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

I flew through this book. It's an easy read. And yet here I am giving you a trigger warning:

TW: finger mutilation

Wtf, Fawcett, this was supposed to be a feel-good, whimsical book with low stakes! And the finger being violently and unexpectedly cut off was really not even necessary for the plot! It happened for the stupidest reason. Literally not much would have changed.

This leads me to another issue I had with this book: the protagonist is very mousy and bland. While I love an academic or scientist protagonist, Emily Wilde was honestly as bland as UK food. Fitting, as she is British. The love interest Bamleby was much more engaging. It doesn't help that we get the story from her journal entries, and she writes as blandly as you would expect for someone with the personality of a filing cabinet the size of a mouse. It's not like she's cute in her reactions, or even relatable or understandable; she's not weird enough, or autistic enough, or anything that justifies her as the protagonist. She shines the best when she's interacting with faeries, as it's her area of expertise, or well... until she also makes amateur decisions that put the entire village at risk.

Speaking of, she wins over the people pretty quickly from one chapter to the next for someone who managed to antagonize the entire village in the first hours after arriving to the island where she's set to do some research.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book (up until that traumatic amputation happened out of nowhere), I was also left warning much more from the romance. I was expecting either a little spice in the veins of [b:The Cruel Prince|26032825|The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574535986l/26032825._SY75_.jpg|45959123] - Folk of the Air trilogy, or more swoony, sweet romantic moments. And I got neither. While the banter between the main character and the love interest is really good, they didn't connect deeply enough for me. hey rarely talked about deeper topics, about themselves outside of what we already knew from the get-go; they rarely touched softly, or had heated interactions charged with sexual tension. Nothing.

Honestly, Bambleby was a much more engaging character. I wish we'd gotten the book from his perspective. I love his attitude, friendliness and that he's an excellent tailor. I was half expecting the love interest to be a local from the island, but the sorry we got for him was good as well. Though I can't help feeling like the setting for this story was very interchangeable, there was nothing about the setting being a cold Nordic island that truly affected me much. It could have been set in a tropical town too and it would have been pretty much the same story. So the setting wasn't that well integrated into the story.

The writing is pretty good, some of the scenes had really cool imagery (the frozen lake market, the old white cursed tree) but I wish it was far more atmospheric. It would have helped a lot to elevate this story. The story overall is engaging, fast-paced, but sprinkled with a lot of awkwardness.

I do love me a black shadow puppy. He was the best of the story. And the little forest ice faerie who loves a good fashionable cape is also precious.

I am half tempted to read the second book because of Bambleby, but I'm also thinking I would rather read something else.

Content Warnings

mattyroh07's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

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beccam22's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? No

5.0

If you have read and enjoyed half a soul I think you will enjoy this. Overall very cozy and a fun read.

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lucystolethesky'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
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ourhandsfull's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative 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

4.5

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries got off to a bit of a slow start, but by the end, it is a 4.5 star read for me, one of my top favorites of 2023. The prose is technical and wordy, fitting with the female main character’s on-spectrum personality. There is a great deal of world building. Before reading, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, I was largely unfamiliar with Fae lore. I gained a new realization that so many old children’s stories of magical creatures were actually about fairies, such as Rumpelstiltskin and The Snow Queen.

I want to address critiques from other reviewers that the romance is a little sudden or not well supported. I disagree. There were definitely hints from Wendell throughout, if a reader was paying attention. I absolutely had warning where it was going for him. Because he is a flawed romantic interest, Emily was appropriately reluctant and slow to follow with romantic reciprocation. The romance is not the primary plot of this book, and I think that is why many readers were caught offguard by it. This is a story about Emily, who happens to also have a burgeoning romance happening in her life at the time this other, more interesting story takes place.

The second half of the book moves faster, and we find Emily in high peril. This is not a strictly cozy fantasy. I find it important to note a content warning that one character intentionally cuts off their own finger. That part of the plot is brief but certainly intense. Despite that, this book is fascinating, charming and delightful.

I own a hardcover version and listened to the audiobook on Libby before writing this review. The narration is superb. Ell Potter keeps me completely immersed in the story with all of her various voices. She especially captures Emily’s unique personality so well. I can’t imagine a more perfect choice of narrator. Michael Dodds also gives us a first person voice to Wendell in one absolutely delightful and fun chapter. I rarely re-listen to audiobooks, but I know I will be listening to both of the Emily Wilde’s books several times, because the narrations are somehow so cozy and soothing, despite the stories containing a good deal of peril.

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