Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

A Novel

336 pages

English language

Published Oct. 27, 2023 by Random House Publishing Group, Del Rey.

ISBN:
9780593500132

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (2 reviews)

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to …

8 editions

This is My Second Time Reading in One Year

5 stars

(This is my original review from Goodreads, I read it in January and reread it this December. Easily a book I'm going to continue returning to yearly.)

I went into this book highly skeptical of it being able to pull off the combination of academics and fantasy, but it is now easily one of my favorite books in its genre.

The characters each have their own voices and distinct characterizations; from gruff but kindhearted townsfolk, to the "mousy" but dedicated main character, to, of course, the flamboyant but loving love interest, who I found was delightful to read.

The world is as fun to read about as the characters. Fawcett has a beautiful way of narrating that makes everything feel fresh and interesting, which only makes it more powerful when the characters come upon anything magical in their environment.

The book isn't perfect. In some spots the story felt a …

avatar for Wigwam12@ramblingreaders.org

rated it

3 stars

Subjects

  • English literature