The Memoirs of Lady Trent meet Howl's Moving castle in this utterly
charming fantasy about academics studying faeries in a remote
Scandinavian village. I loved every second of this book, from the
tromping around in the wintry forests to the sweet (and snarky) moments
between Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby.
The characters in this
book are spectacular. You immediately get a sense of who they are as
people and also quickly get attached. I enjoyed Emily's independence and
slight stodginess, but I also liked seeing her melt a little as she
realizes that people care about her and she cares about them in return.
Wendell was a delight. Charming even at his most annoying or outrageous,
he was just so much fun to read about and I loved the chapters (or
rather, journal entries) we got from his perspective. Fans of Howl
Pendragon or Nikolai Lantsov will find a lot to appreciate with Wendell.
I also really liked the side characters, like Poe (Poe!!!), Shadow,
Lilja, Thora, and Aud. Even the characters with less page time felt
fully fleshed out relative to their roles in the story.
I also
want to add that I felt like I could tell that Heather Fawcett had
written middle grade books before this, but not in a bad way at all.
Reviewers will sometimes say that a book feels middle grade when they
think the writing is bad or the characters are juvenile. I don't really
agree with this, as middle grade is a wonderful genre full of great
writing. The friendships and relationships between the characters just
had a particular charm that I associate with middle grade and I enjoyed
it a lot in this story. I don't think this book is juvenile or poorly
written at all, though. I want that to be very clear. IF anything, this
just means that the book might appeal to a broader audience.
The
faerie world and lore were definitely a big draw for me to this book and
I think it was executed perfectly. The blend of actual faerie
interactions, folklore stories (whether real or invented by Fawcett, I
couldn't tell, and liked them either way), and visits to the faerie
realm itself were perfect for me. This book made me both want another
five books about Emily and Wendell (and a movie, while we're at it) and
to go look up stories about faerie interactions myself. The research and
care Heather Fawcett put into the faerie lore of this book really shone
through and it was a delight to read.
In conclusion, all I can
really say is that I'm obsessed with this book and come January I'll be
recommending it to everyone on possibly the most flimsy of
justifications. I've already begun telling my friends and family to read
it when it comes out, and my bookseller friends to read it sooner if
they can! This book is definitely a new favorite of mine and it has
definitely inspired me to read more of Heather Fawcett's work (and to
eagerly await future Emily Wilde books).
I will say, at least one
review I've seen (from the School LIbrary Journal, no less) recommends
this book for fans of Sarah J Maas. I assume that's because both this
book and ACOTAR have faeries in them, but...I have to say, the faerie
kings Fawcett writes in this book are very, very different from Maas'
high lords. Very different. If I were going to compare this book to any
other faerie book, I would choose Holly Black's folk of the air series,
but even then, I think the tone and focus of this book is quite
different from Folk of the Air.
That being said, I certainly
wouldn't DISCOURAGE SJM fans from reading this book...I wouldn't
discourage anyone from reading this book, I just don't want people to
expect SJM-style romance from a book whose main couple reminds me much
more of Howl and Sophie, if Howl was very good at sewing. This is
definitely a book for the cozy fantasy crowd.
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