Mortal Follies

The Mortal Follies #1

by Alexis Hall

A young noblewoman must join forces with a rumoured witch to conquer an ancient curse in this devilishly funny and heartwarming sapphic Regency romantasy from TikTok titan and bestselling author of Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall.

It is the year 1814 and Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into the highest society of Bath hindered by an irritating curse. It begins innocuously enough, with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening at the ball of the season, a scandal she only narrowly manages to escape.

However, as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, she realises she must seek out urgent assistance, even if that means mixing with the most undesirable company-and there are few less desirable allies than the brooding Lady Georgiana Landrake-who may or may not have murdered her own father and brothers to inherit their fortune.

If one is to believe the gossip, she might be some kind of malign enchantress.
Then again, a malign enchantress might be exactly what Miss Mitchelmore needs.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Historical, Lesbian

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 27, 2023

About the author

One of those intricate British queers.

Please note: I don’t read / reply to DMs. If you would like to get in touch, the best way is via email which you can find in the contact section on my website <3

Reviews

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. 😢 This was potentially MY kind of book – a historical Sapphic romantic fantasy. But it didn’t click at all. Lacklustre in every way except for the stunning cover.

Story Synopsis:

1814. Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, a new entrant in the high society of Bath, discovers that she has been cursed. What starts as a minor irritant at public get-togethers becomes worse with time as she discovers that she cannot even leave the house without endangering herself or anyone in her group. She has already sought the assistance of her family, but she knows that to get the matter settled quickly, she should enlist the help of Lady Georgiana, who doesn’t come well recommended because of her murky past.
The story comes to us via the first person omniscient narration of Robin, a hobgoblin who has chosen to narrate to us Maelys’s misfortunes in the hopes of earning some rent money.

Bookish Yays:
😍 The cover.

😍 The representation, which shouldn’t be surprising considering the author.

😍 A couple of good quotes.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 The omniscient narration by Robin – begins with the right mix of mischief and humour, but soon becomes tedious and repetitive. His personal remarks break the flow of the narrative. This point was especially disappointing because I had been thrilled at the thought of a hobgoblin narrating a human story.

😐 The “curse” – this plot idea was unusual for sure. But the resolution of this happens at the halfway mark itself and the rest seems like a convoluted way of extending the book.


Bookish Nays:
😢 The plot development – I still can’t understand how a premise with so much potential ended up as such a dud.

😢 The world-building – almost non-existent.

😢 The characters – monotonous. Everyone seemed to have only one role to play. The only one I came close to liking was Miss Bickle.

😢 The pace – Affected because of the narrator’s tendency to ramble and provide unrelated observations. The flow drags quite a bit in the second half.

😢 The length – I don’t mind reading 400+ pages, but give me 400+ pages of content, not clutter. The basic premise wouldn’t have required more than 200 pages; the rest was just filler.

😢 The secondary plot tracks – So many of them are introduced just for the heck of it, and many are left unresolved., Why were they even necessary in this novel? Especially when the narrator reminds us time and again that he is telling us the story of Miss Maelys, the rest of the arcs are irrelevant.

😢 The fantastical and mythological bits – Should have been the highlight but something was off in every unworldly plot point. It felt like the pieces from three separate jigsaw puzzles had been assembled into one hodgepodge picture.

😢 The frivolous use of cuss words. I don’t mind cuss words if they fit in with the character’s personality. In this book, not a single such word use was merited. Even a fantastical historical setup isn’t convincing when the leading ladies curse like sailors. Also, the phrase "that whiny prick Jesus" popping up in one character’s conversation. I'm all for humour and have even laughed at jokes on or about Christianity, when they are *in good faith*. But there's always a line of respect that shouldn't be crossed. To me, this phrase shattered the line.

😢 The humour – starts off well but soon seems forced. There’s ‘funny”, and there’s “trying hard to be funny.” This book, sadly, falls in the second category almost the entire way.


This book has so many elements I either love or like in fiction: historical, fantasy, same-sex romance, mystery, humour, and mythology. But they just didn’t come together harmoniously. Let me put it this way. If you gather all my favourite ingredients in a scrumptious dish but then burn it in the oven, you can’t expect me to relish the flavour just because the ingredients were great. The final product matters.

I hardly ever give out 1 stars. So when a book gets the minimal rating from me, you should know that it tested my patience in every sense of the word. This is only the second ARC ever that I'm rating a 1, and I hate doing this. But any higher rating would mean that I am lying about my experience. I had expected to blitz through this book in a day, given its premise. But I had to forced myself to continue it, and it is a minor miracle that I reached the finish line.

My apologies to the team behind the book and to the fans of the author, but this one gets a strong no from me. I can't recommend to anyone except those who wish to buy a physical copy as the cover art is so gorgeous to look at.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the DRC of “Mortal Follies”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Truly very sorry that this didn’t work out better.





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[Lexie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Y'all, I'm sorry, but I was just so bored with this one.

Sapphic Fantasy Regency Romance? This should have been my absolute jam. I was expecting Half a Soul/Longshadow vibes, give me gay Bridgerton, sign me up. But I think the main fault with this book lies with the narrative structure.

Normally, I love an unconventional narrator. I just lauded Shannon Chakraborty on the storytelling mechanism she used in Amina al-Sirafi. But the mischievous fae narrator of Mortal Follies, Robin, is just so present, it's distracting. Especially for a romance story, choosing your main POV character to be someone who is strictly observing the action was very isolating. At no point was I actively rooting for the main couple, simply because I didn't understand what it was that they liked about one another. We don't get any of the tortured pining and longing that I love so much about romance. Robin is the ever present fly (or mouse, wisp of smoke, or unpleasant itch) in the room, and all the action feels so distant that I never felt embedded in it, and as a result, I just didn't care about anything that was happening.

The pacing of this story was also off. The most exciting sequence of events happens around the 55% mark. At the end of the scene, I looked down at the progress mark on my Kindle and wanted to weep. What was I supposed to care about for the next 45% of the book?? The climax just happened! (Cue my boyfriend making a joke about how women can do it more than once) The writing was lovely, but the story itself was so slow and boring. It took me 11 days to crawl through a book that I expected to bust through in 2 sittings.

So yeah, definitely a bit disappointed with this one. I thought I had found my no-fail niche with Regency Fantasy Romance, but Mortal Follies was a let down.

[Monika K · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 Stars

This book is so much fun! I’m a big fan of all the different genres that Alexis Hall writes in because they all have the same unique voice, amazing characters, wicked sense of humor and interesting word play that I am always delighted by. Mortal Follies has it all.

This book is billed as Queer Fantasy Bridgerton, and that is exactly what it is, but it’s also a story where A Midsummer Night’s Dream is canon creating a world full of goddesses, fairies, witches, magic waters and sorcerers and it’s great fun. Hall plays with Regency language in that the characters have polite etiquette, but the things that are happening around them and to them are extremely wild and it makes for a fun juxtaposition. Being queer is accepted in this world and all the women are strong-willed and marriage is not their goal. The Duke of Annadale is a woman and she and Miss Mitchelmore have to remove a curse (or two) together which brings about a lot of magical hijinks and leads to a sapphic romance. It’s both creative and refreshing.

Puck, not a Hobgoblin, is the narrator and is so sassy and sarcastic I adored him. He plays the role of a Lady Whistledown where he is bound to tell us stories of all the hottest gossip that he witnesses first hand. We don’t learn what he did to deserve this fate, but it is a very clever device in the book. He interrupts the story to talk directly to us the reader to explain things and it’s super fun. Hall seems to delight in writing in Puck’s voice. I giggled along with everything he says.

There were so many things that reminded me of Bridgerton: the MCs bicker, but are attracted to eachother and won’t admit it (Anthony & Kate), someone falls into the water (Anthony), Maelys is super horny (Daphne), stubborn and tenacious (show Eloise), the Duke of Annadale is a brooding Duke (Anthony) and Maelys’s best friend Lizzie is a pure romantic dreamer (Benedict). Of course Puck is Lady Whistledown, telling stories of things they witness (Penelope).

If you are a fan of Bridgerton, fantasy romance and/or A Midsummer Night’s Dream you will love this book.

•• Thanks to NetGalley & DelRey for the ARC ••

[Rachel Rowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is my second foray into the work of Alexis Hall, and my second of his Regency-inspired romances. And I can now definitively say that Alexis Hall was born to write Regency romance. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn at this point that Alexis is actually Robin Goodfellow himself in the flesh 😂

I’m picky about my historical romances. Austen, Brontë, Burney, Radcliffe - that’s what I cut my teeth on as a teen. So there’s precious little tolerance from me for anachronisms, cheesiness, etc in a serious historical romance. But what I loved about Mortal Follies is its ability to preserve the spirit, wit, and voice of an authentic regency satire - while staying self-aware and poking fun at its own tropiness. The meta allusions are utterly delightful…from the setting in Bath, to the mythological/folklore references, to Miss Bickle’s assumptions that the world works like the plot of a gothic novel 😂

And as always Alexis does a phenomenal job of telling diverse and inclusive stories, and exploring queer emotions and relationships, in a sensitive and nuanced way.

Can I also say I LOVE Robin and his narrative commentary?! I hope to the gods that this is first in a series because I need more of his tales!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey and Alexis himself for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 😊

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

This was delightful! But I also get why this would not be everyone's cup of tea. Alexis Hall likes to play with different styles, tones, and time periods in his romance and this is more like Jane Austen meets a Midsummer Nights Dream but make it sapphic. Which is quite different from his most popular books.

It's very stylized with a Puck-type figure narrating the book and a very British sort of humor. What the tone really reminded me of was the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. It's got the same sort of sly and tongue-in-cheek humor with lots of wordplay. It wasn't what I expected, but I really loved it. Hall is brilliant with weaving in all kinds of literary references and playing with the fact that the reader is sort of voyeuristically consuming this romantic story in the modern day.

The story follows a young woman (Miss Maelys) who seems to be under a curse and finds aid from a lady Duke who everyone says is a witch. And possibly likes women. How scandalous! Together they must find a solution in a faerie & god-ridden world, and very likely fall in love along the way. And Maelys has a best friend who is very much in her own world while also being unexpectedly perceptive and kind who makes for excellent comic relief. I got such a kick out of this book and thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. My only real complaint is the pacing. It drags a bit in the second half of the book and then rushes through the end. I think it needed a bit more balance in the latter part of the book than what we got, but overall I had a really good time with this. I do want to give a content warning for a couple instances of animal sacrifice to old gods (a sheep and a cow) that might bother some readers.

[bri]

Mortal Follies is a funky book. It exists primarily via in-betweens. You can’t quite call it a fantasy because it takes more of the form of the romance genre. But it doesn’t quite work as a romance, and accomplishes more if defined as a comedy. The characters were at the heart of the story and yet the story was not at the heart of the characters. The sex scenes were too specific to be fade to black but lacked the description to warrant calling it “explicit”. It was a fun read but also an uncathartic one.

Going into this story, I had heard that a lot of people took issue with the narration-style. The book is narrated from the perspective of Robin Goodfellow aka Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, who has fallen out of Oberon’s good graces and has found himself working as a professional storyteller. And I can see how this external POV may have frustrated readers, as in romances, it is often incredibly satisfying to be in the minds of our lovers. But I actually enjoyed Puck’s narration, finding the tone to lend itself more towards a romantic comedy (much like the style of A Midsummer Night’s Dream). I found myself laughing out loud and still finding moments of butterflies and feet kicking. That is, about up until the halfway point of the story.

See, I think this book’s key folly (pun intended) is its four-act structure rather than anything with its narration. Hall prioritized writing faithfully to the plot patterns of a four-act structure over the needs of the story at hand. It made the book feel too episodic. And having seen some reviews saying this book feels “too long and yet unsatisfying,” this is exactly the problem. You know when you read a sequel in which the characters just go on new, yet repetitive and unnecessary adventures and you ask yourself: “what was the point of this?” That was very much how this book read, except the unnecessary sequel was squished into the same book. Each story arc was pretty much abandoned for a brand new one with the beginning of each act. And it left the book feeling disjointed, the pacing feeling–in the words of the book–tedious and the development feeling, well, undeveloped. And this was especially detrimental for the last act. In act 3 out of 4, our arc centers the MC immensely struggling with the stoicism and dismissiveness of the LI, as she’s trying to break down her walls and gain emotional intimacy. This was essentially “solved” in (read as: discarded after) one scene in which the LI finally lets the MC touch her while having sex and then tells her why she keeps people at a distance, and then we launch into act 4 in which the characters go on a dramatic (and very rushed) quest, leaving their relationship development feel incomplete. And this final act was so quick and crammed into the story that we even dropped the comedy, as the story took a turn for the dramatic.

And this was so frustrating because this book worked SO well on a micro level. The characters were so much fun and each individual moment was unbelievably captivating. (Though I am still a little mad about the lack-of-spice spicy scenes, it just felt underwhelming without the emotional intimacy to make up for the lack of physical description.) Like I said, I was constantly laughing out loud, and foolishly made the mistake of reading this book out in public several times, where I probably was stared at quite a bit with all my giggling and face-making.

I think it adds up to: if Hall had woven some of the plotlines more tightly together instead of separating them up between the acts and had given us a stronger developmental arc to motivate the romance, this story would’ve been a lot more solid than the tricky shapeless thing it ended up being.

I had also (before hearing reviews from friends) hoped this book would finally be the sapphic fantasy romance to match the likes of A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON and A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE, but it certainly is not that. Those books hinge upon their emotional cores, which is precisely what this book lacks. And though this story works as a comedy for the majority of its telling, it just doesn’t know enough of what it wants to say or be to leave any worthy impression.

And I know I’ve already brought it up but holy FUCK this book uses the word tedious so many times. I just needed to say that again.

CW: animal death/sacrifice, human sacrifice, murder, kidnapping, sexual harassment, illness, blood, emesis, insects, death of parent (past), death of sibling (past), transphobia (brief)

[Melissa ~ Bantering Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A charming, fantastical, sapphic Bridgerton is how I would describe Mortal Follies.

And I liked it for what it is: a light, fluffy romance novel. But Alexis Hall doesn’t quite give it that extra bit of oomph to push it into the four-star range for me. It’s amusing and clever enough, especially with Hall’s choice of Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck, as narrator – I appreciated the witty swipes at Shakespeare – yet by the end of it all, the book feels like just another romance novel. It fails to stand out.

The structure of the story is odd, too. The blurb makes it seem that the main plotline of the romance revolves around Miss Mitchelmore being cursed and Lady Georgianna finding a way to save her, but that’s settled halfway through. So when the curse is resolved and you find you still have quite a few pages left, you can’t help but think, Um … now what? Why isn’t the book wrapping up?

There’s also a sexual element to the two women’s relationship that feels out of place with the novel’s airy and whimsical tone. I won’t say much more for fear of spoilers, other than it crosses a line of respect between two consensual partners and I didn’t much care for it.

A second book has since been published – Confounding Oaths – but I haven’t made up my mind as to whether I’ll be coming back for another round. We’ll see if the mood ever strikes.


My sincerest appreciation to Alexis Hall, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

[Genevieve · Rating 2 out of 5]

No one is more disappointed in this rating than me and I feel like this is generous.

I really liked this book at the beginning - the story is a fun concept and the narrator is really funny. The book is narrated by Puck Robin from Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night's Dream and he is both the best and worst thing about this book. He is funny and (unlike a lot of other characters) has a lot of personality. However, Puck is pointless to the story, especially as this is meant to be a sapphic love story and we not once get inside either of the women's heads. Its just Puck observing them so I didn't feel connected to the love story at all.

It reads like it was written by someone who did not know how to write sapphic romance so decided to have it all narrated by a man who is pointless to the story - the wlw sex scenes are graphically described by Puck who is just there watching!?!?! Also, calling one of the women "the Duke" and avoiding using her pronouns (she/her) or her real name as much as possible just made it clear that the author does not know how to write wlw romance.

Other than the pointless narrator and the lifeless romance, that leaves the plot.
The concept was interesting, but when the plot covers the first 50% and the villain is obviously clear the second we meet them, I just didnt care from about 30% into the book.
What happens after the plot is done? Well we have 200 pages of Puck observing two women have sex. Thats all the last half is. Maybe this would have worked if we could feel the internal struggle of either Maelys or Georgina, or the first half of the book had set up their romance properly, but as neither of those things happened it was just very dull.


Because I couldn't help thinking about how this book should have been here are some of my thoughts:

🧚‍♀️ if Puck is going to be kept as a narrator then give him a plot line. We are told he has been exiled from the fairy court but not why and it would have been great to have him trying to find a way back in with the King and Queen with Maelys getting caught up in it. This could also give Puck some character development

💖 Make Maelys a POV character. This would have solved half the issues with the book as seeing how she was thinking and feeling would have given the romance life and made the reader more invested in it.

⭐ either cut or develop the side plots and side characters

🔮 Make the magic make sense. Now, as someone who enjoyed OUABH I don't mind a bit of a you-will-never-know magic system, but when the romance falls flat and POV character doesn't do anything then it really put a focus on how under developed the magic system was. This also extends to the gods who are overpowered and whose powers don't make any sense. Maybe if the author had done any worldbuilding this wouldnt be a problem, but they didnt so here we are.

👩 Cut calling Georgina "the Duke of Annadale". One, this is a cruel nickname she hates, two its not even her name or title, three it feels misgendery especially as in some scenes it felt "the Duke" was overused to avoid to using her pronouns (she/her)


This is the first sapphic book I've disliked this much so here are some actually good sapphic book recs:
❤️romance - Imogen obviously, seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Delilah green doesn't care
🗡️fantasy - legends and lattes, Priory of the Orange Tree, Sun and the Void, Jasmine Throne


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Becs · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Del Rey (thank you!)

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

An immensely enjoyable, sapphic regency romance set in a world where deities, fairy spirits, and sorcerers exist. Maelys Mitchelmore is a young women entering society and discovers she has been cursed. She seeks out the help of the mysterious "Duke of Annadale," Lady Georgianna Landrake, whose trustworthiness is unclear but is very intriguing. In addition to the Duke, Maelys has assistance from her cousin Mr. John Caesar and best friend Miss Lysistrata "Lizzie" Bickle. The trio are a delight as they attempt to help find the source of the mysterious curse amongst Bath society and navigate Maelys’s feelings about the Duke.

Our humble narrator is an observer of all - including things mere mortals can not see and an occasional mischief maker. Their voice is an absolute delight and I laughed throughout the book as they chronicle the story for our reading pleasure, with frequent wicked comments.

A highly entertaining romance that blends fantasy, mystery, and comedy superbly.

Content guidance is posted on Alexis Hall's website for Mortal Follies

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I went on a journey with this one.

It’s always a tricky experience when you have high expectations for something, whether because it sounds like something you would love (lesbians, magic, historical, ironic narrators) or because you love the author’s past work (Pansies, … okay look I can’t list everything). You want to love it, but you are hyperaware about the potential for disappointment so you’re preemptively trying not to try to love it, because that will just make you dislike it? And this book is such a specific tone that I read it in batches with days in between, which meant that this book was percolating for significant amounts of time even though I wasn’t always reading it. So rather than try to write an actual review, I’m going to give you a sense of my experience of reading it:

1%: Delightful!
30%: Idk idk… is this a bit dark? Does the tone really cohere?
40%: Is it me or is this dragging…. The plot is going nowhere?
56%: uhhhhhh okay this is decent actually, but was the plot just basically resolved?? What is going to happen for the rest of the book??
70%: you know what, this is great! I would happily just follow these characters as they live their lives. (But seriously, what’s going to happen, now it’s just looming.)
90%: okay this all totally works, this makes perfect sense, what an incredibly structured book actually, when I finish maybe I should reread the first half so that I can reflect on it in context??
100%: I’m literally tearing up???? Oh my god, a perfect happy ending, this is all I ask for in a historical romance!!

So, like I said…. I went on a journey lol.

A few additional points which, while seemingly random, all turn out to relate to Jane Austen:

- One of my favorite things about Austen etc. is a narrator/narration that lovingly(…ish) mocks the characters. I knew I loved Emma when she bent down to tie her absolutely not-untied shoelace so that Harriet and Elton could walk on together and then a little child ran up so she walked next to them, and it was all totally natural, the most natural thing in the world… or, the book gently and hilariously points out, it would have been natural if she were not, you know, doing it all on purpose. Technically speaking. So basically I adored this book’s puckish (hah) narrator. I wonder if it would get old and it never did!

- I loved how, Austen-esque, there was a relatively small circle of side characters that recurred at various points in the story. There was a moment where I thought “oh no! Are we really not going to see [redacted] again??” Pshaw, of course we were!

- I appreciate the lack of plot predictability even though the plot is very purposefully structured and exists within a genre full of familiar tropes? Because it was really that I was expecting a modern Regency romance plot and what I got was an Austen plot. Very fun! I was hesitant about this book because prior to reading it I was really feeling oversaturated on Regency era historical romance, but I think the key is that the book is a play on Austen, not Georgette Heyer.

And finally… it’s brutal how much I relate to/want to be the Duke of Annadale and yet I have neither an ominous reputation, nor a gallery with portraits of my devilish ancestors, nor a pistol on my bedside table…….………… 🧐

ETA: Just reread half of this in anticipation of Confounding Oaths - and I was curious if my opinion would hold up. In general I think yes, and I do think it’s a book that is well suited to reading in pieces over a long period of time - and the tone is strong enough to sustain that.

I found myself comparing it to Something Spectacular - which is also relatively-ahistorical histrom, but which is a lot more emotionally focused on the MCs, as you kind of expect from a romance novel. Mortal Follies is definitely far more Austen, like I said above - there’s a romance but the book is more about a group of characters moving through society than a capital-R Romance. And I continued to enjoy the ahistorical quirky queer etc. of it all even though that tone can be really hit or miss for me (and even though I absolutely hate Miss Bickle) which is a feat. The narrator really takes it to such a higher level!

Anyway I didn’t finish rereading this because my sister saw it sitting on my coffee table yesterday, examined the cover closely, said “Is this gay?” and then “I’m going to take it.” So I will be moving directly on to Confounding Oaths after all lol.

[Mary Marlowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think you know what you're walking into with an Alexis Hall book, you haven't read enough of them. He's always so versatile and inventive, so every book is a surprise. Mortal Follies falls on the more bonkers side, in the best way. This book is charming charming charming from that glorious cover to the last page.

Set in regency England...
and that's where the comparison with Bridgerton ends. This book has the trappings of a historical regency, but then it steps off into pure magic. Literally.

The story opens with a preface by our narrator, the Hobgoblin Puck as he sets expectations (there are fairies in this universe), grounding us in the rules of the magical world, cracking hilarious asides about the characters, and teasing us with the story he's compelled to weave. There's quite a bit of whimsical fourth-wall breakage and narrative sleights of hand throughout that remind the reader who is in charge of this tale. It's all very deft and tongue-in-cheek. I would read a spin-off all about Robin. This is really such a clever narrative device, and I'm not surprised Alexis Hall dreamed this up and managed to pull it off. Also, as I've come to expect, all the side characters added extra comedy. I'd also read Miss Bickel's book. She was a riot.

The story itself is a romance wrapped in a magical mystery. Miss Mitchelmore has been cursed, resulting in a variety of awful (though also funny) disasters. While searching for the culprit, she becomes acquainted with the Duke of Annandale, a mysterious woman with a scandalous reputation who comes to the rescue and catches Miss Mitchelmore's eye. Together, they form a sometimes cooperative, sometimes contentious team, while negotiating the chemistry sparking between them.

In this world, as in the two other historicals Alexis Hall published in the past year, there's a level of acceptance, at least in the immediate friend/family sphere, that allows his characters freedom to explore their queerness. Societal taboo isn't THE obstacle the romance needs to overcome, Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke of Annandale have to navigate issues of trust and power structures--and maybe death as well.

The denouement is just *chef's kiss*. So ridiculously clever and entertaining.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and Del Ray for the advanced reader copy.

[wasteland baby]

this is one of those pure 3.5 reads, so no star rating

THE GOOD:
- i mostly enjoyed Puck being the narrator. i think an arch and omniscient narrator can work great in a comedy, and i do think this succeds best if viewed as an adventure-comedy
- speaking of, the whole "greek gods are cursing people so they have to embark on zany adventures" deal was kinda serving percy jackson? which is a compliment! (the last novel i compared with percy jackson was wrath goddess sing - a book i really loved). i think you really can't go wrong with the concept of silly teenage besties trying to untangle themselves from supernatural bullshit
- as X pointed out, the "regency" element in this novel really shines when it's in the mode of Austenian comedy of manners (shoutout to the boring priest suitor! gotta be one of my favorite genders). love to read about people organizing little scholarly outings that get derailed bcs some of the ladies brought sketchbooks and are now holding everyone hostage to their artistic aspirations! i think Hall is a deft hand at showing how...arbitrary and silly a lot of these social rules are? and i think Puck as the narrator works best when he is in this observational+gently mocking mode, but is nevertheless very aware of all the rules and proprieties - Austen by way of Oberon, if you will
- i found the supporting characters quite charming! especially the cartoonishly silly Miss Bickle!
- the whole concept of a notorious disreputable woman who is (probably mockingly) known under a male title is sooooo gay and sexy

THE BAD:
- the pacing. what on earth was this pacing. is Mr Hall's editor okay. truly one of the most structually unsound novels i have ever encountered. they beat the big bad at some 55%!!!! after which they waffle around and/or moon over each other, after which there is ANOTHER curse (dj khaled voice, dare i say!) at like 85% of the novel?? genuinely what even are the stakes anymore? it's life or death, then it's "does she love me does she love me not", and then we're right back to life or death?? bizarre and seriously sloppy (unless i am missing something?? am i missing something??)
- the balance of adventure-comedy & romance starts great, but at some point something goes very wrong with it?? and i can't figure out if it's (as some other reviewers have speculated) the fact that the book has a very distant and mocking narrator, or the structure/pacing, or the lack of character depth. might be a combination of the three, tbh. but in any case, i found myself not really caring about the main pairing? like genuinely i would have enjoyed this book more if instead of a love interest, the protagonist ended up risking it all to save the life of, idk, her younger cousin. again, i think this book was very percy jackson coded, but should have been even more so!!
- the duke of annadale starts of as a super sexy scoundrel, but then we find out SHE'S 24 (a deeply unserious age to be a byronic seductress of young ingénues. should have AT LEAST been 35!!! i refuse to accept a wrinkle-free brooding love interest !!) and she's all "no!! i shan't let u close!!" in a way that is probably a nod to scoundrels of (het histrom) yore, but is also soooo boring. like girl i genuinely don't care whether you let this woman (whose only attraction to u seems to lie in her beauty and generally unoffensive personality) in or not. there is no thematic or emotional mirroring binding you close. in this relationship she is literally a sexy lamp and tbh you are a just a sexually dominant sexy lamp.
-while i *mostly* enjoyed both Puck the narrator and Miss Bickle the ridiculous sidekick, at times both of them were a bit too on the nose. Puck got repetitive with his arch comments, and Miss Bickle was the mouthpiece for THE most cringy reference to shipping my eyes have ever beheld. i mean good to know she's a yuri warrior but the way we learned it was deeply embarrassing.

[mehta]

(temporary) DNF @ 29%

Historical sapphic romance in a fantasy background with lots of charming appeal, but some funky stylistic choices are curtailing my investment in the romance.

The narrator of Mortal Follies is this amorphous fae creature named Robin, but her omniscient narration adds too much emotional distance between the characters and the reader. I'm not actually in the characters' heads so the romance feels bereft of emotional palpability.

Robin's comedically acerbic narration is snarky and funny in a way that's maybe amusing enough to make you exhale audibly; it reads like it thinks it's more funny than it actually is. It's a shame because I've read plenty of Alexis Hall's books and he knows how to write some good fucking humour that puts a gummy smile on my placid face, so I'm not sure where the comedic aptitude went when he was writing Mortal Follies.

Anywho, not bad by any means but the romance is just not holding my attention right now because of its stylistic choices. Will pick it back up later.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for providing an advanced free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
===
I quite enjoyed this one overall! I generally have enjoyed Hall's recent historicals, though I would say that compared to A Lady for a Duke (the most recent of his books I've read) this one felt a lot more... perhaps modern? Not that it didn't have all the historical vibes one would want in this type of book, but there was a lot more quips and banter and back-and-forth that Hall is quite known for, but that can also feel a little exhausting. I didn't experience that here, thankfully, but there was definitely a lot of witty reparte!

The blending of the magical was really interesting and well-done, and the whole concept of the curse was really fascinating. I loved the characters, and Miss Maelys Mitchelmore's cousin and her best friend both particularly made for really wonderfully engaging characters--if the author ever decided to write books for each of them, I think there's a market for it! The narration was also really interesting here, with the book being told as a story from the POV of a faerie who was "collecting" the story, which I quite enjoyed on the whole. But, of course, it did somewhat lead to a slight feeling of distance from the characters since we're never directly in any of their heads. The smut, while present and semi-on-screen is definitely quite vague and nowhere near explicit--it makes sense with the narrative choice here, but I do continue to bemoan Hall's increasing tendency towards non-explicit sex, particularly since he writes smut so beautifully. But the build between Maelys and Lady Georgianna Landrake was lovely and I really quite enjoyed the dynamic between them. I also appreciated that there was a good amount of tension in their relationship throughout.

Where the book somewhat suffered for me is actually a very similar issue to one I had with A Lady for a Duke, which is that the initial drama, and what one thinks will be the central crux of the book (the curse), is more or less resolved around the 50% mark. So then we proceed for a while to have the plot entirely centered around the relationship tension, until around 75% we get a new, sort of random secondary plot that then needs to be resolved. And while I liked all three of these elements (the two separate curse plots, and the relationship stuff) I really wish the author had found a way to more seamlessly weave them all together so it felt like one cohesive narrative, instead of the mildly clunky way it felt divided. Emotionally, I was ready for the book to be over soon after the initial curse wrapped up, and then to realize we still had so much more to go just felt like poor pacing, and I found this to be almost the exact same thing that happened in A Lady for a Duke, though here, at least, the secondary plot did still center the main characters.

So overall I did quite enjoy myself, and I'd very much read more in this universe--frankly desperate for Miss Bickle to have a book, which is saying something as I'm not generally one for het romance.

[Katie (Romance Novel Quotes)]

This book is a delight. I loved it—no surprise as I’m partial to both Puck’s antics and Alexis Hall’s words.

“Mortal Follies” has been described as “histromantasy,” and for me, it weaves together the best of all those genres into a truly whimsical tale.

The story is set in Regency England—an era our narrator Puck, a collector of stories, winks at in the Prologue as one we mortals simply adore. And the book embraces so many of the elements that make these historicals work for readers: the estates, the balls, the ton, the fashions…essentially, the Bridgerton of it all.

Except this world, while far from perfect, as Puck notes, is also one of magic. I’m not a big reader of fantasy in romance, but it really worked for me here. And the romance between Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke of Allandale (aka Lady Georgiana), which unfolds as they attempt to undo a curse, is lovely and tender in its exploration of trust and power. The course of true love never did run smooth, but we seek it all the same.

The characters are deftly crafted (I loved Mae’s friend Miss Bickle, with her yearning and her “tinging” (which I read as shipping) of characters real and fictional. I lol’d as she expounded on why characters from different Austen books should have gotten together. She’s also responsible for the line about weak-willed clergymen, referencing a certain Gothic novel and making me cackle.

It amazes me how Alexis Hall can bring such a recognizable authorial voice to so many different genres and types of stories—I marveled at the level of creativity and risk-taking.

I don’t think one has to have read “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to enjoy this book, but I loved our unreliable narrator Puck, and the references to the play throughout. It’s the first Shakespeare I ever read. In fact, I remember precisely two things about 6th grade English class: First, my teacher was obsessed with correcting comma splices, a losing battle if I’ve ever heard of one. Second, I vividly remember having to recite Puck’s speech in front of the class and every word is burned in my brain for life.

Or maybe it was just a dream.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

ETA: The cover is a work of art.

[Katie Beasley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was challenging for me to get through. I don't know if it was reading a book set in the 1800s as I haven't done that in a while or the plot or both. There was just not a lot that was captivating to me here. I kept hoping that things would get better and they really didn't for me.

Miss Mitchelmore has started a new season in the town and is recognizing that her time to get married is getting closer and closer. A few strange incidents happen that seem to involve some supernatural beings and in each of these instances she is saved by the Duke of Annadale, who is in fact a woman. After SEVERAL chapters of searching and talking about what could be ailing her, she realizes that she has been cursed. Then we spend SEVERAL MORE chapters trying to figure out her cursed her. Throughout these chapters, Miss Mitchemore is realizing that she gets flutters in her stomach whenever the Duke is around but not really when men are around. I have to say I was a little surprised when we find out the person who put the curse on Miss Mitchelmore. That went sideways kind of fast.

After that situation is taken care of, Miss Mitchelmore moves on to determine if what she is feeling is reciprocated which takes SEVERAL more chapters. Then when you think things are going well- she is cursed yet again. This girl just can't seem to catch a break.

This book seemed to want to have a lot happening without a lot actually happening. There was a lot of detail described around the era and the surroundings but really just not a lot of plot in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[dobbs the dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received from Edelweiss, thanks!

4.5 stars

Overall, I feel like the story was 4 stars and it gets an extra half a star because I loved the narrator.

This is the story of Maelys Mitchelmore who starts the book cursed by an old god, and it goes on from there. A lot happens in the book, she falls in love, maybe gets cursed AGAIN, but is helped out the whole time by her cousin, John Caesar, and her best friend Lysistrata Bickle, as well as the Duke of Annadale, Lady Georgiana Landrake. The story is very entertaining and I love how a regency novel is woven through with all of these old gods and goddesses, as well as magic and lore.

But what truly makes this book is the narrator. I won’t say much about him, other than that he is perfect, and snarky, and funny, and I would read any number of books narrated by him.

This book is definitely a bit more on the bonkers side of the AJH canon, but it totally works. I also nearly died and then cackled when I came across a reference to another utterly bonkers book in this one. It was so perfect.

[aphrodite · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a sapphic historical romance narrated by a exiled faerie where the main characters sacrifice a man to a pagan goddess and then get in a sexual relationship and fall in love……..

yeah gonna need y’all to add this to the tbr immediately

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute sapphic cozy fantasy, with added Alexis Hall humor. When I read it again I may very well be upping it to five stars. I'm very excited for book two in the series. Some more thoughts in my Reading Vlog.

[Aster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely uneven. Took me weeks to finish

Mortal Follies starts with a bang but quickly loses steam. The narration gimmick is interesting - having a fae narrating the humans' story- but it was badly suited for a romance (there's only so much an exterior narrator can say about a romance before it becomes creepy and awkward). The narrator's commentary often disappears when the author seem to realise he wants to write the story and actions and not comment on everything so why do we have this narrator in the first place (besides fun concept to play with)

I am surprised this book is not the first in a series (or it has not been announced yet) because there are way too many side characters set up for their own arc and vast possibilities opened up. Honestly too many insipid characters in the first part of the story made me lose interest in this for weeks. The main story is really boring and the book really becomes a romance in the last third. Although "romance" because with an external narrator the characters have to voice all of their emotions for us to know about them.

Something that bothered me is that Georgiana is presented as a stone top (lesbian who only gives and does not let her lover touch her). This is rare to see in books and I was pleasantly surprised to see an non-lesbian author explore a complex part of lesbian sexual identity. Turns out Maelys spends some time upset about this and try to pressure her lover into letting her touch her which I found extremely uncomfortable. Georgiana accepts because the reason she was like that is that she's brooding and has a dark secret (which is really disappointing- both the secret and the non stone top thing).

And then we get more fantasy plot which does not do the book any good

[Jassmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Can you please behave like ordinary parents for just a short while?"
Lady Jane raised and eyebrow. "If you insist." She cleared her throat. "Oh la! But Maelys, if you are devoured by an angry goddess, how-ever will you find a husband?"

I really wanted to love this, but... sadly some things got into way, although I feel it's mostly a me thing.

1. The blurb promises witches and honestly the witchiness is subpar. A bit of a marketing fail, but then again, I am a bit obsessed with witches, so this was a bigger deal for me than it perhaps should have been.

2. I read Something Spectacular really shortly before this book and Something Spectacular is absolutely hilarious, makes you snort out loud hilarious. Mortal Follies were funny but compared to Something Spectacular it felt a bit washed out.

3. I enjoyed our puckish narrator, but the truth is that with romances I want to get closer to the MCs and the third party narrator really provides more of a distance than I want. As a result of this I wasn't really feeling the romance much even though the Duke of Annadale was objectively hot.

4. I usually can't put down Alexis Hall's books but with this one that wasn't an issue at all.

5. I was a little bit squeamish about the animal sacrifices....


Overall, this book should have been totally my niche, but for some reason it didn't quite work. I think it's objectively a good book though, my expectations of Alexis Hall are just ridiculously high...
3,5⭐

[Shira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this sapphic regency fantasy romance! It was fun, witty and super entertaining. This book had me laughing out loud. I didn’t want it to end! I loved the characters but my favorite had to be the sassy hobgoblin narrator. I loved the whimsical feel of this book it was truly magical and I wish I could dive into that world again! Highly recommend this one!

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es ist nur versehentlich passiert, aber ich muss sagen, Regency Romance ist mir wirklich ans, äh, Herz gewachsen (auch wenn die Cover fast immer abstoßend sind, hier auch). Das war eins der unterhaltsamsten Exemplare bisher. Sehr guter Erzähler, sehr gute Erzählposition, Handlungsbogen, Dialoge, ich musste oft laut lachen und war von Anfang bis Ende zufrieden.

[Kayleigh | Welsh Book Fairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Mortal Follies
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Alexis Hall
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: LGBT Historical Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 6th June 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 4th May 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.25/5

“The truth, my dear one, is that I burn for you, that I have always burned for you, that I want you in all the ways that a woman can want or can be wanted. But the words taste like blood in my mouth and saying them chokes me.”

A curse, a spiteful goddess, and a hobgoblin storyteller focus on Maelys Mitchelmore whilst in turn, she focuses her attentions on the daughter of a duke.

This was definitely a mixed bag of feelings and thoughts for me. There were some aspects I enjoyed and some that I didn’t so I have really struggled to rate this.

My favourite part of this story is the dynamic between the trio of Miss Mitchelmore, Miss Bickle, and Mr Caesar. I found their banter funny, flowing and fulfilling. Miss Bickle was by far my favourite character. Her fanciful personality coupled with the regency of high society was really compelling.

And it was genuinely hysterical! There are moments in the story that I can look back on and smile endearingly with delight.

I also really enjoyed and really genuinely loved the writing. I would definitely read more by this author. The quote at the beginning of this review is proof alone that the writing is beautiful and captivating. It disappoints me that Mortal Follies didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

There were elements of this story that genuinely felt discombobulated to me. I loved the concept of a hobgoblin narrating the story but I disliked the actual execution. I found the intrusive input of opinions and side notes really distracting. I would be trying to immerse myself and invest myself in the adventures of Miss Mitchelmore and the narrator would but in with comments such as ‘I had to pay rent the other day and it was horrible’ and I’d think ‘wait, WHY are you paying rent when you can turn yourself into a piece of stray fluff?’ Perhaps I missed something with the hobgoblins backstory but either way the narration style was really distracting to me.

Another aspect I wasn’t crazy about was the romance itself. With the Duke’s anxieties and aversions, the romance felt one sided to me at worst and awkward at best. Miss Mitchelmore did so much of the heavy lifting for their relationship to even begin it was disheartening.

And lastly the plot. I actually thought the plot was the weakest part of the story and that this book relies heavily on tropes for enjoyment purposes. There were underutilized characters, basic reveals, and the urgency felt congruent in the first half of the story and frustrating in the second half.

However, I do recommend reading this, especially if sapphic regency fantasy is your thing. The banter alone is worthwhile.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

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[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

✔Sapphic Book Bingo Challenge 2025 🌈✨: Main Board - Ice Queen or Grumpy Character

Second Read: February 15, 2025
Updated rating: from 4 to 5 stars

5 stars. The way that I forgot that Georgiana tied Maelys to a fucking CHAISE LOUNGE AND DID NASTY THINGS TO HER?!! HOW THE HELL IS THIS BOOK RATED SO LOW Y’ALL ARE BUGGING. That scene alone added at least 15 more years to my life span. Mind you, the sex scenes in this are not explicit at all but the way that Hall writes it still makes it feel so sexy and intimate.

”I want you to speak freely” —the Duke of Annadale’s mouth inched upwards—“and live freely.” She inched further. “I want you to feel freely, to touch freely, and to be touched.” Further. “I want you to beg and cry, and to call my name.”

Good. Fucking. BYE.

If you know me you know I LOVE an emotionally constipated woman and that is Georgiana Landrake the Duke of Annadale to a tee. She’s sarcastic, extremely moody, and snarky as hell. The chemistry between her and Maelys was so good because of the push and pull. I don’t know this book just really hit for me this time. I laughed a lot and I just got so attached to these characters. I’m glad that I decided to pick it up again because I had so much fun this second time around. Everything really worked for me. I just sat on my couch and read this straight through while giggling like an idiot. It was a good time and I have no regrets. Will definitely read this again.

Original Review:
4 stars. This lost steam towards the end but the first half of this was so good. Hall’s writing is really good in this and the humor was a hit for the most part which was great. This story is so bizarre and wacky and very entertaining. I liked the plot device of having the story told by a narrator character. Very unique. The characters were all great and there is a wonderful romance between Maelys and Georgina. The chemistry between them was so good and I loved their banter. This was such a fun read and I can definitely see myself re-reading. I feel like I’ll love it even more the second time around.

[PlotTrysts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the weirder books we've read lately: it's a historical sapphic romance, narrated by Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow, aka Hobgoblin), set in a world where mythological creatures, magic, and curses are real. Puck is writing this story in the present day, but he recorded it for posterity (in his mind?) in 1814. He follows Maelys, a debutante in Bath who's been afflicted by a curse, as she attempts to rectify the situation. She does so by enlisting the aid of the Duke of Annadale, more properly known as Lady Georgiana Landrake, who has a suspiciously good knowledge of curses, herself.

Mortal Follies is a total romp. Puck's narration is a major high point, as he presents the story from a detached but interested perspective (while taking every opportunity he can to malign Shakespeare). That said, perhaps because of that detached narration, we didn't feel the emotional high points of the romance as much as we could have. At times, the book felt more like an experiment in writing than like a romance. We had a ton of fun reading it, and Hall has never written a book that hasn't made us laugh out loud at least once.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the book.

[Brigi]

dnf page 132

Sooo boring. I don't want to read more tbh

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Content Warning: violence, death, homophobia, transphobia, animal death, animal cruelty, misogyny, murder, sexual assault/harassment.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog!

It is 1814 and Maelys Mitchelmore, a young lady of good standing, has few worries. She attends balls, spends time with her cousin and her best friend, and considers marriage proposals. Then, one night at a ball, Maelys finds her dress slowly but surely unmaking itself in the midst of high society, and she barely escapes a scandal that could ruin not only her reputation, but her life as she knows it. But then, in a world where faeries, malevolent spirits, and old Gods reign supreme, what can one expect? As Maelys comes to the frightening realization that she is under a curse, she is pushed into pairing up with Lady Georgiana Landrake, a Byronic Duchess who is shunned in society as a witch -- and one who supposedly killed her own father and brothers for her inheritance. But as Georgiana and Maelys grow closer as they try to discover who has resorted to such means against Maelys, they discover that some things are more powerful than curses, and that some things are worse than having a bad reputation.

This has been on my list for a long time, published in June of last year. Having previously read Hall's Kate Kane series, I was pretty sure that this was going to be something I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly since it's a sort of fantasy, lesbian Bridgerton. Either my tastes have changed over the years, which is highly probable since I read those books as a teenager, or I'm simply missing something here that everyone else is getting, because I did not love Mortal Follies -- and to speak plainly, I didn't even really like it.

Humbly narrated by the hobgoblin Robin Goodfellow, of Shakespearean fame, the novel follows Maelys Mitchelmore and her romantic interest, Georgiana Landrake. I thought it was a clever device to use Robin as the narrator, but I'm afraid to say that it seemed to work much better in theory than in practice. Unfortunately, because none of the events are seen through the perspective of Maelys or Georgiana, it leaves the reader feeling distanced from the supposed connection taking place between the two. Maelys and Georgiana both suffer as characters, too: forced to describe them, I could only say that Maelys is strong and innocent, and Georgiana is dark and brooding. Beyond that, there's very little growth or development.

The side characters have a similar problem, never becoming much more than archetypes or comic relief. Miss Bickle, Maelys's best friend, is the best example of this -- she seems to serve no point beyond making zany comments and doing silly things, which left me not laughing, but rolling my eyes. This is a book obsessed with its own cleverness and witticisms, to the point of becoming exhausting. Page after page is filled with "witty" dialogue that seems to go on forever, pointlessly, without doing anything to progress the novel or help with its characterization. I truly cannot emphasize enough how bad Mortal Follies is in this regard, and how truly tiresome it is to read nearly 400 pages of forced humor.

The world-building is also lackluster. There's faeries, mythical creatures, and the "old Gods" -- Romano-British Gods and Goddesses, which makes sense because this is set in Bath. This is, again, a wonderful idea where execution simply fell short. There's no real cohesion to how the world works or how its deities and folklore interact, and so it ends up feeling like little more than window dressing.

I wish that I had more positive things to say, but I'm struggling to think of parts that I actually enjoyed. I did think that Robin Goodfellow was sometimes cute and a little charming, but even this grew wearisome by the conclusion. So much cleverness, so many big words, all with no point. Not to mention that the curse, which I assumed would be the main gist of the plot, is solved by the halfway point, and then we move immediately onto a sort of quasi-second plot that feels aimless. It's just a jumbled mess.

Before I finish this review, I also want to address some issues with Georgiana and Maelys's relationship. I'm not bothered by the age gap, like some other readers were -- Maelys being nineteen, Georgiana in her mid-twenties -- but instead, I found it very frustrating how Georgiana doesn't even seem to really like Maelys in any meaningful way. She's Byronic, she's brooding, we get it -- personally, this is something I love to see in female characters. But it was done in a very shoddy way, and truthfully, there seemed very little romance or interest between Maelys and Georgiana at all, besides the carnal, and even that feels inauthentic. There's no chemistry between them. I believe the author primarily writes romance between gay men, aside from the Kate Kane series, and I'm afraid that it rather shows itself here, particularly when it comes to the sex scenes.

I hate being so negative, but this is simply my honest experience with the book. Many other readers loved this, and so as always, it comes down merely to taste. Hall is undoubtedly a talented writer, but Mortal Follies was simply a little too infatuated with its own wittiness to win me over.

[mads · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

TW: animal cruelty, animal death an animal is sacrificed in exchange for communication with a goddess and it is described more graphically than some, blood, chronic illness, cursing, death, death of a loved one, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, grief, gun violence, homophobia, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, lesbophobia, medical content, medical trauma, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, racism, rape, religious bigotry, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual harassment, stalking, toxic relationship, violence.

There are so many words that could describe this book (tedious, intolerable, enamored by its own perceived cleverness, etc.) but none fit quite as well as bad. This book was bad.

I'm going to return to my old review style for a moment, list several of the reasons I disliked this book, and then go on my merry way.

- The Main Couple
The main couple's age difference is 19 and 24-25. (I feel I should mention that the older of the two never has her age officially confirmed, with some people thinking she's 20, but her love interest makes a comment ((to her)) about her being mid-twenties and it is not refuted.) That isn't illegal, I get it. However, it's still uncomfortable and only gets made worse by it being consistently repeated that the older of the two is far more advanced and mature due to life experience, even going so far as to call the younger love interest "child". (Not to mention all of the times that she asks her why she must be such a girl or when the older of the two speaks of wishing to have sex with her just so she (the younger love interest) thinks about her when her future husband is taking advantage of her.) This is a problem that is not resolved simply because the younger love interest begins to demand things.

Their entire relationship was not only extremely toxic but so boring. They had absolutely no chemistry, even without all of the aspects that would have made their relationship problematic. I think part of this is due to the fact that they felt more like shadows of a character rather than actually living beings. Neither of them have any personality (aside from cursed, innocent, and horny and also cursed, mysterious, asshole, and also horny). They had the same conversation no less than fifty times.

I kept finding myself secretly hoping the antagonist would win just so the book could be over.

- The Narrator
I hated the narration style. It's clear the author wanted to capture the nearly omnipresent yet gossipy spirit of Lady Whistledown in Bridgerton with a magical twist but failed to account for the ramifications of this. For one, the narrator is incredibly annoying. But on a more objective level, we view every event in the book through the eyes of Robin which not only makes the reader feel incredibly detached from all events taking place but also makes us feel like we're stalking the characters. Despite the fact Robin claims to only watch their faces during sex (which is still weird), we're still a third party observing them.

- The Writing
The writing style tried so hard to be flowery and clever that it forgot to be enjoyable. I realize this is kind of second part of the previous point but it still deserves mention. I know that the author was attempting a very specific kind of writing style, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. Instead of feeling enchanted and whimsical, it just felt excruciating.

- The Pacing
The mystery (if one can even call it that) is solved at the 50% mark. Halfway. Through. The. Book. That means that for the next fifty percent, a dozen things happen for the sake of extending the book and creating conflict. I understand that the plot of the curse had been building, but it almost felt like the book had been split in two - rather than creating a cohesive narrative.


I could keep going. I feel like some of this review is too harsh and I do usually try to stay more neutral in my reviews, but it's been awhile since I was this uncomfortable about a book. Sapphic relationships deserve better than cardboard characters who think vulgarity is the only way to show maturity.

I know nothing of the author, but I can't imagine they meant for the relationships to read this way, but unfortunately that doesn't change the fact they do.

Overall, I went into this book expecting to love it and I'm absolutely bummed that I didn't. I don't know how a book with fae, witches, gods, two curses, and regency lesbians managed to be this boring, but it succeeded... which I suppose is a triumph in and of itself.

While I wouldn't recommend this book, I had only heard positive things before reading it so it clearly has a lot of people that love it and I'm glad. I wish I had loved it.

[Ruxandra Grrr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I had a mini reading slump in the middle of this, it is not the fault of the book, which was quite enjoyable and fun! I think it's a your mileage may vary sort of situation, because of the narration voice, a hobgoblin who winks winks at you quite often and makes A Midsummer Night's Dream references to suggest that he is in fact Puck. I quite loved this in the beginning and at some points it did grate a bit, but I got back on the wagon. I hope we get more books with him as the narrator, because he was a great character in his own right. (And he really just hates Shakespeare, which was soo funny!)

As for the tale he is spinning, I quite had fun with it. It went into some dark places and also some sexy places, and even though it felt like it had strange pacing and structure at times, it was actually all deliberate and came together quite well in the end. This is a Regency tale that's Austen-inspired only it's focused on a bunch of queer characters (in the new and the old meaning of the word) and the marriage plot is dispelled immediately. It's also a magical Regency world where kelpies and fairies and old gods are accepted as reality, if not necessarily mundane. It is also a very pleasantly anachronistic world (for instance, Ms. Bickle invents the term 'tinging', coming from courting, a clear reference to shipping!)

I quite liked the main characters, ingenue Ms. Mae Mitchelmore and lovely Duke of Annadale. I *quite* loved the Duke, because, even though I am probably mildly fatigued of the Byronic rich man who who doesn't feel like he's worthy of love, well, when the Duke is a woman, the type gets super refreshed and feels lovely. The sexy scenes were great and I truly loved the power dynamics between the characters, both in every day interactions and in horny scenes. It's so good to have an author who definitely understands powerplay.

But my favorite character was Ms. Bickle, truly the MVP. She is the kind of head in the clouds, almost naive person that other books (and movies and any form of storytelling) have mocked mercilessly, but I so loved the approach of showing her emotional intelligence, compassion and also a wisdom in dealing with the absurd. In her first scenes, I definitely was not sure I would stand her, but I got convinced really quickly.

There are so many fun little details and recurring characters in this book, the worldbuilding was super fun and also dark, the resolution worked for me a lot! Mae's realization that helplessness and powerlessness are the most terrible thing in the world felt so cathartic in this time of my life and in these times in our own world. And I highlighted so much witty dialogue that I think I am running out of e-reader space! Hope we got more from Puck... umm... the exiled hobgoblin writer?