A brilliant follow up to the debut novel in the Emily Wilde's series, full of mystical realism, fantasy and quirky humour

Heather Fawcett did it again and I fell in love with this story which is as good as the first in the series, maybe even better
Emily is back as impulsive, brash and enthusiastic as she was in the first novel. I love her as I love Wendell.
She's facing the political games of Cambridge and searching for a way to solve a riddle.
The mix of research, politcal games and personal problem creates a great mix and a very entertaining novel.
I can't have enough Emily and Wendell and hope to read soon more about them
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The writing was again told from the perspective of the main character, whose straightforward personality makes for an interesting and amusing read. I enjoyed reading about her adventures from her passionate scholar's point of view. I was gripped from the beginning right through to the end. There was constantly something happening and always impending danger of some sort that was exciting.

The chapters were dated so that you got an idea of timescale. When Emily was in Faerie the dates weren't as accurate which illustrated the difference between our world and theirs. The chapters were fairly long and split with 3 diamonds followed by a plant and a few bold words of the next section. It meant that you got a good chunk of the story before moving on. It was therefore easy to immerse yourself in the chapter.

I liked that Wendall had his say at the end of Emily's journal. It highlighted the unique style of the book that I have come to enjoy.

The characters were excellent. I loved the main character. Her personality made for an interesting read. The characters around her highlighted her unique take on things. I also liked that although she preferred working alone, the other characters still stood by her and they all worked together throughout the book.

Lastly the settings. I loved being in Austria and travelling round Faerie. The description of the characters' surroundings was well balanced with what was going on with the characters. It made for an excellent read and one that wasn't bogged down with unnecessary details.

Overall an enjoyable book. I recommend reading the series so far and I am looking forward to book 3!

The story:
Emily Wilde is a Professor of Dryadology — the study of the wide variety of faerie folk who inhabit the world alongside humans (not always peacefully!). Following her adventures in Ljosland and the publication of her celebrated encyclopaedia, Emily is the speaker of choice at any number of scholarly conferences.

But Emily has another project in mind — to uncover a door to a faerie kingdom in Ireland, via the Austrian mountains, and create a groundbreaking map of the Otherlands. But with murderous Folk, long-lost scholars and her own companions to deal with, Emily‘s skills will be tested as never before…

My thoughts:
Having very much enjoyed "Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries" at the beginning of last year (it was one of my 2023 Top 15!), I was excited to get the chance to read the next instalment in Heather Fawcett‘s series, and I’m pleased to say it did not disappoint!

Since we last saw her, Emily has received tenure and is a respected Professor in the Department of Dryadology at Cambridge University. Beginning on 14th November 1910, the book takes the form of a diary, with Emily documenting her quest to find a door into a faerie kingdom in Ireland (the reason for which is explained in the previous book, and which I won’t spoil here!). Her search leads her to the remote village of St Liesl in the Austrian mountains, the place where eccentric academic Danielle de Grey disappeared in 1861 searching, Emily believes, for a nexus — a faerie door that connects multiple places.

Along with her are her partner in crime from the previous book, Professor Wendell Bambleby; her disapproving head of department, Dr Farris Rose; and her eager-to-please niece Ariadne, who has appointed herself Emily‘s assistant, despite her aunt‘s reluctance. And as with the first book, this novel is punctuated by educational footnotes on the field of Dryadology, which I enjoyed very much!

I really love the character of Emily, and this is proving to be an extremely enjoyable and endearing series. The story both wraps up nicely and sets the plot in motion for Book 3. Perfect for fans of light academia, and already a strong contender for my top books of 2024!

Book Review:
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Published by Orbit Books UK, 18 Jan 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Synopsis:
Emily Wilde, a genius scholar of faerie folklore, has catalogued many secrets of the Hidden Folk in her encyclopaedia with her infuriatingly charming fellow scholar, Wendell Bambleby, by her side.

But Bambleby is also an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, in search of a door back to his realm.

By lucky happenstance, Emily's new project will take them on an adventure to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby's realm, and the key to freeing him from his family's dark plans.

But with new friendships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Review:
Utterly charming, fantastically whimsical and richly descriptive, this second tome in the Emily Wilde series was hard to put down.

The tale of perilous adventure in both the mortal and Faerie realms comes to life as the Folk and scenery are beautifully and savagely depicted.

Several characters have important roles alongside Emily and Wendell, and as each character is added, they fit like a puzzle piece to add the final touches to the whole story.

Although this is the second book in the series, it's not essential to read the first, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries, prior to reading this, as it can be read as a stand alone.

With a striking balance of menace and emotional scenes, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is a dark yet cozy fantasy. Author Heather Fawcett has confirmed that there will be a third book in the series.
*I received an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

#BookReview #EmilyWildesMapoftheOtherlands #NetGalley #HeatherFawcett #Bookstagram #LittleBrownBookGroupUK #LittleBrown

I think I actually enjoyed this more than the first book which I didn’t think was possible.

I think there was more world building in this so it felt more fleshed out. If you enjoyed the first book then I highly recommend picking this one up. Perfect vibes for this time of year.

I can’t wait to see what Heather Fawcett does next!

4.5⭐️

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

i MUCH preferred this to the first one, the stakes seemed higher, there were more characters to invest in and the setting was so fun

the hijinks at the start of the book in the college was very fun and the story felt quest like which i adore !!

releasing on the 18th jan

Thank you Netgalley and the Little Brown Book Group for an ARC of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands.
Firstly I want to say that I loved the first book in this series so much and I really wanted to love this one. So much so, I set aside a day to read it in one go. However I felt that this one fell a bit short and I found it a struggle to read in places.

While the world building is more fleshed out, I felt that the character development that Emily experienced in the first book was forgotten about. Also I did not feel the connection with the new characters like I did with the first book.

The start of the book is set in Cambridge and is really promising. It is filled with action and is quick paced however towards the middle I felt that the story was very much a repeat of the first book. Emily and Wendell rent a cottage, find a lost person, go out every day etc. There isn’t really anything new to the story. I was also gutted that the whole journey to find a door to Wendell’s realm was only a small part of the book.

Overall, it is a cosy read but I felt after the hype of the first book this sequel fell a bit short and I was left wanting more. Will I read the next book? More than likely, I still love Wendell and Emily and I do want to see the conclusion of their relationship.

Thank you Netgalley and the Little Brown Book Group for an ARC of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands.

We follow Emily and Wendell on another chaotic yet magical adventure with the help of friends. This book did not disappoint, as much as I loved Encyclopaedia of Faeries, this book had me hooked.
Emily and Wendell’s romance becomes more apparent throughout the book and I loved seeing it blossom. Emily’s relationship with side characters gave me a different perspective of her as in the first book she reminds the reader that she is not a people person, yet reading how her friendships grow, really gave me a personal connection to her.

Although I enjoyed this book, I would have liked most of Map of the Otherlands to have taken place in Faerie. That no way takes anything away from this book, I would have just liked to have seen more of this beautiful realm.

What I think Heather Fawcett does so well is she doesn’t create these Disney-esque faeries, I find that Fawcett’s are far more sinister in appearance and manner and I found myself wanting more encounters with these creatures!

Overall I throughly enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to see where Emily, Wendell, Shadow and Orga end up.

After absolutely adoring the first book, I was hesitant to read the second book. Especially when it comes to books that are very unique I find they don't always live up to the hype of the first book. However, I am extremely pleased to say that this isn't the case for this book!

After Wendell becomes ill from some mysterious Faerie curse/magic, Emily, Shadow, her niece and Professor Rose travel to a new town in order to investigate the mysterious 'nexus'. I found this book was incredibly well written and while the first book darts all over with various plot points this book really benefitted from having a single primary goal and objective.

Emily's dry sense of humour especially in regards to Wendell genuinely had me laughing out loud, and some of the romance in this book is genuinely swoon worthy.

I think another thing this book does well is by introducing new faerie creatures that feel unique. While we see some beloved characters from the first book, new characters emerge in this book that have unique motivations and actions that keeps the reader unsure of their motives.

All in all, I really enjoyed this and read the entire book in two days.
All opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for a copy of this book to review!

I loved this book even more than the first! The cosy fantasy vibes with hints of peril continued. I will say, this book is reasonably low stakes due to the format- Emily is writing in her journal so you kind of know she lives but often enough I get swept up anyway so the stakes were still present.

Emily is a super competent main character but is still highly flawed, making her interesting to read about. Her obstinacy and denial regarding Wendell was unbelievably frustrating at points yet somehow entertaining too. I loved the way Wendell and Emily’s relationship developed throughout the book, turning more and more romantic but they kept their banter and sniping at each other which I was glad about.

The plot at the start moves quite slowly but by around halfway through it picks up and the last part of the book is jam packed. This meant it took me a little bit of time to get into the book but once I was in, I was very much in.

Overall, it was a wonderful cosy fantasy read that I will definitely read again.

I enjoyed this more than the first part of the series, the world building felt more developed and I enjoyed the quest more. The relationship between W & E felt much more fleshed out and i likes seeing Emily interest with Ariadne!

I read this novel fairly slowly, and felt the chapters to be hard to get through at times, maybe it is the diary style writing?

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. I think it is a different take on the cosy, academic fantasy that is popular at the moment!

Emily is back adventuring, followinf the footsteps of long lost Dryadologist Danielle De Gray in the hopes of finding a nexus - a series of interconnecting doors between fairy worlds - but this time the sense of urgency is amped right up by a desperate need to find Wendel's fairy kingdom after his life is seriously threatened.

I gave the first novel 3.5 stars - It was a pleasant read but it didn't particularly excite me. I LOVED the sequel, however - I enjoyed the clumsiness of Emily's personality and her awkward but endearing relationship with Wendel.

The only thing stopping me giving this a 5 star read is that I felt the supporting characters lacked dimension - I cared only for Emily and Wendel (and dear old Shadow) but didnt have the same love for other characters like Rose or Ariadne

Thankyou to @netgalley and @orionbooks for letting me read an arc copy of @heather_fawcett amazing new book!

𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬

⟡

I really liked this, even more than the first! These books are just so enjoyable, they are for you if you want an amusing cozy mystery with fae

I think what really drives these books are the characters. The main characters, Emily and Wendell, are so loveable. I love the grumpy (cold?) professor x sunshine fae prince dynamic that they have and their banter is so entertaining. There was more romance this time which I was hoping for and it was lovely.
I find a lot of the time with characters like Emily, particularly female characters, they are forced to change along the way to be "better" but I loved that Emily is learning to explore her emotions without it being made to seem like there is something that needs fixing, I really appreciated this. Wendell is honestly delightful, he's a great love interest and his every tiny action toward Emily had me swooning. I love his journal entry's and getting the chance to see his perspective, an Irish man after my own Irish heart♥️
I was thinking when I finished book one that I would miss Poe so I was very happy to see him again and I loved the addition of the chaotic Snowbell! I would have enjoyed more interaction with the locals, I loved that in book one and I felt it was missing here even though I did like the new secondary characters.

While these books are very character driven, this one definitely has more action. I loved seeing the darker underbelly of the fae world and there was never a dull moment with their quests and discoveries. I did find the quest to find Danielle was a bit anticlimactic once it was resolved, it just sort of petered out.

I love the style of these books. The journal entries make it seem faster paced and the beautiful writing makes it so enjoyable. The pacing is perfect in my opinion, there were no irrelevant details but nothing is rushed either. I did find the footnotes a bit unnecessary and in the end a bit irritating, I stopped reading them eventually and I don't think it made much difference to my enjoyment or understanding.

These are really those type of stories that I would just read books and books of. They're the perfect balance of whimsical, romance and the darker elements of the fae, they remind me a lot of Studio Ghibli. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next! This had a great ending while also setting up perfectly for book 3!

Loooved this, enjoyed the light academia vibes and the depictions of faerie and ofc the love interest! A very light and fun read!

I adored the first book and was thrilled to receive the chance to read the sequel. Wendell and Emily were back with their banter, magic and adventure. While this is a standalone story reading the first will ground you into the universe.
It's magical, clever, immersive, full of memorial characters and action packed. Emily is intelligent and remained true to her antisocial nature. While I loved this book, there were times I lost concentration and the complex threads running through the plot.

🧚"wanted the chance. I wanted Faerie, its every secret and its every door."🧚


This was one of my most anticipated reads of the new year and thanks to netgalley and pinnacle I had the chance to read it in advance!

🧚I liked it much more than the first book because I found it smoother and more action-packed while keeping the same evocative style and a different purpose from our main characters. Sure ,there were some slower parts but they are part of the type of story and the author's style and honestly I didn't weigh them considering how captivated I was by the story and the setting of the Alps!

🧚Emily in this book has grown a lot :in fact where before she relied only on logic coming across as cold and gruff in this book she has learned to open up a bit more to others and be guided by feelings as well as logic. What about Wendell ? Basically he cracked me up every time he opened his mouth and I ended up loving him even more than before!

🧚The writing was delicate and evocative giving the book a chance to transport me to the cold Alps where stories and legends meet reality.

✨Needless to say, this book did not disappoint me at all confirming itself ( like the previous book) a perfect read to read under a blanket with a cup of tea in hand✨

This sequel is excellent as it keeps the elements that worked so well in the first book, but also developed the characters and kept the plot moving forward. I would highly recommend! Emily is an amazing character, I love that she can be irritable, socially awkward and intensely focused on her work and also a romantic heroine. She is by no means a perfect person but she is a good person, and her flaws make her seem like a realistic character.
I enjoyed the pace and plot of the book, I found it quite a light, easy read without seeming vapid. I also thought it did a great job of being a self-contained story while also advancing the overarching plot that will be continued in the third book.
Overall I would recommend this series to anyone interested in faerie lore, books set within academia, or light fantasy.
I received an advanced copy of this as an ebook to review for NetGalley.

Such a fun, cozy read! I loved being back in Emily's world. Definitely recommend :)
I'm not a big cozy fantasy girly but the Emily Wilde series has me hooked!

This sequel was absolutely everything I could of possibly asked for


Emily Wilde's map of the otherlands manages to remain so similar yet stray so pleasantly differently than the previous book did. The magic is still woven beautifully over the book, but its further present. The footnotes and.Emily writing in her journal is thankfully how this story is also told which keeps the reader feeling like they know her intimately. We meet some new characters, while also seeing again people and creatures of the last book. Emily's character arc is also SO well done in the book! We see her growing bolder, risking everything for love and her dynamic with Wendell although slightly less prominent due to his illness, still remains addictive to read about.

We also got to dive more into the fay world, and it's myths and stories!! Honestly the Fae stories were so charming to read about.

Honestly my only complaint for this book is that we slightly lacked Wendell, which was largely made up from by Emily's wonderful growth as a character. I CANNOT wait for the third book!!!!