The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the discussion thread for the Spring 2025 Group Read, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries in the category Fiction: Historical Fantasy. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

I read a review of this last year. While I can't remember where, it was enough to put it on my TBR. Being chosen as a Group Read finally prompted me to actually get around to reading it.

I thought it was a lot of fun. Cozy fantasy with Fae bias and a touch of romantasy (but chaste, not "fairy porn"). Emily and Wendell were entertaining characters, and I loved the cast of villagers who eventually accepted the visiting scholars in their midst.

It reminded me of A Natural History of Dragons in a lot of ways: a feisty female academic/adventuress going out into the world, against normal custom, to find more about the magical creatures around them. Lady Trent is Victorian Age, while Emily Wilde is a little later, in 1909, but a lot of the attitudes would be similar.

I loved the world, which drew heavily on the Fae-related mythologies from various countries in our own world, despite being an alternative version. Plus, it's set in an analogue of Iceland, so I could picture the village and the mountains around it pretty well, as I've been there at the tail end of winter. Even now, the Icelandic people are sure not to upset the Hidden Folk!

An unexpected five stars from me, and I'm definitely planning to read the next two in the series.

I found this book fine, but just not my style. Too cute and too much paranormal. I didn't care for the way Emily was portrayed as having zero social skills, even though she was a sociologist of sorts. It's kind of a classic curmudgeon story, where the gruff person learns to accept emotions and connections to others. And the romance was somehow a bit disturbing. Given what we learn about Wendell, does Emily really have free will in the matter?

I imagine I would have liked this better if I had read it when I was much younger, as it is somewhat like one of my favorite books from my teen years, the classic Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard.

I enjoyed it and will be adding the sequel to my TBR list. It started off slow, than rapidly sped up. I loved the different fae and hope we have some reoccurring minor characters show up in the next book.

I ended up reading this one because I discovered that I had purchased it in one of my audiobook sale binge buys (damn you chirp). Overall, it wasn't bad, but not my thing - i found emily to be naive and annoying and would have preferred more about the town she was staying in - I won't be continuing I don't think

I thought this was so delightful. A sort of light and fun version of one of my favourite books - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Emily is a scientist of fairies (yay science!) and this book is filled with lovely fairy stories, interesting characters, and a good plot. I even liked the romance (and I am not a romance reader!)
4.5 stars and I look forward to the second book.

Also thanks for the recommendation Trish - I will add A Natural History of Dragons to my tbr

I had bought this one as I kept seeing it on lists, but wasn't sure if it would be for mee or not. But sometimes I avoid books just because I see them everywhere and then read them and love them, so I am trying to be more open.
For the first third of the book I wasn't too impressed. But I warmed to it. I like fairy worlds and I appreciated the cute love story. I think what I liked best about this book was the fairy tales added in. I wonder if they are actual folklore or if she made them up for the book. I liked it enough that I will probably continue the series, but I am not in a hurry to do so. I give it 3.5 stars.

Meg wrote: "Also thanks for the recommendation Trish - I will add A Natural History of Dragons to my tbr"

My pleasure.

I usually read darker fantasy. There was nothing wrong with the book or the story itself, but the ending fell a bit flat. The book was well written, but the characters just didn’t really appeal to me this time. But I did feel like the tone of the book fit perfectly for spring, especially in Finland, where I often feel like Wendell, usually surrounded by snow and cold and missing the warmth and greenery.

This book was a slow starter for me. I had actually started and abandoned it once before, but I gave it another try. I liked the latter half of the book better than the first half, enough so that I might consider reading the sequel. (view spoiler)[The first part felt very heavy handed and I fully expected Wendell to not be a fairy at all, but Emily to just be a little too involved in her work. I was pleasantly surprised that was not the case. (hide spoiler)] I listened to the audio book and I thought the narrators did a fine job.

3.5 rounded to 4 stars - I enjoyed this rather more than I expected to, it wasn't something I would have normally chosen. Emily is a scholar whose specialty is the study of faeries. She has a colleague at Cambridge, Wendell Bambleby, who is her handsome annoying rival. When he follows her to
Hrafnsvik, Ljosland, an island off the coast of Norway, to "help" with her research, she is not happy to see him. But things develop...
This took me more than a week to finish, certainly not a page turner, but a nice enough book to enjoy in small bites.

I also gave this a 3.5 - rounded to 4! It took me a LONG time to get into this book. But, in the end I found it super cute and I really enjoyed the budding relationship between Emily and Bambleby. I definitely thought I was "almost done" with the story when she was abducted: so that made the last quarter take turns I wasn't expecting.

I will likely continue with the series!

This didn't really inspire me, but it was a decent read. 3 stars. I would have liked more about the villagers and less about Bambleby (but of course that would be a totally different book). I found it interesting that the Lilja/Margaret relationship wasn't more of an issue among the villagers.

This book has intrigued me for quite a while. Every time I saw it in the bookstore, I'd pick it up and take a look, but never quite sure if it was my cup of tea, I'd put it back on the shelf. Having it as a group read pushed me to give it a try and I was not disappointed.

It started a little slow for me, then built up momentum. I enjoyed the stories of the fae. I'm also looking forward to reading the next book to see where the story goes with Em and Bambleby. I liked that their relationship was a slow burn. While this isn't my favorite genre, I found the story delightful and glad I chose to read it.

Four stars from me. Sort of cute and enjoyable, young adult-ish. A bit stereotypical and predictable at times - I'll count that as humour in my book. I'd be curious to read the sequel. I feel a lot of hints were dropped here and there about where this is all going, I hope they won't be forgotten.