TL;DR: A heavily academic take on a fairytale, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is an interesting story about classifying faeries and written in journal entries.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily Wilde is a Cambridge professor visiting the northern village of Ljorsland to document a type of Faery called The Hidden Ones. She’s driven and focused on finishing her Encyclopedia of Faeries when her colleague, Wendell Bambleby, arrives on her doorstep to “help” her. Uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones leads to danger, both to herself, the town, and everyone around her.
I saw this book in the bookstore and just had to have it. The cover is gorgeous and the premise hooked me in. Who could refuse a story about an academic doing fieldwork about faeries? Not this girl. It is also written as a series of journal entries, and so I couldn’t get it fast enough. While I enjoyed the book, there is something in the main character that isn’t quite as satisfying as I’d like. For that and more, I gave it 4 stars.
The Plot
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde has traveled to the far north and a small fishing village to conduct a field study on a type of faery that no one else has – the Hidden Ones. With Emily’s unfortunate clumsiness, in her first day in the village, she manages to bring ire from the village townsfolk.
As she works hard on her academic treatise – The Encyclopaedia of Faeries – her progress is thwarted by the arrival of her colleague, Wendell Bambleby. He charms the villagers, but he also gets in the way of her research. As Emily uncovers not only the secrets of the village and the Hidden Ones, but also that of her colleague, she finds herself in a situation she never expected. Can she uncover the secrets, save the village children, and finish her book?
What I liked & liked less
Every time I tell people about this book, I have a problem. I like it. I think it’s well written, but… I can’t put my finger on the reason for that “but,” but I will try.
The world building is well done. The writer incorporates the backstory and how we came to be in a world with faeries in a way that doesn’t bog down the narrative. In fact, the earlier journal entries are well done, complete with academic theories and footnotes referencing other work. We also get a good sense of how Emily sees the world and how she approaches her work (she’s obsessed by it).
Emily’s character is consistent throughout the book, although there is a moment where I found her to be too consistent. There were times where a real person wouldn’t have acted the way she did, especially in one scene where her colleague was in danger. Her quirks, desire to be on her own, and her obsession with her work are good and fit with her actions. But… I don’t know that the depth that I like in my characters is present in hers.
Her colleague, Wendell, is annoying. He’s fussy, a whiner, wants everyone to do everything for him, and doesn’t really have much to redeem himself. Except he sees things in Emily she doesn’t, he knows how to charm anyone, and he made the cabin in which they stayed much more comfortable than Emily ever would. He softens her, which makes them a good foil for each other, since she doesn’t cater to his many demands like everyone else.
The story itself is a fairytale and includes other fairytales in it, which I liked. I also liked how Emily was the one to solve the problem, not because she’s superwoman, but by using those traits the author had already set up. So, it made sense and it fit with the book. I also liked the journal entries, especially in the beginning. There is one from Wendell’s POV, which I thought broke the immersion of her story and I wish the author found another way to tell that part of the tale.
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
If you like a faery story with a heavy academic viewpoint, journal entries disguised as chapters, an interesting world, and a light romance, you’ll like this book. I found the main protagonist to be too stuck in her ways to be believable and the secondary character of Wendell to be annoying. However, the story is well written, so my overall rating puts it at 4 stars.
About the Author
Heather Fawcett is the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling author of books for adults and children, including Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Even the Darkest Stars, Ember and the Ice Dragons, The School Between Winter and Fairyland, and more.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon.
This fills in the Mental Health square on my Fantasy Bingo 2022 card.