Well I freaking adored this. I started reading the ebook from Del Rey and found myself sucked in. I couldn't put it down ... until life made me. Then PRH Audio had the audiobook and I jumped on the opportunity and it amplified my initial feelings.

Read by Ell Potter and Michael Dodd. This duo brings the curmudgeonly Emily and academic rival, Bambleby, to life in all of their wonderful bickering glory. Emily travels to Hrafnsvik on the hunt for specific Fae folklore for her book. What she doesn't expect to find is dark magic, small town friendships and definitely not romance.

I hardly know where to start. The writing is wonderful, the narrative mixes everything from fantastical fae elements to a darker haunting aspect of the towns toils. The characters are so easy to love and connect with and the world building is fine well. I fell hard for Emily, Shadow and Bambleby.

There is a mix of folklore stories paired with the musings of Emily and Bambleby as they delve deeper into the happenings of Hrafnsvik. The revelations are some of my favorite parts. There is a point where the story felt dragged on but it didn't keep me from adoring this as much as I did. I cannot thank Del Rey and PRH Audio enough. This will be a book gracing my shelves as soon as it's out! True rating 4.5/5.

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would. Let me preface by saying I ADORED Windell! He was so annoyingly charming and witty. I loved the style in which this story was written, written in journal entry form worked so well for this book. This was like any other Fae/Faire story I have read before. It has everything I needed, beautiful high fae, cute little puppy faire, and crazy baby changelings. Emily and Windell were so delightful and their love story is darling.

A wonderful story for fans of the fae!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a magical, fun and entertaining story. There are multiple moving parts within the main plot that keep things interesting as time passes for our main character. There is enough going on that none of the moments within the book feel lulled in any way and it is continuously entertaining.

I found the rivals-to-almost(?)-lovers to be so enjoyable in this book. Emily and Wendell's banter and moments together were comical and adorable and I kept rooting for them both. Wendell, with all the fluffing of his feathers, is an excellent counterpart to the tunnel vision that is Emily. He helps involve her in the world and with the people of Hrafnsvik in a way she would have never been able to on her own and it leads to many different situations and adventures with the fae theyre both there to study and learn from. I do hope in the 2nd book Emily is a bit more careful with her decisions and actions as I felt she often made the most reckless choices to further push the plot along. As a scholar and long-time studier of the fae she would definitely know how to avoid some of the things she dealt with in this book. Though that didnt take away from my enjoyment of the story.

Poe was wonderful. Ever interaction Emily had with him made me wish she could put him in her pocket and take him along for the next adventure (though I know she cant). I really loved their little friendship.

Overall Heather Fawcett has woven a really magical tale that has strong characters and a whimsical plot. The final act towards the end did feel a little snuck in but the entirety of the book was incredibly enjoyable for me.

I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I heard about it on a BookTuber's "Most Anticipated" list for 2023.

It did not disappoint.

What I loved:
-- fun spins on classic faerie tropes and how they are incorporated into the story
-- characterizations: the characters were fleshed out and easy to fall in love with and I cannot wait to meet them again in the next book
-- the twists and turns of the plot were so interesting!! even the mild plot twists got me SO excited
-- portrayal of academia: I would consider this novel to be a "light academia" book (in contrast to dark academia) and it poked fun at academic culture in such a loving way
-- the language usage/word choice was fun and adorable and I loved how it was utilized

What didn't work for me:
(honestly these are super nit picky because this was such a great book to me)
-- I liked how the author used language from the early 1900s but sometimes it got to be a *little* much and occasionally felt like someone pulled out the thesaurus
-- yeah that's kinda it no notes, I think I found a new all-time fav

I have not read much fantasy lately and this was the perfect way to step back into that genre.

Emily Wilde is a Cambridge professor who studies faeries. She is fascinated with them and is quite skilled in her research methods. Unfortunately, she is not great with people or with the right ways to share her knowledge. She'd much rather be in her research with her enormous dog, Shadow, beside her.

When her research takes her to a secluded village she learns the hard way how insufficient her personal skills are. While she can make strides with the faerie, the townsfolk aren't open to her inquiries for more information. Causing more frustration, her colleague, Wendell Bambleby, arrives to give unsolicited help. What begins as a frustrated relationship turns into a perfect collaboration as town girls start disappearing and Emily gets herself in over her head in her research.

Loved this story. Loved the relationships, loved how well the characters are described and really felt like I was in the story. It seems this will be part one of a series and I am for sure here for book #2!!

Thanks to Netgally and Del Rey Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries" is like no other book I've ever read. Written from the perspective of Emily Wilde, the structure of the book is like a research journal, each day having its own entry where she writes about what happened, her feelings, and her discoveries. Emily is on an expedition to learn more about the faeries living in the area around the village of Hrafnsvik so that she can publish the encyclopedia of faeries she's been working on for several years. Anything that she finds of importance, she writes it down in her journal. The coolest part is that some entries have endnotes. As someone who writes research papers often, I thought having those endnotes was a nice touch and shoutout to the academic community. It also makes sense for the entries to have something like endnotes because Emily is an academic to the core, so having a little call out at the end of each entry for things that need extra context just fits right in with her personality. The bits of faerie folklore she includes are fascinating and really add to the overall story.

And then there's Wendell Bambleby, Emily's academic rival and complete foil. Wendell is everything Emily isn't, and it irritates her so much. He's charming and charismatic while Emily is reserved and quiet. After a week of being on her own in Hrafnsvik, Wendell decides to show up and insert himself in Emily's investigation, becoming the catalyst for everything else that happens in the book from that point on. I loved their relationship. Their conversations were very sassy and sharp, and I often laughed at the way their different conversation styles clashed. I also felt like I got to know them pretty well which is something I value a lot when I read. Heather Fawcettt does an amazing job at rounding out Emily and Wendell, and all of the other characters in the book. so that they each have their own personalities and backstories.

I absolutely loved this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I'm still reeling from the cliffhanger and I can't wait for the second book to come out because I need to know what happens next!

A genius scholar and foremost faery expert, Emily Wilde is writing the world’s first encyclopedia of faerie lore. But for all her academic achievements, Emily has never been good at people, preferring the company of her dog, Shadow, and the strange Fair Folk to other humans. The story is told in journal entries which is not my favorite way to read a story as it tends to make it dry and less exciting. I rated the story at three as it kept my attention to the very end. I enjoyed parts of it, like when Emily is captured by the fairy king she naive lets out of his prison. Or when she finally tricks a changeling child into revealing its actual name. The romance was unbearably slow and predictable. I might read the sequel I may not.

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

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is an adult historical fantasy novel about a Fae expert and Cambridge University professor who travels to the far north to research the Fair Folk in their icy habitat and finds herself right in the middle of a cautionary tale.

The novel opens In 1910 when Dr. Emily Wilde travels alone with just her dog Shadow to a small remote (fictional) village in a country in Northern Europe. She is one of the world’s foremost experts of the Fae but not so great with actual humans and it doesn’t take long for her to alienate the village residents. Without the assistance of the locals Emily is struggling to get research done for her upcoming Encyclopaedia of Faeries or keep a fire going in her cottage when her dashing colleague Dr. Wendell Bambleby appears with two student assistants in tow to help. Emily and Wendell will plunge into the snowy forests hunting the Hidden Ones and come to the aid of local villagers who find themselves victims of their cruel tricks.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a refreshing and unique novel among the many fairy themed fantasy books that have been released over the last few years. Not only does it have an adult female main character who is educated and an expert in her field it also has a male counterpart that isn’t your typical hyper-masculine love interest. There also isn’t a lot of endless paragraphs dedicated to Emily’s beauty or her wardrobe. Heather Fawcett writes great dialogue and witty retorts which gave the entire novel a lightness despite some of the dark doings of the Fae. I enjoyed all of the characters and I hope this is just the beginning of a series starring Emily, Wendell and Shadow.

Overall, this is an enjoyable adult fantasy that despite describing some very dark deeds done by the Fae is an almost cozy addition to the genre. I look forward to reading more about Emily and her adventures studying the Fair Folk (especially if Wendell and Shadow are along for the ride).

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this book! I went in to this book blind not knowing anything but the title and I’m absolutely glad because it’s the complete opposite of what I thought I was going to be reading. First let me say don’t let the title fool you, I know I should have known better but I thought I was going to be reading an informational encyclopedia on different types of faeries. This ended up being that and much more. It was a very Easy and lighthearted read. It’s main character Emily is on the search for a species of fairies that has never been documented before. She travels to Ljosland a secluded little village that’s been plagued by misfortune involving the Fae. Emily is your typical scholar and is motivated by scholarly discovery, she is not swayed by her emotion and is definitely not a people person,but not for lack of trying.She has been working on her encyclopedia for ten years and believes the village holds the last chapters to her book.Wendell her charming Cambridge colleague decides to follow her to Ljosland against her knowledge. Together they unravel the mysteries shrouding the village and uncover the truths behind the stories they have documented.This is definitely a book that shouldn’t be passed up if you enjoy reading about the fae, slow burns, and found friendships and family.If you enjoy Holly Black you will defiantly enjoy this book.

Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is a fantasy novel set in 1909 and told through scholar Emily Wilde's journal entries in a world very similar to ours except for the knowledge that the fae of folklore exist. Wilde is an adjunct professor at Oxford who sets off to northern Europe to study an elusive group of fae for the encyclopedia she's writing. However, the fae aren't the issue so much as her struggles to connect with the townspeople, but things change when her colleague shows up unannounced to help. Wilde explores the other world lingering just outside our own while also figuring out her place.

As much as I love stories that reimagine what the fae are to some extent, Fawcett's representation felt close to the folkloric versions and really fresh as a result.

The writing reminded me a bit of The Historian in that it captures the feeling of academia and the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) feeling of adventure as research takes you from the pages of old text into an unknown world existing just parallel to ours.

Emily is such a great complex character. Incredibly self aware, intelligent, competent, daring and struggling to figure out what do good acts mean when they are driven by personal motivation. Wendell is a fantastic counterpoint to her. He's chaotic, sharp and mercurial but also unwavering in his friendship. As a pair, they work well together because of their stark differences and not despite them, not only complementing the other but also finding the commonalities that draw them together.

I can't recommend this one enough.

What happens when you send an uncharismatic academic to a small village in northern Scandinavia, where she must barter kind words for information? Let's find out, shall we?

I genuinely enjoyed this book. The author does an excellent job of establishing the setting; I could practically feel the biting chill of the early 1900s scandinavian winter. Contrasting our world, the fae realms feel utterly, UTTERLY alien: beautiful, dangerous, and deadly. This is the fae world of the Brothers Grimm, NOT Disney. We see humans with their entire essence sucked dry, left to wander as an empty shell. We see innocent children snatched away and replaced with bloodthirsty changelings. We see entire fae courts overthrown in a thirst for power.

But still ... this book manages to feel rather ... cozy?

Yeah. Weird.

The story follows a brilliant curmudgeon of a woman. Emily is extremely intelligent -- Sherlock-esque intelligent -- but she also shares his periodic, reckless lapses in judgment. We later meet strikingly handsome, enigmatic Wendell Bambleby, her nemesis-but-not Cambridge colleague. Wendell has the ability to charm anyone he meets ... and also antagonize Emily merely by being in the same room.

The first 18% of the book moves quite slowly as Emily arrives with her faithful dog, Shadow, meets the townspeople, and sets up her home. At that point, Wendell descends and the adventure begins.

I was particularly impressed by Heather Fawcett's depiction of the fae. These fae are amoral, vicious creatures, and we repeatedly witness their associated terrors - but it is not portrayed in a gratuitously gruesome way. Ever read Grimm's Fairytales? Very similar.

Other content considerations:
- Sensuality: Nothing beyond kissing for the primary (and a set of secondary characters), but we do learn of one character's dalliances with women. We meet one of the women the morning after, though in a very undetailed, offhand manner.
- Representation: One set of F/F side characters who play a part in the central plot.
- Language: Two instances of "sh" and numerous familiar British obscenities.
- Violence: Numerous fairytale-esque instances of violence, injury, death (both animal and human). Relatively non-descriptive. One character survives an experience through self-mutilation.

While I found elements of the story uncomfortable enough that I likely will not purchase it for myself, I did genuinely enjoy the story. Many thanks to the publisher for sharing an advance copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

When I got the email inviting me to read/review this book, I was immediately taken by two things. The first was the cover. Now, covers don’t usually get my attention or play into why I want to read a book. Mainly because I read using my Kindle Scribed. But this one caught my attention because of how simple it was. The other thing that grabbed my attention was the blurb. A female professor studying Faeries in an alternative Norway in the 1880s? That is when I decided that I wanted, no needed, to read this book. And I am glad that I did because it was a good read.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faires takes place in the late 1800s in an alternative world where women could hold jobs and have the same rights as men at that time. 95% of the book is set in the fictional country of Ljosland. Now, I was curious, and I googled the country. It turns out that Ljosland is a village in Norway. The village is made up (I googled that too). I liked that the author created a whole country similar to Norway but simultaneously different.

The plotline for Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is an interesting one. In this alternative world, fairies are real. Emily Wilde is an expert on Fairies and is writing an encyclopedia of fairie lore, which will be the first of its kind. She is almost finished and is traveling to Ljosland to study the most elusive and feared Fairy of that area, the Hidden Ones. A loner by nature, Emily struggles to make connections in the village. Connections that she needs if she is going to finish her encyclopedia. Help, or a hindrance if she had her say, comes from Wendell Bambleby. Wendell is her rival in the world of Fairy lore. But there is something about him that Emily can’t put her finger on. As the winter rages on and her studies continue, Emily learns that Wendell is more than he seems. And when The Hidden Ones start taking children and creating mischief, Emily takes it upon herself to help. That sets off a series of events that forces Emily to reevaluate everything she knows about Fairies, herself, and Wendell. What does Emily learn? What does she find out about Wendell? Will she finish her encyclopedia?

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is the first book in the Emily Wilde series. Usually, I would put in here if you need to read the other books in the series first or not. Well, since it’s the first book, it doesn’t apply.

The pacing of Emily Wilde (I am shortening the title for this review. Plus Encyclopaedia keeps getting autocorrected) is slow for the first 70% of the book. And when I mean slow, it was snail or turtle slow. There was a point in the book where I debated DNF’ing it. It was that slow. But, once certain things happened (I can’t say because of spoilers), the book picked up speed.

The characters of Emily Wilde were interesting and diverse. I liked that the author chose this alternative world to be LGBTQ-friendly (a lesbian couple is featured prominently in the middle and last half of the book). I enjoyed it. It was refreshing for the period it was in (as was Emily, 30 and unmarried).

Emily—She was an odd duck right from the beginning. She had zero people skills and managed to tick off not only her host but the unofficial chief of the village. Her only companion was an elderly dog named Shadow. She was able to win over a couple of the Fairy. One was a sprite who lived in a tree, and the other was a changeling who just wanted to go home to his mother. I did feel bad because she did try. I wasn’t prepared for what she did 70% through the book. I am not going to go into it much, except that it went against everything she had warned the villagers about during the first few days of her stay. But, in a way, it did make sense because she got the last bit of information she needed for her encyclopedia.
Wendell—Ok, so I figured him out from the beginning. I don’t know how Emily didn’t figure it out sooner. All the signs were there. I can’t get more into what I am talking about because of the spoilers. But it is something huge. One thing I can talk about is Wendell’s feelings for Emily. Even I could see that he loved her. He followed her to that snowy land and helped her with her research. And then, he stayed and helped her out when things went sideways. Wendell made me laugh because he did things to annoy Emily deliberately. Like adding entries into her journal or just being a pain in the butt. But he did have an alternative reason for being there. One that made me sad.
Emily Wilde fits perfectly into the fantasy genre. The author spun a world where Fairies were real and were studied. There were points in the book where I wished that it was true. But then I would read about the more dangerous Fairy and say, “Nope, glad they’re fictional.“

There was a slight, very slight, sliver of romance in Emily Wilde. It was so small that I almost missed it. But, towards the end, it became more apparent.

The storyline with Emily, Wendell, and the research into her encyclopedia was interesting. I couldn’t believe the different kinds of Fairies that Emily had encountered on her research journies. I wondered how much of the folklore was true and how much the author made up. Usually, I google this stuff, but I didn’t want to go down a rabbit hole, so I didn’t. The Faires that Emily met in the north were as cold-blooded as the weather. There was a point towards the end of the book (after the rescue mission) when I worried for Emily. There was a neat twist in the plotline that happened after the tree scene. I did laugh a little at Emily’s dismay (what did she think was going to happen!!), but my laughter did turn to concern for her. Everything did work out in the end.

The end of Emily Wilde was interesting. I was slightly put off by how it ended until I remembered it was a series. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and those annoy me. But it did its job and made me want to read book 2. I pray that it isn’t as slow as this one was. I couldn’t do that again.

I recommend Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries to anyone over 16. There is mild violence, no language, and no sex.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

In Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett we meet Cambridge professor Emily Wilde, an expert dryadologist—someone who studies faeries—on a research trip to the fictional Scandinavian country of Ljosland to study a species of faerie known as Hidden Ones. The book recounts Emily’s trip in the form of dated journal entries. Upon Emily’s arrival in Ljosland, she almost immediately draws the ire of the locals and finds herself unable to obtain their assistance, which is much needed as part of her research. A few days after Emily’s arrival, her colleague, Wendell Brambleby, a fellow dryadologist and Cambridge professor, arrives in Ljosland. Wendell helps Emily with the locals and also helps her with her research, though he seems to be carrying on a plan of his own.

I enjoyed reading from Emily's perspective. I liked that she was not an All Powerful main character and that her personality traits were what made her good at her job, and especially that she seemed to be not neurotypical. I thought we received enough background on some of the characters to help us understand them better but it felt like some of them could have used a bit more developing. I loved Emily and Wendell’s love-hate relationship, though at times I wasn’t sure what to make of it considering Wendell was dismissive and also faked some research in the past. Um, what?! I thought that was a big red flag and I wondered why Emily put up with him, even if he was helpful with softening the locals, considering how much of a stickler she seems to be with conducting her research well and thoroughly.

There were instances of some character actions that I felt didn’t necessarily fit that character, but since it was someone other than Emily, it makes sense that we wouldn’t know the character’s complete background to justify their behavior—again, a bit more character development would have helped. There were also some things that occurred that I thought should have either been more fully fleshed out or just dropped (e.g., the students). They did not seem to add much to the story or made things more confusing and harder to follow. The book felt a little slow going at the beginning until Wendell arrived and I would have liked for Emily to see more action (experiences) by herself outside of Wendell’s arrival.

I thought the formatting of the book into journal entries didn’t really work. There were instances where the journal included whole conversations and I thought it strange that someone would a) be able to recall so many details, and b) write down what was said word-for-word instead of summarizing.

I am glad to see there is a book 2 coming out. This is definitely a cozy read with some winter vibes.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is DELIGHTFUL! The cover pulled me in, the title stirred my curiosity, the synopsis had me hooked -- and they all live up to their promise.

I find I'm a bit hit or miss when it comes to faeries and faerie tales. Oftentimes I find the narration too stodgy yet somehow also holier-than-thou preachy. It's a weird, off-putting style that is blessedly absent from this story. The fact that this is told as a series of journal entries during Emily's field work probably helps keep it more personal (as personal as Emily gets).

The characters are lovely, all of them. Emily and Wendell make me smile, I have a fondness for Poe, and I imagine the Ice King a spectacular and fearsome sight to behold. And gods what I wouldn't give to hang out with Shadow for a day! He is the quintessential snuggly protector.

This story is beautifully woven together. It's a faerie story so I didn't try to guess at much of anything, acknowledging the capricious nature of faeries. But having finished it, it's lovely to see the little hints and clues sprinkled throughout. The secondary (almost tertiary) romantic plotline is so sweet and warm and full of hopeful promise, like the first sunny day of spring.

And it seems to have left the door open for another book...

I've already been recommending this to everyone!

Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries was not what I expected, though I am not sure I know what I expected. set in an alternate time where the Fae are not mythical and are part of academic study. Professor Wilde is completing the field research needed to complete her encyclodpaedia, and the story readers get comes from that experience. This is an interesting little book. I enjoyed the epistolary format, and the descriptions show that Fawcett is clearly skilled at world building and full of imagination. The characters were fleshed out enough for me to become interested and want to know more.
Readers or the genre, want to read a different little novel, interested in starting a new series, or simply want a chance to read an interesting and different story will enjoy this book.

I did find the pacing a bit slower than what I would typically enjoy, but pushing through the slower portions was worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review

I mean I know it’s meant to be scientific like based on the title but this book is dry.

I was hoping for a little more adventure and spark.

I really enjoy Light Academia when it’s done well, and this is, if not exactly unique, a well-crafted example of the subgenre.

Fawcett does a lovely job of a creating a cozy and vaguely academic atmosphere with a hint of mystery and menace. I really like pretend scholarship when it’s handled well, and this book is a good example of that. I wish we had seen more of Emily’s academics and perhaps spent time with her at Cambridge, but as this is slated to be a series, perhaps we’ll see more of that later.

As is always the case with fairy lit, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second, because I tend to prefer the suggestion of/mystery surrounding the fantastical element of the story to the actual fantasy elements that tend to show up later in the book. Here that manifests with the mystery of the fae being more compelling than the reality of Faerie when the characters actually go there.

This is, however, an issue of preference and not of quality, so if you enjoy that element of fantasy novels, you’ll likely have a more balanced experience with this book than I did.

On the whole, it’s a good story with a lovely protagonist that probably has potential to continue as a series.

2.5 stars
This was a rough one for my to finish.
The writing is not bad- I can see why people like it but it wasn’t for me.

I was very bored throughout but I kept reading in hopes that I find something to enjoy. Unfortunately, I never did.

Some of the side characters were fun but overall, I didn’t care for either of the main characters. Emily was incredibly stuffy and honestly just frustrating. Wendell on the other hand was so arrogant and insufferable- I found myself rolling my eyes at times.

The story is there though and I know others love the unique writing style of this book but sadly it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this book.

There are many qualities about this book to admire. The atmospheric writing style created a beautiful setting in a remote Scandinavian town. I appreciated the character development and uniqueness of the story. I thought the author's take on Faeries was really interesting and different.

Unfortunately, for me I found the pace of the story to be a little too slow and found myself becoming bored at times. There are a lot of things to appreciate about this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I think this would be a great choice of book for lovers of academia and folklore. I suppose I was hoping for a little bit more of an enchanting story.

Overall, I would give this book 2.5-3 stars but with the right reader I think it could be a lot more.

Emily Wilde is a brilliant scientist who feels more at home in the files studying the Fae than in conversation with other humans. She’s been working on her magnum opus- a comprehensive encyclopedia of fairies- in hopes of finally securing a promotion and earning the respect of her peers. Her final research trip before her book is complete is to the remote Ljosland: documenting their elusive fae is the crowning achievement she needs. The only thing standing in her way is her frustrating colleague, Wendell. He’s everything she’s not- highly social, academically unscrupulous, and a flirt to boot. Unfortunately, he crashes her research trip. Emily wants anything except to work with him, but with the local fae threatening the village and a deadline for their research looming, she’ll have to.

I liked this book a lot on the whole. I loved the more analytical approach to fairies and how Emily documents stories. The idea of a fictional anthropology is so cool and I loved this book when it leaned into that aspect. Wendell and Emily had a cute dynamic. I loved how Emily warmed up to the town over time but that it was never like her difficulties socializing had to be “fixed”. Shadow the dog and Poe the brownie are also great.

Unfortunately, I thought the ending felt a little anticlimactic and rushed. I think the pacing is off- the book is slow in a way I didn’t mind, but then the climax happens too quickly.

That soured the last little bit for me, but I still liked the book a lot. I’ll definitely read the sequel! I’d recommend it for people who like fairy stories that focus on lore and grumpy/sunshine type dynamics (though honestly they’re both a bit grumpy, in a cute way).