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Well, if anything, reading this was like egging myself on to get into grad school lol.

�� The story. The first half was really slow, but once we hit the 65% mark, I was there. The story got surprisingly dark, and while that was a (pleasant) surprise, I ended up wishing that the entire book was like that. The academic part of this book was fascinating. I enjoyed learning about the Fae along with the MC, and I appreciated that the book gave us less Rhysands and more... Gollums? (I know he's not Fae, but you get my point!)

�� The characters. Emily's an intellectual. She's definitely NOT the dumb, mindless MC we're used to in romantasy. She was making Sensible Observationsᵀ�� left and right, and I was like, Yes girl, use that big brain of yours! HOWEVER, she's also a kind of bland and unlikeable. Yes, that's it. She's likeable, but not lovable. Wendell's also a confusing character for me. Sometimes, I wanted to give him a big hug; sometimes, I wanted to hit him on the head with a brick. He definitely had a lot more personality than Emily, though.

🔴 The romance. The only thing I kept hearing about this book was that it was supposed to be CUTE. WHERE WAS THIS CUTENESS? It wasn't in the story (like I said... it was surprisingly dark), and it wasn't in the romance because THERE WAS HARDLY ANY TO BEGIN WITH. Even more than how dark this book got, I was even more surprised about how there was a huge lack of romantic connection between the two MCs. I hope there's more in the sequel, because the glimpses I got were pretty cute. (The hero calling Emily Em instead of calling her a stupid nickname like Little Fox *ahem* was... ugh. Yes.)

�� The setting. Cozy shack in the woods in the Winter? Of course the vibes were vibing.

🔴 The writing. The writing I think both made and broke the book for me. On one hand, the very academic approach to everything was a breath of fresh air, but on the other hand, it made me feel very detached from the characters.

�� Overall? This book was far from what I expected it to be, but not necessarily in a bad way. I enjoyed the book for what it was, and I'm definitely curious enough to read the second. I have more thoughts at the back of my brain, and I might come back to this review when they resurface.


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�� More Heather Fawcett ��

Emily Wilde
�� #1. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: 3.5��
�� #2. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands: 3.5��
�� #3. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales