Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: the Sunday Times Bestseller

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Yes, sometimes the annotations (made to feel just like an academic journal) felt a bit too lengthy at times.

It also means that Emily can never be annoyed at him for very long either – which is obviously exasperating for someone with her curmudgeonly nature. Obviously after that scene, I did start to get a bit more invested, mainly because Emily started thinking about it as well as when we get Bambleby’s POV… I adored that chapter btw. However Emily does care about people in her own way and she makes a lot of steps to help some of the locals that have been negatively impacted by interactions with the fae.first read of 2024 and while this was great 3/4 in, the climax for this felt so unfinished i felt like it didn't end properly? It's also narrated as a diary, which I like, but it always makes me wonder how a person could possibly remember their day-to-day in such detail. Don’t be put off by the romance though because it plays an incredibly small part in the overall story.

As they're settling in, Emily receives a letter from one of her Cambridge colleagues, Wendell Bambleby, that he's planning to join her. The joy of this is the more I read, the more clear it becomes why Wendell spends so much time around Emily. Her only redeeming quality is her love for her dog and I can respect her tenacity as an academic but other than that she is just an awful human being.All in all, I really enjoyed Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, and I’ll most definitely be picking up the next story to see what’s next for Emily, Wendell and Shadow!

I got a fantastic feel for the place, the people and the fae and it all flowed so well with an easy pacing that made it impossible to stop reading. Edit: I've spoken with someone else who DNFd the book for this exact reason so I'm glad to see I'm not alone in this. Like, there are a lot of cozy vibes and moments and settings (omg did i love the market too) in this, but, again, there are a lot of darker themes and the story takes showing the dark faery side of things!They're friends (while Emily is frequently irked by his presence, she still considers Wendell to be her only friend). But for all her academic achievements, Emily has never been good at people, preferring the company of her dog, Shadow, and the strange Fair Folk to other humans. Something about this book reminded me of the feel of A Discovery of Witches which coming from me is very much not a compliment. Academic grumps they may be, but these two have a friendship that makes me wish for someone that would battle faerie assassins for me.

There is a romance – and not only does it not overwhelm the plot (which could be laid at Emily’s door as she is absolutely determined not to see Wendell in that light at all) but it’s delightful to read. Enchanting in every sense of the word, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a delight of snow laden forests and changelings, folklore and fairy kings, meticulous footnotes and academic rivalry and adventure. I loved the cosy village scenes, and the discovery of new fairies, and the pauses for Wendell shenanigans and the adventurous twist at the end.Further compounding Emily’s frustration is the arrival of her charismatic colleague and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby. And even when she notices that she’s offended someone, someone she needs on her side to get her work done, she doesn’t ask what it is she’s done, not even the friendly young boy who seems to think she’s great for reasons unclear to me.