Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
This was a highly anticipated read for 2025, and somehow I let an overwhelming number of ARCs (advance reader copies) get in the way of me finishing a beloved series. I started to buddy read it over the summer and then kept pausing as priorities shifted. I’ll be honest, I probably also put it off because I just didn’t want it to end. I finally made time to enter Emily’s world one more time and I’m so glad I did. My first read of this trilogy was in print, although I reread books 1 and 2 as audiobooks before diving into this one. As I read this with my eyeballs, I couldn’t help but continue to “hear” the excellent narration of Encyclopaedia and Map and I think a reread to actually hear it all over will be in order shortly.
In this final adventure, we pick up with Emily and Wendell entering Faerie to reclaim a throne and kingdom. Any more information would probably be considered a spoiler.
As I was reading, I found myself frustrated in similar ways as I was in reading Map of the Otherlands, namely in the romance department. Wendell spent quite a bit of time in book 2 poisoned and Wendell and Emily spent quite a bit of time apart. The same is true in book 3; many of their quests are separate rather than together.
But as I thought this over I realized, Emily Wilde is the title character and these are not primarily romance novels. Emily is the hero, and if Wendell at times feels like a sidekick, perhaps that is purposeful. While I may have longed for a bit more connection between them, the series never diverges from what it promised from the beginning, offering readers Emily’s point of view, her research, her ponderings and experiences, etc. The humor and quirky interactions continue. The violence and light horror of Faerie is explored. Beloved characters from the previous books make cameos. Adventure is had. Morality is hazy. And the ending is happy.
While I still wish I could spend more time in the world and with these characters, I think Heather Fawcett has offered up a conclusion that is consistent and satisfying.
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On-page intimate scenes and innuendo are very brief and vague.
