Penny Smith > Recent Status Updates

This boggart conversation is frying me

I can’t help but feel a tad bit conflicted about this book being set in faerie. Part of the charm of the series to me is the mystery of the fae. The way we imagine them is mostly reliant on Emily’s descriptions. But part of the mystery is removed in this book and it’s been hard for me to get used to. I almost wish this book could have been longer to give adequate time to get settled in the world.

I feel like I haven’t 100% settled into this story until this point which makes sense, because this ominous foreboding is a core part of the series to me. People like to call it cozy fantasy, but there’s always this sense of dread hanging in the background. I have no idea where this story will end up but it both scares and excites me. I’m beginning to wonder if a fourth book is planned.

I find it really heartwarming that Farris is wanting to hear about the problems of the realm and help Emily despite his misgivings about her being with Wendell in the first place. He seems to now accept it as her life and her choice and is willing to meet her where she is at.

“Wendell’s death would lift the curse” OH MY GOD? I gasped

Emily is bothered when a man sits directly across from her in the library despite the abundance of space and continuously hums and mutters under his breath, and leaves to take a walk in hopes that the man will be gone when she returns.

I think the journal entry nature of this series would bother me in other books. If the entries were simply and realistically written they wouldn’t be interesting to read, but if they were written with flowery prose it would be unrealistic for any average person. But in this series I 100% believe that Emily’s inner voice is this flowery.

Emily’s inner conflict between her mortal life and her faerie life is so interestingly written. I feel like most books would have her inner conflict described more, but Emily often can’t untangle her emotions right away. It’s also a journal, so we only get the thoughts she has in the moment. I assume her conflicts will develop more as she realizes more throughout the story

lol Emily asking them to come to faerie not realizing it would bring up past trauma for Lilja and Margaret is too relatable. But of course Lilja and Margaret would never be mad at her for it ❤️

I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop here. The beginning was so abrupt and Emily never got any closure on her mortal life. The series has been about finding Wendell’s door to resume his rule for so long that I feel like Emily has forgotten to ask herself what she really wants. It’s one thing to study the fae, but to live among them for eternity, not just a while, it feels like it can’t happen

I was a little thrown off that this book starts right in the heart of a fairy mission instead of the other books where I felt eased into the story. So I was shocked to see them find his door right away in this book, but I’m pretty into it now and overall it really just means I get to spend more time hearing about the faerie kingdom, and at this point in the series I think it makes sense we’d get more time there.