Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was such an enjoyable hug of a book. Instead of falling into the usual tropes of stories about the fae or faeries, where the female protagonist invariably has to make some kind of deal or is whisked off to Faerie by a handsome fae prince, this was a slow smoulder of a romance that I really loved to see develop throughout the novel. It seems like Emily might have some neurodivergent characteristics due to her focus on her work and her difficulty in social situations, so it was really good to see that representation. And the story was fresh and very sweet, as well as being told in the form of a journal. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Fawcett manages to continue in this vein for future books.

An extremely fun cozy fantasy that is perfect for the dreary winter months. I love the characters and the atmosphere of this book. There were some genuinely hilarious turns of phrase and situations, as well as some truly creepy ones that had me inching down under my covers for a second while reading at night. I loved the device, reading the story through Emily's journal; overall this was done well (though sometimes read more like a novel than a journal) and created a distinct narrative voice. I really connected with Emily and can't wait for more of her adventures.

What a beautiful book ! I really enjoyed learning about "The Folk" and their different customs and the level of romance was just perfect for me. Its lovely to read a book with a bit of a spark and relationship between 2 people without it getting mushy .

This was a fun, quirky, magical read. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the awkward, acerbic Emily and her arrogant, handsome, yet bumbling and innocent-seeming colleague. The setting of dark Nordic winter was compelling, and I liked Emily's reactions to the physical landscape as well as the attempted overtures of the villagers. The mix of action and fantasy interspersed with Emily's journal entries worked well to carry the story along to its surprising and entertaining conclusion.

What I was looking for: I had my eye on Heather Fawcett’s books for quite some time because they all sound interesting and I heard nothing but praise for her middle grade books.

What I liked: I really enjoyed Emily’s character and approach to life. I can quite sympathise with her scientific approach to everything. Even though it seemed so from the premise, I was happy that the plot did not revolve around scholarly rivalry but that Emily and Wendell were on (kind of) good terms from the start. The fairy lore was fascinating but darker than the cover and blurb make it out to be (the depiction of the fairy folk reminded me a lot of The Call by Paedar O’Guilín).

What I did not like: Some descriptions did not work properly in the diary style, especially in Wendell’s chapters. To me, some passages did not sound like something a person would write down about themselves.
Sidenote: the footnotes did not work at all in the ebook. There was no chapter for them so if I had wanted to read them, I would constantly have had to first search for the footnote, then find my place in the main story again. I have seen other ebooks handle that better (some Terry Pratchett discworld novels for example).

Conclusion: I highly enjoyed reading the book, despite a few shortcomings. But I would not at all classify this as a cozy, low stakes fantasy romance. There is quite some violence in the story (physical and psychological) and the romance is not all that important (in comparison to what you would expect from a romance novel).
Apparently, at least one more book will follow but you can also read it as a standalone.

This book is out and has been well received with good reason! I absolutely adored it for (in no particular order): its gorgeous prose, at turns funny and haunting; it's lovable and yet awful protagonists; the mingling of cosiness and horror; and the deft worldbuilding and romance. What a triumph. I'll be buying a physical copy and hoping for many more books by the author to come.

Emily Wilde is a respected professor of fairy lore, a meticulous cataloger of the ways and tales of the Folk, but so far the much-desired position of tenure-ship continues to elude her. To obtain this she's embarked on a mammoth project - an Encyclopaedia of Fairies, which will collate all the information held on them, their world, and their interactions with humans. One last section is needed - a study of the previously unrecorded fairies of the northern island of Ljosland - so accompanied only by Shadow, her faithful dog, Emily heads off on an adventure which will change her life.
Her approach on her previous field trips has been one of professional, detached interest, more attuned to the nuances of associating with the Fae Folk than the local villagers or her colleagues. She expects this project to be no different, but there are surprises in store for her - dangers, friendship, and marriage proposals from not one but two fairy kings!
Overall it's a light but enchanting story, with a backdrop of cold, snowy beauty contrasting with warm, cozy interiors, and perilous encounters with the Folk to give it a little 'edge'.
Emily is one of those heroines - socially awkward, unintentionally rude, determined to keep even those who would help her at arms' length - that you'll either take to instantly, or not get along with at all. Reading between the lines of her field notes, and seeing the real Emily beneath that clumsy exterior, I was definitely on her side. Her colleague, Wendell Bambleby, who turns up uninvited, is the opposite - charming, handsome, making friends wherever he goes, just somehow too perfect - and actually I could see why he would irritate after a while. They don't seem like a well-matched pair but under her gruffness, it's obvious that Emily cares for him more than she'd like to admit.
I'm delighted to see that there are plans for further Emily Wilde stories, and I'll be looking out for them.

4.5 stars - Okay. I did not expect to enjoy this so much.

Honestly, I was expecting a shallow fantasy romance akin to The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, which I also enjoyed (don't get me wrong) but it just didn't grip me. It didn't make think, and it didn't really go very deep at all. This one, though? This went much deeper as I thought it would, and I loved it.

First of all, Emily is a perfect main character. I generally don't enjoy those clumsy type of characters (oh no my hair is in such an awfully embarassing yet perfect messy bun and I never wear make-up and my sweaters are always oversized because I'm so skinny - you know the ones) and I originally feared Emily would fall into this category, but no. While she is a bit clumsy and her hair is always messy, she's just really ino academia. She just really likes writing papers and doing research. She's passionate as hell about her field of studies. She's so afraid to offend people that she does end up offending them with her politeness and desire to make herself seem likeable. She's real, she's well rounded, and I loved her so much.

Her love interest, Wendell Bambleby (whom I originally assumed to be some sort of Bilbo-Baggins-like figure because of his name and his apparent laziness in his academic research until he actually arrived on page and was described as being young and hot), was slightly less interesting. The fact that his secret faerie identity is revealed fairly early was actually a bit disappointing - I actually would have LOVED if he ended up being human, but Emily just thought he was faerie because he's such a weirdo. That would've been so funny. But alas, he is faerie, and a prince, at that, which I assume will lead to some future plotline about Emily and Wendell aspiring to retake his throne. Seems like a logical conclusion. I don't know how many books are planned to be in this series, but this will happen, since it has already been set up and hinted towards. I just think he's a bit too ridiculous - as I said, when I first imagined him, I thought a bit of an old hobbit creature, and for some reason, I still can't get that image out of my head, so everytime his beauty is being described, I'm like "wait ... oh yeah, I forgot he's hot."

As for what really charmed me was the love and care the author took to research and look into the folklore. It really felt real, and for some reason I always feel like faerie literature (look at that, it's almost a genre, now) is becoming strangely divorced from the very real beliefs that people used to have - and still do! Especially when you look at some of the ... okay, I was gonna say something negative about SJM again, and this is not the right place. But this book really pays homage and respect to legends and myths and beliefs from all around the world, especially Irish and Scandinavian. And that just ... I loved that so much. That made me so happy and thankful.

Also surprising was how dark this ended up being at some point there. Sure, Wendell provided comic relief basically every time he was on page (which I realize, now that I'm thinking about it, is pretty rare for the main love interest), but at times, for example when Emily is bespelled by the Fairie King to free him from his prison, it got pretty intense, and I was not expecting that. But, like, in a good way?

So, all in all: I liked this very much, a lot more than I thought I would. And I can't wait to read more.

This is an enchanting book with lots going on – but for me, the best part is Emily, herself. She is nearly always grumpy, self-absorbed, unquestionably paranoid about her academic colleagues and their willingness to steal her research, socially awkward, often arrogant and outright rude. And I loved her. Because as well as being all of the above, she is also courageous, tenacious, extremely good in a crisis – the more dangerous the better – and despite a lot of grumbling to the contrary, she also has a loathing of injustice and those who use their power to torment others just because they can. Which pretty much sums up a lot of the fairy aristocracy. Yet don’t go away with the idea that she’s on a mission to right any wrongs perpetrated by the fae against the hapless humans who happen to be in their way – as far as she’s concerned, she’s simply there to record what happens for her academic research.

Her voice pings off the page in the book that is mostly written in first person as her private journal, which powers and enlivens the narrative throughout. Of course, if there wasn’t also thumping good story with all sorts of twists, permeated by a wry humour, then I wouldn’t be gushing quite so embarrassingly about this tale. Because I also loved the villagers of Hrafnsvik who are living right on the edge of survival and clearly more than a bit flummoxed by Emily, especially when she first turns up.

In amongst an unspooling adventure about a truly dangerous power struggle within fairy society, there is a comedy of manners where a clash of cultures leads to several misunderstandings and a very slow-burn romance that manages to be amusing at the expense of both smitten and is perfectly paced so that it never gets in the way of the main narrative. I loved Emily’s academic attitude to magic and fairies – and the humour inherent in pulling apart the mystical and unexplainable. Though it cannot be denied that Emily’s expertise comes in handy on a number of occasions. All in all, this is a very clever book that put me in mind of the wonderful series, The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan – and I’m delighted to see that Fawcett plans to write more books featuring Emily – yay! While I obtained an audiobook arc of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

I absolutely loved this book and think this will definitely be finding itself among my favourites!

The book is formatted as excerpts from the journal of the titular Emily Wilde, a thirty year old academic who has dedicated her adult life to the study of the fae. Journeying to Ljosland, a small Scandinavian nation with close but unstudied ties to the fae, she aims to gather the final pieces needed for a paper she hopes will see her taken more seriously in her field, but naturally, she finds much more among the villagers and her colleague, Bambleby.

Overall I found this book incredibly strong, in particular as I enjoyed the formatting and the story being told through journal entries. Emily is also a great protagonist, and we learn a lot about her inner monologue through the nature of the writing, which makes her easily understood and sympathetic to the reader. I love her determination to gain knowledge above all else, and how easily her intelligence is highlighted, but also enjoyed the arc she experiences as she learns to let others in and becomes (slightly) more comfortable with human interaction.

The plot in itself is fun but relatively simple, which I think works well and was very entertaining, while still having its moments of mystery and tension. I can't not praise all of the fae creatures and lore I've learned about through the book, and the addition of the footnotes was very fun. Poe, a fae who takes a shine to Emily, was especially cute and I enjoyed their interactions.

The only downside I have to this book is Wendell Bambleby and his relationship with Emily as a whole. Wendell is aloof, lazy and contrary, much to Emily's chagrin, and the two have a strained relationship, mostly on Emily's side as she grapples with her dislike of him over her need to work with him to finish their paper. I've seen Bambleby compared to Howl, but I think that does a disservice to Howl. I found him and Emily's relationship very underdeveloped, and disliked most of their interactions, as he switches between negging and treating her as the most precious thing in the world, at a moments notice. As we spend most of the book with Emily's POV, her affections for him also seemed to come out of nowhere and felt very much like insta-love, given she expresses nothing but her disdain for him beforehand.

Despite this, I found their interactions easy enough to ignore or overlook and it did not spoil my enjoyment of the book, as it is very much not the main plot point. I would definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a cosy but mysterious fae story.

Fantastic story- couldn’t put it down! Probably one of my fav books of the year which probably tells you enough

Whimsical and witty, the writing is vivid in its evocations and effortlessly melds its academic style with the feel of fairy tales. Loved it.

From the outset this book is stunning. From the cover to each of the chapters being beautifully illustrated. I'm obsessed with anything whimsical so this jumped straight out to me.

The book is really descriptive so you can picture exactly what Emily finds along the way. There are some wonderful moments that really made me smile and are just so enchanting.

I really hope this book is part of a series as I would love to read more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is a charming tale that had me captivated from beginning to end. It is the enchanting story of the intrepid Emily Wilde, an expert on the study of faeries who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But as good as she is at researching the magical world of faeries, Emily is not very good when it comes to other people.

A quirky character who I couldn’t help but fall in love with, Emily has no intention of becoming friendly with the gruff townsfolk of Hrafnsvik or of spending time with handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby. But as Emily becomes ever closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones, she finds herself caught up in another mystery. Who is the dashing Wendell Bambleby? And what is is it that he really wants?

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Emily herself is a pure delight and I honestly couldn’t get enough of this wonderful character! Heather Fawcett’s writing is fantastic and her world building is second to none as she pulls the threads of the story together, the darkness and the light mixing together to create a multilayered tale that drew me in from the very first page and kept me completely enthralled throughout.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a breath of fresh air and is a book that I would highly recommend. Definitely one not to be missed! I loved it.

I enjoyed this book!

I’d say that overall, the synopsis might be a bit misleading, but you’ll still enjoy the book!

I can’t wait for my amazing Fairyloot edition to arrive.

Headline: cultural accuracy matters

This book is on semi-permanent hold. Why? Because the setting for this book is, I quote:

“an island situated off the wild seas off the Norwegian mainland”

and yet the author has used Icelandic alphabet (including letters that don’t exist in the Norwegian alphabet), Icelandic names and Icelandic naming conventions for second names. It's truly a shame this issue got all the way to publication?

I am a second generation Norwegian/English reader and have significant knowledge of the language. I have spent a fair amount of time in Iceland and have absorbed lots of their language rules and similarities.

I tried to keep reading but every single time (every page, pretty much) there was a name, a place and it drew me out of the book. I got as far as half way.

this was a very interesting book. i absolutely loved the journal style, especially because it gives us a unique perspective of the protagonist, something that we couldn’t achieve with a simple first pov narration. the synopsis is misleading, so i recommend to read the book without expecting the things that the summary suggests. the romance, for example. since emily is a very focused person, all about her research, the romance is barely there, even though wendell is an enjoyable character and you root for him, but she's not really interested in romance, or friendship (and their relationship is a very weird friendship), or even the people of the village she's studying. it takes actual effort, for her, to form actual relationship. also, the ending is a bit messy and fast, but i can justify that with the journal style and the fact the protagonist wasn’t really inn her right mind. Unreliable narration is always nice to read. at least for me.

Emily Wilde is a Cambridge professor who is on the hunt for faeries in a remote part of Norway and her considerable knowledge of faery lore is being added to her encyclopaedia which will, hopefully, be the definitive work about these elusive little beings. Emily's arrival at Hrafnsvik, with her canine companion, Shadow, gets off to a shaky start which is not helped by the unwanted arrival of her academic rival, Wendell Bambleby.

What then follows is a quirky story which encompasses myth, legend, folklore and fantasy, there's even a smattering of romance and does so in a lovely believable way so that even if you don't share Emily's fascination for faeries you are still quickly drawn into a totally magical world which is so cleverly portrayed. It's not at all about twinkly faeries and Emily has a few challenges as she searches and tries to gain the confidence of the faeries, known as the Hidden Ones who guard their secrets well. The author has a lovely way with words and brings an almost lyrical quality to the narrative which succeeds in bringing a sense of history, the story is set in 1909, along with the closeted atmosphere of a small and rather isolated community.

Magical fantasy is not usually my go to genre but I was attracted to the story firstly by the description of the book and its Norwegian setting which totally piqued my interest and secondly by the beauty of the book's cover which really is quite special. I haven't been disappointed and have thoroughly enjoyed travelling with Emily Wilde as she brings this quirky, magical world to life.

🍄 Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Enter the world of the hidden folk - and discover the most whimsical, enchanting and heart-warming tale you’ll read this year, starring the intrepid Emily Wilde . . .

As soon as I saw this book cover I was sold! Just look at it!! It did not disappoint.
Emily Wilde is a scholar and researcher for a very particular group of subjects, Emily Wilde discovers, investigates and documents faerie folk.
She arrives in the village of Hrafnsvvik, a village in the freezing snow, to investigate the Hidden Ones, a rare type of folk and one that locals are not willing to talk about.
Emily is not a people person and finds it difficult to get the villagers to help her, until her colleague appears. Wendell Bamblely can charm everyone and everything… apart from Emily! He charms the villagers and they start to learn more about the local folk lore.
Will Emily find what she is looking for?
How can Bambleby be so gloriously handsome and personable?
This book was everything I needed and more! The characters are beautifully written and full of life. Emily is an amazing person and I fell in love with her awkwardness instantly.
I could have read about Emily discovering folk forever, however the book does continue to give us more and more, Emily encounters danger, will she manage to escape herself or will she get help from the people she didn’t know cared? You’ll have to read to find out!
I am longing for the next book in the series and can’t wait to spend more time with Emily and Wendell.

Thank you to orbitbooks for my gifted copy.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is out now and I highly recommend it!!

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

WOW, I had so high hopes for this book when I saw a long time ago that it would be released. And I was so happy to get a copy from Netgalley. Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit.

Emily Wild has come to the town of Hrafnsvik to finish her Encyclopaedia. She is a Cambridge professor who studies faeries. We will follow Emily in her search of the Hidden Ones, the faeries that are almost impossible to find. We are reading her journal entries of her discoveries in Hrafnsvik. One day her colleague Wendel Bambleby turns up. I did not like him at first because he seemed quite arrogant and annoying but the more we got to know about him, the more I loved him.

We follow Emily and Wendel in their search of the faeries, their interactions with the townsfolk and how they get a little too close to the faeries.

I loved this book, I loved everything about it. I loved Emily Wild and Wendel Bambleby and I loved all the townsfolk. It is such a cozy, whimsical story and the best part is that there is more to come.

Although I got this book as an ARC I will buy a print version to keep in my bookshelf. This one is definitely going to be in my top ten of 2023.