Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett is a captivating journey through a richly imagined world that kept me hooked from start to finish. The pace of the book is steady but not too slow and I enjoyed the story we were told. However, I am still not convinced by the relationship between Emily and Wendall. While it adds an additional layer to the story, it just doesn’t ring true and I don’t feel any chemistry. Despite this, "Map of the Otherlands" remains a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it to fantasy lovers. Hopefully, in the next book we get to see a lot more of Wendall’s home land.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This sequel to Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries is just as captivating as the first book.

Presented in the form of diary entries (primarily from the titular Emily Wilde with a few entries from her paramour Wendall), the story follows on from the previous book, with Emily now planning to map the realm of the Fae as she searches for a door back into Wendall's world. Some of the characters from the previous book make an appearance, alongside the introduction of new characters such as Emily's niece Ariadne.

I enjoyed this book as much as I did the first one. The journal form (complete with footnotes!) enhances the world-building, the characters are all likeable in their own ways with enough flaws to seem real, and the banter between Emily and Wendall is highly entertaining. I can't wait to read the third book!

A recommended read for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries, Katherine Arden, and books that blend fantasy, folklore, and academic research with a touch of whimsy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was such a cozy comforting read! And now I need my own Poe friend.
I read the first book a while ago and could barely wait to get to the next one. Thanks to @netgalley i snatched an ARC and this was so worth the read.
I really enjoy the cozy witty old english writing style, I have come to find that this is my most favourite writing style, and its calming even if our characters go through stressful situations.
I am very happy about the direction of this book, which is why I am once again in limbo waiting for the next book.
The characters were all enjoyable, and this book wasn't very focused on the village, but rather on our main characters. We also got to see some side chatacters from the first book, and I sincerely hope they come back.
Anyway, please read this, its so worth it (both books so far).

Just as great as book 1 if not even better! Definitely one of my favorite reads this year. The cozy whimsy of this world and the loveable eccentric characters have me in such a chokehold, I just can't get enough of it.
This book felt a bit faster paced and more action packed than the previous book and there were more romantic elements with great character development.
Allover just an absolutely charming and delightful read for any lover of cozy fantasy and folklore. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to the Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts


Loved this book as much as I loved the first! Great cottagecore vibes

If you adored the first book, this sequel will not disappoint! "Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands" picks up with Emily and Wendell in Cambridge, embarking on an adventurous search for a portal to Wendell’s kingdom in the Austrian Alps. We’re also introduced to new characters - Emily’s niece Ariadne and Rose, the intriguing head of the department.

With its mix of slow-burn romance, charming characters, and whimsical adventures it’s the most delightful of sequels and a perfect read. I can’t wait for the final book of this trilogy!

What a fun read.

Romantasy? Check.

Grumpy Sunshine?

Check.

A cast of colourful (mildly demented) characters?

Check.

MORE TO COME? Check and CHECK.

Just about as delightful as the first, and honestly, the perfect winter book with which to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea.

This series is often described as "cozy," which I understand, but for such a cozy series, there are some surprisingly dark faeries and some actual stakes. I love the juxtaposition, and it makes the warmth of the story much more poignant and earned, I think.

A few other things this book does well:
• Character development! Emily and Wendell are obviously great, but Ariadne is a great addition as well.
• Animals! No notes here.
• Adventures! Not only do we get to explore the Austrian Alps, but also a faerieland.
• Charm, just loads of charm in every page.

I don't really think there's much more to say - if you liked the first book, you'll like this one. If you didn't, well, you won't like this one and also you have a heart of stone.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 stars.

I was looking forward to diving into this sequel, as I was captivated by the original approach to fairy beings and the characters of Emily and Wendell. What makes this approach original is that the fairy beings are seen from a scientific point of view, as the protagonists are researchers (called dryadologists in the book). Their romantic relationship remains largely in the background, which I personally appreciate very much.

The book picks up exactly where the previous one left off, with Emily and Wendell in Cambridge. Emily is engaged in a search for a door leading to Wendell's kingdom, and literature suggests it may be in the Austrian Alps. The place names and references are invented. The greatest expert in this field, the scientist de Grey, has disappeared while searching for the same door. So, Emily decides to follow her trail together with Wendell and two new characters: her niece Ariadne (I don't remember if she was introduced in the first book) and the head of the department, Rose.

The story continues to be narrated like a diary, but it felt more like a fluid first-person narration. I don't know if it was because the chapters were longer than in the first book or if the tone was slightly different. Being in tune with Emily, I enjoyed seeing the events from her point of view. However, the characterisation of secondary characters such as Ariadne and Rose was rather shallow and they come across as flat, especially Ariadne. Rose, on the other hand, had more personality.

The pace of the story was rather slow in the first half, while in the second half it became more frenetic and somewhat rushed. The delicate writing, lively exchanges and cosy atmosphere made up for these aspects for me. I enjoyed seeing characters like little Poe and one of the villagers in Iceland again through a letter. Poe remained in my heart with this book.

In conclusion, this is a short and entertaining fantasy read, ideal for cold days. If you love scientist protagonists who are a bit eccentric and willing to put themselves in dangerous situations for the sake of science and their curiosity, and appreciate a view of fairies that goes beyond the seductive aspect, you might like this book.

P.S. I hope for a spin-off prequel about Wendell's past and his history and evolution as a character. I also hope the next book is set in Greece

This is a beautiful continuation of the Emily Wilde series! I enjoyed it as much as the first book.

I love the cozy, light academia vibes of this series. I never really felt like the stakes were very high and sometimes that is exactly the kind of book you want. This story did however, bring Emily into a whole new panel as she ventures into the Otherlands once again.

I absolutely adore Emily as a protagonist. She is singe minded and clever and grumpy and deeply lovable. Of course Wendell is obsessed with her. He takes the idea of a boy obsessed to a whole new level. His charm and petulance are exactly how a fae should be written. And naturally the man has a magical cat.

If you enjoyed the first book in this series, I really hope you pick up this one.

I loved everything about this book.
The relationship between Emily and Wendell is just perfection
I love how cheeky Wendell is and get so excited to read about him.
This book was so amazing and I can’t wait to read the next

What a brilliant sequel to Emily Wilde’s encyclopaedia of faeries! I love the protagonist and the love interest so much, this is one of the first light academia novels I have read and I want more in this genre. Definitely read this series!

think l've never been more excited to be approved for an ARC than after finishing Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries.
Map of the Otherlands promised another adventure with Emily, Wendell, and Shadow, and let me tell you something: the sequel not only reached my absolutely ridiculous expectations - it exceeded them.
I once again, fell in love with Emily's awkwardness and Wendell's charm, with their constant banter and teasing, their friendship and companionship. There was something so familiar, yet still exciting about it, and it truly felt like coming home.
The story, even more dynamic than the first one, was full of new adventures riddles, twists, and turns. It made it hard to put the book down, and when I finally did, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was afraid of missing Ljosland too much, but the Alps were just as magical with their own charm (and a fair share of trouble).
I cannot recommend Map of the Otherlands enough, and I'm already excited to see what's coming next.

Highlights
~beware the foxes!
~(don’t???) follow the ribbons
~a lily pond in a teacup
~a singular foot
~to wed, or not to wed??? That is the question

I massively enjoyed the first book in this series, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, and I am here to tell you that Map of the Otherlands is a very worthy sequel!

I don’t have anything smart to say about it; if you enjoyed the first book, you’re going to enjoy this one. Emily is still her wonderfully curmudgeonly self – she might be in love with a prince of Faerie, but she hasn’t let that change her; she still doesn’t care about her appearance, and she’s still more likely to snap and snarl than simper. And she’s still more than capable of, if not dealing with attacks from dangerous Folk, then certainly assisting in dealing with them, in gamechanging ways.

And we have new characters to add to the cast! This time around, Emily and Wendell are accompanied not just by Shadow (of course), but Emily’s niece, Ariadne (and really, if her father didn’t want her studying dryadology, why did he give her a name straight out of mythology???) and also the head of the dryadology department at their university, Rose. Ariadne is the sweetest of sweethearts, earnest and passionate and quite a good foil to Emily herself, while Rose seems like a teeth-gratingly Old White Man until, surprisingly, he isn’t. (By which I mean – he’s still old and white and a cis man. But he can learn!!! Give him a chance, even if he annoys you at first.) They both bring a lot to this second instalment; sometimes enlarging the cast can dilute the story, but that’s definitely not the case here. Ariadne is a delight, and among other things, Rose serves as a really good reminder to Emily and the reader that what she’s up to with Wendell is…incredibly not-normal.

You know, because the Folk are dangerous. And things usually don’t end well for the humans who fall in love with them.

In that way I think Rose is actually quite important to the book, because it’s so easy for us to…not forget that; the Folk give us plenty of reminders that they are not nice, safe, tame beings. But it’s natural to get swept up in the story, to assume a happy ending is guaranteed, to take Wendell as the exception to the rule of Don’t Mess With The Folk. These books are cosy! And fun! And Wendell is hilarious, fussing about tidying things and bemoaning the world that demands he rise from bed before noon; he’s not scary in the least, he’s endearing. So we do need Rose, to give us that bit of a wake-up call; to keep us from missing or dismissing all the bits of evidence that Wendell – and certainly the kingdom he wants to reclaim – are Dangerous As Hell, Actually.

We kind of have to stop and wonder, especially as that evidence builds up – is Emily doing the right thing, here? It’s definitely not the smart thing, but since when is love smart???

Speaking of the romance, I think Fawcett’s done something very clever with it here; for readers like myself who don’t really care for or about romance, it’s entirely possible to forget that there is a romance here, to sort of glaze over mentally and skim over the occasional mention of kisses and feelings. Whereas readers who do like romance can have their fill, since when you get right down to it Map of the Otherlands is driven by Emily’s love for Wendell and her desire to help him reclaim his kingdom. Oh, she’s definitely in it for the scholarly acclaim she’d earn by doing so, too…but that’s so obviously a secondary consideration for her, even if it takes her a little while to admit it to herself.

I think Encyclopaedia of Faeries was more straightforward than Map of the Otherlands; the latter revolves a bit more around the nature of the Faerie realms, as opposed to the Folk themselves, and honestly, of the two, the Folk are much easier to understand. Not that Fawcett bogs us down in dull minutiae or anything – the story here is never slow, or boring! – but it’s much harder to really get a grip on the way the various Fae realms co-exist, share borders, overlap, and/or have extremely casual relationships with time. I’m pretty sure Emily’s book of maps is doomed to failure, let’s put it that way.

There’s a magic cloak, and a magic scarf, and Emily is once again a one-woman armoury (even if she’s not forging a sword out of tears for Wendell this time, I was tickled pink when we discover how she’s carrying around weapons for him), and Map of the Otherlands is every bit as fun and perfect-to-snuggle-with as Encyclopaedia of Faeries ever was. Is it a bit more complex; does it go to some darker places? I think so. But it’s not deeply complex, and it’s not very dark, when all’s said and done. Just the right amount of both to make the story rich and interesting, as well as warm, funny, and delightful.

As I said; if you loved the first book, you’ll love this one!

One of my favourite book series of all time!! I read this book in about a day, I couldn't put it down. If you liked the first one, this is a perfect follow up! We get deeper into Emily and Wendell's relationship, and into both their characters. It's just so good, read it!!

I loved this so much! 😍🥰❤️🧚

In this sequel, we follow Emily and Wendell as they go find a door to his realm, prompted by a series of assassination attempts on Wendell's life. Emily is following the trail of a dryadologist, de Grey, who went missing while investigating portals, and she will take advantage of this adventure to draft a mapbook of the Otherlands, her newest project.

The world Heather Fawcett has created is extraordinary, bright, and alive. I loved stepping into it in the first book, and I loved it even more this time. It's just so immersive! Every time I picked this book up I felt I was transported. I'm so grateful I got to read this so soon, it was a wonderful time and I loved every second. I can't wait for book 3, I'm so happy the story will continue!

I think the plot in this one was better than the first one because I was more invested in it and the stakes felt higher this time. There was more action, new (and lovable) characters, and so much more information on the Folk, which is one of my favorite things about this; learning about all these different faeries and realms.

We also see a lot more of Wendell, which instantly makes everything better, and the way Emily's way of thinking/talking about him has changed was so heartwarming to see. He has such a great personality and it contrasts so well with Emily's. I just love these characters so much! I deeply enjoy the way they love each other because it's not corny, it feels very grounded and unconditional. So heartwarming and nice.

I love how this is written. Diary entries just make everything feel closer and cosy. If you’ve read the first one, this is a must read. Some familiar and popular tropes are:
- Slow burn
- Grumpy x sunshine (but he’s the sunshine!)
- Fairies

I really recommend reading this!

I love this series so much, it brings me nothing but joy and wonder!
This second installment delighted me just as much as the first did, and had me kicking my feet squealing and messaging friends left and right to tell them about it.

Emily and Wendell remain some of my favourite characters I've ever read, I love their dynamic together and how they see and interact with the world around them.
In this book we get to see more of other scholars of their field of expertise, the study of faeries, as well, and it was a lot of fun to see the various ways they approach the subject and how they all work together to navigate the magical and intricate rules of the folk.

I cannot recommend this series enough to anyone who likes (or might be intrigued by) whimsical light academia books about neurodivergent-coded scholars running around in nature info dumping about their special interests.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown for a copy in return for an honest review!

One of my all time favourite books, the Emily Wilde series is my happy place and ALWAYS makes me feel better and brings me happiness. I can't wait for the next ones in the series and I hope they never stop. Genuinely the BEST thing I have ever read, more than five stars !

Like the first book, it’s fun and entertaining, so much so that I read it in just a few days. Honestly, I might even say I liked this one more than the first.

As a fantasy enthusiast, I loved all the lore about the different fairies. The story is whimsical and funny, featuring a heroine with dry humour and a sense of self-righteousness that usually turns me off, but somehow it works perfectly here. In this book, we see a softer side of Emily, which was a nice change.

Wendell Bambleby continues to be a highlight. He balances out Emily's dryness beautifully. We also meet new characters who add their own flair to the story, although they did take some of the spotlight away from Wendell. Emily's niece, in particular, was a standout, and I think it would be fun if she became the next generation of dryadology experts.

If you're new to the series, I recommend starting with the first book. While the stories aren’t directly correlated, you’ll miss a lot of the character introductions and background if you jump straight into this one.

The book’s ending wraps up the story nicely, but I’ve heard there's a third book on the way. It feels a bit unnecessary, but we'll see how it goes.

If you enjoy cosy fantasy, this book is definitely worth picking up. It took me a while to get to it, it sat on my TBR list forever, but it was absolutely worth the wait.