Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett | 317 pages | 2023

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want?

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

What a fascinating book. I couldn't put it down. I'm not totally convinced about formatting the book like it's a scholarly journal, especially when we were suddenly reminded of the fact and therefore pulled out of the story a bit. Overall though, this book is so charming. Emily was adorably awkward. The villagers were delightful. Wendell was so much fun to read. Most of all, I'm a huge sucker for folklore and this is chock full of it, both stories that the author (I believe) invented and many that I've heard versions of before. It's a great fantasy series I'm excited to continue!