Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The Blurb

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

Intro

As someone who once prided herself on her serious fantasy knowledge and tastes I dismissed this book as silly when I first came across it in the bookshop. However, I was browsing Waterstones in the first week of my maternity leave back in April (before the sprog turned up obviously) and decided to give it a go. "Silly'' is not the correct word - "cosy" and "whimiscal" are much more apt. That said, I really enjoyed it (I think I am going through a bit of a "cosy" phase at the moment) and have already read the second book in the series.

What I Loved

Leaning in to the 'cosy fantasy' vibe

Do not read this book if you are in the market for epic fantasy, swords and sorcery, fast paced action. This book is best enjoyed with a hot beverage and a slice of cake or possibly some shortbread while snuggled under a knitted blanket. It is set in the early 1900s and follows Emily Wilde a Dryadologist professor and researcher at Cambridge. The book is written almost entirely from Emily's POV in the form of diary entries / field notes from her trip. Though there were some dark moments, especially in the latter part of the book, I was pretty sure that things were going to come right in the end and so it was a low stress read.

Our world plus faeries

I am a sucker for fantasy set in an alternate version of our world. Usually this manifests in urban fantasy type books, but it turns out I am just as keen when the setting in a fictional quaint snowy Norwegian village!

Emily

I liked Emily as a main charaacter, she was quick witted and sometimes a bit of an arsehole who blunders through social situations and inevitably makes things awkward. The diary enty style meant that you really get to know her, warts and all.

What fell flat

Sloooooow paced

Things took a while to get interesting, maybe that is usual for a low stakes cosy novel, but I prefer to get down to business asap when starting a new book or else I get bored. I did manage to wade through the inital slow paced chapters to get to the meat of the story and I m pleased I stick with it. I think one on the reasons I kept going was because I found the worldbuilding interesting - as mentioned above I am a sucker for real world / fantasy crossovers!

Romance

Now I don't mind a bit of romance in novels, but the issue I had here was that I don't think there was enough foreshadowing / set up. It just sort of happended part way through and took me by surprise. If I am going to be charitable, then I suppose that perhaps this was because it was all viewed from Emily's POV and perhaps she was oblivious / wasn't expecting it. Either way, I found it abit jarring.

Conclusion

This book is not going to set the world on fire, but if you fancy snuggling down with a heartwarming tale, then this book is for you. I've already read the second one and when then third is releaased I will definitly buy it and devour it along with a pack of biscuits and a pot of tea!