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

Really liked this one. A bit slow at the beginning, stayed mainly for the cozy vibes and the FMC's personality and dark humour. Started to pick up the pace around the 25% mark, but still remained a simple read, without major action scenes or complicated worldbuilding, which I enjoyed. I was kind of thrown off a bit by some gory details that showed up in random places, specially because the rest of the book was very "light" on that aspect. I wish the romance was a little more developed, Bambleby's actions

a.k.a. proposal

fell kind of flat. Definitely will be reading the second one.

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bxnny's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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chevelure's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious fast-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? No

5.0

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bloomingrose92's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the books I give 5 stars and a sparkle for being one of the books that will stick with me forever. I absolutely adore Emily. While she is not canonized as having autism in the book, due to her difficulty expressing her emotions and communicating with others, I often refer to her as "Our Autistic Queen".

I loved how closely the village becomes with her by the end, and how even when thinking of how they have become her family, she is still lost on what degree of physical affection she should give them when bidding farewell. And after she chops of her finger to avoid the enchantment of the winter fairy king, and then goes to him anyway because she just "has to know how the story ends", I found myself screaming "Emily!" at midnight alone in my house. (Talking to yourself at midnight at book is a sign of a very good book.) I also loved the development of Wendall throughout the book. When he was first introduced, I thought he was going to be a dry, doting scholar. But with the name-dropping of him being fae at the beginning of the book, to the characterization of his combination laziness and obsessive-compulsive cleaning and sewing disorder, I fell in love. His charm and Emily's wit make such a beautiful combination, and his proposal was the chef's kiss. I love how well they balance each other out, especially seen in the scenes when he helps her integrate with the village and when she forces him to do proper fieldwork. And while the footnotes were annoying to being with, I liked how they not only added to the validity of Emily's character, but also set up the second book.

All in all, one of the best books I've ever read. I will mourn this series when it is finished, but love it all the while as I wait for more.

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bcvogel90's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? Yes

4.0

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risten's review against another edition

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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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rileydobereading's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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teabrewer's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.0

I cherished the characters and their interactions and felt connected to all of them. I appreciate Emily as character. Her social inadequacy, obsession on certain subjects, dedication to objectivity and fear of rejection all felt truly relatable to me. I loved how the book reminded me of real life field journals I've read before. From the language used in them, to the little details in the footnotes, to her opinions on controversial topics in the scientific community, it just felt real. I can see how the writing style may not be for everyone but it is certainly for me.

I loved how she didn't even consider that insisting on paying for things could the reason why the villagers hated her, because neither did I and I've seen other, more socially skilled people catch on it immediately.

I did think the romantic side of their relationship was a little neglected, it does make sense from the narrator's perspective but it made me a little less on board for that development when it happened. This is not a a negative necessarily since it felt extremely on character for Emily to treat the situation a she did, as it was for Wendell to treat it as he did.

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