annieb123's Review of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)

by Heather Fawcett

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'A darkly gorgeous fantasy that sparkles with snow and magic, this book wholly enchanted me' Sangu Mandanna, author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Enter the world of the hidden folk - and discover the most whimsical, enchanting and heart-warming tale you'll read this year, featuring the intrepid Emily Wilde. . .

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 encylopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at 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

But as Emily gets closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones - the most elusive of all faeries - 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.

'Forget dark academia: give me instead this kind of winter-sunshined, sharp-tongued and footnoted academia, full of field trips and grumpy romance' Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

'A thoroughly charming academic fairy tale, complete with footnotes and a low-key grumpy romance' Guardian

'Enchanting in every sense of the word. . . This book is real magic' H. G. Parry, author of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

'A book so vividly, endlessly enchanting, so crisply assured, so rich and complete and wise and far-reaching in its worldbuilding that you'll walk away half ensorcelled, sure Fawcett found Emily Wilde's journal in some sea-stained trunk' Melissa Albert

'The ideal book to curl up with on a chilly winter's evening. . . this book is an absolute delight.' Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

'A charmingly whimsical delight. . . Five dazzling, gladdening stars' India Holton, author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

'I enjoyed every word of this gorgeously written fairy tale featuring a grumpy heroine and an utterly charming love interest' Isabel Ibañez, author of Woven In Moonlight

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a wonderfully engaging fantasy series starter by Heather Fawcett. Released 10th Jan 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a beautifully written, appealing, and entertaining book. It's a fantasy homage to the Victorian/Edwardian naturalist field studies of the period and it's jolly well done, complete with footnotes and observations galore. The titular protagonist, young fiercely bookish Dr. Emily Wilde is ferociously intelligent and academic, but mostly at sea when it comes to navigating interpersonal relationships. She finds it easier to confine herself to codifying the unspoken rules which govern the fair folk than to understand the same with her fellow humans.

There is (naturally) an element of slow-burn romance in the form of an undisguised frenemy, the exasperating (but devilishly handsome) Dr. Wendell Brambleby, well-born, charming, and infuriatingly indolent.

For fans of Katherine Arden, Natasha Pulley, Cat Rambo, and Catherynne Valente, this book will recall the wonderful feelings from those authors' books. It's not derivative in any way, but it *is* magical. I also enjoyed that despite being set in the early Edwardian period, the author doesn't have any problems dispensing with the more annoyingly rigid social mores of the time. Dr. Wilde is refreshingly forward thinking and the book simply ignores the inconvenient proscriptions against women being unchaperoned and engaging in academic careers on a level playing field with their male colleagues.

Five stars. Gorgeous. Looking forward to finding out what comes next.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

10 January, 2023: Started reading

10 January, 2023: Finished reading

10 January, 2023: Reviewed