A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.
Emily Wilde series. Book 1
God, they love the "ae", don't they? :)
The following book is made in the like of a journal. Although at times you may forget that it is, but at other times it is indeed one with recollection of events past or present in the form of recollection from FMC's point of view. But it puts everything into a singular perspective and it's like a single POV from the head of FMC (because it's her recollection of events), even if Wendell's hand is present at times, but it invaded the book too little to take much notice of it.
I may not be the most perceptive person, because I had several questions about this book after finishing it. But before raising those questions I have to give the overall impression of it.
Firstly, it did not overwhelm me. Usually, when the book fascinates me, I can't put it down and want to read the next chapter and then the next chapter. But here despite the lovely light-heartedness of the style and not being too overfilled with plot development (should this be called a cozy fantasy that suddenly has a spark of danger appearing on the horizon?), I had a feeling like I spent some time with it, although to be honest I've read this in the span of few days only. Maybe the slow plot development was the case. Maybe I'm not cut out for cozy fantasy who knows.
Now the questions.
Character-wise~
We have Emily Wilde, who is a professor and is out on her ventures to finish her encyclopaedia, for that she "hunts" the northern Folk.
And she is supposed to be relatable to many, because she has a problem with communication especially, like what and at what occasions she should say. In many ways it is expressed that she prefers her books and even common fae to communicating with humans. Even her own attitude gets her into trouble where villagers bear a certain dislike for her. And it sparks the main communicational and relationship crisis that will evolve and change in the story (though nothing fancy, the main point is that it will be resolved).
At this particular point I want to agree with her fellow professor and the MMC of the story, Wendell Bambleby, that she should have read at least something about the common people of these places and their customs (just out of respect?). In other words When in Rome, do as Romans do. She may not be the best at words and expressing herself, but she is pretty fine with expressing herself with Wendell, because she's the most familiar with him (and even can get aggressive at times I'd say), but she could have had some behavior or speech patterns developed for situations. In real world you may even offend people without knowing it and get yourself into a big trouble (I'm merely sorry for her, because of consequences). She has all the books in the world and I don't think it will cost you much to read about people you're about to meet and spend months with. Her own host, the owner of the place she lives in basically bullies her, not through words or act of violence, but through food. But if we didn't have this conflict initially, there wouldn't be the feeling of joy after the resolving the conflict and bonding of both parties, Emily herself and some of the villagers.
And I say this as factual things, not wanting to paint her or the other side with dark colors. She's not a bad character to read about (even if at times she's critical of herself and her actions). She is really knowledgable, but you know she wish not to say anything more about herself, her past and such. All we know that she is really dedicated to her work, she almost lived at Cambridge from the age of 15(?), her encyclopaedia took her years to combine, she is full of things others may not know, she had a lot of field work done, which allowed her to accumulate experience and I must say she has a feeling of complacency about her knowledge on the Folk between the lines. She is really hung up on her studies, mostly this is why she is a bit torn away from reality and common communication. But you could also call her courageous for she went through several troughs on her way.
On the topic of her knowledge, I may not be able to judge it at all, since I don't have the knowledge to follow along and see if what was mentioned in the book is legit or not. Like what offerings to make, what fae are afraid of or like etc. But it was quite entertaining. I liked the aspect of folk tale of it.
Wendell left me with more questions though. It's better to say it left me with puzzlement. And I'm not talking about his character as aristocrat who is not used to do things by himself and is happy for others to do things for him or his character, which I actually felt was quite charming and humorous (when you get to know his origins you get the gist of it).
But when it came to "love" and relationships this is where I was the most puzzled. Because Wendell in the book does not shy away from charming few village girls, who openly left his bedroom afterwards in full view (after all he and Emily lived in the same house out of convenience and she witnessed those women wearing nothing but sheets going out of his room, she also mentioned those women herself later on). He also had some feelings for Emily, although not obvious, because we always see things happening from her POV, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked when they suddenly switched to talking about feelings. I'm pretty sure I was quite attentive in reading, but it came suddenly to me. I don't think there was any building up to that moment. More than that, because of her POV we know she quite cherishes him and their friendship (even if it may grow into something more), but because her POV is the main one and she is not keen on feelings and often describes Wendell's expressions as "hard to read", "ellusive" and so on, of course it came as a big surprise to me. Because we know her feelings, it doesn't mean we are too aware of his.
Also at other times he points that she is like a dragon and other names which sounded a bit odd, as if mocking. At other he calls her cold-hearted, maybe this should showcase his disappointment in her not noticing him or being cold to him, but in the view of those women I keep mentioning, you can't say if his feelings weigh much.
When two and two were put together they looked pretty weird in my eyes, at one side he is expressing his liking and prior to that he welcomed women to his bed in full view. Is it supposed to hint at what he is, like his origins, I mean his behavior explained by his origins, but I'm not sure. To level things off (?) Emily was in a relationship once, which lasted a year or so (I'm not a prude, I consider this like alternative reality where people are not so strict about women, because the picture would be different if this was a a true historical fiction), but it still doesn't make it better or worse, she was in an official relationship, which can't be compared to his rendezvous, especially in the context of him "pining" at the same time.
I was so invested into describing this emotional dilemma that didn't even get enough page time that I almost forgot anything I wanted to say about the plot.
Plot-wise~
Actually, nothing much to say here, I think the cozy word explains it all, but it promises little thrill. I was actually surprised when good everyday picture was suddenly doned with a bit of danger. The overall development wasn't anything over the top, I think at a certain point you knew where things were going without them happing yet and then you reached the expected development.
I think I was most happy for Emily herself, that due to an accident with Wendell she showed her lost "what to do" side that needed help, which eventually triggered the chain of events that bonded her with the villagers and we forgot about the previous conflict. With her inability to charm like Wendell and communicate with others it was a delight to see her finally having something changed inside of her. Again with so much text not enough backstory on what shaped her like that, you can't tell me it's all books and research.
RATE: 3,75/5. Althuogh a good book, a cozy one indeed, but something was clearly missing. Maybe because it aimed at trilogy? But what's the point of other books if you don't make the first intriguing enough. And I must say, others have liked it a lot. But to me it's far from enough to put on a high pedestal and raving about it like some people did :)
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