Published Jan. 16, 2024 by Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.
ISBN:
978-0-593-79062-5
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4 stars
(6 reviews)
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: …
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.
I knew you were the real threat. Mortals always are, aren’t they? If you read the stories. The arrogant faerie prince who can make gold from straw is always undone by the humble miller’s daughter, not some powerful rival of his own stature.
For some reason, this one took me a lot longer to get into than the first installment. When I read the first book, I was instantly enchanted by Ljosland and pulled in by Emily's starting situation: a grumpy, possibly neurodivergent scholar just trying to get locals to help her gather information for her book. From there on, everything else just added to the enchantment. Here, Emily's surrounded by a small team of characters from the get-go, the new locations are often charming but just don't hit all the right buttons for me like Ljosland did, and just like the first time, the journaling format isn't very easy …
I knew you were the real threat. Mortals always are, aren’t they? If you read the stories. The arrogant faerie prince who can make gold from straw is always undone by the humble miller’s daughter, not some powerful rival of his own stature.
For some reason, this one took me a lot longer to get into than the first installment. When I read the first book, I was instantly enchanted by Ljosland and pulled in by Emily's starting situation: a grumpy, possibly neurodivergent scholar just trying to get locals to help her gather information for her book. From there on, everything else just added to the enchantment. Here, Emily's surrounded by a small team of characters from the get-go, the new locations are often charming but just don't hit all the right buttons for me like Ljosland did, and just like the first time, the journaling format isn't very easy for me to handle when there's so much dialogue.
Still, after a slow start, I appreciated many things about this book and will definitely read on when the journey continues. Wendell was absolutely my favorite here—I enjoyed learning more about him, both as a person and in terms of all his fae mysteries. I liked the way his and Emily's relationship developed, too, with how they grew closer and closer while still retaining that fun snarkiness they inspire in each other. I also loved the inclusion of Emily's niece Ariadne as Emily's assistance and how their relationship changed gradually throughout the book. Also, Ljosland with its old familiar faces, human and fae alike, wasn't entirely absent from the story, yay for that.
And then, of course, all the fairies! New types of them, new secrets of their realms, all of that was incredibly fascinating. There's still that blend of the Fair Folk being pretty scary in a dark fairy-talish way and the general coziness of the story, and I'm so here for it.