Review of ‘Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3) by Heather Fawcett. Discover the fae-filled finale of Emily Wilde’s magical journey with a romantic twist, academic riddles, and a kingdom on the line. In Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, Heather Fawcett delivers a satisfying close to a charming trilogy, blending scholarly wit with whimsical enchantment. Perfect for fans of cozy fantasy, curious faerie lore, and slow-burn romance.
‘Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales’ by Heather Fawcett is a quietly magical finale full of fae intrigue, tender romance, and scholarly charm
Synopsis
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic-and Emily’s knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
Review
In this final installment, Emily Wilde, now a renowned dryadologist and expert in all things fae, takes on her most daunting role yet: queen of a faerie realm. After years of studying the Folk from a distance, she finds herself right in the heart of their tangled politics and ancient magic. Alongside her fiancé and former rival Wendell Bambleby, Emily must navigate palace intrigue, a kingdom still echoing with the curse of Wendell’s wicked stepmother, and her own feelings of not quite fitting into either world. Faerie is a place of beauty and peril, and Emily is about to discover just how much power lies in stories, both the ones she’s read and the one she’s now writing with her life.
Heather Fawcett brings Emily Wilde’s adventures to a delightful, if slightly more introspective, conclusion in Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. If you’ve been following along since The Encyclopaedia of Faeries, this third installment wraps up Emily and Wendell’s story with heart, magic, and a touch of danger. And while I did miss some of the earlier books’ spark and camaraderie, I still thoroughly enjoyed diving back into this fae-filled world.
What I’ve always loved about this series is how character-driven it is and this finale continues to deliver in that department. Emily remains her academically driven, adorably awkward self, now thrust into the role of Faerie queen (of all things!), and Wendell… oh Wendell. He is, once again, the shining star of my heart. The love he has for Emily is so genuine and warm it practically radiates off the page. Every time he looked at her with that mix of exasperation and absolute adoration, I melted a little.
The plot takes a darker, more solitary turn as Emily and Wendell confront the deadly curse left behind by Wendell’s delightfully wicked stepmother. Emily spends more time apart from Wendell than I would’ve liked. Don’t get me wrong, I’m here for her solo scholarship adventures, but I missed the dynamic of the two of them traveling and problem-solving together. Their chemistry is what made book two such a highlight for me, so having them apart for big chunks of the book dulled the fun just a bit.
And while the stakes feel higher in this one, I couldn’t help but feel the absence of some of the beloved side characters. Rose and Adriana brought such richness to earlier books, and I really missed their voices here. The world of Faerie is gorgeous and strange, and Fawcett doesn’t hold back on making it feel both like a dream and a trap, but I do think it lost a bit of the coziness that made the second book so delightful.
Still, this is a strong ending to the series. It’s better paced and more emotionally satisfying than the first book, though it doesn’t quite recapture the adventure-filled spark of the second. I closed the book feeling content, but also hoping that maybe, just maybe, we might get a return to this world someday. There’s still so much magic left to explore and Emily and Wendell’s story doesn’t have to end here.
Final thoughts
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is a charming, magical finale that gives our favorite fae-obsessed scholar the ending she deserves. If you’ve enjoyed Emily and Wendell’s journey so far, this one is definitely worth the read. It’s a quiet, romantic, and slightly eerie goodbye to a world I’ve grown quite fond of.
Rating
8/10
Details
- Trigger warnings: Alcohol, animal cruelty, animal death, bigotry, body horror, confinement, death, death of a loved one, fire/fire injury, gore, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness/disorder, misogyny, murder, sexual content (alluded to only), stalking, torture (mentions), trafficking, violence, vomit, war.
- Themes: Love, loyalty, ambition, the pursuit of knowledge, self-discovery, and the complexities of human and faerie relationships.
- Representation: The story prominently features a theme of neurodivergence, with the protagonist Emily Wilde portrayed as a neurodivergent scholar. Queer side characters are also present.
- Genre: Cozy fantasy
- Pages: 368
- Publication date: February 11, 2025
- Publisher: Orbit (Little, Brown Book Group UK)
- About the author:
Heather Fawcett is a New York Times, USA Today, and Sunday Times bestselling Canadian author known for her works across adult, young adult, and middle-grade fantasy genres. Her notable titles include Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Even the Darkest Stars, and Ember and the Ice Dragons. She holds a Master’s degree in English Literature and a Bachelor’s in Archaeology. Heather has also worked as an archaeologist, photographer, technical writer, and backstage assistant for a Shakespearean theater festival. She resides on Vancouver Island, Canada.
heavenlybookish 