Book Review: Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries
Author: Heather Fawcett
Series: Emily Wilde (Book 1)
Publication: Del Rey (January 10, 2023)

Description: 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 charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

My Thoughts: Emily Wilde is a Cambridge professor and an expert in the study of faeries. Her latest field expedition has taken her to Hrafnsvik, an island off the coast of Norway, where she intends to study the Hidden Ones who are an almost mythical variety of faerie. She wants to add a chapter about them to her great work, her encyclopedia of faeries. 

She gets off to a rather bad start because she manages to alienate the local villagers. She is great with faeries but not at all great with people. When her rival scholar Wendell Brambleby comes to the same island to horn in on her study, he quickly becomes popular with the villagers. 

Emily's vast knowledge of faerie and folk tales comes in handy when she finds a way to help a couple who have become the parents of a changeling child. And her knowledge is really helpful when she manages to rescue two young women who have been captured by the Hidden Ones. However, she needs some help herself when she releases a faerie king cursed into a tree and who decides to "reward" her by making her his wife after she frees him. 

I enjoyed this first-person account, as told through her journal entries, of a young woman who is a wonderful scholar but vastly confused by the people around her. I found her relationship with Wendell Brambleby intriguing. I enjoyed learning his secret. 

Fans of fantasy will enjoy this engaging story and be eager to follow Emily and Wendell's further adventures when the sequel is released.

Favorite Quote:

My life has been one long succession of moments in which I have chosen rationality over empathy, to shut away my feelings and strike off on some intellectual quest, and I have never regretted these choices, but rarely have they stared me in the face as bluntly as they did then.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.