Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I used to read a lot of fantasy but have moved toward contemporary fiction over the last fifteen to twenty years, so I didn’t know whether I would like this book. However, I was pleasantly surprised and I enjoyed it very much.

The main character is Emily Wilde, a professor of faerie folklore at Cambridge. She makes a trip to a small town far north of where she lives to study the local faeries. She is surprised to be joined by a fellow academic, Wendell Bambleby, and the story continues with them working together on this project.

The thing I liked most about the book was Emily’s internal monologue as various events unfolded. She is an autistic-coded character, so I could relate a lot to her thoughts and feelings about things. Bambleby’s character was harder to relate to, although that got easier as I learned more about him.

Highly recommend!