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| Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett |
Book title:
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
Author:
Heather Fawcett
Genre:
Historical fantasy
Published: February
11, 2025
368 pages
“I stepped into the sunlight, a welcome change from the dank chill of the winter faerie’s house. A little shudder went through me, though whether it signified terror or excitement, I could not tell. A part of me wonders if my fear of Wendell’s kingdom, instilled by the many dark and unpleasant stories I have read of it throughout my career – not to mention my experiences here previously, which have faded into half-memories with the aura of nightmares – will ever fully leave me.”
Emily Wilde and her fiancé, faerie prince Wendell Bambleby, return to Wendell’s kingdom to seize the throne. Emily is both terrified and excited about the prospect of being able to study the inner workings of the faerie court, but she has little time to settle down as she and Wendell must save the land from a deadly curse his stepmother has unleashed.
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is the third book in Heather Fawcett’s cozy historical fantasy with light academia vibes. I read the first book (Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries) a year ago and the second book (Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands) right before this one. Even though I’m giving this book the same rating as the first two books in the series, I didn’t think this was quite as good as the first two books, although I have a hard time figuring out why.
I think
part of the reason might be that I didn’t find the plot as exciting as in the
previous books. Wendell takes the throne very easily. Even though in the end of
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands the characters prepare for a battle
and gather an army, they don’t need to fight at all, and the army is
immediately forgotten and never mentioned again after Wendell seizes his throne
(what happened to the trolls, fauns, and fuchszwerge?).
There are a lot of events in this book that should have felt emotional, but as a reader I didn’t feel it. Emily herself admits that she isn’t good at expressing her emotions, which means what she feels doesn’t translate through her diary entries to the reader either. There was only one scene at the end of the book that made me emotional.
This book could have easily worked as the end of the series as there are no major loose ends or unanswered questions, but apparently the fourth book is coming out next year. Hopefully that book will rekindle my excitement, because although the ending worked, it was also a little anticlimactic. However, if you love this series, definitely read this book! I gave it four stars.
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