Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

At first I was not taken by the "matter of fact" and neutral approach of the story. I thought the first two chapters were dry and simple, but I can attest that is the author writing the world through the eyes of the main character and is very apropos. By chapter three, I was smitten and devoured every page.
As a lover of fae of all kinds, I was tickled and delighted by the smoothness and almost natural involvement of the fae in the story. None of it was out of place (which is saying something, given the nature of some of the scenes) and it all blended and came into place perfectly. With such expressions of high fantasy, it is hard to mistake some parts

Spoiler

like an animal cloak that melts in the heat, but reluctantly gives the wearer what they need

as being absurd and not belonging, like suddenly seeing a majestic and shining pegasus in a normal field. This magic, however, was laced in so naturally that it naturally belonged and was wonderful.

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thedulcineaeffect's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

If this is your first time reading a book about fairies, you'll probably like it but there are definitely better books out there. That's not to say this book is bad, however.

Pros

The setting was really unexpected, but I really enjoyed it as someone who has spent several holidays in Norway. The author really captured the vibe of a small, insulated Scandinavian town that is distrusting to outsiders.
On a related note, I really liked Lilja and Margaret. They were a very sweet couple and I'm glad they survived
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being taken by fairies</spoilers>. Aud really grew on me as well.
This is definitely a "your mileage may vary" thing, but I liked the use of footnotes to discuss existing academic texts, their authors and their lives.

Cons

The pacing is a bit all over the place. I felt like it was a very slow start to actually get to the plot it wanted to tell, and then went at haphazard paces when it got there.
The romance felt really half-baked. Emily felt like she went from hating Wendell's guts to entertaining the idea she liked him very suddenly. This isn't to say I don't like slow burn romances, but I think Emily and Wendell lack the chemistry to pull it off. I'm sure this will get fixed in the next book but I'm not particularly itching to read it.
I don't really understand what possessed Emily to
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chop down the magic tree and free the king. Especially when all signs pointed it to being a very bad idea and she just went "how about I do it anyway?". I think if Emily and Wendell argued over the merits of doing so, with Emily speculating that maybe freeing the king would stop the children from being spoiled, it would have made more sense.

Amusing tangents

As someone with a queer identity, I always find it unintentionally funny when authors use the word "queer" to mean "strange" when describing abstract or inanimate objects. This book is no exception. Get ready for lots of unexpected queer things!
I'm definitely inclined to think Emily is autistic - intentionally or not.

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littleflowerfairy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm going to be honest; in my personal opinion, most popular fae fantasy books don't depict fae accurately. They're hardly ever like how they're depicted in folklore. People tend to just use the term 'fae' to as either a catch-all for any type of mythical creature, or the term for only a very specific, beautiful, human-like species. This may not bother most people, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but as a fae enthusiast frequently doing research for my own fae book, it really bothers me when 'fae' is used very loosely.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries does none of that. Heather Fawcett weaves a beautiful story that combines the typical mystery and mischief of fae, with her own twists and addition that make sense and really feel like something you'd read about in an old book about faerie lore! The way she describes the fae and how they interact with our world is incredible and makes for such beautiful imagery! Though I read this in the height of summer, I almost felt like I could step right into the wintery landscape.

Honestly it took me a bit to get really into the book, the first half felt a little slow, but by the second half I was thoroughly hooked!! I loved the characters, the atmosphere, and the feeling like I was reading through an old journal nearly lost to time. It was seriously such a cozy read to curl up with at the end of the day! I can't wait for the 2nd book!!

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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lighthearted

Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

the only reason that this got docked is my personal dislike of fairytales, which bogged me down a bit in the middle. The romance had me giggling.

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atamano's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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angievansprang's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was really fun! I definitely went into it thinking that it was more of a cozy fantasy, so I was surprised when it took a little more of the creepy faeries turn. I really enjoyed the dark academia/wintery vibes of this, and as a fellow scientist, I appreciated our neurotic professor FMC and the whole made-up field of “dryadology”. I will definitely be picking up the second book in this series when it comes out!

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laurel616's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Didn't realize when I picked this up that it wasn't a standalone, unfortunately. However, I did really enjoy this book. The townspeople were a highlight, and honestly I enjoyed the parts of the book not set in the Faerie realms the most enjoyable. Luckily, that is most of the book.

Personally, I loved the focused mindset of the heroine as an academic, and while I feel that dropped off a little towards the climax of the book, it didn't ruin it for me.

I am not a larger reader of fae-based books, so the mythology of this particular book both didn't bother me, and I didn't have much to compare it to.

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kirstym25's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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