This book was even better than the first one! And the Banter between Emily and Wendell was such a treat! I can't recommend this book enough to anyone who adores magic, creatures, and a 20th century setting! Thank you for approving me for this book - my library has purchased it!

If you enjoy stories about the Fair Folk, then this would be a good book for you.
Emily Wilde has finished her Encyclopaedia of Faerie and is back to teaching. Her niece is now attending the college as well. And Wendell Bambleby is never far. He asked Emily to marry him and she hasn't answered yet. Meanwhile, he's continuing to masquerade as a human and teach classes as well.

Then, things are interrupted by an attempt on Wendell's life by assassins sent by his step-mother. Wendell wants his throne back, but hasn't been able to find the door he wants back into the kingdom. After the attack, it becomes more of a priority to find the door. Emily and Wendell are going to the Austrian Alps hunting it, but they cannot go alone. Ariadne, Emily's niece, and Farris Rose, the head of their department at Cambridge, accompany them in their search. And thus the adventure begins.

In search of the Nexus, a sort of hub of doors which Emily believes gives them the best chance of finding a door back into Wendell's homeland, they will encounter all kinds of the Folk and dangers. All of this is told in the manner of journal entries written by Emily. So, we get to be in her head as she describes her experiences. I wasn't as fond of the footnotes that she sometimes includes as she was, though.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Emily and Wendell change as they both grew. They are fun to read about in no small part to the way they speak to each other trading teasing remarks as though they'd been married for years.

Shadow remains my favorite as Emily's companion. He seems to be getting up in years, but still manages to protect her when he feels it's needed. He has mastered his glamor as a canine. And I enjoyed seeing Poe added back into the story this time as he was such a help in the first book.

While there is sort of a little lull while they are looking for the nexus, generally the book moves forward at a good speed. The action moves fastest at the beginning and towards the end. And even during the lull, the occurrences move the story along.

I gave the book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the characters and the story. I felt it was well written. If you like stories about the Folk, you will most likely enjoy this book. You might enjoy it even more though, if you read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faerie first.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett was released January 16, 2024 by Del Rey.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion.

This book finds Emily and Wendell continuing their search for Wendell's door back to his kingdom. It brings on some new supporting characters, Rose, a curmudgeonly colleague, and Ariadne, Emily's Dryadologist aspiring niece. Also, Poe returns which is a major plus because he is my favorite little brownie!

Overall the book was well done, while not as good as book 1 it was still a solid and well written book. Tanks to Netgalley for the eARC.

I am in love with this series and would happily read about Emily and Wendell's adventures with the fae forever! This was such an amazing follow-up to the first book. I truly didn't think it could get better, but it did.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a perfectly delightful, cozy fantasy. I loved the addition of some new characters like Emily's niece and Wendell's cat. I completely adore Olga the cat and can't wait for her to be a fixture in the next book! Shadow and Poe also played a wonderful role in this story, and it was great having them around again. Poe, in particular, is adorable!

I'm so beyond excited that a third book is coming!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you Negalley and Del Rey for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Review: 4.5 Stars

Surprisingly, I enjoyed this more than I did the first book. The story continues with Emily helping Wendell hunt for the door to his kingdom. After some assassination attempts, Emily, Wendell, her niece, Ariadne and the dean of the university, Rose, ended up limping to Germany based on clues found by Emily.

I adore this book as it's uniquely told in journal entries through Emily's POV, with an occasional entry from Wendell. It has its whimsy moments, but it is surprisingly an action-packed book from start to finish. This also builds on some found family moments with Ariadne and Rose thrown into the mix. We also got some guest appearances from Poe.

I find this book less romance-y and more on the growth of Emily's character since Wendell is unfortunately comatose for a good chunk of the book due to circumstances. It does have some instances of Emily and Wendell's romances, but I wish there were more. Also, I felt there wasn't an ease into the relationship, and Emily jumped straight in, which feels off-character for her.

Besides that, the worldbuilding was superb, and I was on tenterhooks reading the book and wanting to know what happened next! That darn ending, though, makes me want Book 3 now!

Overall, an excellent continuation to the series, and I can't wait for Book 3.

I am so sad I couldn’t make my mood reader brain read this faster. I absolutely love Emily and Wendell and watching their love story and the sacrifices they will make for each other is so sweet. And the grump sunshine is so CUTE. Plus who doesn’t love faeries?

I enjoyed this one even more than the first one! The beginning was a little slow, but once the main plot shifted to the adventure part, I loved it! Imagining all of the things that were described in Faerie was really fun as I read. I also really liked seeing Emily's relationship develop with Ariadne. Emily has a very strange relationship with everyone around her, but it was nice to see her have more feeling in this book, as well as to express those feelings. The interactions with Shadow were heartwarming, too.. I think it perfectly captures the relationship between an owner and a dog. That said, Orga is a fantastic cat! I am already excited for book #3 and can't wait to get it when it comes out!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series. I loved the first book so much that I was worried this one wouldn’t live up to expectations. But I loved seeing the universe expand outward. I’m very excited to see where the next stories will lead us.

I screamed when I saw I was approved for this one. Not gonna lie.
The first book was my first read of 2023, fitting the second would be my first of 2024.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a fun and whimsical fantasy filled with lore, academics and adventure.

We follow Emily to a cold corner of the world, researching the hidden faerie folk. And this book she, Wendell and her team are fleeing to the Alps, following the footsteps of a mysteriously vanished scholar for an entrance to the outcast Faerie Prince's realm . Only things don't go as smoothly as expected and the local fair Folk give them a lot of trouble.

The format of the book is delightful. A research diary of the events from Emily's point of view, complete with footnotes and background. This is the second in a trilogy, and I just know the final book is going to break my heart once I am done with it. I can't wait.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries ended up being my favorite book of 2023, so I was obviously dying to read book 2. And I'm happy to report I love this one just as much! Easy 5 stars for me. I just love Emily and Bambleby so so much and I love the way the story is told through Emily's no nonsense (okay some nonsense it is Faeries!) field journal entries. I cannot wait for the next installment. Also, the audiobooks are fantastic as well!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital ARC

This one was tough!

I think I liked the story, but I struggled at the delivery. I guess I'm not a fan of books that are written like journals because I truly couldn't handle reading this. Once the audiobook came out, I was able to handle it -- and if I remember correctly, it was the same for the first book.

Overall, this was cute! It definitely had more action than the last book. I liked the larger variety of characters. And I'm very glad that a lot of people enjoy this. But this was probably a 3.5.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for an early copy to read and review!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this novel, but I didn’t enjoy it more than the first novel. I thought this was super cute and whimsical and fun and adventurous, but it lacked the romance that I wanted. I wanted more Emily and Wendell and I wanted more moments of them together. I didn’t get that. It was an engaging and lovely story and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it like I did the first novel.

Unfortunately, I think this book suffered a bit from second book syndrome and alas, I just wanted more romance.

I’m a nosy, bookish person who finds it difficult to express emotions which means Emily Wilde, Professor of Dryadology, is an absolute delight to me. No sophomore slump for Heather Fawcett, dare I enjoyed Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands more than the first installment?

Now, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was… controversial. As a cozy book with so much hype surrounding it, readers ultimately fell into one of two dichotomies: you loved it or you hated it.

I fell into the former. If you hated the first book, I wouldn’t recommend you continue on in the series. If you’re not fond of linguistic dithering, daily journal entries that document every mundane aspect to the story or unlikeable characters – then this story isn’t for you. If that is your cup of tea, you’ll be delighted to hear that Emily, Shadow and Wendell’s story continues with a bang and as they seek a faerie door in the Austrian Alps. We see Emily’s more unlikeable personality traits evolve as she confronts her own emotions, navigate family bonds and friendships. I adored the banter, the writing – and the footnotes! I really am tickled pink whenever footnotes are included in stories. They added so much to the worldbuilding without feeling like the author was infodumping. The fae are both dark and dangerous and whimsical and scatterbrained, that reminds me of the faeries I grew up reading about, not the ACOTAR fae of today.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is just the perfect book to accompany a warm cup of tea on a snow day.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for sharing this digital reviewer’s copy with me in exchange for my honest reviews.

I absolutely adore the Emily Wilde books! They are such fun, warm adventures!

In this book, Emily is working on her Map of the Otherlands book after completing her encyclopedia in the first book. Then Wendall is poisoned on his birthday and his stepmother has started sending assassins at him from faerie. So Emily, Wendall, Emily's niece, and another professor set out to find a "nexus" or doorway that would lead into Wendall's homeland. They wind up in another small, quaint village that seems cozy, but is plagued by the fae after dark.

This book is easily 5 stars in my opinion, and I am so sad that there is no date for when the next in the series will be released!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read one of my most anticipated releases. I love Wendell! Some of his comments and actions had me laughing out loud. The way he and Emily interact make me smile. I liked the first one more because of the first dive into their fun, but this was still a delightful sequel. The romance is this wonderful slow burn and the stakes seemed higher in this book, especially with Wendell. It seemed like there were so many overlapping mysteries. I have to say I enjoy when they’re together much more, but I liked the addition of Ariadne and even Rose. Sometimes the diary format is tough because it feels like we miss pieces of the adventure, but it doesn’t make me love it any less. Highly recommend for a nice cozy fantasy to just make you smile. But make sure you read the first one before this, in case you stumbled upon this book/review accidentally. It shouldn’t be read as a standalone.

3.5 stars!
One of those books that amaze me regarding the world building and the adventures! I love books with great characters as well as a nice written adventure where I feel like I am part of the fictional world!

this is really hard for me to rate because as much as i enjoyed this story, i also didn't enjoy equally as much. this is easy to recommend as people love this series and that's wonderful. here is a simple list of what i liked and didn't like:

pros:
wendell and the faeries
emily's representation that's relatable (but hard to connect to)
beautiful prose and enchanting settings
the final chapters (iykyk)
faerie lore and fantastical elements beyond my imagination

cons:
emily and the other mortals
journal entry style, run on sentences or something of the like that often would lose me
cat slander
cozy plot where i'm not interested in the mystery and the action isn't long enough due to the cozy nature, i'm a plot girlie. i couldn't read on average more than 20 pages a sitting (i think partly due to e-arcs not being my fastest method of reading)

it's still at the end of the day exactly the book it sets out to be and i cannot fault that. it's a good story with so much worldbuilding i really enjoy as a fantasy reader. just lacks in the balance of character driven and action to captivate me enough. i think also this having a strange romance that confuses me to no end, don't ask me how i feel about the two i cannot decide. in the end, i will finish this series happily and will also take never ending inspiration from this piece of art.

A delightful installment in the series. I enjoyed Wendell and Emily's banter, as well as her developing friendship with Rose and her niece, Ariadne. I also enjoyed exploring more of the world of fairie, and Poe's guest appearances were lovely. I also enjoyed the element of mystery with our missing scholars, though I was disappointed slightly that they ended up having little direct impact on the story in the end (perhaps they will reappear in the next book and we will learn more about them). With that being said, I did feel that this story lacked some of the heart of the first one, perhaps because Emily doesn't develop friendships with fae or humans in quite the same way that she did in the first book.

Overall this was a delightful and entertaining read, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

*Thank you to Del Ray and Netgalley for the eARC, which was given in exchange for an honest review*

What an incredible continuation. The characters that stole my heart in book one managed to keep a strong hold throughout this book. The things they do feel so true to character, the adventures are amazing, the quips are hilarious. Heather has a way of taking a character I am eye rolling at on their first introduction and peeling the bits pieces by piece until we see who they truly are and somehow I have this rag-tag group of misfits that are all truly their own that I love so much. I am in desperate need of book 3 and at the same time in desperate need of this to never end.

Heather Fawcett writes of an early twentieth century in which Fairies are real enough that scholars study them. All is going well. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (hard) has been published to great acclaim and she has tenure at Cambridge, Then her friend, Professor Wendell Bambleby who has asked to marry her and is really a Fairy king in exile, is attacked by fairy assassins sent by his stepmother. The trail leads to a small village in the Swiss Alps where a famous fairy academic had disappeared fifty years before. There, together with her fae hound Shadow, her niece, and for some reason the head of her department, She and Wendell face numerous dangers in an effort to find the door to Wendell’s realm and to get enough information to write Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (hard from Del Rey). Somehow she also has to rescue his cat. This is a wonderful romantic series. Highly recommended.