What a surprising genre! Enjoyed this way more than I expected - a cozy and whimsical read. The matter-of-fact style of writing was sometimes laugh out loud funny.

Received a free copy from Netgalley.

Told through journal entries, this story of a grumpy brilliant professor and her obsession with documenting all types of faeries is clever and entertaining. Highly enjoyable!

I am going to say 3.5 or higher and round up. I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy fantasy and think it would be a great book to discuss. I had to put it aside a lot which might have had to do with my own life and not my enjoyment of the book.

I adored Emily and Wendall and their grumpy sunshine relationship. Emily was quite loveable and I adored her academic thoughts in fairies.

This is a delightful read! Emily Wilde, a serious and independent scholar, travels to a remote northern village to study the fairies reported to inhabit the area. This work will complete her tome to be entitled the "Encyclopaedia of Faeries." Emily's adventures into the world of the Fae are recorded in her journal (which becomes the book). She engages in her study as a dedicated folklorist and the text is peppered with references to folktales, folklore and other works. Throughout her stay. she navigates the dangerous world of the Fae, learns how to accept friendship and faces the possibility of unexpected love. The characters are engaging, the plot twists interesting, and the folklore delightful. This is a book this reader did not want to end!

4.5 stars

Emily Wilde is a professor and foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is working on the world’s first encyclopedia on faerie lore, and the village of Hrafnsvik and its relationship with the surrounding Fair Folk might offer an insight into a previously unexplored area of faerie scholarship. But Emily prefers the company of her dog, Shadow and her research to, gods forbid, small talk and all such. But when her dashing academic rival, Wendell Bambleby arrives in town, charms the townspeople, and offers to collaborate with parts of her work, she is left utterly out of sorts.

This is a fairly low stakes story with unexpected flashes of darkness among the far-flung atmospheric snowy mountains close to the edge of the world. I haven't read many fae books and am not familiar with the genre, but the worldbuilding and lore here felt believable and interesting. The narration is first person which can be tricky but the journal-style entries work really well for Emily's voice, and all characters are well-defined.

If you enjoy witty, wintry yet warm fantasy with a slow burn plot (and romance), dry humour, and interesting characters, this one's a winner! There is no news on when the next book will be out, but this is the first of a series that I will certainly keep an eye on.

Emily Wilde is a Cambridge professor specializing in faeries. She travels to Hrafnsvik to continue her research on the fair folk and in hopes of making a discovery to include in her book. She is savoring her time away from the university with only her dog, Shadow, as company when fellow professor and office mate Wendell Bambleby suddenly shows up with two of his students. In a series of disasters relating the folk, the assistants run away and Emily and Wendell must make do with the other as company. Eventually, Emily makes more discoveries than she could have imagined including the discovery of her feelings for Wendell. It's a interesting read and very fun.

This was absolutely delightful -- easily one of my favorite reads so far this year. There's much about Fawcett's work that is familiar; in many ways, it's a cozy romantic fantasy, but she takes many of those tropes and turns them upside down. Our curmudgeonly professor is female, first of all, and she'd much rather let logic rule her life than to allow her emotions to get the upper hand. She's delightfully prickly, and just as aware of her strengths as she is of her shortcomings. The academic tone of the story is excellently done (yay footnotes!), and it's evident that Fawcett has done her research on fairy lore. I will be eagerly waiting for book #2 in this series and hoping for many more.

It was okay. The writing was a bit childish and boring but maybe this book is intended for a younger audience.

This novel is fans of Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy, folklore, and magic. I wouldn’t call this novel filled with magic, that’s definitely an important aspect but it’s even more so about the relationships Emily finds herself developing. Against her wishes at that. With a stubborn neurodivergent lead, eccentric faeries, and an unputdownable plot - line, I’m having a hard time of thinking of who I would not recommend this book too. A top book of the year and will be a favorite for years to come

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for an eARC of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries!

Whimsical, light academia that will steal your heart away! This book was the perfect mix of academia, mystery, with academic rivals to lovers, and a dash of forced (Thanks to that silly Wendell Bambelby's part!) proximity.

This is my favorite book of the year. It's also the first book I read this year. It doesn't matter, nothing can top this.

Nothing.

I adored Emily and Bambelby. I wasn't sure what to expect from the plot of this story, but it was so much more than I ever could have hoped for. To mention any of the things I liked best (all my favorite tropes!) would be spoilers, so I'll just say they were all in this book. Often, when authors include these tropes it feel cheap or like fan service, but they were so expertly woven into this story that I just adored their execution. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Everyone should read it. I want to give it 10 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a love/I don’t get it kind of relationship with this book. I’ve seen it described as a cozy fantasy, and I’d agree. I can count on one hand how many cozies I’ve read and although the style of writing is enjoyable, it started very slowly for me. Many other reviewers had wonderful things to say about this novel, so I stuck with it. Before long, it felt like I was visiting with old friends.

Emily is a die-hard introvert, preferring her books, research, and dog to people. I can respect that. Small talk makes her nervous, she’s socially awkward, and has very few friends (if any). Wendell is the opposite. He prefers to be around people, but mostly so he can be the center of attention. Initially he comes off as a narcissist/diva, but over the course of the story his layers fall away and underneath the facade lies a good heart. Although academic rivals, one of my favorite things is the camaraderie and banter between Emily and Wendell.

Emily meets both new and familiar types of faeries and finds herself in some dangerous predicaments. Not all faeries are friendly. Between her research, determination to rid a family of a changeling, and quest to find two missing women, Emily begins to realize maybe she enjoys the company of the townfolk more than she’d thought. Maybe it’s a place where she fits.

It might have taken me a while to really get behind this novel, but before long I couldn’t put it down. I was thrilled to learn this is the first in a series, and I’ll be looking forward to spending more time with Emily and Wendell.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wild Series Book 1) by Heather Fawcett

320 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey
Release Date: January 10, 2023

Fiction, General Fiction, Sci Fi, Faeries, Changling, Brownies

Emily Wild is a professor at Cambridge and an expert on Faeries. She travels far north to Krafnsvik to study their local faerie folklore and culture. She arrives with her big black dog, Shadow and offends the matriarch of the village on her first outing. The cottage she is staying is barely habitable and she is not cut out for country life. When her friend and fellow colleague, Wendell Bambleby shows up, life begins to get very interesting.

The story has a steady pace, the characters are very developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I love Emily and Wendell. Their personalities feed off each other. Where Emily is so gruff, Wendell is charismatic. The author has a way of writing that makes the reader feel the cold weather of the village and the emotions of the characters. I will be watching for the next installment in the series. If you like folklore and faerie tales, you will enjoy this book.

Emily Wilde’s is a sweet breath of fresh air. This book felt so pure and although it’s written in journal format, I didn’t feel that I missed anything. The characters were well crafted and likable. I want my own Poe!

I cannot wait to read about Emily and Wendell’s next adventure.

This book was fantastic! Reading it felt like Spiderwick for grown ups. Emily is a fantastically written character. I love how clever she is and how sometimes she is too clever for her own good. Her obsession with faeries alongside her awkward interactions with other humans made her feel extremely relatable. Her fond yet annoyed relationship with Bambleby is a real treat. I never got tired of reading about their interactions. The pair of them complemented each other perfectly. Fawcett does a great job of depicting the faeries. They feel both wonderous and terrifying at different times. Sign me up for book 2!

This was such a cozy book! I’ll admit, it did take me a little while to get into the author’s writing style so the first third of the book did slog a bit but once I got into used to the way she writes and action picked up it was *chefs kiss* absolutely lovely! I’m excited to see where the sequel takes us next!

Cozy fantasy at it's best. If you loved Legends and Lattes, you're going to love this one!

The young, female curmodgeon trope is such a favorite of mine and is done really well here. Loved this one.

This book wasn’t for me, but can see how it could be for others. I think the biggest flaw of this book is that it is written in the form of journal entries but the book doesn’t actually read like that, it should either commit to being journal entries or just be a story, but doing both doesn’t work. Also this book is an encyclopedia about faeries but I wish that information about faeries had actually been shared. We only learn things that our narrator knows and she seems to already know so many things so I don’t understand why she went on this field work experiment.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a unique light academia fantasy book that had me laughing out loud at times and is the perfect set up for a longer series following Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby's adventures.

The book is written as if we are reading journal entries written by Emily Wilde (and occasionally Bambleby) as she studies the Folk in the remote, snowy village of Hrafnsvik. While she is there she discovers there is a lot more than the usual Folk activity, leading to a series of misadventures in both the human and Fae realm.

Emily's character in definitely a highlight of the book. She is very matter of fact in the way that she observes the world, making it hard for her to adhere to social norms, and she is especially keen on patterns. On the flip side Bambleby is her exact opposite. He is charming and extroverted, easily picking up on social cues and enjoying attention wherever he goes. Their whole their grumpy/sunshine dynamic is wonderfully executed, and while they both tease and poke fun at each other, it never feels malicious which creates some really nice chemistry.

I also just loved the formatting of the book. Because it is written as if it is Emily's journal (who thinks very academically) there are footnotes and cited sources, that really make the Folk feel like real subjects of study. I think there was maybe some missed opportunity to have more epistolary features to make it feel even more journal like, but that is just a personal thought.
The pacing was a little meandering and at times it was easy to forget it was written as a journal and not just a book written in first person POV but that wasn't overly distracting.

Overall,I think this book was wonderfully atmospheric and the perfect way to introduce readers to this world and establish the characters, while leaving it open to a much bigger series.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

This was such a fun book! I instantly fell in love with Emily and her adorable dog. It was so fun to be a part of their adventure.

I loved the world Fawcett created. It was almost the same as our own, but with faeries and magic. The rich history and details about the fae folk and how they interacted with humans made this world feel so real. It made me want to be a part of it.

The characters were also so delightful. I loved Emily's bookish, crotchety personality and her growth as the book progressed. And her banter with Wendell was so fun.

I would highly recommend this book! It reminded me of another favorite series, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. I cannot wait to read more in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!