This book is basically the research journal of Emily Wilde - an adjunct professor at Cambridge Univ. She is a scientist who studies fairies. She is a bit mousy, and seems to fit the stereotypical scholar. What we see as time goes on is that Emily has a knack for stumbling into trouble - again, stereotypical for many scholars. who do field work. We watch her evolve into someone who handles these situations with greater courage and skill as time goes on. The book starts out rather slow, but does pick up. She is trying to solve a mystery. Honestly, I did not care much for the ending, but if it continues as a series, there is potential for the storyline to improve. I hope it does. It was a tough choice to give it 3 or 4 stars. I would probably give it 3.5 if I could.

I absolutely needed it because the synopsis has my mind whirling with the possibility.....but alas .... Once I started reading it .... I was BORED.

There isn't not one thing interesting about our main character. There is nothing wrong with diving head first and wanting to make a name for yourself in your career but she's....just dull. The most interesting thing about her it .....well honestly I can't tell you anything....maybe the dog.... Idk like the story with how she got the dog...a full length one.

But the only reason I stayed with the story in all honesty was Dr. Wendell Bambleby. He gave me.... Lockhart and Prince Charming vibes (the Shrek one) and I loved him for it.

I think my biggest pet peeves is the synopsis makes it sound like they are just trying to find proof of faeries.....but everytime she turns around one is showing itself, or she's seen a ton of them....how do you not have a name for yourself and you've literally gotten a bunch of words of power??

YOU. HAVE. A. GRIM.

TWO! not one BUT TWO kings want to marry you..... And you're still a nobody in your field?

Alright I'm done complaining.

Once the girls were taken it was pretty good

I absolutely loved the mini stories in them. I just love mini stories in books tho. I need a whole one off the last one in the book (last few pages of you wanna read it. Doesn't ruin anything if you do)


But with all this being said.... I will still read the second one. For Wendell Bambleby of course.

There's a whimsy and magic to fae stories that always draw me in and Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia is no exception. The world is lush, the character are dynamic, and the setting is enchanting. I couldn't ask for more.

If you also like elves and are looking for thoughtful fantasy with a romantic twist, along the lines of Terry Pratchett’s “Lords and Ladies” or Olivia Atwater’s “Ten Thousand Stitches,” this next book, by Heather Fawcett, is the one for you. EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES (Del Rey, 336 pp., $28) has some impeccable Tam Lin vibes: Emily Wilde, a stoic and single-minded dryadologist, travels to wintry Ljosland to document an unknown species of faerie — only to find that nothing in this snowbound village is entirely what it seems, and the Hidden Ones are not as far away as she supposed. The world-building here is exquisite, a weather-beaten village in an incredible Arctic landscape — and fortunately, the characters are just as textured and richly drawn.

This is the kind of forlorn, folkloric fantasy that remembers the old, blood-ribboned source material about sacrifices and stolen children, but adds a modern gloss. For instance, sometimes the village’s loveliest maiden spurns the faerie prince not because she’s wise, but because she’s queer. Emily herself is delightful, brilliant but flawed, and often darkly funny. Her frustration with her feckless but charming colleague Wendell Bambleby is the perfect spark, and the romance is light but hits surprisingly hard when it chooses to (one of the best hurt/comfort scenes I’ve read in ages!). I adored it, and cannot wait for the next.

Overall, I enjoyed this book (even though it took me about a month to read, which is very out of the norm for me). However, I couldn’t help but feel it just missed the mark for me. I loved the idea and the concept of a cozy fantasy novel about a professor writing an encyclopedia for faeries. I think the issue was that I didn’t really like or care for any of the characters. The only character I can honestly say I liked was Poe. The rest were just meh. This contributed to me not really feeling invested in the plot either.

I think maybe this was because of the way the story was written. The story is told through Emily’s journal entries. And since Emily is not really a people-person, maybe that’s why I didn’t really feel like I liked any of the characters? I don’t know.

The book is actually okay, just not for me I guess!

I will say I enjoyed this story about 75%, I really enjoyed the format as diary entries and the fantastical journey we were on. I wasn't overly excited about the romance. The backstory of the fearies and creatures were quite entertaining, gave me Fantastic Beasts vibes. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone because of the pacing, it's a bit of a slower read but still really atmospheric and enjoyable.

emily wilde’s encyclopaedia of faeries is a cozy, heartwarming historical fantasy about a socially awkward professor and her charming academic rival, very likely a faerie in exile.

told through entries in emily’s journal over several months of fieldwork in remote scandinavia, EWEOF is an enchantingly unique approach to the faerie fantasy subgenre. i had mixed feelings about the slow pacing at first (i actually debated DNFing after the first couple of journal entries), but quickly fell in love with the lore and the darkly other (and sometimes vicious) nature of fawcett’s faeries as well as the slow burn between emily and wendell, full of pining and forced proximity.

most faerie books just aren’t my cup of tea, but i’m so glad i took a chance this one. i cannot wait to revisit this world and see emily and wendell’s relationship progress in the sequel.

Emily travels to the village of Hrafnsvik in Ljosland to study fairies, she enters the woods to seek them out, they are shy creatures, some good, some bad. The courtly fae have a fondness for youths in love and have taken 5 in the last 4 years, sometimes they leave a changeling in their place, if you kill the changeling you risk killing your child. Her boss Wendell Brambleby unexpectedly shows up with 2 interns, he gets very involved with the village folk, they want his help getting their children back, he also has a big secret. As they search for the missing they enter a fairy kingdom which is not as it seems, not all spells are good and he casts one on the village of snow, ice and frigid temperatures even Ljoslanders have never seen. I liked this book because it was different and kept my interest the entire book
. I give it 5 out ot 5 stars.

This will be in everyone’s “best of” books this year, I already know. Magical, romantic, heartfelt and full of faerie folklore.

I loved every magic-filled moment.

Emily is the aloof, academic who doesn’t understand people that I didn’t know I needed as a heroine. Grumpy/sunshine for suuuuure

Finished this one yesterday and it was everything I expected of a fantasy!

Not only is my copy of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies from @fairyloot simply gorgeous but this storyline is so unlike anything I’ve ever read before!

This one really felt like the fairy stories that we all grew up with, the “old ones” in the woods who took children and replaced them with their changelings & granted favors to naive humans at a steep price. This book was simply 🤌🏼 And I cannot wait to read the next installment in this world!

It only took a few chapters for me to realize that this is definitely not the kind of book I usually enjoy. It's not fast-paced, action-packed, or romance driven, and still I couldn't put it down. The magic of the story keeps you turning the page. It's lush and glamorous despite the starker background. Emily is curiously but flawed. Wendell is annoying but compelling. The slow-burn romance really does build nicely. I knocked off a star because I feel like the plot got away from itself for the climax and ending (I firmly believe Emily would have done better), but I did enjoy the story!

I was very excited to read this novel since I heard one of my favorite authors gush about this book. However, I found this to be a disappointment. This is because of the love interest. The love interest was deplorable who makes out with every girl he sees. Thus, I did not believe in their great romance. Therefore, it would have been better if there was no romance because it had an excellent beginning and the setting was also very mysterious! Thus, it had great potential but it was not executed well! Still, I recommend this novel for fans of fae stories especially Sarah J. Maas!

Emily travels up north to study fairy folklore and magic for an encyclopedia.
Along the way she finds love and adventure.

Emily Wilde is a no-nonsense Cambridge professor, a prodigy scholar, perhaps lacking in social skills – but an absolute expert on faerie lore. The small town of Hrafnsvik is her latest destination, the start of a months-long journey to gather information from the townsfolk to try and finish the last details of her encyclopaedia, the first of its kind, full to bursting with Emily’s unique faery expertise. She doesn’t expect to grow fond of the town. She also doesn’t expect her academic rival to show up on her doorstep and announce he’s joining her expedition for knowledge. She especially doesn’t expect to appreciate his company. The adventure that follows is full to bursting with simultaneous danger and hilarity.

WHAT A WARM HUG OF A BOOK, MY GOODNESS. I loved loved loved this read and would happily read 10 more books from Emily’s perspective – with Wendell’s commentary thrown in for good measure. The journal entry format is flawlessly used to impart the ins and outs of Emily’s unique character, including an in-depth look at the inner workings of her brilliant, if incredibly awkward, mind. The addition of Wendell's account of events to fill in the gaps is ingenious, somehow even more hysterical, and overwhelmingly charming.

There’s a perfect balance between heartwarming individuals, faerie folklore, academia, and magical experiences. The way Emily’s journal entries ebb and flow, increase or disappear entirely based on the events she’s experiencing is a master storytelling technique. The story’s end made me smile and laugh and wish it could go on forever. More more more, pretty please. Heather Fawcett has just made herself an auto-read author.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a highly overhyped book; I do not see the hype at all. I spent four months trying to make my way through it. The whole time I wondered if I had to wait to get to the good part, but that never came.

Honestly, I was expecting another type of story. I thought it would dive deep into the world of Faeries and be as descriptive as possible while having a storyline based around it, but I was left bored and struggled to make my way through the pages.

I only enjoyed reading the story when Emily interacted with Faeries, other than Wendell. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged. Reading this book might teach me that I do not enjoy cozy fantasies, so if you do, this story might be for you.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, for providing an eARC of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries. This review is being left voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

I loved this book. It was different, swept me into it's world and I didn't want to leave. I had never read Heather Fawcett before this but I am certainly going to read more now.

this is a book i’d heard about forever and was suprised to get an arc. i was so excited to read this, and it lived up to the hype! it was so magical, so funny and mysterious.

I really wanted to like this book but couldn't no matter how much time I gave to reading it. It was incredibly slow paced which bored me. It also had a very drab and deary setting and obnoxious characters. The plot got lost because I couldn't remember anything I was reading. I was hoping for a whimsical story about documenting Faerie life but instead it was a droll tale about an equally boring academic.

I really enjoyed this book. I saw some reviews call it a "cosy fantasy" and I think that is pretty apt - the pace is fairly slow and the story is rich in characters and details - and faeries.

Professor Emily Wilde is almost finished with her Encyclopaedia of Faeries, which she hopes will get her a tenured position at Cambridge. She travels to a small village in the far north, where she hopes to examine the different fae creatures there. When an academic friend/rival shows up and shakes up Emily's meticulous planning, she learns more about the villagers around her as well as about the fae.

I really enjoyed this book! The Fae vibes are heavy BUT it is told through a written Encyclopaedia so it comes to you as a slow unfurling of a told story.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when going it but I truly enjoyed this one and loved the depiction of various Fae types and Fae forms. This book is truly MAGICAL in a way that I didn’t expect by showing the various strange ways of Fae throughout and I loved that piece of it.

Emily and Wendell have my heart, and while we have a touch of romance in this one it is definitely secondary to the academic exploration and I’m excited for this to hopefully be explored more in book two!

Also, Shadow is the cutest doggo ever!

Loved it, highly recommend for lovers of Fae stories!