Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde #2)
Author: Heather Fawcett
Genre: Fantasy, Cozy Fantasy
Publisher: Books On Tape
Publication date: January 2024
Format: Audiobook
Length: 12 hours

Read if you like: cozy fantasy, academic style setting, socially awkward FMC, fae-based magic, reluctant romance, he falls first 

Rating:

I loved Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries for so many different reasons, but it did feel very much like a self-contained story. As a result, I wasn’t sure where exactly the second book would go, but was I ever pleasantly surprised. 

I loved the second installment in this series, it built perfectly off the foundations of book one and provided an opportunity to look further into what I felt was a fascinating, lush fantasy world. The characters were even more endearing than in book one, and I found myself completely invested in the plot. 

If you like cozy, mysterious fantasies, this is a series I can’t recommend enough. I can’t wait for it to continue once the next book is released. 

The Book: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

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.

The Review

What a wonderful sequel! I’m swooning over how perfect this follow-up was.

I loved the first book in this series, I felt like it was a perfect cozy fantasy, and somehow this one was even better. I loved seeing the continuation of Emily’s academic work and the addition of some new characters that brought out the fiery aspects of her personality. Her simultaneous passion for faerie research and social awkwardness combine into entertaining and enjoyable interactions with those around her, and I felt like the addition of the new key characters provided some great banter and dialogue.

The world is so lush and gorgeous in these books, built partially in 1920s Europe and partially in the mystical realm of Faerie, that I keep finding myself eager to see more of it. The way Fawcett intertwines the regular with the enchanted is always fun and often a little unnerving simultaneously and it lends a unique feel to the setting.

If there’s one area I felt was far better fleshed out in this book versus the first, it was the romance. In establishing Emily’s social awkwardness in book one I felt the romance didn’t feel overly natural. It was as difficult to believe in as Emily felt it was, which was perhaps the point, but I finished feeling like it hadn’t added a whole lot to the story. That said, it flourished wonderfully in this book. Emily still maintains her awkwardness to a degree, but she also grows a great deal alongside Wendell. Getting to see her perspective as she processes her thoughts and feelings on the romance also lends a lot more legitimacy to it. By time the end of the book came I was really rooting for them, I felt significantly more invested in the outcome this time around.

I listened to this one on audiobook and once again, it was a superb performance. This is a perfect series to settle into in this format.

This was one of my favourite sequels I’ve read in this genre. I feel like it’s difficult to say too much without giving away core plot aspects, but I can tell you that both of these books have left me feeling warm and fuzzy, and I consistently find myself losing track of time as I listen to them and get completely absorbed in Emily’s world. This book was an easy 5 stars for me.