Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
by Heather Fawcett
Publication Date: February 11, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
ARC provided by Random House Publishing via Netgalley for an honest review.
Confession:
The third and final book in this series was a solid and well done one. Unfortunately it did fall a little bit flat for me. It seemed to be missing that certain charm that I loved so much in the first book that made me fall in love with the characters and the story. But I did still enjoy reading it for the most part.
Emily is still a great character. I love her no nonsense approach to everything in her life, especially when she knows what she is doing is dangerous. She still just lifts her chin up and gets on with it. She has shown great strength and has really learned to trust herself as her character has grown throughout the series. In this book she has to not only rescue Wendell from his rash actions, but also grow into being a queen and be a partner for him. I also really enjoy her academic side. I also love to do research and it is really nice to read about a character who enjoys it as well.
Wendell felt a bit like he wasn’t as important in this book. I often felt like he was just part of the background or scenery as Emily worked hard to keep him safe. There was no journal entry by him as there had been in the other books and I kind of missed that. Although there were some letters that were very sweet. There also seemed to be less banter between the two. It was pretty obvious that Wendell is losing his human side and is becoming more Fae as he takes over his role as king. I do love how he continues to dote over Emily and really wants her to be happy and can give her space when she needs it.
This book is set mostly in Wendell’s Fae Kingdom which was both beautiful and very creepy. There are lots of great creatures and interesting fae that roam these woods and it was lovely learning about them. The plot was interesting, although I think Emily had to save Wendell way too many times in this one. The pacing was also a bit slow at the start, though it does pick up towards the end. Everything is wrapped up rather nicely, and I did enjoy some of the cameos from characters that had been in the other books.
This was a solid ending to the series, although it could have used a bit more interaction between Emily and Wendell. If you enjoyed the first two books this is a must read as you will enjoy how everything is brought together and ends well. If you have not read the other books you really do need to start at the beginning.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
Wait! It’s the final book!! I didn’t know this and now I’m sad lol. Sorry to hear it fell a little flat for you. It’s such a shame when that happens, especially if you’ve enjoyed the previous books.
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I think it is the last book, though I’m not sure where I got that impression. I hope you enjoy the book though.
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Oh bummer, I didn’t realise this series was only a trilogy. While I’m happy cos I don’t like series that go on for too long I’m also sad knowing there won’t be new stories for these characters. I’m sad to hear that this fell a bit flat for you but I can see why, especially if there’s less banter between Emily and Wendell and he felt more like a prop than part of the story. I’m still looking forward to reading it but maybe I will also temper my expectations a bit 🙂 Great review!
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As far as I know it is the last, but maybe I’m wrong? There is certainly room for more stories set in this world though. Hope you enjoy reading it!
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