I read and enjoyed the first book in the series (Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries), even though it's not normally the kind of book I go for, but somehow this one didn't quite work for me as well.

The premise this time round is that our eponymous hero is back at university after their expedition to the frozen north, complete with lots of knowledge about the fae and also about her colleague Bambleby. When fae start appearing in the university grounds and causing mayhem, it seems pretty obvious that Emily and Bambleby are the people to find out what's going on and fix it.

Unlike the first book, where one of the main hooks was the relationship between the two scholars with their vastly-different personalities, capped by a run into faerie itself, this time round there seemed to be a lot of talking. Bambleby is struggling because of things happening in faerie and Emily spends a lot of time with other characters whose relationships with her just don't spark as much life into the narrative.

All in all, it's still a pretty enjoyable but maybe suffers a little from the middle-book-of-the-trilogy situation, where it's clearly also doing some heavy lifting to set up things that will happen in book 3. This series definitely comes under the category of 'books I enjoyed reading but will never return to', as I can't see myself re-reading them any time in the future when there's so much great new stuff to discover instead!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

This book kinda surprised me.
I read the first one, while it was an ok book, it didn't captivate me. I needed a little bit more in characters and plot.
This one, I enjoyed a lot more. Breezed through it in about a day. I loved that the stakes felt higher, there was more danger. I would have loved to see more Emily/Wendell interactions (bickering).
I didn't mind (gotten use to) the diary format, although I really despise footnotes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are, as always, my own.

I just love these books, I love the slow pace, the research that must go into them, the cosy academic feel with a dash of otherworldly peril, and the focus on Emily and how she navigates relationships with others.

I did miss Wendell and Emily's banter and wish they'd had more time together on page, but I get why it wasn't there, because this is Emily's story, and Wendell isn't her sole focus, and given that she feels she knows him well enough, her concentration, and therefore ours as readers, is on the people she is less comfortable with and with the problems she faces with her work and her research.

The book definitely starts slow, and I think readers used to romance and more YA fantasy romance might expect the marriage proposal and the romantic plotline to take centre stage and progress pretty quickly, but Emily's relationship with Wendell is something she still has to navigate and think about and fit into her life and goals, so I think th slow development of their story as a couple works for me.

Also, love the cat!

These books just have everything I love, and a main character I understand, relate to and cheer for, love it!

Thanks so much to Orbit and Netgalley for this review copy.

I adored Emily Wilde's encyclopedia of faeries, and was excitedly awaiting the sequel and BOY did it deliver. It was a tough act to follow but Fawcett has nailed it again. We got to explore more of faerie, delve deeper into Emily's character, and see the romance blossom between the pair. I'm DYING for the next book already!!!

I can not say I didn't like the book, but it was not as enchanting for me as the first book. I read a few reviews on this and a lot said that the banter between Emily and Wendel was so good again, but in my experience there wasn't really a lot of it? And I missed it, because that was also a big part of why I enjoyed the first book.. Emily was a lot on her own or with other scholars, so unfortunately there was not much interaction beween her and Wendel.
I think the first half of the book was boring. It was so boring that I didn't have that much fun reading it, although I liked the characters and the world a lot. But I was reminded on my vacation in the alps a few years ago and so I had a vivid picture of the beautiful landscape before my eyes.
The second half brought the magic back for me and I was immersed again in the story. There was all the folklore again and the whimsical creatures and we even meet a cute little friend again!
Overall I am happy that I didn't give up with this book and I'm excited for the next one in this series.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced e-copy!

Review posted somewhere else!!! Check my Goodreads/Twitter/instagram/tiktok for other reviews.
stars

So so so brilliant! My favourite read of the year so far and I doubt anything will beat it. I have listened to the Emily Wilde books this year and they make me so happy.

The story is great, the characters lovable and I love the closed-door romance. I'm only sad that I believe the series has come to an end and I really want more. PLEASE!

I was so looking forward to read this book and excited to see that I had been accepted as an ARC reader thanks to net gallery. I absolutely loved the first book so much because it was a calm, cosy and easy read. I had read a fair few heavy fantasy world building books recently so this was a welcomed break from those. A very good one too.

Emily and Wendell's relationship and endless banter has my whole heart, I was laughing throughout.
They are two very adorable and loveable characters with their own individual quirks.
Their relationship is beautiful and it did not feel like it was taking over the story, it was a perfect balance.
The description of the imagery felt almost like you could just step into the faerie world, it was very immersive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel and give it a 5 star rating.

Didn't really enjoy this one unfortunately. Didn't feel much happened except the meeting with the step mother in the realm while getting the cat. Won't go into more to avoid spoilers but enough to know what part I'm talking about if you've read it. I really hoped to see more between Emily and Wendall. Let's hope that the last book will develop more of thier romantic relationship.

🍂🦉Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands🦉🍂
by @heather_fawcett was once again a joy to read, the epitome of cosy fantasy to me!
We follow Wendell and Emily as they travel once again, this time searching for a door to Wendells kingdom, a door many have tried and failed to locate, a door many have even died in the pursuit of. We see how they deal with the obstacles in their way; from faerie enchantment to otherworldly assassins to skeptical professors.

I really loved this book, it was once again easy to read and follow, Emily is a lovely character and I really enjoy how the books are written in the style of her diary! Snowbell was a wonderful character too, one of my favourites - and it was lovely to see the reoccurrence of Poe from book one!
Overall, this is a deeply enjoyable cosy fantasy/romantasy series and I adore it - can't wait for book 3! 🥰
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Thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the e-arc! 🫶

Succeeded my expectations. Just as the first book, this made me giggle and gave me the break from my daily life that I needed. I have yet to read a Heather Fawcett book that I didn't adore. She manages to make her characters imperfectly perfect in their own ways. Also loved the footnotes and the university setting in the beginning.

I love this series! Please tell me there's more! It's truly a delight to read. The characters are very realistic and I found that I love them all. As for the fae, I'm not sure if these are actual fictional creatures like unicorns and leprechauns or did Heather invent them? Either way, they are terrifying and I'd love to see them in action. Thank you for the ARC!

Can I say this one was even better than the last? Maintains the cosy-fantasy joyous feeling and the grumpy-sunshine romance (reminiscent of Howl’s Moving Castle), but also gives us a thicker plot and more depth to the faerie world.

It was delightful to read and I kept catching myself grinning like a fool. I am thoroughly enjoying this world and the creatures it contains.

DNF @ 30%

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to read this book several times but kept putting it down. It just didn’t hold my interest, and I found Emily to be a difficult character to connect with. The pacing was also too slow for my tastes, especially seeing as this was a sequel.

However, I did enjoy the journal entry style of writing, and some of the descriptions were beautiful.

Unfortunately, I just don’t think this author and the genre of cosy fantasy is for me.

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

After reading the first book, I was very excited to continue the series and the sequel definitely gave the same cosy fantasy vibes I was craving. I loved learning more about all the Fae and folk and i really love how the different regions have their own cultures and versions of creatures as it meant that we got to discover so many more unique folk in this book than those we saw in the first. Discovering it all from Emily’s journal entries as her thoughts and the footnotes also helped add to the world-building and the detailed descriptions and characteristics that all the folk have.

I also loved Emily and Wendell’s relationship and the banter between them is great (they really do act like an old married couple and i love it). There were some new side characters (and the return of some from the first book including the adorable Poe) but they weren’t super interesting and I did end up forgetting about a few of them. The plot was fun but did feel a little slow in places and like in the first book, the main conflict at the end was wrapped up rather quickly. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just felt a little quick and convenient.

This is the second book in a series, so if you haven’t read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, beware of spoilers! I really enjoyed the first Emily Wilde book’s unique gentle pace, charming character dynamic and small town vibes. I have heard this series being described as cosy fantasy but I’d argue that it definitely doesn’t tick the low-stakes box that I’m pretty sure cosy fantasy has to do. However, it is whimsical and a fun ride through the fae lands.

Emily Wilde is a dryadologist -a scholar of fae folklore. Following the publication of her groundbreaking encyclopaedia, she is now on a mission to map out faerie realms. Joined by her academic rival and handsome fae king Wendell Bambleby, Emily is off to the Austrian Alps in search of the door that leads to Wendell’s kingdom. But assassins are following them every step of the way and there are even more mysteries to solve.

'I followed at a sedate walk, enjoying the sun on my face, as well as the cool edge to the wind that heralded the coming autumn. Just past the main dryadology building was the ivy-clad magnificence of the Library of Dryadology, which overlooks a lawn dotted with trees known in this part of Britain as faerie favourites, yew and willow.'

I would imagine that scenes like this is what has earned these books their cosy fantasy label. There are some beautiful descriptions of scenery because Emily finds herself in some gorgeous places but it never takes her long to find the danger!

Emily has a tendency to hyper-focus on her work to the detriment of her own self-care. She has several neurodiverse traits that I know many readers will identify with. These books are set in the early 20th century, so Emily isn’t diagnosed as neurodiverse but she is heavily coded that way.

I really enjoyed meeting Emily’s niece Ariadne in this instalment. She seemed to be the perfect protégée for Emily and I loved the dynamic she had with Wendell. Much of the humour in these books comes from Wendell and his unconventional approach to academia. He’s incredibly charismatic, which is what carries him through life. I can’t help wondering if Emily would enjoy the same successes as him if she had his personality or if she’d have been laughed out of academia as an undergraduate for not trying hard enough.

Emily loves Wendell and although she never really spells it out, it’s obvious every time she speaks about him. Even before it’s confirmed that he’s fae, he has an undeniable otherworldly quality to him. He has none of the ominous aura that so many of the other fae folk have though.

The hunt for faerie doors is a difficult one. I have no idea what logic or methods Emily applied to searching for them but she examined many beautiful landscapes, which allowed for some gorgeous imagery to fill my imagination. It’s this that gives the books their warm glow and signature whimsy.

Wendell’s cat becomes an important plot point later on in the book but when I first read about her, I couldn’t help but smile. Wendell is exactly the kind of man who would admire cats and I’m delighted that we got to meet her here.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a fun sequel, full of mystery and magic. I think I may have slightly preferred the first book because of the novelty of the vibes but I still thoroughly enjoyed this one. The romance is very slow burn and there is a much stronger focus on building a solid connection between Emily and Wendell, so if that’s your thing, I’d certainly recommend these books. Although there is plenty of darkness and danger, cosy fantasy fans will definitely appreciate the softness that it manages to retain.

The banter, the adventure, the writing-it’s just absolute perfection. I loved this just as much as book one and cannot wait for more!

I can't wait to get my hands on the Fairyloot copy of this! I read this ARC with gigantic thanks to Netgalley, and I was blown away. Same vibes as Fairies and it was perfect. Almost gave me grown up Percy Jackson vibes. But feels the same kind of cozy as Assistant to the Villain. Still had stuff happening but it felt more lighthearted. I loved the writing style, and being inside Emily's head. Just so much fun to read from, her snark and her bluntness. Plus the way she just doesn't put up with bullshit. Amazing, I'm eagerly awaiting the third one!

LOVE LOVE LOVE Heather Fawcett! I adored the first book and maps deliver as well! I love Emily and Wendell, their quirks and banter, I love Fawcetta quirky world building, the detailed folklore and just how everything is so carefully thought out.

The characters are definitely this book's strong point (and the beautiful cover). I love Emily and reading from her pov. She is different to every other fantasy MC and she is so well fleshed out.

However, as much as I like Emily, Poe, Shadow and Wendell, the story itself is just okay. This series is a chill, cozy fantasy, so sometimes the pace feels a little slow, especially in the beginning. It doesn't grip you and make you read until 3 am because <i>you cannot just stop there</i>, if you know what I mean.

That being said, I will 100% read the next book and I very well hope my baby Poe is in it somehow.

3.5 stars