Welcome back to Back Shelf Saturdays, where I review backlist titles I didn’t get to read when they were first published. I do this (almost) every week to ensure I’m reading more than just newly released and forthcoming titles. For my purposes, a backlist title is at least one year past its release date.

This week’s title is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was nominated for the Libby Award for Best Romantasy last year. You’ll see it hyped SO much all over the blogospere and on booktube. It’s been on my TBR for a while now, so I was excited to finally make time for it over the past few weeks.

Amazon / Goodreads

Synopsis:

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.

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? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.

Review:

Listen, I’m not a fae fan. Every time I encounter unexpected fae in a book, it’s a huge turn-off. So why did I pick up a book I knew included both faeries and fae?? The hype. The hype got to me. But, in this case, the hype is absolutely justified.

Emily Wilde is one of the best women protagonists I’ve encountered. She’s brilliant and knows it. She’s very focused on her career and makes choices based on how the outcome will impact her academic standing. She really shouldn’t be so likable, but she is!

There’s so much I love about this novel. I adored the townspeople, the little faeries, the faerie stories, and, of course, Wendell Brambleby. Fawcett has made a fantasy book that feels like childhood fables come to life. The faerie stories feel real. This book doesn’t follow the typical formula for a Romantasy book, but that’s what makes it special. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a fantasy romance, but it’s also a fantasy adventure.

If you haven’t picked this series up yet, please give it a try! It’s completely delightful. I can’t wait to pick up the sequel.

Rating: 5/5 Stars