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adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Murder
Minor: Death
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let this entirely enchanting, slow burn, light academia fantasy whisk you away to an alt-Iceland full of warm-hearted villagers and cold-hearted Fae, changelings and buried kings—and one curmudgeonly professor conducting fieldwork on faerie lore and her charismatic dandy of an academic rival (who may or may not be a Fae in disguise and may or may not have feelings for her). Highly recommend this series-starter for fans of Naomi Novik & Katherine Arden!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is an interesting story that goes from the focus on faeries to the development of our main character.
The story of Emily starts of slow. She shows herself as a professional in her diary entries that we get to read. She tries to keep her distance from the people in the town. But as she is in a very remote area, without a lot of extra help, she does need the towns people to survive. When her academic rival appears she has to step up her game. And once she does get more interaction with the towns people she finds it is not so easy to turn her back on the problems the faeries cause them.
Like I said, the story is slow and the diaries start with an air of professionalism. But around the midway mark you can see a change in her entries. They become much more personal, infused with her emotions and it adds so much more dimension to the story.
The faeries really are the backdrop to out introduction of Emily. She is not someone who is much used to other people and isn't nessecarily good at charming people. She prefers to have her nose in a book with her trusted sideick, the dog Shadow, next to her. Interacting with other people is hard and not something she can prepare herself for so she prefers to avoid it.
When Wendell comes into the story she tries to project a form of rivals onto their relationship while it is clear from the beginning that Wendell really doesn't feel the same way. Back in Cambridge they have breakfast and lunch together. But keeping an air of a rivalry between them from her side means that she can keep him at a distance. For those pesky feelings he seems to call up whenever he is near. Plus she thinks he is actally a court faerie who is banished. That probably doesn't help.
And yet Emily has so much to give to others. She's smart, blunt, honest and does have her heart in the right place. As much as the book tries to say she is only out saving the day because of academics I don't think that is true at all.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia might have started out on faeries but it became much more about Emily Wilde.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Alcohol
self-amputation