litematcha's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Self harm and Alcohol
sarasreading's review
adventurous
hopeful
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? Yes
4.25
I'm glad I read this one. I really enjoyed it. The descriptions, atmosphere, stories within the story, all were captivating. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I couldn't put it down. And it seems like there's going to be at least one more, which I'm 100% going to read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Self harm
Moderate: Confinement
dragonaion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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 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.
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Classism, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Murder
There are scenes that may constitute "child abuse", but the character is not technically a child but a magical creature in the shape of a child, and the "sexual content" includes barely a kiss.littleflowerfairy'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? 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!!
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!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Blood, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and Cursing
atamano's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
wardenred's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-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? No
4.0
One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.
I think I expected more from this book, but I did enjoy what I got. There's such a strong sense of setting here, and it's precisely the kind of setting I love: a tiny community on the snow-covered edge of the world, surrounded by forests and mountains and frozen lakes, all of it touched with fairy magic. I enjoyed the way the fairy lore was handled: the academic approach to it, the relationship between the fairy magic/tradition and story tropes, and how close the fairies here are to what I expect from them based on folklore: fickle and cold-hearted and dangerously beautiful. The second half of the book was particularly strong in terms of this.
I also very much liked the mixture of cozy fantasy and fairy folk horror, or at least the concept of it. In practice, the coziness part kind of kept falling short for me, probably because of the amount of friction between Emily and the villagers at the beginning. Sure, it wasn't unreasonable of them to expect her to learn a bit about their customs and traditions before coming to stay. At the same time, it also wasn't unreasonable to assume that maybe those customs are, you know, foreign for her, so why not spell everything out before taking offense without explaining the faux pas? Communication is good! Also, Emily is very clearly portrayed as neudorivergent and struggles with societal expectations even in a familiar setting. That is something I very much relate to and sympathize with, so it hurt to see her given the cold shoulder for not living up to a standard outside of her scope. Which is why, even once the bridges were mended, it was difficult for me to truly get into the cozy parts. I kind of kept a grudge. :D And then there's also the fact that I somehow expect cozy fantasy books to have kind characters, and Emily is smart and interesting and complex, but I wouldn't call her particularly kind.
From the summary and some of the reviews I've seen, I expected the romantic storyline to be more prominent. As it was, it wasn't exactly subtle and it's certainly present at the forefront of the story most of the time. Emily and Wendell have a lot of fun moments together; taken in isolation, they're great exampls of the kind of grumpy x sunshine dynamic I tend to enjoy in fiction. But I just can't see them moving from that into an actual relationship for some reason. Which, much like my definition of cozy fiction, is largely a personal taste/preference thing, of course.
What objectively made it a bit difficult to maintain immersion was the journal entries format. On one hand, I get why the author chose it for this story over a regular first person narration. It fits the story itself, and it also allowed for that one very fun chapter around the middle—you know which one, if you've read the book. On the other hand, the amount of dialogue and the abundance of moment that felt just like regular first person narration... well, like I said, immersion got tricky. The idea behind the format is good, but the execution could use more polish, I suppose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Kidnapping
danielle_isreading's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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? N/A
5.0
I loved this!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
chrisljm's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A lovely soft fantasy that felt so comforting and the perfect read for a snow-filled winter.
It's stemmed in a world we're used to, but with the addition of fae and magic, so while there is world building and new myths to be learned, it still feels familiar. I loved the setting, the adventure, the characters, as well as the hint of romance we got to see. This book was enchanting and I eagerly await the next book in the series.
It's stemmed in a world we're used to, but with the addition of fae and magic, so while there is world building and new myths to be learned, it still feels familiar. I loved the setting, the adventure, the characters, as well as the hint of romance we got to see.
Spoiler
I wasn't convinced about that romance at first, because Bambelby didn't arrive on the scene until well into the start of the story, and I wasn't certain that the romance was between him and Emily until well after that. But the more I learned about them and saw how they interacted with each other, the more I came to adore their relationship and how they contrast each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Death, Child abuse, Self harm, and Torture
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
krisalexcole's review
adventurous
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, and Self harm
shainalite's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a journal collection of Emily Wilde, a Cambridge professor when she visited Ljosland, Norway for her upcoming book research (there will be a couple of Wendell's (her colleague) entries in this journal.
I'm astonished how detailed this book describes the nature, the Folk they encountered, and how various the folklore's Emily's attached in her journal. I appreciate how author came up with the Ljosland foods which resulted nothing on Google (so, I assume they're fictional foods) and a bunch of references Emily mentioned in her journal related to the Folk study.
I love Emily's interactions with Wendell and Ljoslanders which are wholesome and sweet.
I recommend this book for everyone who wants to read a slow, cozy, wintery but has academic voice along its pages.
I'm astonished how detailed this book describes the nature, the Folk they encountered, and how various the folklore's Emily's attached in her journal. I appreciate how author came up with the Ljosland foods which resulted nothing on Google (so, I assume they're fictional foods) and a bunch of references Emily mentioned in her journal related to the Folk study.
I love Emily's interactions with Wendell and Ljoslanders which are wholesome and sweet.
I recommend this book for everyone who wants to read a slow, cozy, wintery but has academic voice along its pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
also there's a couple of scenes which people were under an enchantment and couldn't control their actions