Book Reviews / Fantasy / Romance

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

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Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3)
Publisher: Random House US
Pub Date: 11 February 2025
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves.

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 How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for 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.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Sarcificial suicide, alcohol consumption, blood & injury depiction including broken bones (secondary character), recounted death of parents, brief recounting of grandparent’s murder, murder & attempted murder, physical assault

TL;DR: You know that feeling you get when you read the opening line of a book and you immediately know that you’re in good hands? That’s what I felt the moment I read the first line in Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales and I just knew I’d have a wonderful time coming back to this historical cosy fantasy following along with Emily’s faerie adventures. Returning to this world felt like coming home. I continued to love Emily and Wendell with their delightfully contrasting personalities who couldn’t be better matches for each other. Their banter still has me kicking my feet in giggly joy! I loved reuniting with old favourite characters from the previous books and being introduced to new ones who I admittedly had misgivings about, but who steadily proved those feelings wrong. From wild enchantment to foreboding and utter disbelief to absolute charm, this third book takes you on an engaging ride and presents a very satisfying conclusion to a wonderful series.

Well, of course, Emily Wilde would be my first 5-star read of 2025! This was such an entertaining and delightful ending to a wonderfully cosy and comforting fantasy series and solidifies the trilogy in my favourites list. Naturally, this is a bit of a rambling review where I basically gush about what I loved in the conclusion to Emily and Wendell’s tale so prepare yourself for that or just read the above summary of my feelings if you don’t want to read all that, lol. Ach, I miss them already! 🥹

As I did with the previous books, I read a physical copy alongside the audiobook and I think the immersive reading experience made me love this even more. Ell Potter has done and continues to do a fantastic job voicing Emily and the myriads of other characters throughout the series. Each character’s voice is distinct and I cannot commend her talent enough for how well she captures all of them so perfectly. Michael Dodds also returns to voice certain parts from Wendell’s perspective and as in previous books, he also does an incredible job. If you love audiobooks, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this series. It’s so good! 😍

Compared to the first two books in this series, where Emily spends a lot more time figuring out how to save Wendell from peril on her own—or at least, separately from him—in this book, they spend so much more time together and I loved every moment of it! I don’t think I will ever tire of hearing Emily and Wendell bicker and banter for pages on end. I also won’t tire of Emily’s blushing every time she’d get lost in her head only to look up to find Wendell gazing at her. Nor will I ever tire of Wendell being an absolute sop for his queen. His earnestness to see her happy by his side ruling his faerie kingdom together was so sweet! Honestly, he melted my heart time and again as he proved he’d do anything to fulfill her every desire so long as she would remain by his side always. I will never get tired of it. Inject this feeling into my veins. Please, I beg. 🥹

As Wendell assumes his rightful throne and Emily adjusts to her overwhelming new life as a faerie monarch, they simultaneously have to figure out how to stop the old queen’s curse from overtaking the whole kingdom before it’s too late. Wendell’s kingdom is both horrifying and wondrous and while the scaredy cat in me cringed at learning more about Where the Trees Have Eyes (damn those attentive oaks) and the monstrous creatures of this realm (including the nobility and former council members), I can’t deny Fawcett’s talents in bringing this place vividly to life. I could easily picture the horrors but also the more flowery and vibrant greenery of Wendell’s home—there’s so much life in these pages!

Of the trilogy, I would say this book moved at the fastest pace. There was so much to uncover as they race against faerie time to defeat the curse and the sense of foreboding steadily grew with each revelation of how far it has burrowed into the roots of this kingdom. We’re introduced to many intriguing new characters in the faerie realm and I wasn’t sure who to trust at first—I was even doubtful of the trustworthiness of the mortals who’d survived there for years, but over time, I came to appreciate each one. I loved the house keeper and even the creep-tastic boggart but I also appreciated Naimh, Callum and even (dare I say it) Lord Taran and Deilah for their roles. There was truly never a dull moment in faerie!

As always, being in Emily’s head and seeing things from her perspective is so entertaining. I love her dry humour and there were many times I found myself genuinely laughing out loud at her narration of events. She has come such a long way in loosening up compared to when we first meet her in book one, but as ever, she stays true to herself and I love that so much about her. She’s such a fierce fire-breathing dragon and I fully get all the reasons why Wendell loves her so! Their romance was also perfect and filled me with happy flutters. Seriously, Wendell’s words were just so swoontastic and melted my heart more than a few times. They are such a perfectly suited couple and I would read hundreds more books with them in it.

Overall, this was a great conclusion to the magical, enchanting, wholesome and adventure-filled Emily Wilde Trilogy. I won’t ever stop recommending it to anyone who loves stories that are a bit more on the academic side, but also for those who think following along with the (mis)adventures of a curmudgeonly professor and the faerie prince she falls in love with (and who is utterly besotted with her), sounds like the best time. You’re not wrong—it is the best time! 😉

Have you read the Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales and the Emily Wilde Series or is it on your TBR?

22 thoughts on “Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett”

  2. Yay I’m so glad you loved this. And I have to say its nice to hear someone praising the pace as I saw a couple of other reviews saying it was slow to start, yet I thought it dived straight in. I love the characters and worlds so much. Like you I could happily read many more adventures with Emily & Wendell and love watching them interact with one another. Oh the bogart!!! I loved his role in this one. The curse and it’s implications towards Wendell really filled me with a sense of dread. And I ahree that those trees are truly shudder inducing. I love how Emily has grown over the series too. In the middle book her attitude towards her niece irritated me slightly but here she still felt like the old Emily but managed to connect more which was wonderful to see.

    Have you ever read the Lady Trent series? I haven’t but I read it’s blurb recently and it’s given me major Emily Wilde but with dragons rather than fae vibes.

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    • Omg, really? I felt the first two books were much slower in comparison to the pacing in this book. This one moved sooo quickly! 🤣 I’m surprised to say that I wish we got to see more of the boggart in this one. That little mention by Wendell in his letter to Em made me even more curious about what the boggart is like, lol. I can’t recall if I found her attitude towards her niece irritating in the second book but I did wish that she would just try a bit harder at being kinder. Although then I immediately took that thought back because Emily tries her best, haha. But I do love seeing her loosen up and just have a bit more fun with things. Her dry humour is fantastic though and never fails to make me laugh!

      I don’t know if I’ve heard of the Lady Trent series. Who is it by? I love the sound of major Emily Wilde vibes but with DRAGONS!? Sounds like something I would definitely read and enjoy! LOL

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      • I’m with you. I didn’t find any of them slow to be fair but I thought this one dived into the story from the very first line.

        Yes same here. Maybe they’ll feature in another story one day 🤞 I also really liked the brownie and the other members of staff that you meet.

        I could understand her getting frustrated, as she’s so independent and likes her own space, but it really grated on me when she referred to her as a brat 😅 yes I agree her humour is great and I did really like seeing her relax more around people in this one. It’s like the experiences of the previous books have gradually allowed her to let others in.

        It’s by Marie Brennan. I added it to my TBR years ago & forgot all about it. Then found it again whilst looking for options for a challenge and part of the blurb really jumped out of me (and made me think of this series). I’ll share the quote below:

        ‘You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon’s presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one’s life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .‘

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        • OH! I was wondering why that author’s name sounded familiar so I went to look it up and OH! Marie Brennan! YES! I have the first book in her dragon series on my TBR and I’ve heard a lot of great things about it over the years. I didn’t realise it was kind of similar-ish to the way Emily Wilde is written but considering it’s also from an academic POV studying about dragons, it makes sense that it is. Ooh, I love that quote you shared! Thanks for bringing this title up on my radar again. I’m gonna have to prioritise this one, I think! 😂

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          • I could be wrong about the similarities tbh, it’s just a guess I’m making based on the quote. I’m glad you love it too though. And I’m not surprised to hear that it’s already on your TBR, I remember seeing the books everywhere a few years back. Knowing you loved Emily Wilde, and the vibes the quote was giving off, it made sense to mention it 😂 like you I’m going to have to prioritise it soon too. I hope you enjoy it.

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  3. I never thought to have a book along with the audiobook! I’ll have to try that out. I did listen to the first book in this series via audiobook and enjoyed it, so I will need to do that with book two and three. Great review!

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  5. This is such a great review, Dini!! I am so tired that I don’t know if I can manage the brain power. haha. I’m so glad we buddy read the whole series, it made it extra special. I really loved this one too. I thought it was so well done and I’m going to miss this amazing world!

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