*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands – Book 2 of the Emily Wilde series by HeatherFawcett #BrainfluffNETGALLEYbookreview #EmilyWildesMapoftheOtherlandsbookreview

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series – see my review. So was delighted to be able to be approved for the second instalment in Emily’s fae adventures – would it be as enjoyable and entertaining as the first offering?

BLURB: When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby. Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans. But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

REVIEW: It’s always a bit tricky reading the second book in a series when I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed the first one. When it’s by a favourite author, I can generally rely on the quality and know I’m going to enjoy it – but when it’s by someone whose writing I don’t know all that well, it can be a tad disappointing. Not bad, you understand – but just not as marvellous. I’m glad to say this wasn’t the dynamic with this offering.

I found Emily far more approachable in this slice of her adventures. Partly because I already know that she’s a thoroughly cagey character, who tends to hold people at arm’s length. And partly because this time around, we see her genuine affection for Brambley and increasing concern as the danger to him becomes steadily more lethal.

There is fascinating tension among the group exploring the Alps with a view to finding a back door into the realm ruled by Brambley’s mother. In addition to Emily and Brambley, there is also Emily’s niece and the head of her department of Faerie Studies. If you’ve read the first book, it won’t come as a surprise to discover that Emily’s relationship with her superior is a tad rocky – she finds him overly pompous and patronising. While her niece’s bouncy eagerness to enthuse volubly on every aspect of their journey has Emily gritting her teeth with annoyance. These annoyances could so easily have devolved into a rather toxic mix of back-biting and quarrelling that displayed the party at their worst. Instead, Fawcett portrays the differences within the group with a warmth and humour that provides some tension, without it ever becoming too nasty or unpleasant. Emily is rather shaken to realise that her niece is very good at befriending the local villagers – which becomes increasingly important in light of their discoveries.

This leads me onto another great strength of the writing. Fawcett is extremely good at depicting the otherness of the fae she encounters. The constant strangeness and the sense of danger leaps off the page – especially during Emily’s sojourn in a realm where she’s no business being. The tension of living under those conditions is extremely well depicted and makes for a riveting section of the book. All in all, this was a great page-turner and stands out among the plethora of books written about the fae as a classy, well written read. While it would be a huge shame not to read the first book before tucking into this offering – I think you could pick it up without any undue floundering if you haven’t read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies. While I obtained an arc of Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10