This was a lovely follow up to the first book. I enjoyed the new characters that were introduced as well as finding out a little more about this world. I was not as entranced with this one as the first but still really enjoyed it.

Emily Wilde is one of my favourite series. This second book had just as much charm, magic, and snark as the first. I adore everything faerie and Heather Fawcett does an incredible job writing such a fun story. I cannot wait for book 3 to learn more about Emily and Wendell’s adventures with whatever unique cast of characters join them this time around.

When I read book one of this series, I was underwhelmed. It felt very much like a fluffy romance with a little world building and I didn’t much like Emily or Wendell. I so appreciate the publisher for giving me a chance to check out book two even though I didn’t love book one. I understand that sometimes you need a little room to vibe with an author or a series. I liked book two infinitely more than book one. There was so much more action and every unusual creature had a purpose in the story. Book one it felt more like we were just being wowed with the variety of unusual folk and here we are engaging with them.

Emily was a little less rough around the edges and maybe a bit more confident in her skills as a scholar and researcher. Wendell was waylaid for a lot of the story and when he did appear, I found myself more endeared to him. I will definitely continue with the series and am interested to see where things go after that final page.

Thanks to Del Rey and Ballentine for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above are my own.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a continuation of Emily's adventures (from E.W.'s Encyclopedia of Fae). I recently went to a large B&N in California and loved that this series was being showcased. The special edition of this book has also seen a pretty big jump in price, so I know it's been getting pretty popular.

Emily Wilde books are completely different from a lot of fantasy books that are popular right now. I read a lot of fantasy/romantasy with male main characters that have smoldering good looks, smirks every other page, and have half-smiles that showcase how unbelievably sexy the MC is .... I am so happy that I did not have to suffer through that with this. Yes, Wendall is good-looking, but I don't get beaten over the head with it constantly. The book is technically written for adults, but mostly because the characters are all adults. I like reading my other fantasy books, but this is the palate cleanser of a book and I'm grateful for it.

Emily Wilde is book-smart and slightly awkward, but she's character with a lot of growth and has high standards for personal achievement. She is an adventurer and wants to know everything about the Fae world-- and as a reader, I enjoy following her through it. As far as I know, there is one more book expected in this series, and I am already anticipating read it!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for an eARC of this book. I kept putting this book off because I was worried that it wouldn't measure up to book one. I was wrong-- I should have put more faith in Heather Fawcett's writing because this book was excellent!

This book was a delight. I love the world that Heather Fawcett has created. Whimsical and fun. I love Emily and Wendell.

This was just as much fun as Book #1. The characters are perfect; I love Emily, Wendell, and Shadow of course but the new characters were also wonderful. I loved that we got to see Poe again!
The landscape in the mortal and faerie worlds are equally beautiful and horrifying. I just cannot get enough, I will read any adventure of Emily's!

This is a well written book, with some fine lines and a few well-conceived set pieces. That said, try as I might I found neither the characters, nor their situations, nor the overall narrative engaging enough to arouse or hold my curiosity and attention. As a consequence, it doesn't seem fair to write much more of a review, apart from encouraging inquisitive readers to give the book a try.

In this second installment, Emily and Wendell are back at Cambridge when Wendell’s stepmother sends assassins to kill him and successfully poison him. He is slowly dying and they must find the door to his kingdom to save him. So, Emily, Wendell and a couple others travel to Germany to find the door to save Wendell and hopefully get his throne back.

These books are very thorough and detailed books, it’s like I was reading a true journal with footnotes or an encyclopedia with footnotes, the buildup is slow, but I always enjoy that to allow myself time to learn about the world and the characters.

Emily is this grumpy, curmudgeonly professor and Wendell is like a fresh breath of air, rather vain and dramatic, but also very kind and positive.

I understood Emily a lot! I tend to be more logical like her and the choices I make may come off as inconsiderate, and so I understood the struggles she went through trying to talk to people and getting them to like her. She grew a lot through the two books.

And Wendell, I just adore him! He reminds me of Howl(well they both remind of Howl and Sophie) which made me feel happy and comfortable reading this book. Wendell was so funny with his dramatics and yet so endearing. I loved how he would tease Emily and cute endearments he had for her.

I love how their relationship grew in this book and I’m excited to see where it goes from here!

There were also some other characters introduced which were a great addition to the story, as well as a great way to see how Emily would handle other people and how she grows in this book when it comes to family and friends.

And then of course their witty and hilarious banter and the super slow burn romance, it was perfection! I look forward to the next book!

I received a free digital copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great sequel!! This book is just as quaint, dashing, and delightful as the first! I really enjoyed how the story kicks off with action, but at no point are you genuinely nervous. This is 100% cozy, 100% adorable, and a great romp through the world of Fae. As always, the footnotes are a great addition, our heroine is just as plucky as ever, and honestly, I can’t imagine saying one bad thing about this story.

Anyone with even a smattering of faery lore will quickly appreciate how deftly Heather Fawccett has woven lore into the two (at this point) Emily Wilde novels. What is an accomplishment of an altogether higher level is her invention of many more customs of The Folk (as they're called). Reading her work is similar to listening to a folk singer like Kate Rusby and realizing you can't tell whether she's singing a traditional ballad or one of her own invention.Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a another brilliant sojourn into Faery, this time centering on the search for a nexus (an access point that is basically a crossroads to the multiple Faery realms. Plot revelations and resolutions from the first book (Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries) provide the impetus for the new one. The fate of Emily's colleague (and more, though please read the first one before this one) Wendell Bambleby and the search for two missing scholars of Dryadology propel the quest deep into the Alps to the village of St. Liesl.In these books, The Folk can be charming (like the returning Poe) or vicious (like the harrowing fauns).NOTE Spoiler starts here:I am not that happy with the resolution of the book, with Emily and Wendell preparing to journey into (now) Wendell's kingdom to claim the throne and restore order (whatever that is in Faery). I'm a huge fan of Emily the curmodgeon/scholar and while I'm very happy she's found love  I don't want her to lose her own voice in favor of being defined as Queen Consort (presumably) of Wendell's  Kingdom.

But I do love Emily's voice, and I love her loyalty to her grim in dog's clothing  Shadow. I will follow the two of them wherever their path takes them.

I was completely unaware that Emily Wilde’s adventure continued in Heather Fawcett’s Map of the Otherlands. It seems silly to admit because Fawcett left the door slightly ajar at the end of book one, but it ended on a satisfying note that didn’t inspire me to explore further. Still, I was more than ready to accompany Emily on her next research trip. his time, Emily’s sights were set on the Austrian Alps for the love of discovery and, well, love itself. Spoilers ahead for book one, so tread carefully.

Emily Wilde may have achieved tenure at Cambridge, but she’s far from done. She started a new project that serves her scholarly goals and helps her colleague and potential fiancé, Dr. Wendell Bambleby. Emily wants to create a map of the known faerie realms, and it just so happens she needs to help Wendell find a door into his realm as well. Some progress has been made using the extensive university archives, but the assassination attempts on Wendell’s life sped up Emily's plans. In a race against whatever dastardly deeds Wendell’s stepmother has planned, the duo returns to the field with new companions in tow to try to survive the vicious fae who have made their home in the Alps.

It felt good to be back in Emily’s world with Shadow’s steady presence and Wendell’s flair for the dramatic. This time, we get to spend a little more time with Emily at Cambridge, where she teaches classes, researches new projects, and deals with her scholarly counterparts. But it’s not long before faerie mischief pushes Emily out the door and into the field once again. In book one, Emily stumbles into discoveries and unknowable dangers, but in book two, the events seem to happen to her instead which on the surface serves as a nice evolution of the narrative. This is because Wendell has a target on his back, but the setup and the mystery didn’t feel as magical or exciting this time around. Most of the time, Emily runs into dead ends and sits around, bemoaning her lack of progress. This dragged the story down a lot for me, and it wasn’t until the end, when the time was out and desperations were high, that Emily started to make some moves to get the story going.

In Otherlands, we also get an expanded cast, which was needed for the story, but unfortunately, not everyone played an interesting role. Emily and Wendell are joined by the head of Cambridge’s dryadology department, Dr. Farris Rose, and Emily’s niece and student, Ariadne. Both characters were minor but at least gave Emily someone else to interact with because Wendell’s presence and the village’s inhabitants were minor in comparison to book one. Dr. Rose was an interesting thorn in Emily’s side because he was a cautious and more traditional scholar. While Wendell found Emily’s methods endearing, Dr. Rose thought her careless and rash. However, I wish Dr. Rose was more prominent because he was the only one who saw Emily’s trust in the fae as dangerous, and his sporadic warnings made the stakes feel more real and terrifying.

Now for poor Ariadne. I don’t know why she was in this story except to be the object of Emily’s cruelty and ire. Emily is a curmudgeonly scholar whose introverted tendencies are normally endearing, but her treatment of Ariadne in this story is something else entirely. Emily was awful, truly awful, towards this young woman. This was made even worse because Ariadne did not bring much to the story either. She was a glorified assistant who disappeared into the background unless she was needed to annoy Emily with her existence. There doesn’t seem to be a purpose for this treatment either. I thought at first Emily might be jealous of Ariadne being in awe of and interacting with Wendell, but that didn’t truly manifest in a meaningful way. Emily feared her niece being too inexperienced with the fae, but she never seemed to want to dissuade her from studying dryadology. Emily simply loves to lash out at Ariadne, and because of this, I liked Emily a lot less in book two, and I question how high her “Rate My Professor” ratings were at Cambridge.

Overall, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands was a fitting sequel despite the lagging middle section and the viciousness toward Ariadne. Book two was able to keep its fun, scholarly bent to faerie while expanding on the world and Wendell’s background. There’s an opportunity to explore the events in Otherlands even further in another book, and I won’t hesitate to pick it up when Emily receives funding for that research trip.

Rating: Emily Wilde’s Map Of The Otherlands - 6.5/10

The first book in this series was one of my favorites of the year last year and I had high hopes for this book. It did not disappoint!

Emily Wilde is an expert in faerie folklore and has written an encyclopedia on the subject. Now, she is trying to make a map of the realms of faerie in the hope of finding a door to their land.

Brambleby, her colleague turned boyfriend who also happens to be the banished faerie king, is accompanying her on her quest. The only problem is that he is on the run from assassins sent by his mother and Emily cannot understand why now.

This is a historical fantasy that has the feel of fiction and would be perfect for someone new to the fantasy realm. However, die-hard fantasy lovers will also adore this book. This book has the feel of a historical fiction with the perfect touch of magic. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Alice Hoffman's book Magic Lessons (the prequel to Practical Magic) #gifted

I was so excited to receive this e arc and was not disappointed at all! I love going into this academic fairy world. We really got to see relationships flourish in this 2nd installment

OK, I will try to write this review in coherent sentences, but really all I want to do it squee about it.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries was my favorite read of 2023, so I put of Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands for several months after it was approved, because I was terrified that it wouldn't live up to the first book in the series. Now, of course, I'm kicking myself, because Y'ALL this book was even better than the first! From the first few pages I knew this series has been cemented for me as a favorite series of all time (not an easy feat, as I am very picky with my all -time favorites). Whatever you do, don't sleep on this series.

So, the things I loved about this book: Emily's voice is just so perfectly rendered as the cranky but super lovable scholar. The slow burn romance between her and Wendell has *moments* that had me squealing, and the setting (no spoilers, but the SETTING!) was so ethereal and creepy. I loved this book so much!!

Also, Shadow! I love him.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for my galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands" by Heather Fawcett, picks back up with Emily. She has written and published her encyclopaedia of faerie, all while figuring out just how to get fellow scholar, former rival, and faerie prince, Wendell Bambleby back to his faerie kingdom. When faerie assassins appear in Cambridge shortly after Wendell's birthday, Emily moves forward with her plan to find his door: finding a faerie nexus in the Austrian Alps. The catch? It's where a famous dryadologist (might not have spelled this correctly, sorry!) disappeared.

I loved the first book. I love how Fawcett illustrated how the study of faerie would be scholarized. It unfortunately is not any different from how scholarship still is, but I loved all of the footnotes and little bits of scholarship that Emily references in her journal. I know a lot of people had issues with the first book being too boring, too wordy, etc. but I think these books work BECAUSE of the journalling aspect and Emily's voice. Emily is an intelligent and capable woman in academia and because of that, I think her characterization works SO WELL. I know there will be arguments about femininity and academia, whatever, but I think given the realistic aspects and almost alternative history vibes of the narrative, it WORKS. I don't know, I love Emily and I love that she's purely our narrator, save for the few entries Wendell steals her journal.

I will say that although I adore these books, this addition, like the first, suffers from some pacing issues. I think there's a lot of build-up which does make sense given the research aspect of academia, but then the action quickly and suddenly picks up and it feels just tonally jarring. I feel like what could help make these a bit easier to digest would be some pacing editing so that those quick jumps to action feel more natural and less like whiplash. Additionally, we get a faerie cat to go along with our grim dog. I was a very happy reader.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I think it still has the charm of the first book, the universe that Fawcett has established is so fun to be in, and I just love all of the characters. I am so excited for book three and cannot wait to see Wendell finally take his home back.

This is the second book and I still heart Wendell. Not entirely sure what he is going out of book 1 and into book 2 but he's definitely a character. Love the whimsy, the adventure and the post scripts that I'm not sure if they are made up or real, love scholarly types esp when they fight between eachother very sassy and gloves off.
This one had some mystery to it and lots of bizarre happenings.
Enjoyed the ride!
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

4.25/5
(This was going to get an even four stars, but then we got not only a dog sidekick, but a faerie cat?!? Yes please!)

While not quite as good as book one, this was a very fun sequel. Emily Wilde, faerie scholar, and Wendell Bambleby, actual faerie, set out on another quest. This time, they are determined to find the door back to Bambleby's realm and to complete Emily's map of the faerie realms. Along with the many perils of interacting with the Folk, Emily must also decide if she wants a relationship with Wendell know that she knows he's a faerie king.

This is a review on an ARC for an exchange in an unbiased review.
I read the first book and I liked it but I didn’t love it. I felt as if it was lacking in action and was only really focusing on the love story. This book added so much more action and had the love story intertwined. I feel like this story fulfilled what I needed to be fulfilled in the first book. I loved Emily and Ariadne. I love their relationship and how it developed throughout the story I also love the new introduction of Rose as a character, I felt like we needed to have more dynamic characters throughout the story, and it was kind of hard to follow just Emily and Wendell, and the first book, I also feel like if I read it versus listening to the audiobook, which is what I did in this book I would’ve enjoyed it more. Even if you are an audiobook person, I suggest reading this book, covered to cover because the words and the language of the story do not go super far if you were just listening to it in an audiobook, I feel like this story is a lot better by reading it. I feel like I want to go back to the first book and read it and not listen to the audiobook because I feel like I will appreciate it more the coziness in the story, the love in the story, and the characters in the story made me really enjoy it and I cannot wait to see Heather Fawcett writes another story of emily‘s travels and Wendell’s now.

In the beginning of the story, we follow emily and Wendell, as they’re trying to navigate their relationship now after Wendell proposed her at the end of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. We then learned there are assassins who are chasing Wendell, and trying to kill him because his stepmother wants him dead. The then leads us to Germany, where we are trying to find the Nexus, which is basically a bunch of doors that leads to different fairy realms. We then follow the journey of them trying to find the nexus and Wendell trying to recover from different attacks of assassins have Placed on him

Oh how I loved being back with Emily, Wendell and their expanded crew. Heather Fawcett does an incredible job of weaving folklore into a plotty story with a lot of heart and humor. Such a great read!

Just as delightful as the first installment in the series!

Emily Wilde is now working on a book of maps of the moving/disappearing doors between human lands and those of Faerie, but mainly they are trying to find a door into Wendell's lost kingdom. Along the way, they also end up with side quests and an interesting crew that includes Emily's niece and the head of their department at Oxford.

Once again, the voice of Emily's diary entries is self-aware and funny in a dry way. Wendell is delightful, as is their romantic dance. Rose grows on the reader as a character, but my very favorite part of the story is how Emily's scholarly pursuits allow her to solve the mysteries around them. I hope there will be more stories in this world.