I loved the setting and world building of this book. It sounded so wholesome and magical. Wendell was a funny character and I liked their chemistry and banter. Poe was also a good character, I liked how he was so shy about talking about himself but he would go on and on about other things he was interested in and he loved furs so much.

I am truly beating myself up for not reading this book sooner. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries is a must read for any cozy fantasy lover. The characters are true to their nature, and the prose so easily scoops you up and puts you right in the field alongside Emily. I adored Emily's interactions with the other characters because they felt so honest and real, while still being told with a certain level of whimsy appropriate for characters surrounded by the fae.

I cannot wait to begin reading the second book!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a magical realism novel by Heather Fawcett. This is my first time reading something by this author.

What I loved:
- I loved the cozy atmosphere that Fawcett created. This would be a great read during the fall or winter!
- As someone in academia myself, I thought the caricature of the institution was well written.
- The journal entry format made this much different than other books I've read. I appreciated that it was different than the norm.
- While not explicitly stated, the FMC Emily was definitely neurodivergent. I saw a lot of myself in her and I appreciated the representation.

Room to improve:
- I found the pacing to be very slow up until the last third of the book. I found myself growing bored at times, which is a shame because I truly wanted to be engaged.
- I did not find Emily to be an incredibly lovable main character. I liked her, definitely, but not nearly as much as I would have liked to. I think she could have had more development, too.

Overall, I am rating Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries 3 out of 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!

I loved this book so much! Emily kind of reminded me of a Sheldon Cooper, but for Fae research. When Wendell come crashing into her research sabbatical, things really got interesting because you could tell how fond of Emily he was and she was trying to wrangle her feelings for him. But they are adorable with their banter!! I loved following Emily into the "wild" to find faerie trees and hot springs, getting herself into trouble. I did order this as the hard bound book because I loved it so much! I can't wait for the rest of the series!

Ahhh!! I was so fortunate to receive this as an ARC wayyyy before it blew up on Tiktok. I’m trying to catch up on reviews but this was just so lovely and I would highly recommend to anyone for their fall TBR.

I unfortunately did not love this book as much as I hoped I would.

Things I didn’t mind were the writing style of third person watching someone tell their own story through journaling. This was not a problem for me except that I wish there would have been more dual POV with the male MC.

This is NOT a romantasy. The love story in this turns very quickly to an insta love kind of vibe without any real build up or reason really. Just superficial views on appearances and things that the other could offer them, not what they could really do for each other or together as a couple.

The world building was okay, I understood that it was almost written as in the note forms and footnotes of the encyclopedia so there were times it felt like reading a non fiction folklore book, meaning it was very tell, tell, tell and not show in the writing. Which lead to the suspenseful parts of the book falling flat.
I won’t be continuing the series.
2.5 stars rounded up

This book is such a cozy slice of fantasy academia. Emily Wilde is a young professor on the last stage of a quest to compile the first complete encyclopedia of faeries. She's soon joined by her charming colleague and (though she's loathe to admit it) friend, in the icy regions of a Nordic-style country and much investigating and adventuring ensues. It's a great novel take on the combination the faerie tropes that are currently en vogue, with so cozy Nordic and academic vibes. Perfect late-fall or winter read. There is a romantic subplot, but it's neither spicy nor overwhelming so it's a good fit for those who like slow burn. I haven't been giving a lot of "5-stars" lately, but this book was exactly what I wanted and I can't wait to see how their future adventures unfold.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is the first book of her Emily Wilde series. It was not at all what I expected, and I was delightfully surprised to learn it is the journal of a professor of dryadology from an alternate Earth’s Cambridge University. She’s gone to an island off the coast of Norway to investigate the Hidden Ones. Professor Wilde has been doing research and field work like this for nine years, and the chapter on the Hidden Ones is the last one to write before publishing her encyclopaedia.

Wilde plans to reside alone on the island throughout the winter, but another professor shows up to join the hunt. Calamity ensues once he arrives with two of his students, since he offers her the chance to attend a prestigious event in three months’ time, Wilde’s timeline is dramatically shortened. Together they speak to the townsfolk, including a child who claims to be a changeling. Switched as a child by The Folk, he is Wilde’s biggest puzzle - but not her only one. A young woman returned from the faerie is left hollow - unable to care for herself beyond the instructions her family offer. Her return only makes the other disappearances more mystifying. Soon Wilde is swept up into a hunt for missing women.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries starts off slowly, but builds momentum as secrets come to light. There’s a lovely rhythm to the words, with beautiful imagery covering all the senses. Wilde is a passionate and quirky narrator, flawed in many ways but incredibly likeable.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is cozy and vicious all at once. Our dear heroine Emily, on a seemingly impossible quest to research the fae, finds herself in a frozen world getting more than she bargained for, every step of the way.

Watching the mousy researcher thunder headfirst into the world of the fae for research purposes is an interesting take on the genre; our goal is to learn. And yet, our goals are never so simple as they seem. Filled to the brim with faerie magic, romance, yearning, trickery, and snow, Emily Wilde is a great addition to the fae driven canon of our current YA generation.

This book was cute, and different than what I usually read - I’m not necessarily into the evil trickster fairy stories. I enjoyed the romance aspect more than I thought I would. The first third was pretty slow but after that the story really picked up and got a lot better. I will read the sequel.

This is the perfect light academia, rivals-to-lovers, grumpy x sunshine (he’s the sunshine!), cozy historical fantasy romance. The standout aspect of this book to me was the banter between Emily and Wendell. I love that he called her Em the whole time, and she went from calling him Bambleby to eventually Wendell. This was whimsical, fun, and low stakes without being overly quirky, which is a hard balance for me when reading cozy fantasy. The only aspects that are not my favorite, but are very much a “me” problem (as they are exactly as advertised), are the fact that this book is written completely in journal entries, and that there are a lot of folk stories about the fae within the book. I don’t like stories-within-stories so that is something to be aware of! This is not a standalone as I originally thought, and I am excited to see where Wendell and Emily end up next!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc to review!

I really enjoyed this novel. It a little old timey, a bit magical, quite British, and rather cozy. That isn’t to say it is low stakes, because that would be false, but it is perfect to read this novel under a blanket next to a roaring fire.

The novel reads like a field journal, and on this journey Emily is searching for a type of faerie in a Nordic land so she can write about them in her encyclopedia. She knows it will be cold and difficult, but she gets a lot more than she anticipates.

We also get a nice bit of romance too, but it isn’t too much in my opinion for this type of story. If you want a slower pace novel, I think you’ll really love this. And I bet the next one will be even better!

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this. Emily and Wendell were endlessly entertaining. Whimsical and macabre at the same time. Also listened to the audio and it was done amazingly well.

The beginning was a little slow to me but I stuck through it and once the fmc started to have more interactions with fae, it got more exciting. I love reading about cruel fae culture and this book has a lot of it. The fmc is well versed in protecting herself and uses her knowledge and cleverness to be able to handle researching the fae. I didn't love the journal entry type of writing but it makes sense for this.

The romance is very subtle but it's there. I find the mmc hilarious in his dramatic ways but you can still tell he's crushing on the fmc.

Read this if you like The Cruel Price (Folk of the Air series) with less political intrigue and more frozen wilderness and more cross between real world and the fae world.

The perfect cozy weekend read, this light and cozy read follows Emily, a professor studying faeries who does better on her own then with others, the story follows her studies and reads more like a journal. This is a fun easy read. This would be a cozy fantasy for you to enjoy rather than diving into a whole new world, this takes place in a recognizable world with a few differences.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A cozy fantasy novel that is perfect for a relaxed afternoon. It has some wonderful characters and just overall delightful.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

"Shadow is not happy at all with me."
And so begins a rather delightful book about a professor studying faeries called "The HIdden Ones." I liked the writing style and the character dynamics. Especially between Emily and Wendell.

This was such a fun read. We have a curmudgeonly professor who journeys off to a small town to research and study folklore. this story is filled with magic and friendship and love. this whole book had me enchanted from the first page to the last page, I cannot wait for what is to come. Definitely recommend this book.

cozy but also a bit dark and violent?? it's a tough balance to strike but the overall tone worked for me.

A delightful read that leaves you wanting more of the familiar and yet original world of Emily Wilde. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.