Ready to go on an adventure? Meet Emily Wilde as she sets off for Scandinavia to hunt for the Folk, faeries, and to finish her exhaustive work on the subject. A professor at Cambridge, she is hoping for some peace and quiet to write along with some new findings to fill out her book. After traveling far from home, she could at least have that, right? Guess again. Followed by her annoying colleague, Wendell Bambleby, they get drawn into a drama involving the courtly fae of Ljosland and the village with Emily playing a starring role. She learns so much more than she could even imagine... about so many things.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries drew me in, and in the end I struggled to put the novel down. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale and wanted to know what would become of the annoying, and charming Wendell Bambleby, the intrepid and undaunted Professor Emily Wilde... and even her massive dog, Shadow, who is much more than he seems. The story is engaging and flits between tales of the fae and the story of what happened to Emily and others during her time in Ljosland.

As the book comes to a close, it is clear that the story is far from over. I desperately want to know what happens next... what new adventures will Wendell and Emily encounter next??

Highly recommend: 5 stars.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine-Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this cozy, mystical fantasy book. The characters were fun and unique to read about. I kept catching myself wanting to pick up the book again.

This was the perfect read for curling up by the fire on a winter's day. The main characters are quirky, and operate in their own manners, and often times don't quite understand why society does things the way they do. I appreciated getting back to more traditional faerie stories--where the fae are terrifying and scary, more so than sexy.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Yes, I know, I'm behind the times. But I did FINALLY read this and I'm kicking myself for not having done it sooner. This was so fun and cozy and at times kind of horrifying but in a good way, there's no way I was going to rate it anything less than 5 stars. If you're a fan of Marie Brennan's Lady Trent books, and you wanted something similar but with the Fae instead, this. This is the book for you.

The scientific aspect hit every note perfectly, the journal part was such a fun way to deliver the story, the Fae were appropriately horrifying (these are no Bat Boys, lemme tell you) and Emily and Wendell's relationship is honestly everything.

I loved this book so much, and I can't wait to read the next one.

A very fun adventure filled with witty dialogue, exciting mythology, femme badassery, and a touch of mystery. I really enjoyed this book (ended up listening to the audiobook in summer 2023) and have the sequel on my TBR!

One of my most recent reads and I couldn’t have read it at a better time because what a perfect Spring read this is. This is a cozy fantasy series delving into fae and folklore worldwide, it features our protagonist Emily Wilde who is this introverted bookworm and she is a dryology professor at Cambridge University, exploring fae customs. Emily is writing an Encyclopedia of Faeries, she travels to a Scandinavian village to study and document their local faerie population but then her academic rival shows up and magical adventures ensue. It’s light academia, there’s a cute dog companion and yes there’s that rival character named Wendell and though romance isn’t my biggest cup of tea especially the grumpy sunshine trope, I’ve mentioned before that’s like a cozy version of enemies to lovers in my opinion, there banter was top notch and light heartedly funny. You can argue this is also a good winter read because it does give off chilly vibes but that’s why I think it fits Spring too because Spring is like cardigan weather and that’s what this book reminded me of, a big cozy cardigan. Oh and the sequel to this is out so you can binge them if you want to.

This novel was enchanting! There are no other words…I was pulled into her world so quickly and frankly friends, I didn’t want to leave <3

I really have this one a try, multiple tries actually. I even tried to change mediums (audiobook) once the book was published, and I still could not get into the story.

I was initially interested as I love fairy tale esque stories that involve the fae. For whatever reason, I couldn’t connect to the characters or plot in this one.

Nothing unique stood out to me and the voice of the MMC was dull and uninteresting.

I do believe that this could be a cult classic to those who read these kinds of books, but I don’t think this type of story telling is for me.

I appreciate the publishers for approving me for this e-arc.

This book was the perfect mixture of a cozy fantasy with enough fairy lore to keep a fae nerd happy. I loved the heroine. She was prickly and unlikable in all the best ways. The MMC was adorable. The characters got to grow and develop quite a lot to the story, and I thought the authors craft was excellent in terms of making that growth seem natural and integral to plot development. In terms of library, this is also an excellent book because so many fairy books that are coming out right now include spice which I love, but not all library patrons do. I hate to use the term wholesome but it is somewhat. It would be a good fit for fantasy readers who don’t want spice. I can’t wait to revisit this world.

"Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries" surprised me. I didn't know what to expect, but Fawcett's writing enchanted me. It was such a wonderful world to step into. I cannot wait to go back.

This book is quirky and fun and full of snarky fairy’s. What else can you ask for?

I love Emily’s journey and I love Bamblebee and all his Irish glory.

His affection and love for Em is moving and such a heartwarming thing to read.

Looking forward to numbed 2

I was originally intrigued by this book because it was about faeries and who doesn’t love that in a fantasy setting. The cover itself called for me because it looked so pretty and enchanting.
I loved the way the book was organized, we got the story through Emily’s journal entries, so you would get all her thoughts, her bantering, and just plain nerding out about faeries. Even including footnotes or additional stories about faeries.
I fell in love with Emily Wilde, she was such a smart and ambitious character, she really doesn’t let anything get in the way of her research. If anything she does more and gets herself into certain situations to get more answers about faeries. She sets herself out to a village in order to do some fieldwork and finish her encyclopedia of faeries which she had been working on over many years. Determined to be one of the first to do so, which I loved. She is not much of a people person and many times I found myself saying, “Same”, because I just related to her as an introvert myself.
When Wendell Blambleby, Emily’s colleague and sometimes academic rival, comes into the story, I couldn’t help but giggle. Emily tries so hard to dislike him and the fact that he came over while trying to accomplish her research, but if anything, she liked the idea he was there and were able to work together on their research. I loved the bantering between the two. He was very understanding when it came to her social awkwardness, never really pushing her but making the environment comfortable for her, like taking away the attention of the other villagers from her or simply patiently waiting for her when she was thinking of an answer to give to him. The romance was very much a slow burn, but it wasn’t also the main plot of the book. I enjoyed the little moments we got and I am sure their relationship will develop more in the second book. Which by the way, I am so looking forward to!!
Can I just also say that I also fell in love with the secondary characters, the people from the village, even though Emily didn’t start off on the right foot with them. As the story went on, I just loved how they became more involved and Emily grew to enjoy their company, eventually befriending them. Like she found her own small family between Wendell and the village people, people that truly ended up caring for her and grew to care for them too.
The book overall was super cozy, whimsical, and heartwarming, can’t wait to get my own copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers (Del Rey, Random House) for the ARC!

#EmilyWildesEncyclopaediaofFaeries #NetGalley

This was so much fun. I loved the contrast between the main characters with Emily's grumpier nature and Bambleby's constant charm. The writing style was neat with the diary format and footnotes and I really liked how extras would get inserted into the diary like Bambleby's account or other faerytales. Can't wait to read the second.

I was gifted an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This story was lovely and moderately cozy, something that fit well with the cold, snowy days of New England. Emily Wilde has travelled to the village of Hrafnsvik to observe the local fae and record stories of them for her comprehensive encyclopedia of faeries.

Emily was a hard character for me to like, though she did develop some over the course of the novel. She is a typical academic who lacks interpersonal skills and, more importantly, a noticeable lack of empathy. It was this apathy for others that made it hard for me to connect with her. By the end, she did develop some empathy, but not nearly enough in my opinion.

The relationship between Emily and her peer Wendell Bambleby felt awkward. She barely tolerates him at the beginning of the book, and by the end she’s seriously considering his proposal, without any romancing!

Despite my critiques of the story, I did overall enjoy it and will be reading the second novel at some point.

This was an interesting read. Not my typical genre as a whole, but I really liked Emily and the journal aspect of telling the story was pretty cool. I'm not sure how I feel about Wendall, even after everythng was said and done because I found him to be annoying, but as a counterpart to Emily, I understand that opposites attract. I enjoyed the village people and Poe and Shadow were awesome.

I wanted to enjoy this book, but for some reason, I just didn't. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the book, but I honestly didn't enjoy much more than that. I do plan on continuing the series, as I did enjoy where the last couple of chapters took us... but the beginning was just so meh to me that it was hard for me to get through. I am excited to get more of Wendell and Emily's story in the second book though.

Thank you Random House/ Ballantine, NetGalley, and Heather Fawcett for the delight that Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries brought me. While the beginning felt a bit slow in no time I was so caught up in the book that I was very sorry to say goodbye to this lovely group of characters. Emily and Wendell are a delightful couple and the banter back and forth is so fun and I really enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to the next book and I recommend this book to anyone interested in faeries, quests and the trope of enemies to lovers.

In many ways, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett reminded me of Marie Brennan’s best-selling A Natural History of Dragons and the “Amelia Peabody” mysteries by Ellis Peters: the Victorian lady adventurer-scholar genre. In all of these, the narrative voice (that is, the personality of the l adventurer-scholar) grabs my interest and keeps it for page after page. The stories are as much about the protagonist’s inner emotional journey from adamantly self-reliant spinster to emotionally awakened, relationship-literate partner as they are about external action. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries fits neatly into this model with a delightful array of plot and character twists. In this case, Cambridge professor Emily Wilde takes her sabbatical in the far North (Norway?) to complete her magnum opus on all things Faerie, particularly the “Hidden Ones,” what we would call high elves. Her tone-deaf social skills alienate the villagers upon whom she must depend not only for the folk tales that will form the heart of her treatise but for sustenance and rescue. She has no idea what she’s done wrong or how she’s going to cope with her insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who arrives unexpectedly and manages to charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and alternately bewilder and frustrate her.

This book is familiar enough to relax into and enjoy the ride, and a fresh enough rendering to surprise and delight me with the original, often whimsical elements. Footnotes and references perfectly enhance the “scholarly” voice. If there were moments when Wendell felt tempted to grab Emily and shake some sense into her before kissing her, I was right there with him.

The bottom line: Marvelous fun!

I am not sure what I expected going into this novel, but the novel turned out to be so much more that whatever I imagined. I couldn't help but think of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (and not just because of the footnotes). The two books couldn't be more different and yet they reminded me of each other. Perhaps it was in the way Mr. Norrell was the mentor to Jonathan Strange just as Wendell Bambleby is sort of a mentor (and rival) to Emily Wilde. Or the depth of study that went into their fields (for one magic and the other faeries). Whatever it was, I loved every minute of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and cannot wait to read more.

Emily Wilde isn't the warmest person. As described in the summary above, she's quite curmudgeonly. But very intelligent and resourceful--at least when it comes to getting out of tight spots. Having traveled to a small village called Hrafnsvik in Arctic Norway for the winter, she hopes to study the local faeries and finish her book. She keeps to herself mostly and at first refuses to lean on the locals for help of any kind, much to their consternation. She is more comfortable in working with the Folk, or faeries, studying their ways and learning as much as she can about them. The last thing she wants is for her rival and colleague Wendell Bambleby to show up, but show up he does. His charm and easygoing nature immediately endear him to the townsfolk and their hosts. His lack of focus and laziness only serve to annoy Emily more. She finds she needs his help more than she wants to admit, especially the more she uncovers about the Hidden Ones, the mysterious faeries who live in the forest outside of the village. I enjoyed the banter between Wendell and Emily quite a bit. I cannot forget to mention Shadow! Emily's dog is perhaps one of my most favorite characters.

The world building is amazing. The folklore about faeries is extremely detailed and well researched, and the author weaves it seamlessly into her story. I enjoyed getting to know the town folk. The setting itself was a character of it's own, a small Norwegian village in the early 1900's and its surrounding forest and land. Most of the novel is written from Emily's perspective in epistolary style, taken from her journal, and this format worked very well. It was easy to forget I was reading a journal entry. I am glad I finally got the chance to read this book. Heather Fawcett's novel had so many qualities I love wrapped up in one. It was a charming historical fantasy with a touch of the dark, a hint of romance, and quite a bit of mystery and intrigue.

What a gem of a book! We follow Cambridge professor Emily Wilde as she travels to a remote Scandinavian island to document the fae. Filled to the brim with whimsy, we get so much in the way of lore and variety of faeries and what makes them tick. The romance is adorable and pining for daayyyysssss. Perfect cozy read, can’t wait for the next installment!!