A review by bibliophilecats
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 What I was looking for: I had my eye on Heather Fawcett’s books for quite some time because they all sound interesting and I heard nothing but praise for her middle grade books. 

What I liked: I really enjoyed Emily’s character and approach to life. I can quite sympathise with her scientific approach to everything. Even though it seemed so from the premise, I was happy that the plot did not revolve around scholarly rivalry but that Emily and Wendell were on (kind of) good terms from the start. The fairy lore was fascinating but darker than the cover and blurb make it out to be (the depiction of the fairy folk reminded me a lot of The Call by Paedar O’Guilín). 

What I did not like: Some descriptions did not work properly in the diary style, especially in Wendell’s chapters. To me, some passages did not sound like something a person would write down about themselves.
Sidenote: the footnotes did not work at all in the ebook. There was no chapter for them so if I had wanted to read them, I would constantly have had to first search for the footnote, then find my place in the main story again. I have seen other ebooks handle that better (some Terry Pratchett discworld novels for example). 

Fazit: I highly enjoyed reading the book, despite a few shortcomings. But I would not at all classify this as a cozy, low stakes fantasy romance. There is quite some violence in the story (physical and psychological) and the romance is not all that important (in comparison to what you would expect from a romance novel). 

Apparently, at least one more book will follow but you can also read it as a standalone. 

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