Emily and Wendell are back in what might be the conclusion of this series (or perhaps the conclusion of a contract...please order more books if Heather Fawcett is willing, Del Ray!). If you haven't read the Emily Wilde books yet, stop here...there's no way to talk about this third book in a way that won't spoil the first two. In fact, it might be smart to revisit the first two books, as this one starts right where book 2 ends. If you don't recall all the details from the previous adventure, you might have trouble with the start of this one because there aren't too many reminders to jog your memory.

Emily and Wendell return to Wendell's kingdom and realize a curse is killing the land. Emily stumbles upon old stories that might provide clues to how they should banish the curse. There is some tension between Emily and Wendell as they try to settle in their new life. Their "common folk" acquaintances are along for the ride, as are some friends from the other two books. Shadow's storyline is particularly sweet (and a little worrisome!).

Though there's a hint of future conflict, the story ends with Emily and Wendell happy and settled. If this was the end, it was incredibly satisfying. I just hope this isn't it! These books have been such a delight and I think Emily has many books to write as she explores Wendell's kingdom.

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent and satisfying conclusion to the series!

It's shorter than the first two, but I like that for it because it focuses more on the plot and furthering Emily/Wendall's relationship. There's no meandering around, Emily gets stuff done. The Faerie world is chaotic and hilarious, and it continues here. Enjoyable trilogy overall.

4.25 stars!

This series is just so lovely and magical and the third book absolutely did not disappoint! I really loved the choices that the author made for this story - I was genuinely surprised several times and didn't expect the story to go in the direction that it did. She also succeeds in making Wendell and Emily's relationship feel real and complex while still making it absolutely charming. To this day, this is the only romance-heavy fantasy I've ever loved and it really comes down to the characters themselves and their dynamic.

I did think that the pacing was strange at times, particularly in the second half of the book, but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story.

If Heather Fawcett ever decides to write more in this world, I will absolutely be reading it!

I couldn’t believe I got this arc. I loved this book. I adore this series and the characters. They live rent free in my brain.

The third Emily Wilde adventure takes place primarily in Faerie, in Wendell's kingdom in Ireland. Wendell is returning from his mortal world exile to claim his throne from his evil stepmother, only to discover that she's cursed the kingdom. Emily fears the only way to break the curse is for Wendell to die. Armed with her research skills and dusty library tomes, she sets on her path as a new Queen of Faerie herself to rescue the realm. She discovers a similar tale, and she's terrified that only one version out of hundreds has a happy ending for the Faerie King.

Emily is as straightforward and practical as Wendell is whimsical, and because we are reading Emily's journals, we are only seeing their relationship through her eyes. She's never quite sure how Wendell fell in love with her and the true depth of his devotion, because Emily has a hard time expressing these feelings herself. And yet, Wendell's and Emily's feelings are present on every page, through every adventure and frustration, and in the way she realizes how well he knows her.

Emily is the kind of character who makes a plan, sets contingencies, and sets out to fix things simply because she doesn't like relying on others. And yet, as the series unfolds she recognizes the places where others can help, and learns to embrace the love and support her friends can give.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC of Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales!

I love the writing style of the Emily Wilde books; Emily perfectly encapsulates how I would imagine a fae scholar if pressed - academic dry whimsy, footnotes, the burning and irrational desire to learn, record, and share information. Other reviewers found the story slow and without strong driving conflicts; I don’t technically disagree, but I think those traits are common for the lyrical fae-focused storytelling of books like this, and I find it enjoyable every time. I read it in one day and never found it boring.

If you liked the first two Emily Wilde books, you should like this one as well. It might be a little slower and softer, but it has the same heart and soul of the rest of the series.

I was a little nervous reading this one because of where Map of the Otherlands left off. I should have known that Heather Fawcett wouldn't lead me astray. The review that follows has spoilers for the series - it should be read in order!! - but not for this book.

When Otherlands ended, Wendell and Emily were about to invade his ancestral homeland to take back his throne. I wasn't nervous about the fighting or that anyone would end up dead: I was nervous that Wendily wouldn't have the same narrative force now that they had admitted their love to each other. Truly? I was worried that they would have to be separated, or Wendell's new position as King of the Fae would turn him into an awful guy just for the narrative's sake. But like I said, I just should have trusted Fawcett.

I love that Emily is still herself; I love that Wendell is still himself. I love the force stories have on the plot of the series. And I'll never get tired of Emily's research journals! Let's just say that the most of this book is Emily trying to save Wendell from himself, while still being unable to restrain her academic tendencies.

Look, if you liked the first two books in the series, you'll like this. The only thing I'd have loved to have more of is Wendell's taking over the journal for a chapter or two! I love reading from his slightly skewed perspective.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Loved this book! The worldbuilding is fantastic, and the characters are fully fleshed out! I adore Wendall and his devotion to Emily and her gruff but sweet responses. It's been fun to watch her character growth. It was also great to finally see the Fairie realm, and it did not disappoint! Wendalls family were interesting, to say the least, If this was the final book, it gave the readers closure but I'm hoping for more. I'm still a little creeped out and have been inspecting trees for eyes.

Emily: 📚🤓☝️
Wendell: 🕺🪄🧚

The third Emily Wide installment showed us action, growth, and love.
It was so much fun to get to see Wendell really come into his element, and see Emily get out of hers (but don’t worry - could she ever truly get out of her scholarly ways?)

This book had me laughing out loud at times, swooning on the next page, and then stressed and worried about my favorites the next.

Cozy and delightful as always. I do believe I enjoyed this least out of the trilogy but I was still pleased. I have always read Emily Wilde as autistic and am always very happy with that representation, both in this third book and the preceding two.

just as cozy, interesting, and new territory to explore with emily, wendell, and shadow. excited for more folks to read this!

many thanks to random house ballantine, del rey, and netgalley for the advance reader copy.

I found this a rewarding finale (?) to an excellent trilogy. This novel balances a new, fast-paced adventure with call-backs of elements and characters from the previous two books. I loved all of the "cameos" from the first book as well as the new characters. There were several topics I wish we could have had a closer look at, especially Wendell's relationship with his identity/ancestry. It felt like there was so much to absorb and think about that there wasn't room to always stop and go deeper into the characters. That being said, I loved the characters just as much as I did in the first two and I feel like Emily's arc over the series was well-done! I'm so glad I was able to read this and recommend it to others who enjoyed the previous books as a worthy sequel! I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads because I think it deserves to be read and loved, but 4 stars here just because I did love most of it but didn't find it as "unputdownable" as the others.

Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc.

This installment kept everything I loved about he previous books in the series -- the familiar cast of characters, the animal companions, funny dialogue and light romance, and of course the faerie antics by Wendell and company. It's the perfect amount of cozy mixed with some page-turning adventure. While some of the previous books had a more meandering plot, this one is much more focused and direct, which I liked a lot. If you're looking for the same cozy sci-fi vibes from the previous books, you're sure to love this one.

Emily Wilde's journey from curmudgeonly scholar to a queen has been lovely and twisted, just like the Fae realm the majority of this novel takes place in. Emily grows as a person, scholar, and monarch alongside Wendell who never fails to surprise.

The rich descriptions of the realm and the life-or-death stakes kept me riveted. Author Heather Fawcett saw her chance to show off her skills in world and character building and took it. Wendell's realm felt real and the new characters were horrifying yet intriguing which made the reading experience immersive.

I will be recommending this series to any person interested in trying Fantasy for the first time. I cannot help but feel that fans from Lord of the Rings to A Court of Thorns and Roses will each find something to love within these books.

This was a mellow, predictable, and comforting read. I think that is what I like best about all of the books in this series; it is purely about the cozy vibes and the endearing characters.

I will say that this book had a slightly more heavy focus on the plot, but I'm not sure it is completely to its advantage. Many plot points were cliche, causing me to predict the resolution much before the end of the book.

All in all, this was a sweet end to the series. I still love the characters, but I'm not certain I would go in for another ride with them, just because after 3 books of (practically) the same structure, I am a bit bored.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was very happy to find that this book seems to have ironed out the pacing issues I found with it's predecessors. It was so nice to be back in this world. I really do enjoy Emily's narration and academic observations. I love her dynamic with Wendell. This book might just be my favorite one so far!

I absolutely ATE this book up the minute I got my hands on it. To be back in Emily and Wendell's story felt like a warm hug at the end of a long day. I will say that this final installment in the series is quite a bit more high stakes than the previous ones. This story takes place entirely in Faerie which presents a unique set of dangers and challenges to overcome. However, knowing the patterns of the previous books in this series and how much Emily herself believes in the power of patterns in storytelling, I didn't feel stressed. Typically higher stakes make for a less cozy tale but I had faith that Emily would find her way and that things would turn out alright in the end. Spoiler alert, I was right :)

I'm so sad this series has come to an end. I could read 10 more books about Emily and Wendell's adventures.

Finally! Finally! Finally! This book finally takes us where I've wanted to go since we first met Emily and Wendell back in their first book. Now, it's finally here. We're off to Wendell's faerie kingdom where he and Emily will try to reclaim his throne, and Emily will get her first taste of life as a faerie queen.

I was eagerly anticipating Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales after reading and loving the first two books in the series, and I was not disappointed. Emily and Wendell are so fun together. They compliment each other perfectly, and I think that's part of what makes this book work so well. We don't have much of the romantic drama that's present in so many fantasies of late, and it leaves room for lots of other great things. The plot here is slightly weird, and I can't say that I 100% understood everything that happened and the reasons behind some things, but it doesn't even matter. The fact that Emily is a scholar and most of what she does is supposed to be above my head makes this such a fun read. I don't have to try to understand; I can choose to just take Emily's word for it and enjoy the read. I'm not sure that's something that I particular like for the most part, but somehow, in this series and this book specifically, it just really works.

Quirky characters, an easy-to-follow writing style, crazy faerie magic at every turn; they all fit together to make this a fantastic read. I'm hoping for more books in the future so that I can spend even more time in this world.

Emily Wilde is back! The first two books were 5-star reads for me so I had expectations.

In this installment, we leave academia and venture into the world of the Fae. As in the prior books, The Compendium of Lost Tales is in a narrative format with footnotes to fill in the reader with pertinent background information. The new setting offers new magical creatures, but we also revisit characters from the past.

The character development, the academic focus, a hidden magical world being discovered- it all wraps up to a delightful & heartwarming series. If you find the book summary intriguing, I recommend picking the whole series up.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
by Heather Fawcett
4.5 ⭐️

I’m so ridiculously happy I got my hands on this arc and I still literally cannot believe it. It took me a few days to read mostly because I didn’t want to finish it too fast. This story picks up right where we ended in Book 2 and delivers the perfect low stakes, cozy romantic fantasy! To be loved is to be known and Wendell is such a perfect example of this here! I’m obsessed with how he loves Emily and how thoughtful he is in everything. There is a fair amount of action here but I felt like it didn’t truly pick up until the 35% mark. Lord Taran was a surprisingly likeable character especially towards the end but I think Orga stole the show bc her anger with him was just hilarious and so perfectly evil.

The only very small thing I didn’t love is that I had hoped for more of Emily & Wendell together but I love how Emily has her own adventures and remains true to herself while Wendell rules their kingdom but they spent little chunks of time apart.

Most series that are extended beyond the usual plan don’t always live up to expectations but I truly hope this one does get one more book bc E&W are the best and this world is just so magical 🫶🏼

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this gifted arc!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6942751418
*will post on IG in September*