Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for this ARC!

3.5 stars

Read if you:
- like storybooks and fairytales
- enjoy whimsical, dreamy atmospheres
- want a slower-paced book to savor
- love books with diary entries
- like curmudgeonly professors
- giggle at witty banter

I'll be honest: I really struggled with the first half of this book due to the slow pace, and I almost didn't finish it. I'm glad I stuck it out for the second half, because that hooked me right in! I loved the banter, the fae world, and of couse Emily, who was grumpy and rigid (and honestly kinda relatable for me LOL). This had a lovely adventure, sweet love story, and lots of moments that made me smile.

This is book one in the Emily Wilde series. According to word the Encyclopedia is misspelled. This is a cute read. Written as diary entries, you see Emily’s life thru her eyes and sometimes he other character’s. Lots of humor, mystery, and romance. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What I Loved:

Emily and Wendell. I am a sucker for the opposites attract trope, and Fawcett does it with great love and attention. Our lead Emily is a bit cold, a bit emotionally distant, and 100% the quirky research academic. She writes down everything she sees, feels, and experiences, so we get to experience them with her. Emily is an introvert and often peeved with her endearing yet insufferable colleague Wendell. Wendell is charismatic, life of the party, and a brilliant scholar to boot. The two of them plus Emily’s dog Shadow make the perfect dueling adventuring partners, ala Andy and April. Wendell brings the entertainment while Emily brings the academic interest.

The World Build. It was a little disconcerting to be thrown into an alternate history timeline of 1800s Scandinavia where faeries not only exist, but are intently studied and written about. However, the journal entries of Emily make the “info dump” feel natural, and once I figured out where and when we were, I was 100% committed. Faeries here come in all sorts of forms: good and evil, friendly and mischievous, hidden and living with the human world. Some interact well, and some cause endless woe. Emily, as a scholar of all faeries, has made it her mission to write the titular encyclopaedia. The best part is that we get to be a part of her process.

The Setting. While Emily travels to all sorts of places for her research, this “leg” of her trip focuses on a small town in Scandinavia in the middle of the winter. For anyone who grew up in a small town, you’ll recognize the “flair.” This is a town that congregates at the one open bar/restaurant at the end of a hard day, who view outsiders warily but will always be welcoming until proven otherwise, and who you can always count on when you run out of firewood. Emily, for all her strengths, is not a people person, which makes her little unseasonable cabin life much harder than it should be. For the reader, however, we get to sit at home toasty warm reading about the beautiful Scandinavian snow, the forests, and a delightful port town. Makes me miss home.

What Didn’t Work as Well:

The Pace. This seems to be the biggest complaint about Encyclopaedia, and while I found the story to be totally engrossing, it did start glacially slow. Emily records everything in her journal with loving precision, but the first 20% feels almost like a cozy mystery in how detailed that can be. And since the first part of the book lays the groundwork for Wendell to come and for the faeries to really rear their heads, it is a lot of build up. I am cautiously hopeful book 2 will be significantly faster paced now that the groundwork was laid.

That is basically the only drawback for me with Encyclopaedia. I know other readers found this to be a deal breaker (full disclosure), but if you can tough it out and let yourself get absorbed in the *atmosphere* you’ll make it through the slow bits in no time.

What a JOY this story turned out to be! I loved every second of this whimsical tale and was surprised at how connected I became to Emily, our MC, and this endearing Cast of characters!

This book follows Emily, a reclusive academic, as she works to complete an encyclopedia of fairies. In this world, fairies are common and well-studied in academic circles, and Emily is at the forefront of discovery. When she heads to a cold, mountain village for one last research entry, she finds the fae have broken past promises and are snatching young people from the area. Emily and her (mysterious? dashing? hilarious? arrogant?) colleague, Wendell, begin to unravel what's happening within the fae kingdoms as they take on a more "personal" role in their research.

This book was an absolute delight and perfect for anyone who loves a little academia in their lighter, fae-filled stories. I especially loved how it was written as a personal diary. Emily starts out very staunch, methodical, and almost boring. However, as time passes, we see her open up and accept the love being offered to her. It's such a fun, magical story with added depth I didn't expect. 4/5 for me!

Very excited that this book is releasing into the world today!

"It sounds odd to admit that I find the company of such a boisterous person restful, but perhaps it is always restful to be around someone who does not expect anything from you beyond what is in your nature."

It is enchanting and charming. It sucked me right into the world of faeries. You will love the curmudgeon professor who she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people. I feel you Emily Wilde!

I was thrilled to get a copy of this book when I requested it on a whim after hearing about it on @CurrentlyReadingPodcast 's Indie Press List with @fabledbookshop. I loved the digital version that I received from the publisher @randomhouse so much that I ordered a print copy and can't wait to have it on my shelf. Thank you for the complimentary copy to read and review. Looking forward to more in Emily's world of fae soon!

This one was sloooow. Honestly I kept falling asleep every time I picked it up and just couldn’t get into this book.

The second half was better, but overall it was fine. Nothing bad. Nothing great.

I HATE that NetGalley doesn’t have an option to not give a star review. For transparency I DNF’ed this book at 10%, so my three stars is to *hopefully* keep it neutral.

This narrator was BORING. For such a strong synopsis/pitch I thought dang this is going to be a GREAT read. But I’m 10% in and bored out of my mind. Can’t even focus on the page.

To have field notes written by an academic from Cambridge who is writing a 500+ page research guide come off as whimsical and heartwarming seems impossible. Yet, here is Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, a unique and charming book that does just that. There's a delightful grumpy/sunshine aspect to the relationship between Emily and her friend/rival Wendell Bambleby and a fun cast of characters beyond that..

The field notes format might sound dry, but it still conveys Emily's often acerbic and sometimes funny observations of her environment, subjects, and people around her. The footnotes are a delight in and of themselves. It's been a long time times I've laughed while reading a footnote!

Cozy fantasy is having a moment right now and I hope that means good things for this entertaining book!

Emily Wilde, Cambridge professor and steadfast researcher, has no problem traipsing into the remote fields and forests of Europe to conduct her research into the many varieties of faeries that haunt the edges of civilization, but an ordinary conversation with another person is utterly baffling to her. She would rather spend her evenings reading with her faithful dog Shadow by her side than attend any party. So when she arrives in the remote northern country of Ljosland to try to find and study the elusive Hidden Ones, she immediately butts heads with the people of the little town of Hrafnsvik. Matters are not improved by the arrival of her colleague and academic rival, the handsome and charming Wendell Bambleby, who immediately befriends every last one of the villagers and moves in with Emily with hardly a greeting. But the closer Emily comes to finding the Hidden Ones, the more she relies on Wendell and his mysterious nature, because old legends are coming to life, and if Emily doesn’t keep her feet on the right path, she could be swept away into a snowy realm forever.

These days, fantasy novels featuring overly pretty and immortal fae lordlings inexplicably falling in love with impulsive teenagers are a dime a dozen, so it’s refreshing to find a book that not only draws upon the real wellspring of centuries’ worth of European faerie and folktales but also features a female protagonist who is not a snarky and headstrong teenager. Emily Wilde is a woman of thirty, established in her career, and well on her way to being one of the foremost experts in her field. She knows her strengths and her weaknesses, is comfortable relying on her knowledge to keep her safe in her explorations, but also knows when she is out of her depth and when to call for help. While Emily might be a wallflower, she is no shrinking violet.

It’s exactly these traits that draw Wendell Bambleby to Emily in the first place. He may outshine Emily with his own knowledge of faeries and their lore, but he is often lazy, relying on his charms to get him out of sticky academic situations. While his sudden arrival in Hfrafnsvik startles Emily out of the cold and lonely routine she’s established there, it’s obvious to both of them that they can use each other’s skills and experiences to solve the unique problems they each face.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a charming and atmospheric book that, like Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy, is based upon real faerie lore, and carries within it all the playfulness and drama of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. It may have a few missteps– the two perspectives sound a little too similar to really tell them apart, and the included but separate faerie tales are oddly placed within the story– but the overall effect is one of beauty and charm, and showcases a deep love for the stories that inspired the book and the people who tell those stories.

The oldest faerie tales are not silly stories meant to entertain children for the span of ninety minutes. They are often dark and dangerous, filled with willful sprites and inhumanly beautiful creatures that might grant your deepest wish or sweep you off to a sunless realm to dance your life away. Faeries are capricious, but follow hard and fast rules that can make little sense to those looking for logical reasonings for their actions. But like the mysterious forces that faerie stories were meant to try to explain, there is little logic to a thunderstorm or a blizzard when you don’t have the means to predict the weather. A neighbor’s sudden incredible luck or misfortune might not be explainable by normal means, but if they’re under a faerie’s spell, anything is possible.

So it is with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The Hidden Ones and all the other strange denizens of faerie mentioned in the pages have their own rules to live by, and they spread happiness or despair by the whims of their unpredictable natures. The curmudgeonly Emily Wilde may seem unlikely to counter these capricious beings, but her deep knowledge and quick thinking make her a nearly perfect foil to the enigmatic creatures she meets. Throw the whimsical (and whimsically named) Wendell Bambleby into the mix, and you have a recipe for a fantastical wintry story that will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect, but the blurb for the book sounded so interesting. I was not disappointed at all! What a delightfully fun read! Emily is delightful in her desire to not talk to anyone but sit in the corner, minding her own business and reading a book (Girl, I so get this). She finds small talk and customs tiresome--and then she wonders how she managed to offend an entire village. All she wants to do is observe the wee folk. She's an expert in her field of Dryadology, the study of magical creatures, and the creatures in this small village have never been studied before. She is a curmudgeonly scholar and has little patience for anyone other than her dog. Then we meet Wendell Bambleby, the direct opposite of Emily and a sunshiney foil to her cloudy demeanor. It's a chef's kiss!

This book is written in diary format, and Emily is so thorough in expressing and describing all she sees and feels, which is appropriate considering her scientific mind and personality. When Wendell shows up and takes up residence with her in the village, it is hilarious as her living conditions immediately improve as Wendell charms the village inhabitants.

Thus begins the adventure, mystery, and magic of the story. It is such a fascinating story, and you are fully engaged as more and more of the story unfolds into the most significant discovery in Emily's life and career. Emily discovers more about herself and Wendell (yay!), and so does the reader as we get a couple of brief interludes where Wendell writes in her diary. (I loved those parts!) I cannot wait for the next installment in this charming fantasy with romance. I would definitely classify this as a cozy fantasy, and I don't miss reading spice in this book. It would be out of place. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is pure fantasy fun!

Just fantastic, in every sense! Emily Wilde is a dedicated faerie scholar, tersely lacking in people skills or basic friendliness, and working to receive acclaim and tenure in the sexist realm of 1900s Cambridge. The story is relayed in journal entries from Professor Wilde's expedition to a freezing cold, physically and magically dangerous Norwegian village, where she needs to study the final faerie types to finish the first ever complete encyclopedia of faeries. And this story has got everything—fantasy! mystery! fairy tales! excellent dogs! scholarly publishing! history! action! adventure! a little romance, with Tam Lin vibes! It's one of those rare epistolary novels that works for me because Emily is so complete and exacting in her recollections and descriptions and so completely, refreshingly honest and clearsighted about her own faults and mistakes, you never feel like you're missing part of the story by just getting her daily journal perspective. I am so happy there will be a sequel.

Myth: 4/5

I quite enjoyed the magical academia tone of this with way more whimsy than the host of “dark academia” books I’ve recently read. Don’t get me wrong, I love those, but this was so fun and unique too. An academic doing field study on the fae. An academic rival who thinks he’s more clever than he actually is.

Emily’s character is all academic drive at the cost of the outside world, but paired with the charming Wendell, they make a pair ready to take on the whole of faerie and accept the hospitality of the northern village in which they find themselves doing their study.

Magic: 4/5

I really enjoyed the magical elements in this book. The fae magic was based on lore, and the magic itself seemed to come from the lore. This was very fun, because the magic didn’t have to make sense, it just had to have happened in fae story.

Overall: 4/5

A witty and whimsical academic romp with the fae. Emily and Wendell were a delightful pair as they navigated village politics, fae antics and each other.

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.

One of my most anticipated releases of January 2023 was Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis and couldn’t wait to start reading it.

This story was delightful and written as if recounted in the titular character’s journal. It was a little like the Veronica Speedwell books crossed with The Invisible Library series. But, instead of a mystery or crime, there was a focus on faeries, folklore, and research. After all, the point of the story was Emily Wilde’s attempt to gather more material for her encyclopedia. Set during winter and its approach, and focused on the area in and around a village called Hrafnsvik.

I enjoyed the academic aspect about Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. There was a lot of effort put in to building the field the characters worked within, and the many footnotes added an extra layer of detail.

Emily Wilde was a thorny and analytical character who was serious about her research, which offset Wendell Brambleby’s eccentric (and suspicious) charms and penchant for avoiding actual work. For much of the story, Wendell is seen from Emily’s perspective, and, while she might be against the idea of him interrupting her trip and thus her research, the two had an undeniable chemistry. They were two characters who understood each other, and their verbal sparring (and Emily’s sometimes dry observations and methods of seeking information) ensured there was never a dull moment. It was so entertaining, and I loved every second of it.

As for the romance, it was on the lighter side. It definitely felt like the beginning of something.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a new favorite.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Del Rey Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

This book is set in 1909 and is set on an island five days north of London by boat. Emily is a Dryadologist and has traveled there to study the local faeries for the last section of her encyclopaedia of faeries. She is not there very long before her colleague Wendell arrives without warning and joins her.

The book started out slow and got better as it went along. There are a bunch of interesting characters and scenes and I like how it ended. If I could, I would give it 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book to review through NetGalley.

A fun whimsical fantasy full of classic faerie lore and beautiful settings! I really enjoyed this enchanting tale.

This book is about a curmudgeonly female professor, writing an Encyclopedia of Faeries, who travels to a chilly northern Scandinavian village to study and document their local faerie population. Her academic rival shows up and magical adventures ensue. There is a smattering of romance and a lovable dog sidekick, Shadow (always a plus).

This book will leave you feeling charmed and chilled. I’d venture to call this a cozy fantasy!

Releases January 10th, 2023! Thank you NetGalley for a review copy! 🥰

Emily Wilde is on a career making expedition searching for intel on the "Hidden Ones' as the final chapter to her encyclopedia chronicling discoveries of faerie-kind. When she lands in the frostbitten territory the only thing more menacing than the elements are the villagers. With a decade of research and faerie-lore tucked in her brain she goes in a dangerous search for previously undiscovered groups of faeries. When her mysterious cohort from Cambridge shows up, things are sure to get interesting.

This book started off really slow for me and it was hard to get into at first. Once Bambleby shows up, so does the intrigue and questions. The story went wild after that and it was easy to hold my attention for the last half of the book. The language was a bit dense at times and I was glad for my kindle being able to quickly define some of the more thorny words. The minor characters are charming and really grow on you as the story unfolds. The main characters story arc with their relationship is a bit lacking, but still sweet. While this book isn't one of my favorites, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the second installment as I have predictions and questions left over from this story!

This one’s for the autistic girlies! Not canonically but I can dream ya know. Emily is a professor and researcher at heart. She chooses to hide out in a cold and secluded cabin, cataloging her special interest. Emily spends her time trying to keep warm, rolling her eyes at fellow researcher Bambleby, and most importantly studying the fae and other creatures that exist only in legend.

This cold and dark read is perfect for winter. Emily’s standoffishness, and general unlikability, are all she needed to win over my bitter heart. Faerie girlies, this one’s for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to pre-read this book and share my opinions on it.

Now, with that formality out of the way, COMMENCE WITH THE GUSHING

This book was 5 stars almost from the moment I started reading. I very much could identify with Emily's introverted nature and her greater levels of comfort walking outside with her dog in the pursuit of fairies than in social gatherings with people (sounds like the perfect weekend to me). She also had a dry wit and delivered lots of tongue-in-cheek snarkyisms that I found delightful. Her stiff upper lip contrasted so perfectly with Wendell's free-ranging spirit and playful sense of humor, and many of their interactions made me laugh out loud. I loved the scene where Emily ends up in over her head - very much against her practical and calculating nature! - and Wendell comes to her rescue in a very uncharacteristic serious and terrifying way. It gave our leads a chance to show off their depth, and it let me know as a reader that I better hold on tight because in this story, anything can happen.

Not only did I just ADORE these two, I couldn't get enough of Norway's fae landscape. I am an absolute goner for any story that pokes around in the fairy otherworld, which is usually lush and green. Since Ljosland is in the far north, though, our story swaps all the dense living forest for a frigid blue world blanketed in ice and snow. It was so fun exploring this new area of fairy geography, especially as one of my winter reads!

Something about this title makes me wish cozy fantasy was a thing. I'm not sure if it was the crackling fireplace, the tightknit Ljosland community, the impish bread-baking fae that Emily befriends, or the presence of Shadow, Emily's trusty canine companion - or the combination of all of the above - that made me feel so warm and wholesome inside, but man, I was glowing after I finished this book. It gave me a craving for more cozy stories with a fantasy twist, so I may have to start brainstorming for some story ideas so I can write my own.

Anyways, I feel like I could gush and gush and gush about this book, so I'll try to wrap up by saying that I can't find enough good things to say about it, and not only will I make sure it is added to my library's collection, I will be adding it to my collection at home, too. It's a perfect read for anyone who likes to live with one foot in Fairy and one foot in reality, as I do!

P.S. It ended with the best possible sentence - "The story of Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby will continue in Book 2." Squee!

Title: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Author: Heather Fawcett
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5

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, get in the middle of 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.

I really enjoyed this read! It felt like a bit of a fairy tale to me, which is always enjoyable. I could really relate to Em and her social awkwardness. I wasn’t too sure what to make of Bambleby at first, but he grew on me. I loved the little community of Hrafnsvik and its inhabitants, and I loved how Emily gradually came to fit herself into their midst and feel at home for the first time in her life.

Heather Fawcett lives in British Columbia. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Ballantine/Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.)