My Five Word TL:DR Review : Emily has won my heart

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is another wonderful instalment into Heather Fawcett’s series of the fae.  I absolutely loved the first book in the series and getting to know Emily and Wendell even better in this next part of their journey just furthers my love for these two characters and the world that Fawcett has created.  To be fair, I hold my hands up and confess that I love stories that include the fae so to an extent this was my catnip but Fawcett does a fantastic job yet again and totally pulled me into this story with ease.  The world she has created is riveting, her writing is delicious, all her characters shine and the fae are this wonderful blend of creepy, curious, fiendish or haughty and disdainful that is simply my cup of tea.

I’m not going to elaborate too much on the plot.  I will say that as a second in series this review may contain spoilers for book 1 so if you have yet to explore the first book then stop reading now and hurry – go pick up No.1.

At the heart of the story a mystery.  If you’ve read book 1 you’ll know that Wendell is a fae king in Exile.  In EWMotO his stepmother decides to take that next step and earn herself the epitaph ‘wicked’ by sending assassins into the mortal realm to deal with her errant step son once and for all.  Now, Wendell is quite the demon at swordplay but even so the two can’t continue in this vein, so with that in mind, armed with a few helpful resources and a couple of extra companions, they set off in search of one of the secret doors to Wendell’s kingdom.  Now there is more to the mystery than that and the stakes are of course much higher but I’m not going to give away such nuggets here.

Once again we have the winning combination of Fawcetts delightful prose cunningly woven into a journal format and, similarly, we have our two winning characters from the first book, but with a couple of extras and a character from the first book even making a reappearance.

This is another winning story for so many reasons.

Firstly, the plot at first felt almost a little skittish, like I couldn’t quite get a grip on what the real focus of the story was.  I think some of this is also because I tend to get a bit drawn to the academic side of things, such as Emily’s pursuit of her mapping of the Otherlands, which obviously plays into the story but in a very subdued, backseat kind of way.  Really, the real mystery here is what exactly is taking place in Wendell’s kingdom and why and once I had a handle on that I became much deeper embroiled in the goings on.  And there are other little elements, beside the academic pursuits, thrown in for good measure, such as the missing professors.  Overall, once I got a real grip on what was going on I loved it and was absolutely riveted.

Again, the writing and style are a winning element for me.  I love an epistolary style story and Fawcett’s writing is really lovely to read.  I love the way she turns a phrase, she is a wonderful storyteller and on top of that her dialogue, particularly between Emily and Wendell is spot on and really easy, charming and often amusing to read.

The romance here has progressed.  There is a marriage offer on the table but not one that Emily is keen to accept, even though she thinks so fondly of Wendell.  They’re such an odd couple that they truly do make for compulsive reading.  Emily continues to be a prickly pear and Wendell continues to win people over with his easy charm but there is much more between them now and it felt like an easy and natural progression reading about how they cared for each other in their own particular ways.

And, finally, I love the imagination, the fae and the way they behave, no Disney style faeries in this story.  Half of these little suckers will gobble you up for tea given half the chance, the other half will turn you into playthings for their idle amusement and kill you when you fail to please.

I’m loving this series.  Absolutely loving it.  It’s a perfect ensemble of period setting, without the over stuffiness, subtle romance, winning characters, dark and light elements, captivating mystery and tricksy fae.  What you waiting for.

Oh, and I almost forgot, we now have a charming cat companion as well as a dog companion.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 5 of 5 stars