#she has Evie Carnahan vibes

[checkoutmybookshelf]

I am...a Professor

I've been on a bit of a faerie kick lately, and Emily Wilde is one of my favorite human protagonists for fae books. She is objectively bad at people, but that's not unusual for academics in general. As a recovering academic, the fact that this book is about how bananas field work can go just tickled me. If you squint, there are echoes of Evy Carnahan from The Mummy in this book, and between that and the wintery vibes, this book was just a delight to read. Let's talk Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Emily Wilde is a career academic whose career has been stalled by the fact that she is...straight-up bad at peopleing. Her saving grace is the solidity of her scholarship, which is why she rocks up to a rented cottage in Hrafnsvik with no grad students and no sense of how to take care of herself while in in the field. Our girl cannot split wood and doesn't so much as know how to bank a fire to stop herself from freezing to death overnight. She also accidentally manages to offend every single one of her hosts and the village headwoman, so she is in very real danger of freezing or starving to death by like chapter three.

And then Wendell Bambleby shows up on her doorstep with a pair of grad students and charm to spare.

Y'all...without giving too much away in spoiler territory, can I just say that I adore how Emily and Wendell are essentially two complimentary halves? Emily is all hardcore scholarship, the scientific method, and goal-focused to the exclusion of other people. Wendell is all flash, showmanship, people skills, and innate knowledge. They would be THE academic power couple at Cambridge...except that right from the get-go, Emily is not shy about telling us the Wendell is kind of a dumpster fire of an academic. He objectively exploits his grad students (although they do get co-authorship on papers and he doesn't sleep with them, so he's already better than most of the horror stories I was aware of in academia), he blatantly falsifies his research to basically no consequences, and he's objectively less interested in the academics than in the clout and money that comes with being a world-renowned academic.

The problem is that faeries--their chosen academic subject--aren't known for hanging around Cambridge and popping into office hours for in-depth interviews. So Emily and Wendell are both well and truly out of their comfort zones doing research in a tiny, wintery village. And for all Emily is terrible at people, she is stunningly good at faeries. Brownies, small folk, and even a changeling don't give her pause, and at no point is Emily out of her depth in terms of knowledge--even if actual magic tends to trump KNOWING that you've been magicked.

While Emily, Wendell, and the other characters are what you read this book for, the faerie lore, setting, and sheer winter vibes are phenomenal. I also loved the journal format of this book more than I thought I would. First-person journal style novels (I could maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe justify calling this an epistolary novel, but that might be stretching the genre a little, since the perspective is pretty firmly limited to Emily, with only I think two interludes from Wendell) tend to either feel like there's a lot of distance between reader and character, since the story is literally mediated through multiple meta layers of textuality, or that there isn't enough distance between character and readers. Emily being bad at people means that the book leans toward more distance, but as you get to know her, that distance closes a little, and the understated, scientific tone honestly makes some of the more objectively emotional events hit weirdly harder than they might have otherwise. I think the writing style works brilliantly with Emily as a character, and honestly the whole thing reminds me a little of Olivia Atwater's Regency Fairy Tales in tone and mood.

I am loathe to offer any plot spoilers here, because frankly this book was excellent and I strongly recommend it. It's a very, very slow burn romance with fantastic lore and Emily is a compelling character on her own merits long before she realizes what book she's in. I am absolutely psyched for Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, and you will likely (eventually) get a review of that one from me as well. In the mean time, remember to be polite to you fae, bring gifts, and keep an eye on your mind just in case something decides to enchant you.

#heather fawcett #emily wilde’s encyclopaedia of faeries #emily wilde series #emily wilde #wendell bambleby #faeries #fairy tale #romance #slow burn #books and reading #books and novels #books #books & libraries #book recommendations

[spoonyglitteraunt]

So, with Dracula coming to an end today and reading the epilogue, I finally realised what Mina and Jonathan remind me of.

Evy and Rick from the Mummy.

Same I would throw myself into hell and back for you, ride or die, complete adoration, give them the prize for most disgustingly in love couple you can think off but you can’t hate them for it because they are just so dang adorable, relationship goals™ dynamic. (not to mention ALL the queer vibes and potential polycule options) And I’m not saying we need crossover fic, buuuuuut..

Okay yeah that is what I’m saying.

And also I checked the years you could totally make a case for Quincey Harker potentially being friends and having grown up with the Carnahan siblings. And if you think about it mummies and vampires are both sort of undead creatures. So now I’m imagining Harker O'Connell team-up monster fighting adventures.

Something or other followed the O'Connells home again, because of course it did, and shows up right when the very-nice-and-completely-normal-never-saw-an-undead-creature-in-their-life-we-swear next door neighbours the Harkers are visiting. So now Evy and co are scrambling. Trying to keep the evil minions of the undead whatevers away from their childhood friend and his parents without being obvious.

Cue Ardeth is-it-Imhotep-again-or-is-he-just-chronically-unable-to not-know-whenever-the-O’Connells-have-messed-with-something-they-shouldn’t-have Bay popping in because his medjai senses were tingling. How did he get here? Who knows. He’s here and he’s queer down to kick ass. What they do know is that’s one more thing they have to try and explain away to the Harkers, while also discussing the next apocalyptical threat off to the side. And making sure her brother, her kid, and maybe Quincey’s kid, don’t get themselves in ever increasing amounts of trouble which they have a knack for. (Let’s be honest, it’s the family curse really. Rick’s blood pressure has never been the same after he met the Carnahan siblings.)

Meanwhile the Harkers are watching this pantomime go down with ever increasing baffled amusement. Knowing something is up but not what exactly. Until undead minion or minion of the undead crashes the (tea) party.

So now the undead cat is out of the bag and Evy is ready to just throw hands. Because no, you do NOT crash her tea party and break her best china and ruin whatever relationship she had with these people. Because they are nice and normal and this will be a shock to their nice and normal sensibilities. Look at them they are just the sweetest older couple who are nice and normal and never had any excitement in their entire lives, how do we possibly keep them from freaking out and keep them safe?

At which point Mina cool-under-pressure-age-only-made-her-more-competent Harker turns to her husband and goes, are you calling the boys and Van Helsing, or am I?

#dracula #dracula daily #the mummy #the mummy 1999 #the crossover we need #don't tell me Mina and Evy aren't just two of the same #because I won't believe you #they are both highly competent and brave and will not be stopped once they put their mind to it #Rick and Jonathan can swap notes on how much they love their wives #also bonus points if they somehow either seance contact or resurrect Quincey Morris and he's related to Rick somehow #also also plenty of available jokes about someone saying Jonathan and both Harker and Carnahan responding #why do I always get more plotbunnies when I have zero energy to actually write them out