Lest you think me a newcomer to foreign fieldwork, let me assure you this is not the case. I spent a period of months in a part of Provence so rural that the villagers had never seen a camera, studying a river-­dwelling species of Folk, les lutins des rivières. And before that there was a lengthy sojourn in the forests of the Apennines with some deer-­faced fate and half a year in the Croatian wilderness as an assistant to a professor who spent his career analysing the music of mountain Folk. But in each case, I had known what I was getting into, and had a student or two to take care of logistics. A book so vividly, endlessly enchanting . . . It pushed the real world aside in the way of all truly great fantasy novels, and I’m jealous of everyone who gets to read it for the first time.” —Melissa Albert, The New York Times bestselling author of the Hazel Wood series He said it as if it were obvious. I snorted again, assuming he was teasing me. "Over the company of a tavern filled with a rapt and grateful audience? I'm sure you do." I gave this book a fair chance and tried to like it, but I have to live my truth. The premise was misleading, the writing was pretentious, and the main character is quite unlikable.

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series. The story has appealing characters who are detailed out really well. Emily might be tough for some to like, but her introverted nature and her passion for organising and planning her work list made me feel rather close to her. Wendell is beyond description – he starts off as a self-obsessed snoot but his character starts peeling off its layers quite interestingly as the story progresses. Many of the village folk, while in small roles, have equally interesting character arcs. Can’t forget Emily’s pet canine Shadow – he’s adorable!No." I don't know how I made myself speak. I have seen Wendell angry before, but this was something that seemed to surge through him like lightning, threatening to burn everything in its path.

Clear Your Shelves, Here Are 10 New Books Making Their Debut in May What is Heather Fawcett’s cosy fantasy about? Image: Goodreads/Isabella Noyes The romance is non-existent. My expectations were less, given Emily’s character, but I couldn’t get even the minimum. Going into the book for romance will be disappointing. I hope there will be some in the sequel. ( And copying a GR friend… no love triangles, please! *shudder*) But the side characters, including Emily’s dog, Shadow, won’t let you get caught up in the two main characters. Mostly fleshed out, the village folk of Ljosland each play their own fateful roles and will slowly enrapture you just like the beautiful wintry setting that the novel takes place in. Emily is not a 'people person,' to say the least, and her relations with the village people have taken a turn for the worse when her charming colleague Wendell Bambleby arrives. Wendell wants to collaborate with Emily. He could definitely help her career but is also a bit lazy and too charismatic for her, so Emily is constantly in conflict with her new roommate. It's obvious that she's in denial about her feelings for him as she watches a parade of Scandinavian beauties hover around him. While some of you may recognise Heather Fawcett from her previous young adult books, such as Even The Darkest Stars, this is the author’s first foray into adult fiction. Her latest novel is about an introverted scholar, the eponymous Emily Wilde, whose dream is to compile the world’s first encyclopaedia on faeries. While she’s an expert in her own right, she struggles with recognition since her dear friend and academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, constantly steals the show.A charmingly whimsical delight. . . Five dazzling, gladdening stars’ India Holton, author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Shall I make an appointment?" he said, then laughed. "Yes, I believe you would like that. Well, name the time when it would be convenient for you to receive a declaration of love." This was such an enjoyable reading experience and it has a cute story to it. This is not a standalone so it does end with more left to come, but the main story in this book is finished for the most part, so there is some closure.

Note: While reading this book with Rebecca, we had a couple of conversations about whether Emily is supposed to be written as neurodivergent. Neither of us believe she is because there was no author’s note or mention of this representation throughout the book or its premise. I sincerely hope that Emily's cold and narrow-minded character was not meant to represent a community of diverse individuals because this representation would have been more harmful than helpful. I consider her to be a neurotypical woman who needed better character development and growth. It was then, as I stared at the empty hearth, hungry and cold, that I began to wonder if I would die here. A book so vividly, endlessly enchanting, so crisply assured, so rich and complete and wise and far-reaching in its worldbuilding that you'll walk away half ensorcelled, sure Fawcett found Emily Wilde's journal in some sea-stained trunk' Melissa AlbertI froze, realizing that he was about to kiss me only a second after I knew I was going to kiss him. I leaned forward, but he put a hand on the side of my face, very gently, his fingers brushing the edge of my hair. A little shiver went through me. His thumb was by the corner of my mouth, and it made me think of the time when I had touched him there, when I'd thought he was dying from loss of blood. For a heartbeat, all the other moments we'd shared faded away, leaving behind only the small handful of times we'd been close like this, connected somehow like a bright constellation. He brushed his lips against my cheek, and I felt the warmth sink all the way to my bones, chasing out the ice of the snow king's court. Enchanting in every sense of the word. . . This book is real magic' H. G. Parry, author of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep This novel was enchanting with its playful take on Edwardian academia. Emily Wilde peppers her journal with scholarly footnotes on the field of dryadology. It feels as though Heather Fawcett had great fun writing this faerie romp. I certainly enjoyed reading it. Forget dark academia: give me instead this kind of winter-sunshined, sharp-tongued and footnoted academia, full of field trips and grumpy romance' Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

trigger + content warnings: mention of loss of a loved one in past, mention of suicide very briefly twice, talk of kidnapping + actual kidnapping, violence, blood, gore, vomit, animal violence + death, child abandonment, spider mentionsEmily is used to field work, so she's not put off at all by the stark, isolated village life. However, she wasn't aware that it would be so rustic that she would need to chop her own wood to keep warm.