This week we are discussing Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, Pgs. 110-210.
Content Warning!!! This book contains situations and subjects related to: blood/gore, violence, kidnapping, self-harm, animal death, and confinement.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.
Discussion:
Jacilyn: Hello friends and welcome to our second discussion of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The action picked up a bit in this section! We finally got to meet the Hidden Ones, as the courtly fae in Hrafnsvik are called. We also learn that not only is Bambleby a courtly fae, he’s a KING. King for only a few hours before his stepmother banished him, but king nonetheless. I’m starting to get worried that he may end up betraying Emily in some way in order to get back to his home, but it’s pretty clear that he has feelings for her that are more than friendly. I really enjoy their banter, that’s for sure. I imagine the main conflict is going to end up being Emily’s shadow ring she got from being touched by one of those leaves.
Michaela: I’m so worried that Bambleby’s fairie-ness is going to make him betray her in some way despite his feelings for her. But I love how his fairie-ness and her neurodivergent-ness combine into a very understanding friendship both ways. She understands his thought processes and cultures, and he understands how her brain works and accepts that part of her. I feel like this village is also fairly accepting of how different Emily is. Initially they all had to get used to each other but everyone’s reaching that level of understanding that makes a good relationship.
This section definitely picked up and I do not know what I was expecting from the courtly fae but I was surprised at what the characters encountered. The fae world seems both creepy and beautiful. The way Emily can’t quite focus on the fae is so creepy and interesting. Then the hunger she sees in all their eyes shivers. Emily talked about the one type of fairies who like to roast bits of mortals on their campfires, but I wonder what the courtly fae do. If it was mentioned by Emily at some point I missed it, I feel like their way of consuming mortals must be taking their life force or something similar. They give off that kind of vibe.
Jacilyn: I agree, it seems like that’s the kind of vibe the courtly fae give. Especially knowing what happens to their victims. It almost reminds me of someone who has had their soul sucked out by a dementor.
I love that Emily is starting to develop other friendships now. She’s talking more about being impacted by empathy, and found herself wanting to spend more time with Ljila and Margaret. She deserves more friends than Shadow and Bambleby, and it seems like she’s just stayed away from others because it’s easier than worrying about doing or saying the wrong thing. Which, I have to say, I relate to heavily.
Speaking of Shadow - I love that this giant loveable oaf is really a terrifying-looking, giant GRIM. I could tell that something wasn’t quite right with him, but I loved this development. I also loved how Bambleby called Shadow Emily’s familiar. It’s adorable. Shadow and Poe are both such interesting characters.
Michaela: I, honestly, keep relating to Emily more and more as the book goes on. I really enjoy all the characters in this story, everyone has their own special something that hooks me in.
I loved Shadow before and I love him even MORE now. The bestest of good boys! I really need so much more information given to us about this hidden magical world where grims and different types of fairies exist. This whole book is Emily’s notes on what she’s experiencing with researching this stuff and yet I still feel like I am not getting enough info to sustain my need for information.
I still do not have any real idea where this story is going to go. I’m hoping that Emily and Bambleby find a way to help the village rid themselves of the changeling so that they can live peacefully. However, I feel like banishing the changeling is going to open up a whole new challenge with the changeling’s fae family somehow. Then, I feel like after all of that happens it is going to play into Bambleby’s evil stepmother coming out of the woodwork or something. Reading a book that is strictly journal entries is really interesting but also kind of hard to get into at the same time because we can literally only see what the character is observing rather than a lot of the background action and foreshadowing that you get in novels written in third or even a traditional first person narrative.
Jacilyn: Bambleby’s periodic absences have been concerning me, so I think something with him will be happening soon. Like Michaela said, though, I’m not sure exactly where I think the book will go overall. I’m enjoying the journal entries aspect of it, but it is limiting. I loved the entry from Bambleby - getting his perspective of what happened was interesting and I hope we get a couple more of those before the book finishes up.
Well, friends, that’s it for this discussion. We’ll see you next week for our final discussion and final thoughts!
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