Mortal Follies
by Alexis Hall (Goodreads Author)
47921491
Charlie's reviewJul 04, 2023 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: e-arcs-read, read-2023

The first half of this book was absolutely fantastic, I loved the narration style, the characters and the adventurous storyline. There's a bit of a lull halfway through where it feels like the story almost could have happily ended there but once it got going again it was back to the hilarious banter, magic and drama that I had so enjoyed in the first half.

I offer myself to Sulis Minerva in exchange for this book becoming a series with more from the wonderful Miss Bickle.

Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book of Hall’s that I’ve tried to read, but unfortunately this time I couldn’t get past the hobgoblin narrator - I can see what Hall was trying to do but found it led to a sense of detachment from the story.

DNF @ 20%
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the narration style, just not for me! I liked the concept, but the execution was just lacking something & I wasn’t invested in it.

This was an interesting take on a sapphic historical fantasy romance as it is told from the point of view of an unreliable hobgoblin narrator called Robin. A quick easy read, with minimal plot - a very character driven story.

Sapphic yearning, a trouble-making narrator and a nineteenth-century magic normative society with Grecian temples; welcome to Mortal Follies.

The plot is almost broken into two different books, or perhaps acts are more fitting with the Shakespearian references. The first follows Maelys, a victim of a curse, as she is forced to seek the aid of the rumoured murderess, the wealthy Georgianna Landrake. Also, along the way, hopefully solving whoever caused this mess to begin with. The second, showcases that classic yearning and long-awaited romance, with a dash of danger of course.

Stuck on the fence, the plot needed to actually lean into these separate plot lines and break the book into sections or it needed to integrate the storylines more fully. I would have preferred the second, creating a slow-burn romance rather than keeping Georgianna cloaked in mystery and at arm’s length until after the curse is sorted; especially as they were such a layered pair with tons of chemistry when we actually got to it. Also, the curse could have been drawn out further, the mystery seemed to be over so fast.

I also struggled with the narration. Partially because I prefer first person, and then because it was Puck (as in the infamous Midsummer Nights' Dream character) and despite loving the play, his commentary was frustrating. There was so much time spent reminding us he was Puck and that he liked to cause trouble and found humans so boring at times, it took away from the actual story. Then he kept insulting our main characters which just further distanced the reader until his comments were reduced in the second half.

I did love the scooby-doo element present in the mystery-solving and fun-loving characters. Maelys ran around with the hilarious Miss Bickle and her cousin (often it seemed like the majority of her happy family were present) as well as magical characters and magic itself causing twists and turns.

Despite my reservations with the narration and plot, there was still a lot to enjoy, and the main characters and colourful ensemble cast definitely played a starring role. Plus more queer magical historical books is never a bad thing!

**ARC received with thanks from NetGalley**

Now my schooling did not involve deep study of Shakespeare, that prick from Stratford 😂, so I’m not a scholar of the source material Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, that did not diminish one bit my enjoyment of the story of Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, Lady Georgiana Landrake (aka the Duke of Annadale, for there is a distinct lack of male heirs in this line presently) and their assorted companions. I loved the balance between the world as I know it, and the magical realm of gods, fairies, magic and curses. I sometimes find an omniscient first person narrator a little unsettling, but here I was all invested in the puckish Robin, a gleefully mischievous fairy whose disdain of mortals and their follies is matched by the secret tenderness I’m convinced he lets at times slip through despite his protests to the contrary. The course of true love does not run smooth but is lined with obstacles, curses, one particular appalling human, surprisingly gruesome animal sacrifice and a dollop of pestilence. But also plenty of support, empathy, and the clever comedic beats we’ve come to expect from Alexis Hall. Mortal Follies is a book more towards the plotty end of the vibes—plot continuum but the central relationship is painted with nuance and feeling. The beauty of the prose peaked to me in Robin’s descriptions of the unfathomable world of magic, and I hope we get to hear more of his story in the coming book(s). I can’t wait for the next instalment. Oh, and do give the audiobook a listen. Nneka Okoye is simply exquisite in bringing this cast of characters to life 🧚‍♂️🐝🐦💨

Thank you NetGalley and Orion Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really disappointed to say this book was not great for me. The concept of sapphic witches who had a forbidden romance greatly excited me. I just felt the plot was poorly executed and wasn’t that interesting. This may be because it was a slow-paced book, which I usually don’t enjoy as much as medium to fast paced books. Regardless, for me this was very ‘meh’ and I couldn’t get into it at all.

Mortal Follies was undeniably fun, putting its own fantasy spin on Austen-style wit (along with some playful anachronism). Some of its characters and dialogue feel so effortlessly funny that it was easy to be won over, but that did also highlight points where it felt like one joke too many was dropped in. This is particularly the case for the Robin Goodfellow narrator, which is a clever premise that definitely has its moments, but I did tire of it quite quickly. A slightly bigger issue is that the central romance is not a dynamic that I love (perhaps more familiar from classic romance), with, for me, more negatives than positives. The pacing is also particularly strange, with what feels like a fantasy plot, followed by a romance plot, capped off with a super quick fantasy plot again. These didn't impact my enjoyment overall, but did slightly hold back an otherwise charming book bursting with personality.

This had an interesting premise and a lot of potential, but honestly the narrator made it really hard to enjoy. It started out with lightness and mischief. By the time it got going, the narrator was really just getting in the way and it ended up dragging. It's a shame because the romance itself was beautiful and fun. I'm not a big fantasy person so maybe the magic angle just wasn't for me. But we'll take a regency sapphic romance any day and I did like watching the development of Miss Mitchelmore.

Definitely the case of 'not for me'. I couldn't get into the story. I didn't enjoy the romance. I loved the narrator but I fell as though the narrator is the main problem I had with the book due to not getting any if the connections.

I usually love Alexis Hall's books and it's ok if I don't enjoy all of them. Thanks for the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

☆☆☆¾

I had a lot of mixed thoughts on Mortal Follies so let’s get into them.

The characters:
I really liked the wide and weird cast of characters, my favourite was probably Lysistrata Bickle, she was a wondrous character with her head in the clouds. I would happily read a book or novella or Miss Bickle.
One thing about the characters that let me down though was how little we saw of some characters, especially John Caesar, like he was hardly in the book after a certain point which felt a little weird I guess like why wasn’t he in it? Like I just felt like we could’ve just explored some of the characters a little more overall (like Georgianna).
I also really liked the narrator, an interesting storyteller they were indeed.
Also wow so many of the characters felt Autistic or at least Autistic coded to me!

The Plot:
I felt like the plot wasn’t the strongest part of the book and whilst interesting ultimately a little underwhelming. The first half of the book was interesting with the curse but the second half felt a little lost and rushed to me.

The relationships:
I really enjoyed the several relationships in the book from the friendship of Lysistrata, John and Maelys to the romance between Maelys and Georgianna. That said I felt the romance was a little underdeveloped for my taste like it could’ve done with a few more pages on / about it.

The ending:
The ending for some reason left me feeling really underwhelmed, like it was over and I was like ‘oh, that’s it?’. Like I definitely feel it could’ve been done better. It was also a shame we didn’t find out why Robin got exiled.

Other things:
At times I felt the book was a little disjointed, I can’t explain why I felt like it or what specifically made me feel that way but like I would just find myself feeling like I was reading a different book in random parts and that the characters weren’t the characters I was reading about, it was weird. Maybe it was because of how the narrator would focus on the characters of the story and then focus on something else completely making it feel odd, I don’t know.

As a side note I liked that the book had trigger / content warnings at the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was quirky, and I liked it. The story is told via robin ( think puck mid summer dream esq) fae.
This basically follows a story of the growing love between maelys and lady gorgianna but also someone has put a death spell on maelys, her mission is to track down who ans why.
The setting is very regency/Bridget ton but with a fantasy twist.
On the whole it’s a lighthearted quirky book, it made me smile, it was something different and I would definitely recommend.

Alexis Hall delivers a delightful story that made me laugh, think and have a lot of fun.
i loved the mix of fantasy ad Regency romance, the characters, and witty social remarks.
A book I read as fast as I could and couldn't put down.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to Alexis Hall & netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to love this soooo bad, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately I couldn't get past the narrator and had to DNF at 22%. I felt like I couldn't really connect with the characters and the narrator was really fond of their own voice and sometimes just rambled on and on unnecessarily.

I'm giving it 2 stars because even though I didn't finish the book & I didn't particularly like what I did read, I think the idea of the book is a good one and could have been something great!

One of my favourite thing about Alexis Hall novels is that you get something entirely fresh each time. Mortal Follies is a whimsical sapphic regency romance told from the perspective of an exiled fairy, who makes for a delightful, if entirely unreliable narrator.

I thoroughly enjoyed the eclectic mix of Shakespearean references, ancient Greek and Roman rituals, outrageously ridiculous disasters, witty one-liners, and entirely inefficient threats. The narrator, in my opinion, will make or break this read – in my case, the fairy narrator was probably my favourite thing about Mortal Follies. Robin provides a very prominent commentary throughout and brings the element of mischief and chaos associated with fairies to this novel.

This was cute, but I wouldn’t say it’s something I’d be reaching for again.
The romance was lovely and the setting was beautiful, but it felt like there was a disconnect because of the narration style. It’s an interesting risk to take, but it didn’t quite pay off for me - I enjoy a romance storyline when you can immerse yourself in at least one of the character’s POVs and really soak up the emotions, whereas Robin’s perspective separated the reader from the plot and relationship.
The pacing felt a little stilted at times, and some of it was an effort to get through. There’s lots of room for expansion of this world and it would be interesting to see if that happens.

I was looking forward to reading this magical sapphic story filled with faries, witches, and other otherworldly creatures but I have ended with very mixed feelings.

It took me over two months to get through the first 20% of this book, and I had to force myself to keep going with it more than once. I found it incredibly hard to get into the story as it is told by our 'narrator', who has a much bigger part than expected. I felt so disconnected from all of the characters and the events of the book, making it hard to have any care or interest. The prose also didn't help, as it became too convoluted at times which contributed to the distance and made the book feel so much longer than it really was.

After we got past the first 50% or so I started to enjoy it more, several key events where the plot came together I loved, and I wish more of the book felt that way, as it easily could have reached a 4 star if that was the case.
I enjoyed the dynamic between our two main characters and their progress into a romance, we all know I'm a sucker for morally grey characters regardless of the setting, I just wish I felt more connected to either of them.

If you enjoy historical books with some witchy creatures and a sapphic romance on the side then you might enjoy this one, just be aware of the narrators significance in the story before going in and you'll probably enjoy it more than I did.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGally for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Mortal follies is a sapphic regency romance with a sprinkling of fantasy and plenty of witty and snarky humour.

I loved the narrator, who is heavily hinted to be Puck from Midsummers' Nights Dream - he had such a fresh and clear narrative voice that felt different to other regency books. However, having a narrator outside the central couple did put a distance between the reader and romance so I did not feel as emotionally connected to the characters as I could have done.

Sometimes the blending of the fantasy and regency was a little disjointed and the rules of the magic in this world weren't clearly defined. The fact that the Greek gods, as well as pixies, faeries, and witches were all real only added to the confusion, but I did enjoy the story once I embraced the chaos.

It was a fun regency book and great for anyone who wants Bridgerton vibes plus faeries and queer chaos.

I really enjoyed this novel, particularly the way it was told by the narrator Robin, who in all honesty owns this story!
I liked the curse, but I would have liked a few more disasters, just because I found them fun.

The only downside I had, was that I don't think our 2 romantic leads ever really clicked. I don't really get what Mae she's in the Lady Georgiana, who was a bit of a limp rag in my opinion. But she did save her, so if you like that. I'd definitely recommend this to people who are after a LGBTQ historical magical romance!

When Maelys Mitchelmore’s dress starts unravelling of its own accord in the middle of a ball, she knows her reputation is about to be ruined. Her only chance at salvation is the kindness of a woman who, if gossip is to be believed, killed her entire family.

Paranormal romance has been rebranded. It’s now “romantasy” and it’s setting out to be the fantasy trend of 2023. The plots are wholeheartedly romances with, if not quite HEA, happy-for-now endings, and they’re falling in love in the path of mortal peril.

In this case, the mortal peril is supplied by a curse. The unravelling dress is just the start of things. As more and more thins go wrong in Maelys’s life, she must look toward the supernatural for answers. In this world, the fae aren’t secret, in fact many ladies prefer fae-spun dresses with that little bit extra that human seamstresses just can’t deliver. But they aren’t in plain sight either, and Maelys must make a deal to save herself.

The high point of Mortal Follies was the witty narration by Robin, a fae who isn’t really part of the story. He can be quite ambivalent about the feelings of humans, but he likes collecting stories and he becomes quite involved in the tale of Maelys.

I loved the Bath setting, what with this and Emma Newman’s books I’m convinced there is a significant fae population lurking there. The baths are a significant location in the story, and I could definitely believe a vengeful goddess lives there. For the most part, it was a fun and enjoyable romp.

However I did not click with the romance at all. I got the feeling it was trying a sapphic Pride & Prejudice approach, which entailed giving the Darcyesque Georgiana very little personality at all. I didn’t understand why Maelys fell for her except that she was rudely helpful. I don’t read much regency romance at all, so maybe that is considered enough for a lady to fall head over heels? It didn’t seem substantial enough for me, and her relationship with her best friend had more sparkle.

And because I wasn’t that into the romance side, the pace lagged a bit when there was a lull in the fantasy escapades.