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.

✨ this is exactly what I want out of my cozy reads!

I can't believe it took me so long to get to it because I adored every second of the audiobook (which was superb, btw). The vibes were immaculate, and I loved the way the faerie were incorporated into the story, as well as the journal style of writing.

Most of all, I adored the characters. Emily is a no-nonsense scholar whose main priority is her research. She is a little awkward and secluded. She has no time to mingle with others, girl is here to get her work done and that's that. We see her grow throughout the story into someone who starts to see those on her journey as friends.

Wendell though. Wendell was the star of the show for me. He is exactly the type of a character that I adore. He can be a jerk, but at least a hilarious one. He reminded me of book!Howl from Howl's Moving Castle and that's a huge compliment. Let's not forget about Shadow! Our good, lil pup.

Normally I do not like comparing books because I don't want people to go in with the wrong expectations but I think that if you love HMC or The Regency Faerie books by Olivia Atwater, there's a high chance you'll enjoy Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries! (And if not, please don't blame me 😭).

Emily Wilde is a perfect cozy winter read, and I hope that if you do try it, you will love it as much as I did 🍄

This was my May read for the Sword and Laser podcast (yes, slightly behind the ball with this one). The title sets you up correctly for the vibes of this book - set in Victorian times, in a world extremely similar to our own except that fairies are real. Our protagonist is an academic who studies fairies and has traveled to a foreign country (that seems extremely similar to Iceland) to do field work. The fairies here are not of the Disney-princess variety, but rather the more meddlesome/sometimes scary fae or Folk of say...the Dresden files? Or the Invisible Library series. Which is to say, her field work involves some risk/adventure.

I very much enjoyed this book and its cottage/cozy sensibility. Our heroine definitely reads as neurodivergent, and while I appreciate the representation some of the social awkwardness is a bit difficult to read. It also makes her relationship with her friend/fellow researcher a bit confusing at times. Outside of that minor nit-pick I really have no complaints. This was a delightful and fun read and I will try to read more!

I was (more so) a fan of A Natural History of Dragons so I mostly enjoyed this, though it's not worth the hype it's getting. Love the whimsical, eerie nature of the faeries, Emily's occasionally a vibe and Bambley made me picture a friendlier Astarion. 

It does have its issues though. The “slow burn” rivals to lovers romance is basically nonexistent so when the declaration of love happens it feels really jarring. 

I'm conflicted with people claiming Emily is autistic-coded. As an ND person myself, I can def see that the author chose ND-ish traits and how people can relate to her... but I don't love the perpetuation that ND people are very unsympathetic to the plight of those around them. Tbh I read that more as a flaw in Emily's character because let's be real this book (and I assume the rest of the series) is light on the plot so they needed to give her SOMETHING of an arc. 

What little action there is is summarized in a perfunctory way, draining any tension from the scenes. 

The climax felt very, well anticlimactic unfortunately. 

A fine read if you're looking for something simple and chill. You definitely have to be in the mood for it though, otherwise it'll feel slow and dry.