Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1) by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is all the rage right now in the fantasy book circles where I hang.  

First off, let's discuss the physical artifact of this book. I borrowed a copy from the library. See below. The cover is matte and feels sticky to my hand and I hated every second I spent having to touch it. You people who prefer physical books over ebooks, how can you defend this? It was a sensory nightmare. 

In this book, Emily Wilde is a prickly scholar of faeries and has spent her entire professional life working on an encyclopaedia of all the species of Folk. To finish up this huge project, she is spending a few months in the fictional Nordic country of Ljosland with her dog Shadow. (The first line of the book is "Shadow is not at all happy with me" and boy was I excited that the dog was a primary focus.) Just as she's getting settled, her colleague Bambleby shows up and the three of them embark on adventures with the Folk. 

The Great: I love Emily and Shadow. Shadow's an awesome creature to have on your side. Emily's so prickly and introverted that I want to invite her to my house to sit on my couch and read a book in silence. 

I was delighted to sit in the corner with my food and a book and speak to no one. (page 89)

I have always hated this sort of thing. I would sooner interview a dozen bloody changelings than navigate my way through this thicket of social conventions. I thought to myself that perhaps I should simply avoid conversation altogether going forward, seeing as I always make a mess of it. (page 97)

The Good: I enjoyed the world of this book in which there are schools and organizations devoted to studying mythology and understanding the truth behind folk stories. Emily's journal as a framing device was a clever way of getting in academic worldbuilding, but also Emily's personal observation.

The Bad: Bambleby and their relationship and how I thought this was going to be an adventure story about a brave but shy female scholar and what I ended up with us a lame romance storyline? 

Eh. I won't be reading anymore in this series. 3.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

If I frightened my cat as I had Shadow, she'd ignore me for days, or possibly put a curse on me, but then cats have self-respect. (page 278)

For the scene of a bloody assassination, the king's gift-giving ceremony was a remarkably dull affair. I wonder if this is the context in which all such events unfold, whether all the great murders and intrigues of history were preceded by a series of moments in which dull grey men talked at length about nothing or large groups of people simply waited around, fiddling with their hair or picking lint off their clothes. (page 283)

"Even the smartest among us are idiots in one way or another," she said. (page 308)

Thing I looked up:

Solivagant (page 99) - To wander alone

Hat mentions (why hats?):

Oh, I was going to miss that hat. (page 45)

...his long legs stretched out before him and his hat drawn over his face...The hat slid back down his forehead. (page 85)

...I donned my hat and coat and packed my camera...(page 92)

My old hat, now a cloak...(page 147)