*4.5 stars*

For the most part, this is a cozy fantasy with a slow pace, told in an interesting academic and epistolary style, and with a few darker and violent elements since it's a book about fairies. It was a very engaging story of these two scientists exploring this town and getting to know and helping and getting help from the townspeople and some of the fairies that lived close by. This implies that there are a lot of mini side quests, which are very entertaining and the adventures are mostly on the cozy side. The main characters are so different from one another, Emily is serious and scholarly while Wendell is charismatic and talkative, and their dynamic is so entertaining, and their bickering is so fun. I'm here for the romance and I can't wait to read more of their adventures together. This also has a wonderful cast of characters, the townspeople are so endearing and their relationship with Wendell and Emily is lovely.

This was a 5-star read up until the 75% mark, but the final part of the book felt very disconnected and a bit discordant with the rest of the story, it gets a lot darker, and while I still liked it, I didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the book.