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Rate: 4/5

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Medium: Audiobook

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Overview (No Spoilers):

If I’m completely honest covers very rarely catch my attention. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries immediately broke this convention when I first saw the gorgeous artwork and media campaign surrounding these advanced review copies. My curiosity piqued, I immediately added this title to my to be read list.

Faeries must be the fantasy flavor of the day as my last nine reads have all included some sort of fae character. It reminds me of a couple of years ago when everything was vampires. Each of these fae themed books does have some overlapping rules that are familiar at this point. Though usually some unique interpretation along with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries being no exception. 

Emily Wilde is determined to make a name for herself in the academic field, dominated by men, for her thorough and meticulous research regarding the fae. To finish her encyclopedia she ventures to the remote Ljosland to research the Winter King and the high fae who inhabit this area. Unfortunately for Emily, she is a stereotypical scholar who is antisocial to an extreme, quickly alienating herself from the locals, especially when it becomes apparent just how unprepared she is with the harsh winter conditions. Quickly, this story takes a turn when an unexpected colleague shows up on her doorstep, but is he there to help or to steal her hard earned research?

Fawcett creates such fun characters in Emily and especially Wendell, though the supporting cast is only minimally developed. Wendell is so much more likable than Emily with his easy charisma. Fawcett does a great job capturing Emily’s anxiety and social ineptitude, and the switch that flips when Emily shines is her seemingly effortless handling of the fae. This contrast in Emily truly highlights her mastery in a field that she has devoted herself to. Due to this expertise, Emily eventually finds herself in an alarming situation where she could quite possibly be in over her head. Of the minimal supporting cast there are two bright spots with Emily’s mysterious dog, Shadow and the brownie she befriends. While the two characters have minimal page allotment, both help to add humanity and depth to Emily stereotypical academic  demeanor. 

Overall, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries is an entertaining academic excursion out into the field where Emily finds herself crossing the line from remote bystander into a fairytale quagmire that threatens to detain her for more permanent observations.

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Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

• How did Emily get Shadow?
• What will happen with the Winter King?
• I loved that Wendell called Emily a ‘Dragon’. 
• Did any of Wendell’s other colleagues suspect he was fae?
• What happened to Wendell’s students that ran away?
• Will the Winter King ever come back to find Emily? 
• Will Emily run into the brownie she befriended again?
• Journal as a medium for telling the story was a bit anticlimactic because we knew her journal was written in the end so assuming she escaped.

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