Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

29 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-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

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indigo_fox's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

I could not put this book down! It was everything I wanted and more! The first couple chapters were kind of boring, I didn't think I would end up liking the book. But once it got past the set up things really took off.

The characters are absolutely lovable. I'm a huge fan of Wendell, seriously I'd do anything for him. His boisterous personality is just so fun and engaging, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page whenever he was in the scene. Wendell and Emily have excellent chemistry, their bantering is so much fun to read. The dialog between them is great, I have a whole bunch of favorite parts marked.

There were times when Emily made me mad. Some of her decisions were a bit sketchy. But I still liked her as a character. She's mousey and intelligent, and I love how awkward she is in social situations.

The story itself was fun. I love all things fey so getting to read a story about someone studying the folk was the best thing ever. It was fun following Emily as she unraveled the mysterious surrounding the folk of Ljosland. I found the side characters to be enjoyable too. Ari, Poe, Aud and Thora were some of my faves.

The changeling Ari will always have a special place in my heart (I play a changeling in d&d). I wish I could remember his true name but I didn't write it down before returning my library copy!

The world building is great. Fawcett did a great job of twisting lore into her story. I loved all the little stories that were sprinkled throughout the text, and the little at the end of each chapter. I feel like these two things helped to flesh out the world.

The folk in the book were great too. We got to see various sides from whimsical and fun to dark and dangerous.

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meremeth's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

Such a wonderful comfort read. Absolutely fell in love with the characters. Good, but not overly complicated world building, and loveable, fully fleshed out side characters.

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trollmila's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

found the ending a little disappointing in that it was set up to be this big difference but ended up being kinda the same thing? Different enough technically yes, but for me as a reader felt very similar to the og rescue plan.

I
Ultimately really liked it and will be picking up the sequel on payday!

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reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

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funny 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

4.25

I gave this a 3-star rating the first time I read this book (on another edition), but my expectations were exceeded while rereading this in preparation for reading the sequel. There is something so relaxing and comforting about the way this book is written. It's very re-readable. I'm glad to have added this to my collection of owned books.

Wendell feels like a combination of Astarion from BG3 and Howl from Howl's Moving Castle (the book) in personality. He's a silly, lazy pretty boy, but also so much more than that beyond the surface. He's so fun to read, expecially in combination with Emily's more serious nature. Poe is also a favorite of mine.

A possible downside to Fawcett's writing style here is that there are not a lot of high-intensity suspenseful moments, but I actually experienced this as a good thing for the most part. Sometimes you want something more chill, and this is perfect for that. This effect I think is the result of a combination of factors including: Fawcett's writing voice, the narrator's somewhat detatched, scholarly personality, and the journal setup (which always implies a safe outcome for the protagonist and means that readers don't experience the events in the moment but after the fact with reflection). All this is not to say that the book is boring at all, it's just a different style and perspective that suits a certain reading mood but may not be everyone's cup of tea.

My only true criticism is that I prefer

changelings to be portrayed in a more positive, empathetic light than is done here. Changelings are such an interesting piece of folklore and I love to see them in fiction, but I want to see the typical trope subverted.

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thefatgingerone's review against another edition

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I wanted to love the book but the scene of torturing a changeling child really disturbed me. So much of the language used is similar to language that used to be used about disabled children and it’s clearly a metaphor for disabled children but the actions towards the child are disgusting and disturbing. The fact that the protagonist is never called out or faces repercussions for her actions was so upsetting to me. Ruined what would have been a lovely story.

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