Today Marshmallow reviews Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, published in 2023.
Marshmallow reviews Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about faeries and magic, or if you enjoy stories set in a different time period, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Despite being the youngest tenured professor at Cambridge, Emily Wilde is a rather curmudgeonly scholar. Her world is much like ours was during the 1800s, with one small difference: faeries are real. Emily Wilde studies these faeries and has spent many years of her life working on an encyclopedia about faeries from all over the world. The last area to finish is a small town, far up north, named Hrafnsvik. There, Emily is going to gather the evidence she needs to wrap up writing the world’s first encyclopedia about faeries.
Emily doesn’t particularly care for the townsfolk; she’s not a people person. She would rather sit alone, surrounded by books, than suffer through awkward social interactions. All she needs and wants is to complete her study of the natural fae of Hrafnsvik. Unfortunately, the arrival of Wendell Bambleby throws a wrench in her plan.
Emily’s relationship with Wendell is complicated. He annoys her for reasons she can’t explain, despite him never doing anything to upset her. Rather, Wendell is constantly trying to befriend Emily, who has no intention or use for friends. Additionally, Emily doesn’t trust Wendell. And she’s not going to let him impede her investigation of the faeries in the forest and the faery in a seemingly haunted house.
If there is one thing that is clear in this story world, it is that these faeries are not benevolent or friendly. Instead, they view humans as pets at best, and at worst, as worthless creatures to torture and torment. But Emily isn’t scared. With her knowledge and skills in the field of fae, her trusty dog Shadow, the occasional help of the villagers, and her annoying companion Wendell, Emily is ready to venture into the unknown.
Marshmallow is reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.
Marshmallow’s Review: I think Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was a very intriguing book. I really liked the world-building. In particular I liked how the author built a world much like the 1800s, but added a sprinkle of fae magic. The surroundings felt very authentic and real, and the similarities with our world made the story more credible.
I think the characters were also interesting. The main character is a little bizarre, but seeing this world through her eyes added a lot to the story. The book is written as if it is the personal diary of Emily Wilde. The author includes many references to other scholars’ academic papers and past research on faeries (which, I think, are all fictional). That was cool and helped build on and add to the world the story is written in.
The author speaks through a very analytical and academic voice and uses a lot of big words. I would say that I have a fairly wide vocabulary, but some of these words stumped me, so I would suggest having a dictionary handy. However, these words are not frequent enough to impede the reader’s comprehension of the text.
I was a little confused on some parts of the plot and some of the narrative threads. However, I think everything all came together at the end in a cohesive and satisfying way. The story is overall quite fantastical and yet fulfilling.
Even though Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries does not end in a cliffhanger, there is apparently a second book with Emily and Wendell in it, and I am looking forward to reading it. If it is anywhere close to this one, I am sure I will enjoy it too.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.
Marshmallow rates Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 95%.
Marshmallow has already reviewed Chains and Forge, the first two books of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Seeds of America trilogy. Today she completes the trilogy by reviewing Ashes, the third and last book, first published in 2016.
Marshmallow reviews Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like historical fiction or emotional roller coasters, or if you have enjoyed reading the first two books of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Seeds of America trilogy, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): This book starts a few years after the events of Forge. You might recall that it is the late 1700s (the time of the American Revolution), and Isabel is a runaway slave, who has been searching for her younger sister, Ruth. At age seven, Ruth was sold away and separated from her. Eventually, with her friend Curzon, Isabel escaped from her “owners” and set out to find her sister.
After many trials, hardships, and travels, Isabel and Curzon finally reach the area where Ruth might be living, in South Carolina. Isabel and Curzon’s friendship is in peril; they are both unsure of its future. The two have learned through several ordeals that, as former slaves, nowhere is safe for them. But after all of this, Isabel finds her sister living on a farm. Overjoyed, Isabel runs to her, only to find that her sister doesn’t recognize her.
We learn with Isabel that Ruth has been living with Mister Walter and Missus Serafina, an older couple who have raised her as their own. Isabel is grateful for their generosity but is heartbroken. When questioned further, Ruth admits to remembering Isabel but says that she is not her sister anymore, and that Isabel should go home.
Luckily, Mister Walter and Missus Serafina invite Isabel and Curzon to stay a while. There, they learn that the plantation that Ruth and the couple worked on was raided by Patriots and the owner left to go after them. After a second Patriot raid, many of the slaves on the plantation fled, but Mister Walter and Missus Serafina physically couldn’t run away. This is why Ruth stayed on the plantation. Another boy named Aberdeen tried to run away but was caught and brought back.
Isabel is still in shock from Ruth’s rejection of her when the plantation owner Prentiss returns. Mister Walter and Missus Serafina send Isabel, Curzon, Ruth, and Aberdeen away and tell them to run. Once again, Isabel is forced to confront a cruel world and must protect her sister from danger.
Marshmallow is reading Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Marshmallow’s Review:Ashes makes a good ending to the Seeds of America trilogy. Like Chains, the first book of the series, it is narrated by Isabel. Ashes is a true emotional roller coaster, with ups and downs that keep you reading until the end.
The character development in this story is remarkable and adds to the depth of the plot of the book. Laurie Halse Anderson is very skilled at showing the external struggles faced by the characters and is very adept at weaving in the characters’ internal conflicts. We can see the development of Isabel’s feelings for Curzon change from pure friendship to romance, and the transition seems convincing.
The writing reflects the style of that period and accurately (I think) portrays life in that time. Also, just like she had done in the first two books, the author regularly includes quotes from real documents from the time of the Revolutionary War to provide some historical context. However, everything is still understandable and the book itself is very readable.
All in all, I appreciated the chance to read these three books and would recommend them wholeheartedly to other young bunnies interested in understanding the people and the events at the beginning of the United States as a nation.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
Marshmallow rates Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson 100%.
Marshmallow has already reviewed Shatter Me and Unravel Me, the first two books of Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me trilogy. Today she talks about the third and last book of the series, Ignite Me, published first in 2014. As Sprinkles finds this series interesting, she is asking questions and taking notes.
(The author wrote a handful of short novellas later within the same story world, that were interspersed into the timeline of the three original books. Then she wrote three more books to continue the main story line. But when Ignite Me was published, it was presented as the end of the series.)
Marshmallow reviews Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi.
Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you are finally done with the third book in the series. How do you feel?
Marshmallow: Relieved.
S: Yes, some of the conflicts and the main problems of the series have finally been resolved, right?
M: Yes, mostly.
S: So can you tell us a bit about the main plot?
M: This book starts about when the second book, Unravel Me, ended. So Juliette and Warner are going to take on the Reestablishment. And Omega Point, where Juliette’s friends in the resistance were living, is now destroyed. So Juliette is really angry and wants revenge.
S: I can understand that.
M: It turns out that her friends are not all dead, but the destruction was pretty extensive. But the main thrust of the book is about how Juliette and Warner figure out how they will take down the Reestablishment.
S: So wait, perhaps we should say that people should read the first two books if they want to get anything out of this book.
M: Yes, definitely. I expect that the two novellas would also be useful, but I have not read those yet, and so they are not as necessary.
S: Okay. From what I understand, Destroy Me and Fracture Me mainly complemented the stories told in the other books. But of course since we have not read them, we cannot say for sure what we are missing.
M: Yes. But I felt like diving into this book after Unravel Me felt alright.
S: Okay. So now we know that the author wrote several other books after this one, but when this one was published, it was promoted as the end of the Shatter Me books. Did it feel that way to you?
M: In a way, maybe a not totally satisfying way, but it was an end. I mean, the main conflict is resolved. And when the book ends, Juliette and her friends are at the beginning of a new world, in some sense. But there is a lot to do. How are they going to save the world?
S: So in some sense, the author was probably right to write a few more books to tell us those stories too, no?
M: I suppose. I mean, in a lot of books, it is like, there is a big struggle, and eventually the bad guys are dead and gone, and then what? I think the next books probably tell that part of the story. The then what part.
S: Yes, that seems to be the case, from what I am understanding when I read things on the web about the other books in the series.
M: So it is in that sense not quite an ending.
S: Maybe a good place to pause.
M: Yes, one could say that.
Marshmallow is reading Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi.
S: I know you felt very strongly about the main character Juliette.
M: Yes, I actually disliked her, especially in this book. And I know that there are a lot of readers who love her and think she is so vulnerable and compassionate despite all that has happened to her, but to me she does not really feel very compassionate, especially in this book. She seems quite self-absorbed and not very empathetic. She cannot understand how other people might be in pain. For example, after the destruction of Omega Point, she is all angry and wants revenge, but she does not seem to register how her friends are in pain and mourning and so broken.
S: I can see you really do not find her a very compelling character.
M: I would not say that. I would say “likeable”. I do think she is compelling, I want to learn what she is going through, I want to continue to read her story, but I do not think I like her, you know?
S: I see.
M: I am also quite upset about her relationships with Adam and Warner.
S: I know you said this book is even mushier than the other two books. Is that what you mean?
M: Well, not just that. I felt like Adam and Juliette had a relationship that seemed more based on human qualities and emotions and affection, while Warner and Juliette seem to simply be physically attracted to one another. I mean, Juliette tries to rationalize things by saying that Adam was holding her back from her power, and fulfilling her potential, and how Warner was actually a good person but he had been deeply wounded by his father, but I am not sure I buy all of that.
S: Okay, I did not read this third book just yet, but I do agree with you that her relationship with Warner seemed almost purely physical to me, too, from the start. Then again, to me, Juliette does not seem to be much of a thinking and feeling character.
M: Wait, she is a very feeling character! She has a lot of emotions!
S: I agree. What I meant was that she had only strong passions, not really affection, care, sympathy, empathy, and so on.
M: Okay, something like that. She does not strike me as a nice person really. In the dystopian world the book is set in, everyone has suffered so much. Juliette herself was locked up by herself for over two hundred days. However, she sometimes seems to forget that everyone else in the story has also suffered as much as her.
Juliette annoys me somewhat in the same way that Sophie from the School for Good and Evil books did. But then again Sophie at some point decides to be a villain and she is a good villain. Juliette is a hero, but her romantic life is so much at the center of everything that her heroic development is not really fulfilled.
S: Well, this is supposed to be a romance.
M: Yes, I understand the author is writing a romance here, but I really really wished that she would focus more on the world falling apart and these young people trying to put it back together. I really found the world-building and the plot to be very compelling, but maybe I am not the right reader for a romance. I felt the characters were not developed enough, other than romantically.
S: I can totally see that. I think the author’s writing voice is fluid, and she uses a very emphatic and evocative language.
M: Yes, I agree with that. I think her writing is really beautiful. But I really wished the plot and character development were more front and center rather than the romance …
S: You wanted a full-blown dystopian novel, nothing mushy!
M: I think I can handle some mushy, and actually, I think that romantic relationships in books, especially in series where the protagonists are growing up, can add a lot to the character development and can be really meaningful. For example, in the Harry Potter books, I think the romantic parts were not bad but made the characters more realistic and more endearing. In the Percy Jackson books, some of the romantic moments are really cute and show what a healthy relationship between young people could look like. In these cases, I think that these romantic relationships are not just beneficial to the characters and the plot, but almost necessary for the sake of realism and make the entire series / book more enjoyable and memorable. However, in this book series, I felt like the romantic aspect invaded the entire plot of the story, putting any character development or plot line in the back seat. When I started reading this series, I was expecting an epic saga about a group of brave teenagers facing down an unjust government while confronting their inner demons and trauma with a side serving of romantic relationships. I was unhappy to find that the romantic side of the story took over the entire series, with more than half of the book being spent on Juliette’s romantic life. The romance part could have been important for character development, but I felt like it was not. And it stole away time from other aspects and made the plot and resolution of the book series feel like an afterthought.
S: I think I get it. So I am guessing your rating for this book will not be 100%.
M: No. In fact, I’d rather not rate it. I think I was not the right reader for this book. I did not expect the romance to so much overwhelm the main dystopian plot line. The plot had a lot of potential and I felt like the romance stunted it. So if a reader is looking for teen romance with a strong serving of teen angst in the middle of a catastrophic environmental breakdown of the world order, maybe this is the book for them.
S: Fair enough. I think I will read the book, too, so I can make up my own mind about it.
M: Yes, I hope you do so we can talk more about the book together.
S: Sounds like a plan. So maybe we can wrap up this review. What would you tell our readers?
M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!
Marshmallow is posing once again with her copy of Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi.
One of the last books Marshmallow reviewed for 2022 was Tahereh Mafi’s novel Shatter Me. As her first book for 2023, she chose the second book in the series: Unravel Me, published first in 2013. As Sprinkles is curious to hear more about this book, she is asking questions and taking notes.
Marshmallow reviews Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.
Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, here we are; it’s a new year, and there are lots of new books to read and write and talk about. Today we are talking about the second book in Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series: Unravel Me. Your review of the first book made me so curious that I went ahead and read it myself. And I enjoyed it a lot. So now I want to ask you about this second book. Should I read it?
Marshmallow: It depends. The plot of the second book is very interesting. Just like the plot of the first book.
S: That sounds enticing.
M: Yes, the plot is really neat.
S: Tell me a bit about that.
M: Well, maybe I should first summarize the first book a bit. There is this girl named Juliette, whose touch is fatal to most people. She has been living in solitary confinement for many years because many people, including her parents, are scared of her. Then we learn that there are some people who can actually touch her and not die. And one of these is a rebel, and he helps her run away, and we end the first book on a high note, with Juliette and her new friends ready to fight an oppressive regime.
S: Yes, I remember all this. And the world is pretty dismal, right? There are no birds, there is a total environmental collapse, and people are living under the control of a faceless dystopian government.
M: Well, not quite faceless, because we meet one of its faces, Warner, in the first book, and he is one of the leaders of this new regime.
S: True. Do we see Warner in this second book as well?
M: Yes, and he is attracted to Juliette, and somehow Juliette is very confused, and she is not sure if she is attracted right back, even though Warner is a pretty terrible human being.
S: Hmm, here we are getting too close to the mushy stuff you didn’t like in the first book. I’m assuming that there is a lot of mushy stuff in this one, too?
M: Yes, this one has more actually.
S: Hmm, okay, I know it bothers you, so let us move on and talk about the actual plot a bit.
M: Sure. First off, we learned at the end of the last book that Juliette’s killing touch is kind of like a superpower, and she is not the only one with these kinds of powers. There are many others who have superpowers, and they are living together, working to bring down the oppressive regime. And in this book, they are continuing to do that, with Juliette and Adam, the person who saved her, joining them.
S: I see.
Marshmallow is reading Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.
S: So would you say, at this point, that the book becomes more like a typical heroic adventure book where our heroes are fighting an evil empire and will surely overcome against all odds?
M: Well, not quite. For two reasons. One is the mushy part, the book is more romance than adventure. And two, the “surely they will overcome” is definitely not a sure thing. Things are pretty desperate, I mean, they make some progress in this book, but the world is still a terrible place.
S: Do we ever see a bird?
M: I don’t think so. The world is still pretty bad, as I said. And there is still very little hope.
S: So I am guessing you might just have to read the next book?
M: I just might.
S: And from what you are telling me, I guess I do have to read this second book myself.
M: Yup. I think you have a higher tolerance for mushy stuff.
S: Well, they call me a grownup. I guess I can handle a little bit of that.
M: I guess.
S: So how would you rate the book then?
M: 93% I think. The plot is still very original and engrossing, but the mushiness is still not terribly exciting to me.
S: Alright, given what you told us already, this makes sense. So what do you want to tell our readers as we are wrapping things up?
M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!
BookBunnies 