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A review by brjennings93
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
5.0
Despite the recent surge of New Adult books about hot men with wings and toxic personalities, I would like to remind everyone that faeries are not a new thing. They have existed in myths and legends for a long, long time, and many of the tropes and characteristics that we read about today are ripped right from said stories. And that’s okay. That’s the beauty of fantasy – being able to take a known concept and twist and mold it into something new, and knowing that someone out there is going to be 100% here for it. Personally, I’m a little tired of the oversexed faeries (excuse me, fae) finding love with beautiful, perfectly imperfect heroines. It’s just not my thing.
Enter Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series. I read the first book back in January and found myself absolutely delighted. Yes, it’s about faeries. But these are the faeries of my childhood. Maybe some of you also had Brian Froud’s Faeries on your bookshelf, and while its grotesque illustrations may have given you nightmares, you were fascinated. From Fawcett’s descriptions, I like to think that she too perused Froud’s book and found herself inspired. Her faeries are creatures of forest and shadow, of ice and snow, and while some maintain that standard of impossible beauty, many of them are hardly humanoid at all.
I was thrilled to return to the world of Emily Wilde in Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. It is everything a sequel should be. Now that Wendell has revealed to Emily his true identity as an exiled faerie king, our headstrong scholar is determined to see him back on his throne. The only problem is, he can’t find the door to return to his realm. Using Emily’s latest project, a map of the faerie realms, as an excuse, the duo head to the Austrian Alps to begin their search. This time, however, they are joined by Emily’s niece, Ariadne, and Farris Rose, a fellow scholar of dryadology at Cambridge.
The new cast of characters helped keep the story fresh, and the clashing personalities of Emily and Farris made for excellent banter that had me giggling more than once. And while many of the faeries we meet are entirely different from those of the first book, I was so happy to see one or two familiar faces (Poe, I’m looking at you). The plot is fast-paced, which I’m very grateful for as the diary-style narrative can be hit or miss for me. But Fawcett knows how to give just enough to keep her readers engaged without dragging things out. There’s romance, adventure, mystery, friendship…everything that makes for a wonderful tale wrapped up in one pretty package, and without the eye-rolling smut that seems so popular these days.
I’m so appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC, and I’m eager for the third installment!
Enter Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series. I read the first book back in January and found myself absolutely delighted. Yes, it’s about faeries. But these are the faeries of my childhood. Maybe some of you also had Brian Froud’s Faeries on your bookshelf, and while its grotesque illustrations may have given you nightmares, you were fascinated. From Fawcett’s descriptions, I like to think that she too perused Froud’s book and found herself inspired. Her faeries are creatures of forest and shadow, of ice and snow, and while some maintain that standard of impossible beauty, many of them are hardly humanoid at all.
I was thrilled to return to the world of Emily Wilde in Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. It is everything a sequel should be. Now that Wendell has revealed to Emily his true identity as an exiled faerie king, our headstrong scholar is determined to see him back on his throne. The only problem is, he can’t find the door to return to his realm. Using Emily’s latest project, a map of the faerie realms, as an excuse, the duo head to the Austrian Alps to begin their search. This time, however, they are joined by Emily’s niece, Ariadne, and Farris Rose, a fellow scholar of dryadology at Cambridge.
The new cast of characters helped keep the story fresh, and the clashing personalities of Emily and Farris made for excellent banter that had me giggling more than once. And while many of the faeries we meet are entirely different from those of the first book, I was so happy to see one or two familiar faces (Poe, I’m looking at you). The plot is fast-paced, which I’m very grateful for as the diary-style narrative can be hit or miss for me. But Fawcett knows how to give just enough to keep her readers engaged without dragging things out. There’s romance, adventure, mystery, friendship…everything that makes for a wonderful tale wrapped up in one pretty package, and without the eye-rolling smut that seems so popular these days.
I’m so appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC, and I’m eager for the third installment!