Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

This is a bit difficult to rate. I love the idea, the settings, and the vibes, but good lord I couldn't stand Emily Wilde as a main character. She's refreshing, they say. Has fun banters with her love interest, they say. What they didn't say is that the main characters come off as rude and ignorant, the plot moves at a snail's pace, there's a lot of telling and not showing, and also this book feels very dull and overwritten.

Like what sort of person would have an extended stay in a foreign country and do ZERO research on the local customs because “no interest”? That's a part of her personality, yes. But for someone who's labelled as smart and capable for the entire freaking book, I would expect her to have some common sense. Or common courtesy.

It feels like reading a 500-page book.

It's only around 300 pages long.

For a good part of the book, the story drags on as Emily goes around to “research” and makes very little progress at a time. Then when it does pick up, the cozy vibes get thrown out the window completely and it becomes like... any other faerie book with its faerie politics and drama. As far as the romance goes, I feel like Emily and Wendell are better off as platonic friends and academic rivals than lovers. They do have chemistry. Just not romantically. It just didn't hit for me.

The two stars are for Shadow, who is a very good boy, but I can't bring myself to rate this any higher. If you love the book though, good for you! Wish I could do the same.