Book Review for Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

This is a fantasy that takes place in 1910 in the Silva Lupi faerie realm of Ireland. It is the third book in the Emily Wilde Series. It is written for those who enjoy dark fairy tales. This story is filled with folklore, magic, romance, adventure, and a fight for the throne in a land that has been cursed.

The main character, Emily Wilde, is a thirty-one-year-old professor of dryadology at Cambridge University. She is a scholar, researcher, writer, and expert on faeries. She has already written The Encyclopaedia of Faeries and Map of the Otherlands and is currently working on a Compendium of Lost Tales. She is human but is currently engaged to Wendell—a fae with a right to the crown and a passion for fashion.

The couple are on a quest to find the door to the Silva Lupi faerie realm. Emily helps Wendell to search for Arna—his missing wicked-stepmother and Silva Lupi’s previous queen—and to decide on an appropriate punishment for her. They work together to find a cure for the curse that Wendell’s stepmother has placed on the realm. When the two marry, Emily becomes Queen of Faerie in Silva Lupi.

This book details the experiences of Emily and Wendell during their engagement, Emily’s adjustment to living in the faerie realm, and Wendell’s transition into the position of king. The story brings in characters from previous books in the series including Emily’s Niece Ariadne, Wendell’s half-sister Delilah, Wendell’s Uncle Lord Taran, the Hidden King, Margret and Lilja from Ljosland, various professors of dryadology, Poe, Snowbell, Shadow, and Orga.

I was amused by Wendell’s desire to provide surprises for Emily while she claimed not to like surprises. In my opinion, Wendell is a very good gift giver, placing a lot of thought and energy into each of them. I also liked witnessing the personality changes that occurred in Emily and Wendell as the two vastly different characters rubbed off on each other.

 I enjoyed reading about the interactions that Emily and Wendell had with those from both the faerie realm and the human world. I liked feeling present as I experienced how characters from both places interacted with one another. I was entertained with all the topics for future research projects that Emily dreamed up.

I recommend this book to those who have read and enjoyed the previous two books in this series. On a 1 to 5 scale, I give this book four stars. I didn’t like it quite as well as the first two books in this series. However, it entertained me, kept my attention, and was a nice addition to the series.