I absolutely adored the first two Emily Wilde books so was excited to read this one. This book jumps straight into the action with Emily and Wendell heading to his castle to take back the throne. In fact I had to go over the last book to remind myself of the storyline.
However from this action packed start the story slows down a lot in the middle with a lot of courtly intrigue and weeding out of traitors still loyal to the previous queen (Wendell's stepmother) and a curse affecting Wendell's kingdom.
Without spoiling some major plot points some of the major events in the book seem to be glossed over fairly quickly including working out who the traitor is as once they are discovered nothing much happens to them.
I also felt the same about a certain characters death as the incident seemed to be resolved fairly quickly which left it seeming not very heartfelt.
The ending too was a little underwhelming.
Overall I quite enjoyed this book but it felt more like a middle book than the end of a series

sooooooooo, does the series end here or is there a fourth book coming?

I really enjoy this series, the world they exist in, and this book is no exception to that. However, I think this book mayyyyyy be my 'least favourite' out of the 3! (book 2 is my favourite and I devoured that one!)

It is very action packed and more tense compared to the previous two in the series, and at times, felt a bit off? As in maybe a bit harder to follow since it's mostly in the faerie realm compared to the real world? I can't fully explain how I felt, maybe because I read this one digitally compared to physically for the other two, I felt as if this one was much more fast paced and less "cosy fantasy". It felt as if some things were missing too, for e.g., more communication between Emily and Wendell about her transition to a queen? What I'm saying is that some of the plot points felt a bit unresolved and I think this does leave the door open for a possible 4th book.

If this is the end of the series, it is still a fitting ending, and wrapped up decently well. Though I do wish there was an epilogue if this is the end.. As I've said, I would've preferred a bit more communication to finish it off, but still pretty satisfied! I think readers of this series will generally enjoy this book and seeing where the story goes and wraps up.

Thank you NetGalley & Hachette Aus/NZ for the arc!

3.5 / 5

Sadly I think that this might be my least favourite in the series. Wendall just seems so immature in comparison to the previous books and there just wasn't any chemistry between Emily and Wendall. I felt that there was more chemistry between Emily and Shadow (the dog/grim). The story also felt a bit nonsensical but I guess that's to be expected from a story set in Fairie.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette for the eARC and because it's taken almost 3 weeks but my window is finally fixed, I have given an honest review

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is the third instalment in the spellbinding series. After absolutely devouring the first two books, I was eager to get my hands on the third, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love the way Heather Fawcett writes, creating such a cosy tale that is compulsively readable.

Sigh.

I need to take some time to recover from coming to the end of yet another Heather Fawcett novel. She has embroidered an incredible world of faerie, academia and adventure. The characters are well fleshed out and I may have had glassy eyes reading about Shadow.

The character Emily reminded me of other great characters like Don Tillman (The Rosie Project) and Elizabeth Zott (Lessons in Chemistry) that stay with you well after you have finished the book. I much prefer a fantasy world because you never know what is going to happen when you open that door or find unusual eyes watching you!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this earlier than the print date for an honest review. I’m excited to add the print copy to my personal and school library. Yes, this will be highly recommended by me.

I absolutely love Emily and Wendall! This is such a great third book, I love that we get more and more Fae as we go on!

This wasn’t my favorite in this series but it was enjoyable and still had the cosy vibes of the first two.