Early Review – Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde, Book 2) by Heather Fawcett (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: January 16, 2024
ASIN: B0C2PB1Z4J
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Emily Wilde series
Source: eBook for Review from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.”
Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Emily Wilde series. I got a copy of this to review on ebook through NetGalley.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this continuation of the Emily Wilde series. This installment has Emily working on a new project, a map of the fairy realms. Unfortunately, Bambleby’s mother sends assassins to kill him right into Cambridge! So, Bambleby, Emily and team are off to the Austrian Alps to find a door to Bambleby’s realm and pull the danger away from Cambridge.
I enjoyed this quite a bit. The story involves some wonderful new types of fae that we haven’t meet before. There is also a lot of adventuring through mountains infested with a maze of fairy doors to various parts of fairy. The characters end up not only searching for the Nexus door back to Bambleby’s home but also searching for a scholar who has been missing for nearly a hundred years.
I love that Emily is showing some character growth here. She is learning to accept some help and to also accept that she might also actually like some people. The drama between her and Bambleby continues; as Bambleby waits for her answer to his question about marriage. The addition of an apprentice for Emily and of a stodgy old Cambridge scholar, Rose, to the party adds a lot of fun to the story.
This story continues to have the cozy, warm feeling of the first one. Bambleby naturally turns any area he is in into a warm inviting space. I also enjoyed the mysteries around the fae realm that are explored here and the plot-line around Bambleby’s mother. I am curious to see the direction things head in as we go into the third book.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. I love the characters and the different fae we meet. I also enjoyed the adventuring aspects of this and learning more about Bambleby’s home realm. I would definitely recommend this series as a whole if you enjoy cozy fantasies that focus on fae mythology.
