I received an ARC of Mortal Folljes from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this one but found the unreliable narrator to be a bit of a weird perspective. This is a historical sapphic light fantasy romance. The spice was fairly clean for spice standards. And I’ll admit there were some great pieces of dialogue that I annotated. I did laugh out loud at points. Almost felt like Bridgerton narration.

Grumpy x Sunshine Vibes

A lot of characters, felt a bit hard to follow. I finished the book but unfortunately it felt the same throughout :/

A sapphic historical fantasy with a bit of chaos, witchcraft, and old gods! This book checks a lot of boxes for things I love, and I am forever a fan of Alexis Hall! I had so much fun reading with a unique narrator and a truly cozy fantasy vibe.

**Check trigger warnings before engaging, **

Thank you as always to Netgalley and publishers for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I must be completely honest, I went into this book with the expectation it would be a typical historical fantasy with a romance subplot. Something ultimately nice but semi forgettable, but I am genuinely impressed! If you're someone that enjoys fantasy books that read like classical novels/fairytales, an unreliable narrator, and a sweet and dynamic sapphic romance with lots of banter then i think you'll really enjoy this book!!

Mortal Follies is told by an unreliable fairy of a narrator, called robin by mortals, that injects themself into unsuspecting people's lives and watches chaos ensue and live to tell the tale. They come upon Miss Maelys Michelmore at a ball where her dress is disintegrating and falling apart, deciding to follow her and observe how things turn out for her. When a duke with a bad reputation decides to rescue Maelys from her deteriorating dress issue, a gorgeous romance blossoms between the two, though neither of them fully admit it to themselves. The characterization of even the side characters such as Miss Mitchelmores best friend (who is a total hopeless romantic and i love her for it!) is done beautifully, these characters are given real emotion and depth without shaming or glorifying them. While I admit the prose is extremely flowery, to me it read like an old Jane Austen novel and it added so much to the atmosphere and fun of the novel. Definitely worth the read!!

A historical, sapphic romance from Alexis Hall? Sign me up! I've been enjoying Hall's writing since he first released Boyfriend Material. I know that means I was a little late to the game, but I can say I have read almost everything since. "Mortal Follies" is a delightful jump into something altogether different. This book will appeal to fans of meddling fae, but also those who rather enjoy the works of Jane Austen. I am normally not a historical fiction reader. That being said, the addition of angry old gods and a WLW love affair made me grab the title and I'm so glad I did. Between the narrator and the will they/ won't they, I was hooked.

Sadly this just didn’t work for me, while the signature Alexis Hall cheeky humor was present, I found myself feeling underwhelmed by the plot. I think the sense of combining Jane Austen and HR with Greek Mythology made this feel too busy and bogged down.

I don’t usually read sapphic books because it just isn’t something that generally appeals to me but I thought the cover was just so cute and the blurb was great so I did end up requesting it! I did not end up being disappointed either! I loved the historical references and the romance. I know I said sapphic isn’t something that I usually grab but regency and fantasy definitely are and I thought this book captured it beautifully while at the same time keeping it magical. I loved the author's writing style.

Wasn’t able to get through this one.

I DNF about 20% in. Hoping I can come back to this one in the future.

I am a huge Alexis Hall fan and I also love Jane Austen and I felt like this book was such a successful mix of the two plus a little Twelfth Night from Shakespeare thrown in. Mortal Follies was such a fun book written in the style of a classic Jane Austen novel, but with more comedy thrown in. I loved that the narrator was a fairy that was somewhat involved in the story but mostly just told the audience what was happening with just a bit of his own interference. Maelys was such a sweet and fun character and her two friends were also a great addition to the story and the comedy. I really enjoyed the way that Maelys realized that she was interested in women and not men and how supportive everyone in her life was about it. The story could get a little slow at times but overall I really enjoyed the modern comedic take of classic regency storytelling.

This was a delightful retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the story, Maelys is cursed and you follow her, her friends, and her lover on a journey of finding out who cursed her, why they did so, and how to rid herself of it. Miss Bickle was my favorite character and she rather reminded me of Luna Lovegood with some of her silliness.

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book for free and am leaving this review of my own volition.

Alexis Hall has done it again!

Another beautiful queer Regency-era love story for the ages narrated by an outcast sprite, this is everything you loved about 'A Lady for a Duke' but wished was a dash more mythical.

Maelis Mitchelmore wants what every young lady in the ton wants: to spend her evenings attending nice balls, dancing with nice boys, and to spend her days with her tight social circle. With her best friend, head-in-the-clouds and hopeless romantic Lysistrata Bickles, and her cautious but clever cousin John Cesaer, there's little more Miss Mitchmore could want for. That is, until things begin to inexplicably go awry, and it becomes clear that the innocent and unwordly girl has been cursed. With little to go on, Miss Mitchelmore must confide in the equally [socially] cursed Duke of Annandale, a woman rumored to be wicked and vengeful. Can she trust the alleged murderess, who is equal-parts enchantingly enigmatic, and infuriatingly inhospitable? Either way, it seems the so-called Duke can't seem to stay away.

With goddesses, witches, fairies, goblins, and spirits, this book is so much more than your average Bridgerton-type tale. I enjoyed the story quite so much, and am now looking forward to my own travels to Bath to visit the Roman baths (and pay a small tribute to Sulis Minerva). While not the spiciest of Sapphic books, the fade-to-black narrative wasn't so annoying when described by a millenial-old fae who is frankly disinterested in most mortal activity (when there aren't tricks to be played). I could read a thousand more stories from Robin the Sprite.

My main concern was when, just over half-way through the book, the main obstacle was overcome. Of course, when you have 75 pages to go and it seems a "happily every after" is on the horizon, something is bound to go awry. I felt that the problem was solved, and then the story went stagnant for a while until one last barrier arose. The second climax, I felt, came both too late and too soon; I would rather have had both problems occur simultaneously, or at least be played out in less of a "Oh yeah, and then THIS happened, too!" sort of way.

Over-all, I give this book 4 solid stars. I recommend any fans of Alexis, of Bridgerton, or of A Midsummer Night's Dream to indulge. I'll likely pick this one up again in time.

Ah! This one was so fun! So lovely! I LOVED the interactive narrator hob goblin, our FMCs, the mix of HR with magic and fantasy. It was truly such a delight! I’ve already purchased a physical copy because I need to have this beautiful and funny romance on my shelf.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

This one definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. It had really good flow and it didn't lag in the middle which I really appreciate.

I usually enjoy the author's writing and books. But this was not for me and I struggled to get through it. I could not connect with the characters and story line. At times the book was slow paced and hard to read.

The Shakespearean Mortal Follies weaves a comical sapphic romance in the year 1814. Robin Goodfellow sews a plot of villains, angry gods and extraordinary romance featuring the dashing Lady Georgiana, “the Duke,” and the cursed Maelys Mitchelmore. If you can expect anything from Alexis Hall, it’s a great read that will make the gods quake in their boots.

a cute sci-fi romance, this was an enjoyable read

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

This was such a unique regency romance! I loved that it was part fantasy/part queer regency romance! The narrator was funny and full of charm! This isn't my favorite genre, but I really enjoyed this book!

Maelyn is an interesting character but her best friend Miss Bickle is truly the showstopper with her childlike wonder, openness to all things fantastical, and her always positive outlook. It was at times a bit much but Mae does ground her as Lysistrata uplifts her in return. While the friends are wonderfully complimentary to one another, the relationship between Maelyn and Georgiana the Duke of Annadale, while tricky is such a fascinating dichotomy of the nature of society. Georgiana choosing to isolate herself with a powerful presence to intimidate, yet doing so to protect others from a goddesses wrath is such a selfless act from someone who is seen as quite selfish to the ton. She has the veil of intrigue that hides her true self, and Mae has an air of innocence that hides her somewhat darker desires. The two being together is such a scandal but after all they’ve been through they are past bowing to the whims of a patriarchal society for a more traditionally acceptable image of love. Or perhaps as the ostentatious narrator of the tale implied, maybe it was all but a dream.

Beautiful cover bamboozlement at its absolute worst. And it feels like a crime because the premise and the tropes held so much promise but the execution really got in its own way.

At first I enjoyed the omniscient narration, it was so unusual and tongue in cheek. But as the story dragged on it became increasingly less relevant and poorly suited for Robin the hobgoblin to be narrating this random story of a randomly cursed maiden and her budding romance. At first the chaos of it all was entertaining but eventually it grated and felt forced and even slightly voyeuristic (which is not to k!nk shame, but rather seemed like an unfortunate miscalculation since I don’t think the author intended for this to be ~that~ kind of book). Having an exterior POV for a romance essentially blocks the reader from everything we love about the romance genre - the pining, the yearning, the spiraling inner monologue - to my utter devastation.

Because the writing itself was so lovely, with delicate sentences and clever word play and lush vocabulary. But couple the awkward narration with terrible pacing and even I can’t get suckered in by some pretty words. Everything broke down at the half way point because it felt like the story should have ended but it didn’t and everything after just felt vaguely pointless. There was no cohesive story arc or intentional passage of time, it was just a hodgepodge of random events and happenings.

Also I found it hard to connect to the characters. I wanted to like Georgianna as a love interest but she was SO. BORING. What happened to the intrigue?! The character development?! And my two brain cells might be to blame but I couldn’t keep these insipid characters straight for the life of me, everyone was Miss So and So and Mr This and That and truly my itty bitty brain cells were not prepared to retain so many surnames. No one stood out, no one was unique (except for you Miss Bickle, you were a scream). It was Bridgerton on shrooms and we were having a bad trip.

2.5⭐️ It’s not that I had a bad time it’s more that this book wanted more brain cells than I was prepared to give or that I felt it had a right to demand. If you like regency romance and nonsensical musings and an endless parade of faceless characters and you’re prepared to sacrifice more than two brain cells, I wish you well on your endeavor.

**thank you NetGalley & Random House publishing for the eARC**

This book is described as a "Queer Fantasy Bridgerton" and it absolutely fits the bill.

The Duke of Annadale and Miss Mitchelmore are forced to come together to remove a curse... problem is, they don't exactly get along. What ensues is magical hijinks, witty banter, and a beautifully written sapphic romance.

This book had me smiling and giggling throughout. Definitely worth the read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was great. I really enjoyed the book from start to finish. I loved all the character and the journeys that they were on. I thought the book was well written. The pacing of the book was also near perfect. Overall I thought this was a great read and I definitely recommend it.