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A review by onthesamepage
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
If you were to ask the characters in this book if this was a romance, Emily would vehemently deny it, while Wendell would insist it was, and proceed to list every grand romantic gesture he has made throughout the story, embellishing all the way.
Personally, I wouldn't call this a fantasy romance. While I really enjoyed the relationship between Emily and Wendell, and the way it grows and develops, there wasn't enough focus on it to make the romance more than a very solid and enjoyable B-plot. But the story is really about Emily, who is trying to document every type and species of faeries for her encyclopaedia, and the trouble she gets into along the way. Spoiler alert: there's plenty of it.
For one, Emily has trouble interacting with people. The book doesn't call her neurodivergent, but that is what she sounds like to me. She's honest to a fault, thinks her work is more interesting and important than friends, doesn't enjoy social interactions, and finds it difficult to understand emotions. But despite her own claims that every decision she makes is self-serving, I found that at odds with how she presents herself at times. She is definitely driven by scientific curiosity, but she also feels for the trouble the people of Ljosland face because of the faeries, even if she doesn't think she can help them. I really liked seeing the way the villagers react to her, and how that changes according to the choices she makes. I was completely invested in her journey to discover what is plaguing Ljosland, but also in her learning that people can and do care about her, and that maybe she doesn't have to do everything alone.
The introduction of Wendell added some extra light-heartedness and humor to the story. He's a nice balance to Emily's seriousness, and their interactions had me grinning more than once.
Personally, I wouldn't call this a fantasy romance. While I really enjoyed the relationship between Emily and Wendell, and the way it grows and develops, there wasn't enough focus on it to make the romance more than a very solid and enjoyable B-plot. But the story is really about Emily, who is trying to document every type and species of faeries for her encyclopaedia, and the trouble she gets into along the way. Spoiler alert: there's plenty of it.
For one, Emily has trouble interacting with people. The book doesn't call her neurodivergent, but that is what she sounds like to me. She's honest to a fault, thinks her work is more interesting and important than friends, doesn't enjoy social interactions, and finds it difficult to understand emotions. But despite her own claims that every decision she makes is self-serving, I found that at odds with how she presents herself at times. She is definitely driven by scientific curiosity, but she also feels for the trouble the people of Ljosland face because of the faeries, even if she doesn't think she can help them. I really liked seeing the way the villagers react to her, and how that changes according to the choices she makes. I was completely invested in her journey to discover what is plaguing Ljosland, but also in her learning that people can and do care about her, and that maybe she doesn't have to do everything alone.
The introduction of Wendell added some extra light-heartedness and humor to the story. He's a nice balance to Emily's seriousness, and their interactions had me grinning more than once.
"Oh," he said, his face blank.
"What is it?" I gripped his arm. "Wendell? What's wrong?"
"I don't—I feel most unwell."
He let me strip the cloak from him, and then he collapsed into the chair. Only after I had made him another mug of chocolate and built the fire up for him again did he start to laugh at me.
"Bastard," I said, which only made him laugh harder.
This book reads as light academia. There is a lot of focus on interacting with the faeries, and I really liked all of those parts. Emily's dealings with the folk, and the way she thinks through them, are interesting to read about, and really help to flesh out the magical part of the world. Not that it's all fun and games; there are a couple of gruesome moments here for those with an overactive imagination, which is fitting for a book about faeries.
The one nitpick I have is that the author named a fictional country Ljosland, when Ljosland is an actual village in Norway. My brain just didn't appreciate that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Kidnapping