Unfortunatelly I had to DNF this book at 30% mark. I just couldn't force myself to read it longer or waist my time on a book, that doesn't give me joy.
What is good about this book, is that you can see, that the author did his job and thorougly explored all those mythical creatures. There were bunch of them, that I never heard before.
However the writing style was so dry, that it put me to sleep after few pages. It was as if I read some kind of dictionary. To be honest, it felt infodumpy.

I appreciate what author tried to do here, but in the end this book was just not for me.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have been reading books about the world of Faery for a very long time. I knew that they were not all beautiful and regal like in media. I knew there were things that the Fae would rather remain in the dark. I was glad for a better understanding of the these beings and creatures. I have to say some of it will keep you up at night if you are not careful. There are some beings in here that will keep you out of the woods or way from the water. I am not sure I would want to come across any of them for I am not sure I would make it out alive. It would be my own fault for invading their space. I will have to see what the other books by this author can teach me.

I have always been drawn to faeries so the title immediately caught my eye. I like the fact that Kruse tackles the creatures that most mythology books leave out.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I love mythology and have a huge interest in Faeries. Born and raised in Ireland I grew up hearing these stories. This book is obviously well researched and thought out but it would be a better reading experience if there was a flow to the book. I would have liked more background to the stories and not just a retelling of certain stories. Overall this is an excellent reference for anyone wishing to learn more about Faeries in general.

A good introduction and some history of a variety of water and earth faeries. A good jump off book/ starting book and a decent bibliography to continue research.

This author managed to compile a huge quantity of stories of Fae across the UK. It would be an excellent reference book to have on hand of many types of & stories about Fae to have on hand. Many of the Scottish or Irish stories I had heard in one form or another but it was a joy to read them again as had been so long had forgotten them. I have never seen any one book put together so much material which was a daunting endeavor for anyone to accomplish. I think because of that though there are copious footnotes & references it can get a tad muddled without a couple of more specifics in a particular odd out area. That being Fae activity & phenomena of some of these creatures tied to specific areas & type in places where people were violently murdered or met their demise under horrendous situations. This would probably be a book unto it's self & something rarely touched on in this types of tomes. There is & always has been a link between the dead & the Fae. I think in part because of the otherworld or underworld & spirit form. I wish on the murders he would have elaborated a bit more so they would have been easier to try & look up. One in particular struck me & a little added meat to the story here would have given more depth. The white rabbit of Crank was horrendous & also a bit of a cover up at the time in my opinion, of a vile drunken wealthy [that should be in capitals] landowner. I think Fae creatures can feel the need to vindicate certain deaths or jab people because of them & this particular case would be a good example. An elderly woman was raising her little 6 yr old granddaughter who had a white rabbit that was everything to her. He had got it in his head the old woman had hexed him & in a drunken rage mode went over to her place with a lout buddy to 'draw blood "to break" the curse. He chased the little girl who fled with her rabbit & beat both to death [& probably more to the child] & then took her body & laid it on the church steps to be found the next day. They say later in time after this he saw a white rabbit & fled into the night & was found dead in a ravine or quarry, which was good justice. Then people began seeing this white rabbit I believe so they would remember the child with her beloved pet. The main thing I think with Fae as in particular in Scotland is to treat with decency & respect & common sense. Be polite but don't fall for anything & protect yourself.

A great continuation from the previous book! I found it to be just as indepth and informative as the first one and absolutely loved it.

Would highly recommend to any interested in faerie lore.

I've been an avid supporter of all things Faery related, since forever. I was incredibly excited when I saw this and immediately requested it. And it was an unusual experience.
Most field guides about magical creatures only focus on the more commonly known. Beyond Faery, on the contrary, is full of stories and information beasts that you don't usually hear about. Such as Kelpies, sprites, banshees... And, while the content is detailed and compiled from several sources, the final product felt disheartening.
I liked the creatures the book talked about and the divisions between each topic. It was clearly well researched. But the formating was so simplistic. It could be because I read an ARC, but things were missing. For starters, pictures or illustrations. Their presence would have made my reading experience a thousand times better. It would have made it simpler to picture the creature or the places. And a map would have been so useful, considering most stories happened around the same area.
Also, there was no order inside sections. Mostly, it was just a series of stories and myths that shared no relation, with little information scattered between them that was repeated through the text multiple times. And, the information about whether these stories allegedly happened was scarce, just a footnote at the bottom, or a place. But, on the other hand, those references were great to find more books focused on this topic to add to my TBR.
I'm honestly sad to be feeling this way, considering I had such high expectations. But I'll most likely check out the final version to see if any changes were made.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a digital ARC of this novel.

Actual rate: 2.50 stars

I am very sorry to admit this book didn't work for me. I have been always curious about legends and supernatural creatures, recently I have been reading my fair share of non-fiction about this subject so I feel it's my right to say that the biggest problem this novel has is its execution.
I can clearly see that the author had to find a lot of information to write this, but I think the information was handled very very poorly. It ended up being an endless chain of examples of local faery myths, with very very spare information about where these stories were found or when they allegedly happened. I really didn't get much knowledge from this novel for this reason.
I think it could have been a lot better if the author focused more on giving general information you can get from analyzing so many myths, then choose to present a few examples that distinguished themselves from the others for being celebrated in some way in local folklore and such. Also I don't know if the author seriously believe in these legends or didn't want to focus on their credibility, but I would have really appreciated if this novel covered the "real" roots that could have generated these myths.
So if you are looking for a novel analyzing faery folklore maybe this isn't the best, but if you are looking for a collection of faery stories the maybe this is the novel for you.

As someone who's a huge fan of all things mythological, this book was a treat! The title caught my eye, but what's inside kept me reading! It's not often that you get mythology books that focus on specific creatures in depth like River Sprites, Kelpies, Hags, Bogies and a slew of other mythical beasts!

I'm excited to add this to my shelf once it's released and I can get a physical copy!

I have been fascinated with tales of faery as long as I can remember. This book takes each character of Fae and beyond and puts them in perspective. It’s an interesting look at fact or fiction with stories you may or may not believe.

What did I like? Book spans several types...Menfolk to beasts ...some that I’ve never heard of but with some interesting detail in a way that is relatable. I had hoped for some pictures to make it more encyclopedic but the book doesn’t have any. Interesting idea though.

Would I recommend or buy? While the content is relatable and author is knowledgeable I had a hard time connecting with the book I received. This isn’t a novel so I would expect some pictures or a better format for the book. I downloaded it on kindle and it was awkward with the bold red print of the sources which is usually left until the end of the book. It makes it hard to recommend to buy and it was hard for me to read.

I received a copy to read and voluntarily left this opinion.