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Rate: 4.5/5

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Medium: Audiobook

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Overview (No Spoiler):

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a positively delightful sequel to a much loved first installment. So often the second book in a series sufferers from a slump as the story is used to bridge the third book. Fawcett instead weaves together a new adventure for our two adored academics that is fresh, detailed, and arguably a better story than the first.

The immediate cast is larger in book two with Emily’s young, enthusiastic niece tagging along as her assistant and the eccentric Dr. Ferris Rose getting caught up unexpectedly in an academic expedition that challenges so many of his preconceived notions. Specifically, those surrounding Emily and Wendell’s scientific integrity. While much of the focus is again on Emily and Wendell, Rose and Ariadne are welcome additions, though their characters could have been better fleshed out. Another deviation in Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is that the villagers are kept at a distance throughout this story, while in the first installment, we grew quite attached to many of the inhabitants of Hrafnsvik. 

Emily’s instincts again lead her to make new connections among the Fae and strengthen old bonds. Shadow continues to be a loyal companion, though there is an air of mortality for the old pup throughout this novel as we feel like we are on borrowed time with him.

There’s so much going on with this adventure that I can only imagine the intricate storyboard that Fawcett must have built to make this multifaceted tale come to life. Emily is seeking Wendell’s lost door, while the group is being pursued by assassins sent by his step mother. Along the way the two academics find bread crumbs or perhaps ribbons is a better descriptor pertaining to a long standing mystery surrounding two missing academics. As Emily sorts through her conflicted emotions and the stakes raise ever higher we see her taking risks that add an element of dread. It felt like at any moment her instincts would betray her and she would finally fall prey to the dangers of dealing with the Fae that have doomed so many before her. 

Overall, Emily’s Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is an enchanting read that will draw you effortlessly into a story filled with danger, discovery, and awkward academics.

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Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

• Is Wendell’s stepmother actually dead? 
• There has to be an out or way of demise for Wendell to take the throne. What is the lurking danger?
• I loved that Emily found Wendell’s kitty!
• What is the motivation of Wendell’s stepbrother? What is the backstory of his husband?
• How will Emily balance being with Wendell and traveling back to teach classes occasionally? What will happen to Ariadne?
• The random foot that Emily kept in her bag was relatively creepy. It reminded me of a movie from the early 2000s with a random detached hand wrecking havoc. I can’t remember its name now.
• Poe came back!! I love his little character. 
• How fitting that Eichorn and Dani De Grey are just as curmudgeonly as Emily and Rose.What happened to them after they emerged into the real world. 

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