It's a bit hard to write a review for the last book of a trilogy without giving much away. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales is a lovely addition and conclusion to the series overall. Obviously you won't pick up this book without enjoying the previous. For me, I really liked how the story was written from Emily's POV through her journal entries. She has a very distinct narrative voice that truly carries the series. It matches both her character and the time period that she is from very well. I love the romance between Emily and Wendell-- they make a good pair and complement each others' both strengths and weaknesses. All of this is present in this final novel. The plot was one that matched the world and what was set up thus far.

I recommend the series if you like a Mary Poppins-like narrative voice. I think its also a good series if you enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger, though this series is slightly less silly since Emily is much more of a serious character than Alexa.

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett is the third book in the Emily Wilde series and I have been so excited to read this! I've loved the series so far and had really high expectations for it. And of course it lived up to them! I loved slipping back into a familiar world with characters I've grown to love so much. This one definitely has a slower pace but it really adds to the cozy vibes. The plot did seem a little bland compared to the previous books but I think the deep character development really made up for it. I also think the open ending was a great fit for Emily and Wendell. I'm definitely going to miss this series! I highly recommend giving it a try if you're a fan of cozy fantasy.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

"Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales" presents a charming exploration of folklore and myth. The narrative thrives on its enchanting descriptions and the whimsy of its premise, inviting readers into a world of forgotten tales and magical encounters. While the book delivers delightful moments, it occasionally struggles with depth and pacing, sometimes feeling more like a collection of vignettes than a cohesive story. Emily Wilde’s adventures are engaging but lack a strong narrative drive, making it a pleasant but ultimately fleeting read. Ideal for those who enjoy light, folklore-centric tales with a whimsical twist.

A fantastically done third installment, this book will answer all of your questions and leave you with a satisfying end that honors the characters we've come to love along the way and ties everything together. In doing this, it maintains the charm and voice of our main character throughout while giving her believable and enjoyable development through her actions and her time with Wendell in Faerie. The tone of our main character's journal entries is what kept me here, and the way Heather Fawcett integrates her character development throughout her journal entries is brilliantly done. This was a very satisfying ending that I am more than glad I preordered. This series as a whole has firmly made its way to my fantasy recommendation list for patrons.

This was a solid third entry and possible conclusion to the series, though my patience with the world of Emily Wilde has been wearing thin since the beginning, and it's beginning to fray through altogether. For me, it's the bare entitlement of Emily and Wendell in all their interactions--with each other but more so with everyone else they encounter--that I have an increasingly hard time dealing with.

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Wilde’s has been such a fun series, and I’m sad to say goodbye to these characters. I do think that this book was a great conclusion to the series as a whole. It had all the charm and sweet moments that I’ve come to expect from this series. I really enjoyed seeing Emily’s character growth, and seeing the devotion that Emily and Wendell have for one another. Orga provided some comic relief in a story that had a bit more of a serious tone than its predecessors. And Shadow. Sweet, sweet Shadow. I’m a cat girl, but Shadow has my heart.

I will say that this installment is probably my least favorite of the three. The pacing was a bit weird for me. It was really slow for the majority of the first two thirds of the book, which I didn’t necessarily mind, but was kind of surprising as the previous two books were paced really well. However, I still really enjoyed my time with this book, this world and these characters that I love so much. I will read anything that Heather Fawcett writes in the future. Maybe someday she’ll even return to this wonderful world that she created.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an advanced reader copy for my honest review.
Now I will say I’ve been in a very big reading slump, which I do think is affecting my review of this book. It took me a very long time to get through the first half and then I took a very long break. So with that in mind, I remember the second half of this book a lot more than the first half. Going off what I remember I really did enjoy this book. I loved visiting old characters getting to see new characters and

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ended. It didn’t necessarily end on a cliffhanger, but I definitely think it was open for more adventures, which I love

3.5/5

A good enough conclusion to the series. As always, Heather Fawcett’s writing was magical and it sucked me into the story. The story itself was a little weak but the middle portion of the book was really captivating.

Some moments felt rushed towards the end and the exact motivation of some characters did not seem to be fleshed out entirely well, which made for a little confusion towards the end. But overall, I enjoyed the balance between cozy and action-packed sequences in this book and will await further books from Fawcett.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free eARC!

This was a sweet conclusion to the end of the Emily Wilde books.

For a quick review without spoiling anything:

Emily and Wendell travel back into the faerie realm to rid the area of a curse (that may or may not be related to Wendell).

I found the character development of Emily to be so profound in this book compared to where she was in book 1. I really loved getting to know more of the faerie realm and surprisingly this book didn't have as many characters in it compared to the other two books (and some of our old favorites resurface!)

My biggest critique was the pacing of this book. Things didn't really pick up until much later in the book and the final 30% felt mostly like filler. Because the story is in a journal format, we are told rather than shown much of the plot. I do feel like this series would have made a stronger duology than a trilogy- but then perhaps we would get less of Emily's development.

Highly still love and recommend this series! A true staple for any cozy academia magical realism fan!

Thank you to Del Rey books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my review!

This is book three in the Emily Wilde series. This book continues Emily’s scholarly journey in folklore. This is a cute read. Written as diary entries, you see Emily’s life thru her eyes and sometimes he other character’s. Lots of humor, mystery, and romance. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating: Really Enjoyed It, 4 stars

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales is the final book in the Emily Wilde trilogy. I have really loved this series, describing it as Lady Trent but with Faerie instead of dragons.

While I overall really enjoyed this installment, I will admit to being a bit disappointed by it as well. I LOVED the first two installments. I gave them both 5 stars and they both made me cry. This one had the same characters, the same sense of scholarly adventure mixed with slice of life, but it lacked some of the magic that made the first two books so great for me. I don't mean actual magic, as this is the book we spend the most time in Faerie, leading to probably the most magic-infused book. No, the magic that I was missing was more of the everyday, cozy elements. I think this book has a much lower emphasis placed on character interactions and character growth, which is where I loved the first two, especially the first installment, so very much.

Even though in this one, we have our romance fully established, I feel like this is the most independent Emily that we see in the books. What I absolutely loved so much was seeing the growth in this curmudgeonly loner as she accepted people into her life and began to value them. She shows growth in the weight that she gives things in her life, and I feel like we see her start to blossom. However, while I applaud our independent Em, I did miss those more reflective character introspections that we got through her journal entries. This one was very much focused on Wendell taking back his throne and keeping both that and his life. So it's more plot focused, but in that more detatched journal entry way. So I guess on further reflection, that is what I missed the most was Reflective Emily - we got primarily Scholarly, Problem-Solving Emily and all the character pieces took a backseat to that.

All that to say, once I finally got into the plot, it was definitely engaging, and I actually moved through it pretty quickly (it just took a solid 35 days for me to get to that point). I enjoyed learning more about Wendell's realm and the faerie lore that we explore in this one. Ogra the cat is an absolute grumpy queen. I loved her feud with Lord Taran, Wendell's uncle, I wish we had got more of the interaction and importance of the common fae, in particular the oiche sidhe (or however you spell that) - the head servant especially. I feel like that was glossed over and we didn't even get a name while we certainly know Poe and Snowball. And of course Shadow is a very, VERY good boy.

I appreciated the callbacks to the first two books throughout this, and I will definitely recommend this series. I just will always love the first book the best.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales is currently out in the wild.

A wonderful (possible) conclusion to the Emily Wilde series, aimed at YA but potentially accessible and appropriate for able older middle grade readers.
Would highly recommend for older children looking for fun and exciting fantasy reads, and adults too!

It's the perfect ending to a great fantasy series. I think Heather did a great job at moving the plot along while wrapping things up in a way that left me so so satisfied. Was glad there was little more romance in the final book and I loved the character development when looking back at the first book in the series

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I've really enjoyed the Emily Wilde series. Emily is the heart of the story and yet she is bookish and devoted to her study of the different Fae and their stories. She has strong opinions and has made some great friends particularly among the common fae.

Now she comes with Wendell to his kingdom as his queen. His step-mother however has cursed the kingdom horribly and has not yet died. First, they think she must be sought out and killed, both to stop the curse and for Wendell to keep the throne. Emily studies the stories and looks for parallels in them where Wendell does not end up dead also.

The scholarly searches take a large portion of the book. This plot makes for a steady pace with few bursts of action. Emily consults many books and fae who knew the old queen. They also must find her. The studies lead Emily to plenty of fellow researchers in Compendium of Lost Tales with many interesting stories and variations she collects for future use.

While Emily is steadfast in pursuing research to logical choices to their issues with the old queen, Wendell seems mercurial in his actions. He alternates between anger and harsh reprisal for his step-mother and cheerful plans for Emily and her needs. He is focused on making sure Emily is happy and won't leave him, especially since she does leave him to go off and study to find solutions to their ruling issues. She doesn't want Wendell to die.

I will not spoil all the great studies and harrowing adventures Emily undertakes to save Wendell and his kingdom. She loves him, but he is generally too lazy to be a good partner in these pursuits. However, they balance each other well. Emily spurs him to more scholarly and reasonable actions; Wendell helps her have more fun.

The nitty-gritty: Adventure, danger, magic and a touch of romance, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales brings all these elements and more together in this satisfying series conclusion.

I have enjoyed my time with Emily Wilde immensely, and now Heather Fawcett has wrapped up her magical, funny, feel-good series in a very satisfying way. Emily and Wendell are back, along with some old favorite characters and new ones as well, but unlike the first two books, Emily steals the show this time, and I grew to love her even more. Make sure you read this series in order, though, you wouldn’t want to miss anything!

Please note, because this is book three in the series, there may be minor spoilers ahead for the first two books. 

We pick up right after the end of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. Wendell and Emily are headed to Wendell’s faerie kingdom to take back his rightful place on the throne, after the demise of Queen Arna, Wendell’s evil stepmother. Emily, though not yet married to Wendell, will rule at his side as Queen, although she’s feeling a bit uneasy about this idea. But when they arrive, they are shocked to discover that the forests of the kingdom are beginning to die, and that the sickness is creeping closer and closer to the castle. Before he can settle into his new roll as King, Wendell knows they must figure out how to stop the sickness before the castle itself disappears.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales moves at a slower pace than the first two books, so I’ll admit it was a bit hard to immerse myself at first. We also get quite a bit of faerie politics in this book, since most of the story is set in the realm of the Folk and Wendell is faced with his new responsibilities as King. That, along with Emily’s ubiquitous footnotes, made the beginning a little shaky for me. Luckily, things smooth out and the pace picks up once the quest part of the story takes off.

Once again, Heather Fawcett’s imaginative world of the Folk comes to life on the page, and I’ll admit I’m going to miss this world now that the series is over. From creatures that are familiar to me (brownies) to the unfamiliar (tree fauns), Fawcett’s faerie creatures are beautiful, ugly, kind and deadly, and each one has a peculiar otherworldliness to them that added a bit of unknown danger to the story. I also loved the way Wendell and Emily travel through the doors between faerie and the real world, which are constantly moving or changing appearance. Even with an underlying sinister feel, this darkness is offset by Fawcett’s witty dialog and the warmth of the relationships between her characters.

Emily takes center stage in this book, and I think I loved her even more. She’s been forced out of her comfort zone—her cozy office at Cambridge where she’s an expert in dryadology—into some very new experiences. For one, her relationship with Wendell is headed towards marriage, and she isn’t completely sure how she feels about that. Emily is the best kind of female character, one who has a purpose and passion in life outside of romance and knows she doesn’t need a partner to be happy. However, she is deeply in love with Wendell, and so she manages to have the best of both worlds, but not without some struggles, of course.

As you can tell from the title, Emily has decided to compile old tales of the fae, tales that have been lost over time or simply passed down aurally and never written down. In her research, she finds a story that almost mirrors what Wendell is going through with the dying forests, and she makes an intuitive leap that perhaps the answers they are looking for can be found in such a tale. I loved this idea and thought it was handled brilliantly.

And I can’t end this review without mentioning my favorite animal character of the series, Emily’s “dog” Shadow (who is actually part fae). She has had her loyal companion for many years, and she notices that Shadow is starting to slow down and it’s worrying her. Of course it worried me too, but Wendell has a wonderful surprise for Emily at the end of the story that brought tears to my eyes. I know the series is over, but I’d love to see more adventures that star Emily and Shadow, so fingers crossed that the author will take pity on us readers!

If you’re a fan of fae fantasy with wonderfully drawn characters and lovely writing, you don’t want to miss this series.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Heather Fawcett may own my soul at this point? I squealed when I got this eARC and promptly read it in less than 2 days. What a delight. A great wrap up to the trilogy and I'm genuinely sad I will not be hanging out with Emily and Wendell any longer. I hope Fawcett writes more in this world.

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales is a cozy fantasy read by Heather Fawcett, it’s such an enchanting blend of faerie folklore and academia. It has a unique charm in the way Emily experiences the faerie culture and writes her academic journals.
The adventure this book was so much fun.
The characters are adventurous.
And the writing is so engaging.

I love the Emily Wilde books. They are cozy, with just the right amount of romance, drama, and tongue-in-cheek humor. They deserve to be read wrapped up in a warm blanket, in an isolated cabin surrounded by trees.

This book is a little different than the ones that came before. For one, Emily is now in a settled relationship with Wendell, and it was so lovely to see how that relationship works. I feel like you rarely get to see established relationships play out on the page, and it was nice! Also, much of this book doesn't take place in the human world, so we have lots of new world-building that still managed to be accessible and understandable.

I highly recommend this series, although I do add the hint that Emily's voice can be a bit challenging at first- it's so different from what you usually read in this genre. But keep going- you'll be glad that you did!

Thank you to Del Rey/Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is a delightful continuation of the series, full of adventure, folklore, and just the right amount of whimsy. I thoroughly enjoyed following Emily and Wendell’s relationship—it’s absolutely adorable. My only complaint is that the pacing drags in places, but overall, this was a fantastic follow-up that has me excited for the next one!

Finally, a gratifying conclusion to an exceptional series! The series was phenomenal, and its writer crafted it to feel like the journal of an old friend! I adored this series from the beginning to end, but like most books that are the conclusion of a loved series, the book was too short! The characters are still full of love and mischief!
This time, Emily and Wendell experienced even more romance and love throughout the book. The faerie lore is in full swing still in this book and Emily proves she will still do anything to protect Wendell despite his own tribulations. When they go on the hunt for his stepmother, they find her eventually. When they do like most faerie instances, her power played them and forced Wendell's hand and thus Emily saves him once again.
While this one was slower paced and Emily was the focus but I loved Wendell's letters to Emily! His writing always had like a enchanting whimsical tone, and they are always fun to read! Let me say this is one of the series I will buy to have on my shelf! I absolutely recommend this series and definitely this book! Thank you Heather Fawcett for the adventures of Emily and Wendell, I am surely going to have a book hangover from this one! Thank you Ballantine Books/ Del Ray Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this one! It was a treat!