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btg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Curmudgeonly, socially awkward academic must engage in Social Skills in order to convince a small town to talk to her about the faeries. She is aided on her quest by awesome animal sidekick and charismatic rival male academic, whom she coincidentally has a seething banter with.
The plot is quite engaging and really keeps you tied to the page for certain parts. It is a medium paced book, but that's to be expected with high concept urban fantasy -- overall I would consider the book to be exciting with an intriguing concept. If you are an academic who enjoys fantasy, wait no further and grab this book at your nearest opportunity -- dark fantasy academia was a genre I did not know I needed. Think of this book as an unholy blend of traditional fae lore meets Ali Hazelwood. Regarding the worldbuilding, I loved the focus on fae mythology and I find it to be impeccably done.
Emily is so fun as a character for me. As a fellow socially awkward academic, I identified strongly with her. Her arc was extremely heartwarming and I loved how her insatiable quest for knowledge was played with and explored.
Truthfully, my main problem with the book was Wendell. The character is well constructed with a coherent background, an intriguing concept (which would be a spoiler to mention), and interesting flaws. I also find him to be inconsistently likeable. As a woman in academia, his laziness (while supported by backstory) feels difficult to forgive. I like his banter with Emily and the protective turn his character takes, but felt that the relationship felt overly rushed and not well developed in the initial stages. I regularly wondered why Emily was so interested (and to be fair, she even wondered that herself). I may have enjoyed it better as a slower burn over several books.
Overall, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia is an excellent story for fans of community centered stories, dark academia, or urban fantasy. Fans of heterosexual enemies-to-lovers may enjoy the love story as a bonus, but I would not pick up this book on the love story alone if you typically don't enjoy the genre.
The plot is quite engaging and really keeps you tied to the page for certain parts. It is a medium paced book, but that's to be expected with high concept urban fantasy -- overall I would consider the book to be exciting with an intriguing concept. If you are an academic who enjoys fantasy, wait no further and grab this book at your nearest opportunity -- dark fantasy academia was a genre I did not know I needed. Think of this book as an unholy blend of traditional fae lore meets Ali Hazelwood. Regarding the worldbuilding, I loved the focus on fae mythology and I find it to be impeccably done.
Emily is so fun as a character for me. As a fellow socially awkward academic, I identified strongly with her. Her arc was extremely heartwarming and I loved how her insatiable quest for knowledge was played with and explored.
Truthfully, my main problem with the book was Wendell. The character is well constructed with a coherent background, an intriguing concept (which would be a spoiler to mention), and interesting flaws. I also find him to be inconsistently likeable. As a woman in academia, his laziness (while supported by backstory) feels difficult to forgive. I like his banter with Emily and the protective turn his character takes, but felt that the relationship felt overly rushed and not well developed in the initial stages. I regularly wondered why Emily was so interested (and to be fair, she even wondered that herself). I may have enjoyed it better as a slower burn over several books.
Overall, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia is an excellent story for fans of community centered stories, dark academia, or urban fantasy. Fans of heterosexual enemies-to-lovers may enjoy the love story as a bonus, but I would not pick up this book on the love story alone if you typically don't enjoy the genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol
crystalisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kayanoelle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such a good book! Very entertaining, I loved the characters so much! The world was very interesting, loved the academic-rivals-but-also-colleagues-and-besties-and-lovers(?)-trope.
Emily as a main character was SO relatable, she’s exactly like me, I fear:)
Emily as a main character was SO relatable, she’s exactly like me, I fear:)
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
flyinglark's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a solid read, combining faerie lore and academia. Emily is a relatable character, and she eventually warms up to the people of Hrafnsvik. She often risked her life for her research, which put me on edge. I appreciate the banter between Emily and Wendell and their grumpy/sunshine friendship.
I loved the whimsy of the book, and I wish I listened to this book in the winter with a hot chocolate instead of a hot summer day.
(Spoiler for the ending)The last arc was kind of weak. I understand it is a culmination of the effect Emily and Wendell had on helping the folks in Hrafnsvik, but the vibes were different? The speed running of romance between them was kind of out of the blue too? I’m not that eager to pick up the second book in the series.
POV: 1st Person (Journal, with an addendum from the second character)
I loved the whimsy of the book, and I wish I listened to this book in the winter with a hot chocolate instead of a hot summer day.
(Spoiler for the ending)
POV: 1st Person (Journal, with an addendum from the second character)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol
From the author's website: Physical violence, Amputation of a finger, Abduction/kidnapping, Suicide ideation (side character, implied), Amnesia/loss of self, Killing of an animal (off page, recounted)crocs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
spice : 1/5
humor : 3/5
emotional : 3/5
characters : 4/5
universe : 3/5
setting : 1.75/5
story : 4/5
humor : 3/5
emotional : 3/5
characters : 4/5
universe : 3/5
setting : 1.75/5
story : 4/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Infidelity, Slavery, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing and Hate crime
autumn33344's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol
fkshg8465's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I find myself very surprised for liking this book as much as I did. Usually, fairy stories are too violent for my liking, but this one, though it did have violence in it, was more charming than anything, and that had everything to do with our maybe neurodivergent lead protagonist. She was adorable, full of heart and courage, smart, outspoken, determined, and ethical. Also loved her dog Shadow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
whitne_ey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Alcohol
angorarabbit's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The tale of The Woodcutter and His Cat (34% of the way in) describes the murder of an animal and can be skipped. Female leaders and same sex relationships are normal and healthy.
Context: This was the fourth out of five books I wanted to read on the Kindle Series Pioneer achievement and one of two that I may continue the series with. I was quite concerned when the first character introduced was Shadow, checking the StoryGraph content warnings and Does the Dog Die give me the reassurance I needed to carry on.
The book is mainly the journal of the main character Emily with occasional tales and a few entries by Wendell. Emily is for the most part an engaging writer and keeps the story at a decent if not blazing pace. Emily herself is charming and Wendell is enchanting, it will be interesting to see how the two get on once they are back on home ground.
I read a few reviews commenting on how Wendell purposefully laughs at an autistic coded Emily that I would like to talk about. While Emily does see herself as socially inept, I’m not sure that counts as autistic or if she is just an introverted academic. In any case, I saw Wendell as not laughing at Emily but being remarkably understanding of her. If anything one could argue Emily is the cruel one, considering Wendell’s background.
I was afraid that this was going to be a enemies to friends romance, but instead it was a heartwarming story of people helping each other through some tough times. I also appreciated how the lead male character asked for help from mainly women and people whom, considering his background, may have seemed to him to be not worth asking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol
No dogs are hurt, see the review for other animal injuries. No sexual content, but relationships are discussed. Violence similar to Lord of the Rings except shorter and fewer, may be too much for younger readers.tashtasher's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol