cover Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries,” by Heather Fawcett. Copyright 2023, Del Rey (317 pages, $28.00).

cover of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.

Content Warning: Blood, Kidnapping.

One of my new favorite genres when it comes to what I read is “cozy-fantasy”, a category that is not very large, but is certainly growing with new titles every day. It’s a nice way to reset my reading pallet in a low-stakes kind of way. Similar to how cozy mysteries aren’t as high stakes as mysteries/thrillers, the same can be said for cozy-mysteries versus high fantasy novels.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a wonderful light romance, magical inspiring atmosphere, low-stakes adventure that dives into the realm of the Fae by way of Emily’s diary and scholarly notes. We don’t have chapters, but dates, as we follow Emily Wilde (a professor from Cambridge who studies the different legends and lore surrounding magical beings) as she explores the village of Hrafnsvik and the stories of the Hidden Folk. Emily loves her work and what she does but does not seem to have a handle on people and how to interact with them; have to befriend a Brownie – no problem, have to figure out how you offended a whole town without knowing that you did and then fixing it – practically impossible for Emily until her work colleague/rival, Wendell, swans right in to “help her” with her research.

As Emily’s research progresses, and Wendell stays by her side as an annoyance, she begins to question what Wendell’s true motives are for being in Hrafnsvik. She begins to questions Wendell’s true intentions for being a scholar alongside her in this field of Faeries. She even begins to question herself at one point and her need for her scholarly pursuit.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was a lovely read, like a day completely open from work and chores and a nice cup of tea on a cloudy day. Comforting, familiar, but full of possibilities.

Kayleigh Dyer is a Library Technical Processing Assistant at May Memorial Library. Contact her at kdyer@alamancelibraries.org.