I love Emily Wilde's adventures and this book is no exception. Each installment is cozy, adventurous, and magical. I loved the twists and turns this one takes, I was completely engrossed and had to know what happens next. Another great installment in the series. I truly love these characters so much.

A book that absolutely sticks the landing for the Emily Wilde trilogy. It gives everything that the first two did, and fans of those will enjoy this.

I loved how this one really asked the question of what it means for Emily to commit to living in the faerie realm. I also appreciated the emphasis on scholarship and research in the middle of the battling and power struggles.

A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel, @ChloeFrizzle, in the coming weeks.

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Heather Fawcett’s newest adventure for Professor Emily Wilde is her best yet!

Emily proves yet again that she is the smartest dryadologist; there’s nothing she can’t do! I am constantly in awe of her brilliance—much like her fiancé Wendell. Emily solves puzzles no one else can, making her research on the subject of Faerie all the more remarkable.

In book three, Emily is faced with being accepted as Queen of the Silva Lupi, as she herself is human. When a curse proves to be the potential downfall of her and Wendell’s kingdom, Emily dives headfirst into the fray, with a pencil behind her ear and a notebook in her hand.

I love Wendell and Emily both, so very much. Wendell is incredibly charming, especially with his humorous attitude in the face of danger. Emily is the ever-practical partner, her focus on tangible evidence at odds with the adventures she finds herself in with Wendell, yet this makes their relationship so unique and beautiful. Despite their differences, they are enamored with each other and would do anything to protect each other.

If I were to sum up this series, I would say knowledge is power. All three books have showcased Emily’s scholarship and research trips. It’s going to take every piece of knowledge she has gained to guarantee her happy ever after with Wendell.

All in all, book three was everything I could have ever dreamt of for Emily and Wendell’s “final” adventure.* There was more of Orga, Wendell’s cat—which, of course, I fell head over heels for! Emily and Wendell’s relationship was a pivotal focus of the book, much more so than books one or two, and there were generous cameos from the characters we’ve come to love throughout the series.

Fawcett dedicates this book entirely to her readers, in that it is written with love. Every reason readers have to adore this series and these characters are evident in book three. Fawcett remarked in one of her recent newsletters that this has been her favorite book in the series to write. I can promise that this has been my favorite to read. :)

Thank you to Del Ray and NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reader copy. I am always honored to work with you and for the opportunities you grant me. Thank you to Heather Fawcett for creating this series, that has always felt like coming home.

*Nothing could make me happier than the open ending Fawcett gave this series. I cannot wait for the day I get to say “hello, again” to one of my all-time favorite worlds. While I have no definitive proof, I sincerely hope there will be a novella or a fourth book.

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen. Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

While the writing style isn't for everyone, anyone who's enjoyed the first two in this series will love this book! You need to read the first two in the series to enjoy this. That said, this is a beautiful love story, a fun fantastical world, and gorgeous writing. Highly recommended! 5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of my favorite cozy fantasy series and I hope it’s not the last in the series.

I love the world that Heather Fawcett created and her characters. I was so glad to see Poe come back for a few ch and even though the end was a little lackluster I would definitely reread this whole series

💗 thank you NetGalley for giving me access to all three arcs in my now labeled favorite series!!!

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is a beautiful conclusion to the Emily Wilde series. It picks up right where the last book ended. I love the banter throughout, and I’m glad we got so much of it even with everything else going on. Wendell is his same endearing self and brings so much humor to the book. He is one of my favorite romantic interests ever in a book. I adore him.

This was much more romantic than the previous entries and I loved seeing Emily and Wendell together. Emily uses a lot of her faerie knowledge as usual to help figure out how to save the day. I was surprised by the direction this story went, and I loved every minute of reading it. Also, I’m glad we got to see most of the other characters from the previous books again.

The Irish folklore is one of the best parts of these stories, and it was probably the best in this one out of them all. Hopefully, Heather will return to this world someday because I would read anything with Wendell and Emily together. My biggest hope is that she writes companion books to the series of each of the books Emily is writing, along with commentary from Wendell. I would love to read the lost tales with annotations from them both.

I highly recommend this trilogy. It is definitely a new favorite for me, especially because of Emily and Wendell.

3.5 stars

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is unfortunately not my favorite in this series. I really love Emily and Wendell as characters; though Emily definitely had more growth and in this book and Wendell’s character arc kind of stayed the same which was slightly disappointing. The faerie lore was also expanded upon and super interesting! My biggest complaint about this one is that the plot felt so underwhelming and when I reached 78% I felt like the book could have already ended. This one is hard for me to review because there were parts of it that I really liked, but also some parts of it that I struggled with.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Charming, fantastical, and amusing, the third installment in the world of Folk scholar (and INFJ queen) Dr. Emily Wilde sees her navigating a very foreign situation: not only studying, but living among the Folk as a ruler. And of course solving a few crises as she goes.

Picking up right where the second book left off, Emily and Wendell continue on their journey to take back his throne, but quickly realize that not all is right in his fae homeland. So Emily, of course, sets out to find solutions through academic research, the collection of Irish folktales, and interviews with creatures she's never sure if she an trust. Like the other books in this series, we follow this journey via Emily's personal yet still scholarly journal as she recounts her adventures, challenges, thoughts, and emotions as she tries to help Wendell save both his land and himself.

Though I wish there had been a few points in this story where we'd had bigger, more exciting emotional moments, that just isn't true to who Emily is as a character or a narrator, so I understand why some of those beats were not given more space. Still, I found the resolution of the story here a bit more anticlimactic than I expected, and kept wondering if perhaps another shoe was going to drop—but I suppose keeping a door open and never allowing for a true happy ending is also very in keeping with the tradition of folk tales and folklore, so I can't be too mad about that.

Ultimately, I had a great time reading this, enjoyed just how messy the plot got only for it to tidily come back around (how very Wendell), and have a feeling that I'll find myself returning to the world of Emily Wilde in the future.

I have loved all the Emily Wilde books, and this one is no exception! I adore the way that Heather Fawcett combines academia with adventure, and I was so happy to see the continuation of the Emily and Wendell relationship (it is the ultimate grumpy raincloud/cottoncandy airhead mix). I both hope there are more and hope that we can leave this on such a happy note. Maybe a spin-off series is in order?

The third book in the Emily Wilde trilogy is fully immersed in the Fae world, embracing all of it's mysteries and dangers. Having just completed books one and two, I was poised and ready for the conclusion of Emily and Wendell's quest. Emily's intelligence and scholarship is tested as she works to unravel the curse in Wendall's realm, her mind one foot in the faerie world and one in the mortal. Wendall is less whimsical in this one, the banter has changed to a more serious tone, but his romantic wistfulness has increased exponentially, he is past "smitten" and is completely, hopelessly in love with Emily. There are visits with familiar side characters and I couldn't imagine how the curse would be fully broken. Be ready for heaps of sadness, amazement, and relief.
This was a lovely end to a delightful, cozy fantasy series.
I think this series would be a lovely rec. for patrons who love the Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Rayborn. Fawcett's Emily has similar vibes to Veronica (though less snarky) while her love interest Wendall reminds me of a more heroic version of Gilderoy Lockhart.
Thanks so much for the ARC!

So much happened in this book! I do think it might be my least favourite of the trilogy, but nevertheless I am so glad I read all three of these books and I'm looking forward to Heather Fawcett's next book!

This is the third book in the series and it delivers the same delightful energy that the first two do. In this installment we continue to follow Emily and Wendell as they navigate the challenges of taking back the realm! I love the journal entry style of these books and the juxtaposition of an academic mind facing the absurdity of Faerie.

Cosy and wonderful. Just a whole lot of fun and so enchanting. I cannot wait to see what Heather Fawcett does next. Highly highly recommend this whole series. A wonderful end to my favorite series.

I already miss the world and everyone in it (but I'll be honest, mostly our boy Shadow). It does so good capturing the Howl-Sophie dynamic from Howl's Moving Castle that I love. Other than wishing we got more time with Emily exploring and learning things about the fae, I'm satisfied with the conclusion! I know there was a lot of plot to get through, and it's definitely more action packed than the others. There's also a lot of potential for Fawcett to write more in this world and I really really hope she does one day!

The third in one of my absolute favorite series! I love the storytelling, and book three takes you right back into cozy scholarly faerie nonsense from page one. We’re in a new setting heading into Wendell’s land, still following Emily through her journal entries.

The beloved Shadow, and now Orga, often accompany our main characters, so curling up with my cats to read the Compendium of Lost Tales was absolute perfection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review and eARC.

This was more or less exactly what I'd hoped for from book 3 in this series! Emily continues to try and tackle problems using her scholarship and study, Wendell continues to be both fearsome and endearing by turns, and the majority of this book actually takes place in Faerie.

My only real complaint is that while I really appreciate how much our two have grown to trust each other to be competent in their own strengths, and it is very sweet to see them so in love, I did miss some of the bickering and banter that we saw in the first two books. I would have liked to have more of that, perhaps with a more playful or teasing tone as their relationship matured.

I really enjoyed the nature of the problem that they were trying to solve, the stakes felt a little higher, and the application of storytelling and fairy tales applied to searching for a solution was excellent. And I especially liked spending more time getting to know Wendell's realm. I would definitely recommend this book for those who'd like to continue following Emily & Wendell. It's a solid installment in their journeys. For new readers however, I would probably recommend starting with the first book so you get to know these characters and their quirks before seeing them in this particular setting. The series is excellent for readers who like cozy academia, faery tales, and a grumpy x sunshine duo with some fun banter.

When the world feels like it's falling apart, we should all be grateful for this third installment in the Emily Wilde series.

Heather Fawcett has carefully created the fae universe that Emily lives in. Giving us the perfect amount of character development, magic, and love.

Emily is navigating the faerie world yet again in Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales. This time she is investigating a poison that is spreading among the faerie land. Emily uncovers all sorts of faerie history and happenings in this story and I loved the way it balanced her scholarly efforts with her story with Wendell.

Comforting, interesting, and perfect for these long winter days.

Emily Wilde remains an all-time cozy favorite of mine, and this third installment was just the perfect cap on the series.

Book 3 finds Emily having to navigate the court intrigue of Faerie, this time including solving a mysterious poison that is infecting the land itself. Naturally, our scholarly heroine endeavors to uncover all answers via our titular lost tales of Faerie. We get some heartwarming interactions between Emily and Wendell obviously, as their relationship continues to bloom under new circumstances, but we also get delicious little tastes of some past favorite characters along the way.

I continue to love everything about this story, but the thing that makes this such a delight to me is the hilariously wry humor of Emily. I was constantly giggling and highlighting little one-liners throughout the book that would be impossible to explain with no context but which still bring me great joy. The characters all have such heart to them, but Fawcett’s writing of Emily’s unique voice is still the component that makes me recommend this to everyone I know.

I am truly elated that I have received advanced copies of all three books in this trilogy. I was that kid that wrote evidence of fairies in my notebook. This series was a warm hug and transported me back there. It's my favorite series since reading HP in my childhood. I was so nervous to read this final installment because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to these characters. This time, the story revolves around the realm being poisoned. As usual, I'm obsessed with Heather's writing. It is flowery in the best way, a true delight for all of the senses. I highlighted so many sentences because there were so many beautiful descriptions of forests, meadows, water, delicious food, flowers, clothes, sounds, mountains, etc.

The political intrigue in this one was my favorite of the series. It was very interesting to get a deeper peak into councils, events in the castle, common fae, courtly fae, and Wendell's family. I also loved being exposed again to the different animals, such as Orga the cat, Shadow the dog, and Snowbell the fox faerie. I wish had a team of vengeful snails. ALSO! I didn't even realize part of the story was around New Years, and it was fun to read the dated entries for new years on new years.

Wendell and Emily are so cute together in this one. So many wholesome moments, thoughtful gifts, cute letters, teamwork, and character growth. Their love story was wrapped up beautifully, but there's a clear opening for further exploration should the series ever continue. I also liked that the story reflected on important themes, such as learning from history, making choices for the greater good, and forgiveness. I got teary eyed when I finished this book. I absolutely can't wait to add a physical copy to my shelf.

Thank you so so much to the publishers and Netgalley for letting me read this. I have never been so excited for an e-ARC in my life hahaha. Reviews will be posted within two weeks of publishing; I will update my review with links! I will post to Goodreads, Tiktok, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Books A Million.

I want to start this review by thanking Netgalley, Heather Fawcett, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Del-Rey for an ARC of this book. The third installment of The Emily Wilde Series was one of my biggest anticipated reads of 2025, so to say I was beyond excited to read this book is an understatement. It is best to read these books in order as they build on one another, but that just means you get to be in this wonderful world for that much longer, and what a wonderful world it is to be a part of. Now, with that being said, let me jump into my thoughts.

I think that Heather Fawcett did a great job of bringing this story full circle. I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the characters from the previous stories and getting to know the new ones introduced in this book. I enjoyed that she introduced some new fairies as well, and I loved seeing how they fit right into everything. I would say that the coziness from the previous two books is still present in this one; however, this book does take some twists and turns that I was not expecting. These twists and turns may have even brought tears to my eyes. The world-building, however, I am happy to say, was just as incredible in this book as in the past two, and the way she described it all made me want to jump right into the story. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to hang out with Emily, Wendell, and especially Shadow? Speaking of Wendell, I enjoyed seeing another side of him in this story, along with his beloved cat. He still may be one of my favorite characters in the series.

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. It is safe to say that I enjoyed my read of this as much as the previous books in the series. I would highly recommend this book and really the whole series to anyone who is looking for a cozy fantasy with some fantastic characters and excellent world-building. If you enjoy fairies, magical creatures, academia, and adventures, then I think you will be happy with this book and this series.

Trigger Warnings
- Violence
- Suicide
- Mentions of Death
- Poisoning