I may be in the minority by saying I, unfortunately, didn’t love this follow up compared to the first book. I thought it was about average, but definitely consistent in the tone of the series so far. The book feels like a cozy cup of coffee. Low stakes but entertaining fantasy.

I appreciate Fawcett’s ability to clearly distinguish the POV switch. Wendell is such a delightful character and Emily Wilde is charming and witty.

I honestly didn’t feel invested in the story until past 30-40%. I may have felt differently if I brushed up on book 1, although I did read Encyclopaedia of Faeries fairly recently back in October. I wasn’t able to jump back in and immerse myself in the world as easily as I would’ve hoped. I will most likely return for the next book, not sure if it’s confirmed to be the last? But I’d love to see the series through.

Thank you to Random House & netgalley for the eARC!!

Emily is back, and now she's trying to find a nexus, a place where a door can be found to Wendell Bambleby's home realm. St. Lisl is plagued by fauns that make it impossible to be out past dark, hampering Emily's research into the nexus and the disappearance of two noted Dryadologists 50 years prior as she is convinced that they are tied to where the nexus might be hiding.

I found this installment of Emily Wilde's adventures to be just as fun and cozy as the Encyclopedia of Faeries! It was a nice, fun read which was easy to put down if I needed, but always kept drawing me back in to read more about the faeries that Emily insisted on messing with, confident that her cloak and association with the High Fae would keep her safe...even if it didn't keep those around her quite as safe. We add a couple new characters to the story this go round--the plucky and stubborn neice Ariadne, and Emily's boss from Cambridge, a set in his way professor who at first has no faith in our dear Emily.

If you enjoyed Emily's adventures in Encyclopedia of Faeries, you will absolutely enjoy this one, as well. There are even more fae in this book to find, and more faerie lands to explore.

This was the perfect sequel! I was already impressed with the first one but the sequel exceeded my expectations in every single way. It was action-packed and still hilarious. I feel in love with all the characters even more. I became even more invested than I was before. That is a testament to Fawcett’s writing and storytelling.

A delightful follow up to Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fearies. Wonderful pacing, brilliant workd building and interesting engaging characters.. overall a fun and delightful read.

I found this to be just as delightful as book number one! The characters are so enjoying and I believe that this was a great follow up to an already great book. Definitely recommend picking this up if you enjoyed the first!

The most perfect sequel to Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries! This series is absolutely cozy, heartwarming, and utter perfection. This second installation is beautifully written (seriously the PROSE). I am also such a sucker for footnotes in a book. Heather Fawcett has created an utterly wonderful world, a sweet, slow romance, and has made this history lover wish this book was a piece of non-fiction. Will always pick up anything Heather Fawcett does!

Emily Wilde has published her encyclopedia of fairies and is now working on a book covering maps of the other lands or the Nexus. Before she can do that however she needs to help Wendle A.k.a. Professor Grundle find the fairy door to his kingdom which opens up a whole new mystery a professor degrey and a professor Eichorn from Cambridge went missing decades ago in Saint Lissel Germany. It seems Wendells stepmother has sent terrorist out to kill him and so his need to get back to the kingdom is even more eminent but when they arrive in Germany nothing goes as it should Wendel is more sick than not Emily once again gets lost in the Faye world and someone has forgotten to leave offerings to the local Faye or at least that’s what they think they’re angry about. Of course there’s always much more to the story in there is to this one I love this book and the first book in the series that’s what got me reading this genre and waiting on the edge of my seat for book 2 which I couldn’t wait to read and it was so worth it. If you love the fun in the magical and just FYI for those who know we get to see Poe again and his beautiful tree… we also get to know Professor Rose Who is the head of Emily and Wendles department and invites his self on their field trip. We also get to know Emily‘s older brothers daughter who’s name I won’t even attempt to spell here. I hope to see more of her in the next book I just love these books and can’t wait for the next a total five star read in a book I definitely recommend if this even comes close to sounding good just know this is a horrible review about a great book I want to thank random house, valentine and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you Netgalley and Del Ray for this ARC!

- I loved this one so much-I think even more than the first!
- Something that I thought was an improvement for this one was the pacing. The first book was very slow and the conflict doesn't come into play until close to the end. This one had quicker pacing at the beginning with a clear conflict to follow!
- I found the addition of Ariadne and Rose to add to the story, especially the parts that are about Emily as a scholar! While Rose really bothered me at times, having him as a comparison to Emily helped show how differently she approaches many situations.
- The vibes are perfect! The academia and the faeries and the setting were all perfect!
- I love Emily and Wendell's banter, and we got to see so much! I also loved how fussy Wendell was in this one.
- There's a little twist at the end that I was not expecting, and it was so interesting to see how the implications played out!

This was fun and I enjoyed revisiting Emily and her world, though I was disappointed to see this move away from the more academic tone and content that made the first book so unique.

While I like Emily and Wendell and don’t mind hearing about their relationship, once that becomes the focus of the story, it becomes much tropier and loses the unique “fairy scholar” stuff that made the first book so unusual and compelling. Another human-fairy love story is fine as long as it isn’t too schlocky (this is refreshingly not), but it’s also a lot less original than most of what the premise for the series was initially rooted in.

It’s mentioned at the end of this book that the characters are unlikely to go back to Cambridge much, which doesn’t bode especially well for the rest of the series for a reader like me.

That said, I appreciate that Emily is still very much herself, and that the tone remained that of a scholar observer for most of the story. And I adore Shadow.

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands has a medium to fast pace.

POV: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is told from two POVs. It is told from Emily’s (and, in one chapter, Wendell’s) 1st person POV. But, it is also told from a 2nd person POV (the entire book is journal entries.)

Series: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is the 2nd book in the Emily Wilde series. It would help to read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries before reading this book.

Trigger/Content Warning: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands has trigger and content warnings. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. They are:

Violence
Injury/Injury Detail
Animal Death
Murder
Animal Cruelty
Gore
Blood
Body Horror
Chronic Illness
Poisoning
Sexual Content: There is very mild sexual content (mainly kissing, but there are hints of more) in Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands.

Language: There is mild swearing in Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. There is also language used, while correct for the period, that could be considered offensive to some people.

Setting: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is set in various places. It starts in Cambridge, England, then shifts to a mountain village in Austria. Several journal entries also detail Emily’s time in The Borderlands and Wendell’s kingdom: Court of Silva Lupi in the Faerie Realms.

Age Range: I recommend Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands to anyone over 16.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Emily Wilde is off on another adventure. But this adventure has a sense of urgency. Wendell Bambleby, her former rival and exiled Fae king, is being targeted by Fae assains sent by his stepmother. One of the assassins succeeds in poisoning Wendell at a birthday party, and he is slowly dying. He needs to get back to his realm to heal and is having problems finding a door to the realm.

Meanwhile, Emily is trying her hardest to keep the head of her and Wendell’s department, Dr. Farris Rose, from expelling her and Wendell from the college. Everything comes to a head when assassins attack Wendell while lecturing, forcing him to use magic to defend himself. By doing that, he exposes himself as Fae, and Rose is livid. He wants Wendell and Emily gone but will forget everything if Emily takes him on her expedition to the Austrian mountains.

Emily, who doesn’t back down from anything, reluctantly agrees. She plans to complete her map and look for Wendell’s door; two extra people will hold her back. But Emily didn’t expect the village to be surrounded by the Fae or to start seeing apparitions of a discredited scholar and her friend while in the mountains. It will take all of Emily’s knowledge and resources to cure Wendell, find his door, figure out the mystery of what happened to the scholars, and complete her map. Can she do it?

Characters:

The primary and secondary characters were well-written and well-fleshed out. The author was able to keep surprising me by introducing different nuances into characters already introduced (mainly Wendell and his love for Emily).

Emily, who is the main character, is deliciously grumpy and cantankerous throughout the book. I did expect her several times during the book to whip out her umbrella and smack Rose with it (he deserved it). I also didn’t expect her to go to the lengths she did for Wendell.

My review:

It isn’t often that the sophomore book in a series blows me away. So, I was shocked when I ended up loving Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. I could not read this book fast enough and had it finished within a day. I loved everything about it. I couldn’t get enough of Emily and Wendell’s relationship with the Fae, Emily’s relationship with people other than Wendell, and her absolute determination to save him.

The main storyline of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands centers on Emily, Wendell, his sickness, her map, and the search for his door. I found the storyline to be well-written. As stated above, it captured my attention. The storyline had twists, turns, and a few surprises along the way.

My only quibble with this book is that I wished the author had stayed more in Wendell’s court: The Court of Silva Lupi. But, because of the duration of the visit (only a couple of journal entries), she was able to pique my interest. With what happened, I hope there is more of this court in future books.

The fantasy angle of the book was terrific. I liked how the author took fairytales and mythical creatures and put her spin on them (the satyrs will forever be etched into my memory…and not in a good way). Returning to the Faerie Realm, I was fascinated by every person/creature in that realm. There was so much lore and information that it was almost hard to process.

The romance angle was also interesting. I did think that Wendell’s affection was one-sided until halfway through the book. Then it started to spice up. But, when Emily talked to Wendell’s stepmother, his stepmother said something, making me wonder exactly why Wendell was with Emily. I hope it is addressed in the next book because it was disconcerting to read.

The book’s angle with the two missing scholars was interesting up to a point. After they came out of Faerie, I started to lose interest. And besides, I thought that the woman was a complete jerk to Emily (who had a bad case of hero worship up to that point).

I am also interested in seeing how Ariadne will figure into upcoming books. She was an absolute sweetheart in this book, and she was also fearless.

The end of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands was interesting. I liked how the author wrapped up the main storyline. But there was so much kept open. I am eagerly looking forward to book 3!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, NetGalley, and Heather Fawcett for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin RandomHouse for the opportunity read this ARC of Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde's Map of Otherlands.

Like the first book in this series, this narrative is delightful. Once again, we get the witty badinage between Emily and Wendell Bambleby, fairy king and ridiculous handsome charmer. Fawcett adds to their relationship Emily's niece Ariadne, who is now a student at Cambridge in their department, and the department chair, who functions as a straight man in the face of so much chaos and devil-may-care behavior from Bambleby, and at times, Emily. The foursome head to the Austrian Alps following an attack on Cambridge by assassins sent from Bambleby's mother. Hoping to locate the fairy door that Bambleby needs, Emily recommends they go to the Austrian Alps to follow the path of a prior, missing, research. As with the first volume in this series, chaos and antics ensure. Even moments meant to be scary wind up being hilarious in their description, such as the assassins attack in the midst of one of Bambleby's lectures (imagine Indiana Jones's classroom, completed with adulating, crushing on him undergrads suddenly attacked by wolf-like creatures that are out for blood and you'll pretty much have the idea). As the foursome seek out fair doors, Emily is also, once again, learning about herself as an academic and figuring out how she really feels about Bambleby, who we all really have to feel sorry for. Emily is so hot and cold with him, it's a wonder he sticks around.

So yes, read this if you enjoyed the first of the series. It is exactly what you are hoping it will be. More of the same: delightful, funny, enchanting. Hoping for a third!

The perfect balance of charming, snarky, and dark. I feel like the Brothers Grimm would cheer Emily on! I'm not usually a fan of romantasy, but there was plenty of darkness, violence, and gore sprinkled throughout to keep me interested! I fell in love again with Poe the brownie and even Snowbell! My favorite thing about Emily is that she approaches her research into the faerie realms with curiosity over judgement. She sets the example for those around her to treat others with respect, no matter the differences. Even when those differences mean they want you dead! Very hopeful there will be a third!

Book one in this series was such a fun, cozy read, and I absolutely adored this sequel. I very much enjoy that these books consist entirely of journal entries, footnotes and all. It is witty and charming and exciting at the same time, without being too intense or complicated. Perfect for someone wanting to give fantasy a try.

I loved being back in this world, and I really enjoyed that the action picked up right away. We join Emily and Wendell as they search for a specific door that will lead them in to Faerie, but events begin to unfold that increase their urgency to do so, quickly.

Along with their "quest", we also get a bit more romance in this sequel, which was just great. Still not the main focus of the story, but enough to satisfy romantasy lovers. The banter between the mc's is just delightful.

The addition of certain side characters is both enjoyable and surprising. The world is fairly easy to understand, without any crazy world building. I also loved the callbacks to the first book.

There is a decent amount of action, and the stakes feel a little higher than the first book, but overall it's still not too intense. There are several scenes of peril or fighting, but they are quick and didn't stress me out a ton. And the "quest" near the end also felt short and not too complicated. That's not a bad thing, but it's the reason I classify this series as "cozy" fantasy.

Overall, I loved it and I highly recommend it.

*There is intimacy behind closed doors, but it's so barely alluded to that you might even miss it.

This was a cute follow up to Encyclopedia of Faeries. I love the character of Emily and how the author writes the story. This is such a cozy fantasy that gives you the joy of reading a faerie book without having to deal with the world building and intense story that comes with high fantasy books.

The nitty-gritty: Emily Wilde and friends return in this whimsical, magical sequel that succeeds on every level.

Emily Wilde and Wendell are back with some new friends in this worthy sequel to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, and the stakes are even higher than the last book. Even with lots of danger and high stakes, though, this book still feels like a cozy fantasy, mostly due to Heather Fawcett’s brilliant writing skills and engaging characters. There’s a lot to love, and if you’re a big fan of the first book, you will love this as well.

Do be aware of minor spoilers for the first book.

We meet up with Emily and Wendell in Cambridge, where they both work in the dryadology department studying the Folk and their history. Wendell had proposed to Emily at the end of the last book, and Emily is still mulling that question over in her head, not at all sure what she should do. Meanwhile, she’s agreed to help Wendell find the door to his faerie realm, where he used to be faerie royalty. Wendell’s stepmother took over his throne, and he wants it back, but locating his door won’t be easy.

Before they can begin their search, Wendell is attacked in the halls of Cambridge, a vicious faerie attack that can only mean one thing: his stepmother has sent assassins to kill him, so that she can remain on her stepson’s throne. Emily is more determined than ever to find Wendell’s door, but she ends up taking along a couple of unwelcome companions: Dr. Farris Rose, Emily’s department head and Ariadne, her young niece. Rose thinks Emily faked her last paper, and he isn’t inclined to believe anything she says. Ariadne is nice enough, and she’s very smart, but she grates on Emily with her endless questions and enthusiasm about faeries.

Emily believes they might have more luck locating Wendell’s door if they can find the nexus, a hub of sorts where multiple faerie doors connect. But the nexus is just a rumor, and the only way to locate it will be to retrace the footsteps of the scholar who went looking for it long ago—and disappeared without a trace. With assassins on their tail, the four set out to find the door, but end up finding much more than they expected.

Once again, Fawcett immerses the reader in a fantastic world, made even better because Emily has intimate, first-hand knowledge of the fae. In the last book, she was working on the world’s first faerie encyclopaedia, and because it was so successful, she’s decided to map all of the known faerie realms and doors (the Map of the Otherlands from the title), a huge undertaking that requires a lot of travel, as you can imagine. I loved the scholarly approach to doling out world building details to the reader, as Emily has a vast supply of faerie facts in her head, yet the author never needs to resort to info-dumping to convey that information.

The story is told through journal entries from Emily’s point of view, and I loved being in her head again and listening to her wryly funny observations. We get to experience all the angst and drama she’s going through, which was quite fun. First, she and Wendell have declared their love for each other, but Emily isn’t sure she wants to be a wife at all. She’s also dealing with Rose and his threats to fire her, as well as trying to get along with Ariadne, who never seems to stop talking (Emily is the quiet sort who enjoys her own company). Her interactions with Wendell are priceless. They bicker like an old married couple at times, but it’s all in good fun, since they really do care about each other. Let’s just say I laughed out loud a lot while I was reading this book! Emily also has to deal with the fact than someone is trying to kill Wendell, and that just won’t do at all. I loved that Emily takes on such an important roll, caring for Wendell when he’s gravely injured and trying to save him from an unknown, mystical curse. Wendell has his moments, after all he is faerie royalty and has plenty of his own magic. But it’s Emily who pulls everyone together in the end.

As much as I loved the human characters, I still have a soft spot for Shadow, Emily’s dog companion (who isn’t actually a dog at all!), and Poe and Snowball, a couple of faerie friends she makes. Poe returns from the last book and helps Emily a great deal, and Snowball is a new character, a fox-like fae who stole my heart.

There’s plenty of danger and tension as well, so don’t think it’s all cozy romance and cute faeries. Emily and her friends have some nail-biting adventures in the faerie realm that had me worried about the characters’ fates, but she tempers these scenes with humor, so the reader isn’t too worried about them. The last chapter gave me a warm glow and was the perfect way to wrap up this magical story. It’s safe to say if you loved Emily Wilde and the Encyclopaedia of Faeries, you won’t want to miss this sequel.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett was such a great follow up. I was so happy to be back in this world with the charactersI loved in the first one. It was truly endearing and I ate it all up. The characters are well-written and unique. The storyline kept me engaged and I kept wanting to read it.

What a fantastic second installment in the Emily Wilde series!

Map of the Otherlands wastes no time dropping the reader back into the magical world of Emily Wilde. In it, we learn what Emily and Wendell have been up to since the first book. As expected, their banter is top-tier and completely unparalleled. We also meet some new, very interesting, characters - which really added to the overall plot and helped to create some pretty memorable scenes. Heather Fawcett’s ability to create these incredibly unique characters, without sacrificing the magical world in which the story is set is nothing short of masterful.

If you’re looking for a cozy read that is also packed with action and laugh-out-loud moments, definitely consider joining Emily on her most recent adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐
Spice: 🌶️
Pages: 352

THE GIST:
Emily Wilde, a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore, just published a comprehensive encyclopedia of faeries. Through her adventures she's learned many of their secrets and even more about her colleague and once rival, Wendell.

Emily's next project is to compile a map of the faerie otherlands but suddenly things go awry and a life is at stake.

They're off on another adventure with some new (and unwelcome) guests in tow. Their mission, to uncover a long lost door to Faerie before it's too late.

THOUGHTS AND THINGS:
There's so much to love about this book. The characters are unique, the story is fun with a dark edge, and the magical creatures and adventurous plot just top everything off.

The oddities are what hook you and stick with you. The foot, the fox, the scarf and cloak, the dark faeries, the animal sidekicks. I know that sounds like nonsense but just trust me on this one.

I thoroughly enjoy Emily and Wendell. Their scholarly, quirky characteristics are just so lovable and fun in the driest sort of way. I loved seeing their relationship build.

Compared to book one, this book is a bit moodier and has some dark aspects to it that I loved. It's still a slower read but I was hooked early on and left a bit more satisfied than book one.

I cannot wait for book three in the series to come out! This one definitely leaves you excited for more.

READ IF YOU LIKE:
🍄 Fae and Faeries
🍄 Dark Magical Creatures
🍄 Cozy, Historical Fantasy
🍄 Light Romance
🍄 Slow Burn
🍄 Journal Entry Writing Style (footnotes and all!)
🍄 Scenic setting
🍄 Animal Sidekicks
🍄 Quirky, Loveable Characters
🍄 Field Research
🍄 Alice in Wonderland Meets Sheldon Cooper

Great story to continue our journey with these amazing characters. The story was written so well and kept me on my toes the whole time.

A superb sequel showcasing all the magic and ruthless violence of the faeries, the banter and relationship between Emily and Wendell (with the addition of some sweet romance!), and the familiar half-cozy, half-dark atmosphere that made Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries so distinct!

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a story that takes no effort at all to sink into! While I loved the slow, ominous pacing and freezing winter setting in the first book of the series, Otherlands presents a more frenetic energy, set in the crisply gold atmosphere of autumn in the Austrian Alps.

Obviously, almost a year has passed since we last saw Emily and Wendell, but the time gap could be minutes with how easily it was to connect to them again. The focus in this installment is on their relationship as well as Wendell's quest to return home, and the mashing of these two plots allows us an exclusive and raw look into Emily's feelings and logical processing. This was one of the highlights of the story for me - feeling Emily's tension and inability to choose one way or the other between marrying Wendell or not.

Seeing Emily and Wendell banter, yet show more outright care for each other, had my heart feeling light and fluffy. Their relationship is my favorite in almost all of literature! I also savored the development of their romance, with several very sweet moments indeed.

To not spoil the plot, I won't touch on too much of the flow there. I will say that there is a lot more action, a prevalence of creepy and bloodthirsty fae, many looks at Wendell's magic, and several tricky and clever moments. Not to mention, a healthy dash of fae-induced mindless wandering. Near the end, I almost felt the plot was rushed too much, but I think it just managed to avoid being too fast-paced.

The setting of Otherlands felt a tad less vivid to me than Encyclopaedia, perhaps by way of the fact that much of Emily's thoughts were focused internally. However, I still got a glorious immersion in the chill autumn of the mountains, mixed with the bronzing leaves and misty lakes of the valleys.

Last but not least, a couple new characters debuted - Ariadne and Farris Rose among them - along with the return of a precious friend, Poe. And the hint we got of a certain cat (!) has me so intrigued! While there weren't as many connections made with villagers, I found Ariadne and Emily's relationship intriguing, as it showed a softer, awkward side of Emily. So, too, did Emily's care for Shadow shine through - there were some surprisingly tender moments between them!

I am astounded at how Otherlands moves the story along so smoothly, while also not repeating the same events of the last book. The folklore and worldbuilding was built upon even more, painting a vibrant picture of the rest of the world & the study of dryadology. I feel Emily's world as if through the thinnest veil, as if it's just out of my grasp! A new favorite and treasured series!