Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

9 reviews

risten's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

thefatgingerone's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, and Physical abuse

crownoflaurel's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Kidnapping

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Child abuse, Blood, and Body horror

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

like an animal cloak that melts in the heat, but reluctantly gives the wearer what they need

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.

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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.

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! It was a cozy historical fantasy- which is the perfect recipe. The book felt slow and meandering with no real plot throughout, only numerous subplots that all resolved rather quickly. Whenever I was reading, I was intrigued and couldn’t put it down. When I wasn’t reading, however, I didn’t feel a particular pull to pick it up. The variety of fae was fascinating and I kept thinking it might just be real. I loved the information Emily was able to glean as well as the unanswered questions. I loved Wendell too and appreciated their relationship. A really delightful book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Gore, Body horror, Alcohol, Grief, Murder, Death, and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Sexual content

kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition

I’m sorry, but this is the most boring book I’ve touched outside of mandatory reading for Uni.
I don’t care for the characters, I don’t care for the setting, the lore or the mystery, and most of all I don’t care for this lousy German translation. I expected a lot better from this book but alas here we are.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.5

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (hence Emily) was pretty much a delight from start to finish.

Set in the early years of the twentieth century, it follows the titular Emily, one of the foremost scholars in the study of faeries, rivalled only by her colleague, the infuriatingly handsome and charming Wendell Bambleby, who for all of his charisma Emily finds just the slightest bit uncanny.

Emily has just arrived in the tiny village of Hrafnsvik on the island of Ljosland (a fictional place which from the descriptions of the landscape and character names seems to be based on Iceland) from her native England, where she intends to research the lives of the island's faerie-folk for the world-first faerie encyclopedia, which is very near to completion.

She is also not a people person, preferring to spend her time either buried in paperwork or trampling through the countryside, making a study of the beings that look set to be her life's work. The village folk of Hrafnsvik do not know what to make of her and her - to them - odd behaviour.

Emily thinks her trip to Hrafnsvik will be like all the other field trips she has made - uneventful and productive. But she is soon to be proved wrong in the most spectacular, infuriating and heartwarming of ways.

Is it obvious how much I enjoyed this? Freya Marske, the author of A Marvellous Light, describes Emily thus:

...winter-sunshined, sharp-tongued and footnoted academia, full of field trips and grumpy romance.

I wholeheartedly agree with Marske that Emily is all of these things - and so much more. It's a grumpy romance between two opposite-minded but somehow compatible individuals (no, I won't tell you who, that would spoil), it's a well-thought-out fantasy of what faerie scholarship would look like if faeries actually existed and were studied, and most of all, it's the story of a young woman learning to accept love and friendship into her life.  Although it's never stated explicitly in the book - it would be an anachronism given the time period in which the novel is set - I, like others, believe Emily's behaviour and characteristics to be neurodivergent, though specifics are unclear.

What is clear is that reading about Emily's adventures was a great deal of fun for me, and I can't wait to see what she and Bambleby get up to in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Violence

Minor: War and Cursing

Some of the faerie folk act in ways that are cruel. Humans can be abducted/possessed/left as empty vessels, or a combination of the three.

Towards the end of the novel, Emily frees an ancient fairy king from a tree where he has been imprisoned, and he abducts and traps her (via magical enchantments) in his kingdom where he intends to take her as his bride, which he sees a "reward" to Emily for freeing him. His enchantments also affect Emily's perception of time and she experiences bouts of amnesia. She is eventually rescued by Bambleby and some of the Hrafnsvik villagers.