This is the third (and final?) entry in the Emily Wilde series. Finishing book two didn’t leave me, like, desperate to read the third, but I just don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation for a cosy fantasy series. This truly is one I read for the vibes.

I wasn’t obsessed with this book. Ultimately, I think the first book in the series was definitely the best.

Character wise, I wasn’t blown away. While I liked Emily as a protagonist in book one, I found myself not particularly caring for her at this point. I certainly didn’t hate her, I just felt very ambivalent about her. I also found myself enjoying Wendell a lot less this time around. There are some good side characters, but they are far and few between.

The plot once again isn’t super deep, but like I said in my reviews of the previous instalments, we’re not here for an elaborate plot. Nor do I want to nitpick about some other stuff that I didn’t really vibe with.*

Ultimately, that’s the saving grace of Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. It’s the third book in the series. We all know we’re mostly here for the cosy vibes. And on that count, the book delivers! Not quite as well as Encyclopedia of Faeries, but definitely enough to make this an overall enjoyable read.

*Yeah, I’ll say it. I’m tired of footnotes in fiction books. I also just finished Babel, and I don’t like it! If the information is relevant enough that I need to read it, put it in the text. If it’s not, then don’t! I keep reading these footnotes out of a sense of obligation. I GET that it makes sense for Emily as a character to include them because she’s an academic. But that doesn’t mean I want to read them.