Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

4 reviews

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Torture

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. The autistic representation in the main character, Emily Wilde, is really well done. It does not feel clunky or heavy handed or like a caricature. The character is also more than just her autistic traits. I also thought the world building in this book was really well done. The fae and their magic system were compelling while feeling familiar. The exposition fit into the story naturally. Wendell Bambleby is more Emily’s academic nuisance than academic rival. There were things brought up like

his fraudulent research

which seemed like a big deal, but weren’t really explored beyond being mentioned. Although, I suspect those things may be explored more in future books. Overall, this story weaves together romance, community, adventure, and folklore in a way that is fun and interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Medical content, Gore, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, and Child abuse

nelldiaz's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Kidnapping

Moderate: Medical content and Violence

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.