“Shadow is not at all happy with me. He lies by the fire while the chill wind rattles the door, tail inert, staring out from beneath that shaggy forelock of his with the sort of accusatory resignation peculiar to dogs, as if to say: Of all the stupid adventures you’ve dragged me on, this will surely be the death of us. I fear I have to agree, though this makes me no less eager to begin my research.”
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Pages: 336
Date of Publication: 19 January 2023
Publisher: Orbit
My Review Summary: An interesting tale set in a magical place
📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS 📖
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 this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.
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, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
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.
💭THOUGHTS💭
I was quite excited when I saw this book. I haven’t read this type of fantasy for a while and so was pleased when I was accepted onto the Tour. There was a good mixture of fantasy, friendship and romance that kept my interest.
The writing was light and kept me engaged. There were occasions when there were more complicated goings on, but it didn’t spoil the story for me. There was a good balance of story telling and conversation with good descriptions inbetween.
The chapters were fairly long which meant that you got a good chunk of the story before moving on. There was a good flow to it despite being written as though it was a journal (from the point of view of the main character). I enjoyed the part where the other ‘main’ character wrote a couple of chapters whilst the other character was indisposed.
I liked the titles of the chapters. They helped with the flow of the story and gave you an idea of the timeline – even when the character was unsure herself!
The characters were great. The main character was brilliant with her sole focus being on the science behind her adventures. I enjoyed the addition of romance. It was not the usual type of romance which was enjoyable. I also enjoyed the personalities of the villagers and how they eventually got used to the main character’s unique personality.
The settings were excellent. I loved being in Iceland and visiting the faerie realm. The description really took you there.
Overall an interesting book that I enjoyed reading.
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