by Heather Fawcett
Del Rey, 2023. 317 pages. Science Fiction
In the early 1900s, a curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town to study faerie folklore, where she discovers dark Fae magic, friendship, and love. Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on dryadology, 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--much less get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog Shadow, and the Fair Folk to that of friends or lovers. So, when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hransvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: the dashing and insufferably handsome Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of her research, and utterly confound and frustrate Emily. 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? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.
This was a delightful and sometimes eerily scary read. Faeries are not to be messed with unless you know what you are doing. And such a person is Emily Wilde. The story is in first person with footnotes just like those in any field study; they are little gems of information that will help the reader understand the import of the study. I can’t help but switch into “Emily speak” in describing this book. She has such a strong voice and is incurably flawed and clueless while being exceptionally intelligent. The world building is compelling. The faeries and locales are lushly described and begin to feel almost lyrical, like the Fae magic is taking over the story. It is so much fun!
If you like Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, you might also like:
A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent
by Marie Brennan
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Isabella, Lady Trent, known as the world's preeminent dragon naturalist, writes her memoir detailing how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic dragon discoveries that would change the world forever.
A Discovery of Witchesby Deborah Harkness
Viking, 2011. 579 pages. Science Fiction
Witch and Yale historian Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted manuscript, attracting the attention of 1,500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont. The orphaned daughter of two powerful witches, Bishop prefers intellect, but relies on magic when her discovery of a palimpsest documenting the origin of supernatural species releases an assortment of undead who threaten, stalk, and harass her.
The Starless Seaby Erin Morgenstern
Doubleday, 2019. 498 pages. Science Fiction
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth ... Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a beautiful barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the rare book and in his own life.
