I felt was unique and special. I found this romance to be a particularly alluring part of this book. Featured lover chats and cutesy little comments kept me wanting to learn more about Dora’s past. I would love it if Phifer were to write a prequel. I think the type of love Phifer writes about in this story is the love most people dream about.

Strong family values are shown within each character in the book which was refreshing. The villain was accurate to history while still remaining dark and mysterious.

Dora was a relatable main character who I think a lot of us can see ourselves in. Phifer's writing style is a treat due to her ease of leading the reader on a smooth journey through her words and world.

Having researched the witch trials in Salem myself, I was impressed by factual details recurring throughout the book. These honest details helped to keep my mind in Phifer’s world, further pushing me to wanna read onto the next page.

From 2008-2010 I lived with a dear friend near Boston, Massachusetts. During my time in the north we would visit Salem, MA about three times a year. This book accurately creates a world where you can imagine both a modern Salem along with an historic one. All in all this book is worth the read on a cozy afternoon when you want to get lost in a magical world view.

I fell in love with this book cover and synopsis and felt that it was going to be a great book but it just didn't work for me. I was expecting dual timelines with flashing back between the year 1692 and the present day but it only glances back to 1692 and those times weren't very in-depth chapters. It does mention the Salem Witch Trials but don't be expecting a lot of information about it because there simply isn't much available. I was also expecting a book that centers around a "Vanishing Bookstore" but that was also something that was only glanced upon in the book two times, this was pretty disappointing for me. I had trouble staying interested in the book and overall was quite disappointed, unfortunately.

This book is expected to be published January 7th 2025.

My reviews can also be found on GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/brandisbooks.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a pretty magical page turner. I couldn't bring myself to stop reading, even past my bedtime. I have always thought the Salem Witch Trials were an interesting and terrible piece of history in the United States and I enjoy literature that surrounds the times, both fiction and non.

The story is of the English sisters, women who were murdered in the name of witchcraft back in 1692. One of the victims of the hysteria, Giles Corey, curses the sheriff as he is slowly being crushed to death by stones. The English sisters are also wrapped up in the curse, doomed to relive their lives over and over, even as time progresses, each time waiting for the nasty sheriff Corwin, who sent them to their unlawful deaths, to find them and destroy them anew.

In this cycle, Isadora, or Dora for short, has been taken out of Salem in hopes of saving the family from Corwin's continued wrath and lives in London with her aunt Lenny (an English sister). Dora runs a flower shop and one day her doorway is darkened by an intriguing man who claims he needs flowers for his girlfriend's funeral. Dora immediately senses something is not quite right about him but her curiosity is also piqued. What follows is a trip home to Salem to hopefully break the curse for the final time.

The book title is misleading. Yes there is a "bookstore" but not in the sense one thinks of say, Barnes and Noble, today. Yes the "bookstore" does vanish. It is an important part of the plot but a minor one at that. I am curious why the author chose such a title. However, the title was what got me to read the description and I am so glad I did because this was a great book.

This is one of the rare books I would consider reading again in the future.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book, it has all the elements for such a great witchy read. I loved that there's a little mystery, and a little murder, and a lot of curses and drama. I found the English women to be really likable and enjoyed the way that they interacted with each other and other characters in the story. I am always a sucker for a good generational curse and really liked the way that this one was set up. The world building was fun and I did enjoy the time hops back to the women's pasts lives. I am secretly hoping that there is going to be another book in this universe based on the ending!

Loved the witches aspect and all of the characters. I did feel the book was a bit slow at moments and then was fast paced and then slow again. But over all I enjoyed the book and hope there will be a second one. I adore the English woman and would love to read about them again

This was my first book by Helen Phifer and it did not disappoint. I get nervous starting books by an author I haven’t read before but this ended up being a good read. Once again I don’t tend to read books about witch’s but this is my second book on the subject and I really enjoyed it! I will say this book reads like a YA book.

The Vanishing Bookstore is perfect if you’re in the mood for a light magical read with some history and mystery throughout.

This book really does have a lot of favorites all mixed into one! The magic isn’t over the top or too intense. Honestly, I could have done with a tad more but the amount in the book made the story feel more real life and believable. Stalker, I will find you and remove anyone who gets in my way type man. George Corwin literally stalks the English woman over centuries and multiples lives they are all cursed to have. Love, of a romantic nature, sisterly bond, mother/daughter and friendship. And lastly a back and forth timeline that goes between current times and 1692 Salem.

I love the English sisters and Isadora! The three sisters are so vastly different personality wise but so close and loving. Phifer did an amazing job immersing readers into the world of the English woman and their never ending lifetimes.

I loved the multiple points of view, dual timelines and the overall plot! This book was magical and captivating. When the English sisters were waiting for Dora to get her memories of past lifetimes back I felt like one of her aunts, impatiently waiting for something to trigger the memories.

Some cons to the book were; first, I felt like at times the story was underdeveloped and dragged a bit in different places. Second, I didn’t feel the “love” with Ambrose and Dora. It was suppose to be a love over lifetimes, surpassing the love of Romeo and Juliet. But it felt more like a strong friendship. I get Dora had no memories of Ambrose up until she started remembering her past but even then it fell flat. Third, I wanted to know so much more about the vanishing bookstore. It was a big part of the book but there wasn’t much about it. It felt like an underdeveloped part of the book, but it shouldn’t have been, especially with the book being called The Vanishing Bookstore. Finally, the ending seemed a bit rushed. There was so much build up the first 70% (yes 70) that I expected so much more from that last 30% and it was underwhelming.

Not sure if there will be a sequel or not. The ending left that option open to continue on with a second book. After looking at some of the other books written by Helen Phifer I can’t say I’d pick any of them to add to my TBR, unless one comes highly recommended. But a sequel to The Vanishing Bookstore I would for sure.

Thank you to Helen Phifer, Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Vanishing Bookstore is a spellbinding blend of historical fiction and fantasy that transports readers between the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the present day. The narrative begins with a young woman in 1692 hiding a journal in a vine-covered bookstore before it mysteriously disappears. In the present, Dora reunites with her mother, whom she believed dead, only to uncover a family curse linked to the elusive bookstore. As Dora delves into her family's past, she embarks on a quest to locate the vanished bookstore, unraveling secrets that intertwine magic, survival, and the bonds of family.

Phifer's atmospheric writing vividly captures the mystique of Salem and the enduring legacy of its witch trials. The dual timelines are seamlessly interwoven, enriching the narrative with depth and intrigue. The novel's exploration of family secrets, curses, and the supernatural makes it a captivating read for those who appreciate a touch of magic in historical settings.

This book is recommended for fans of historical fantasy. Its blend of mystery, magic, and historical elements will appeal to those seeking an immersive and enchanting story

The title and concept of this book were what caught my attention and the dual timelines helped to hold your attention throughout the book. I do wish that there was a bigger focus on the bookstore and the magical elements for the reader to explore.
—
Thank you Bookouture & NetGalley for this complimentary ARC - all thoughts are my own! 📚
Publishers release date 1/7/2025

The synopsis of this book hooked me immediately. <b>A magical bookstore lost in time, a centuries-old mystery, and a protagonist uncovering her family's secrets—what’s not to love? </b><i>Unfortunately, the execution didn’t live up to the promise of its premise. </i>

The story starts strong but as the plot unfolds it’s riddled with inconsistencies and missed opportunities. The most glaring issue is how the main character learns about her history. Rather than unraveling her past through a thrilling journey of discovery, the information is simply handed to her. This lack of intrigue diminishes the emotional impact and suspense.

Some twists left me scratching my head. We’re led to believe certain characters have lived for centuries, yet they fail to figure out seemingly obvious truths? It’s hard to suspend disbelief when the story’s internal logic feels shaky.

That said, I couldn’t put this book down. The writing style is engaging, and the pacing is quick enough to keep the pages turning. While it’s not the deeply immersive tale I had hoped for, it’s an entertaining read for those who can overlook its flaws.

If you’re a fan of books like Practical Magic or A Discovery of Witches, you might still enjoy the atmosphere and premise here. Just don’t expect every thread to be neatly tied up.

Every story needs a happy ending. And you can’t have yours until you find the bookstore.’

1692. On the outskirts of Salem, a bookstore stands covered in overgrown vines. Inside, a young woman hides a linen-wrapped journal under a loose floorboard and runs away, panicked by the sound of hounds barking in the distance. The bookstore vanishes into thin air…

Present day. Stepping inside a pale-pink house on one of the oldest streets in Salem, Dora can’t believe she’s about to finally meet the mother she thought died tragically when she was just a child. But the excitement is short-lived. Dora’s mother has fear in her eyes, and with a trembling voice she whispers: ‘my life is in danger, and now so is yours…’

Desperate not to lose her mother all over again, Dora digs into her family’s mysterious past, and stumbles upon a seemingly impossible secret: the key to their survival is hidden in a bookstore that no one has seen for generations.

Losing herself amongst thorny brackens and twisted ferns, Dora eventually finds the path that leads to the bookstore. But someone is watching her. They’ve been waiting for her.

As she pushes open the beautiful blue door hidden amongst the sharp brambles, and stands in front of rows of crumbling leatherbound books with faded pages, she has no idea of the secrets she is about to uncover. Or that her life is in more danger than ever before…

I really liked this book! I am a HUGE fan of Helen Phifer-especially the Morgan Brookes series. I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book since it is not my usual genre. However I was pleasantly surprised at how it hooked me in and kept me wanting to keep reading! I would absolutely recommend this book, and would read any subsequent books with the same characters!

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture, and Helen Phifer for the ARC of this beautiful book.

This book was a nice cozy read with dual timelines to begin the year. The writing was nice enough and this spin on the Salem Witch story was unique but it fell short for me. I think that I expected it to be about the Bookstore and it was in my opinion, more about the family of witches than the bookstore, that was a bit of a letdown for me. It was an enjoyable read and I wanted to know how it would end. I would definitely recommend this book more to a YA audience.

I am voluntarily leaving this honest review without coercion.