This book was unfortunately a DNF for me. It was very hard to get into the narration and point of views. I did really enjoy the concept and the sapphic romance, I just didn’t have an easy time getting into the book.

This was good, but not excellent. I liked the main characters but it felt a little forced. Was a fine read, but probably wouldn't purchase it for myself!

A fun, lesbian, fantasy version of Bridgerton, complete with witches, fairies, goddesses and curses. My favorite book by this author is Boyfriend Material; Mortal Follies is quite a different type of novel, written in regency English as opposed to hip modern dialect. Nevertheless it is an entertaining read with enough twists and turns to keep me interested.

I wanted to try something different to read and I was very happy with my choice!

First, I was obsessed with the first page. I had to read it out loud in an English accent. I was pretty hooked from that point on! I laughed so much during the book but it still kept my attention.

The dialogue was so amazing! The plot was a little lacking for me but still a great book in my eyes.

Thank you, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the EARC! As always, my review is my opinion and thoughts.

This magical sapphic romantasy had me cheesy grinning with the banter and chemistry. I also love that it wasn't PG-13. The story is told from the eyes of Puck who is adamant about not being a hobgoblin. It's Regency with fantastical elements. I did feel it was a bit longer than needed but outside of that I loved this book. Curses, emotional depth, hilarious banter and steamy chemistry made this a highly rated audio for me.

True rating 4.5/5.

"mortal follies" is a sapphic romance that takes place in 1814 and that is... narrated by a hobgoblin. our main character, miss mitchelmore, is dealing with a curse at the beginning of the novel, and ends up needing to turn to "the duke of annadale" -- another young woman and potential witchy murderess -- for help. also featured is miss mitchelmore's friend, miss bickle, and cousin, mr caeser.

this book has a great start! it is fun, funny, bright, and has SUCH sexual TENSION like the WAY these WOMEN are FLIRTING!!!! ughhhhh it's delicious! i also loved the narrative voice for the majority of the book. i found it fun and ~quirky~ and nice for setting this book apart from the occasional monotony that occurs when reading similar plotlines over and over.

i ADORED miss bickle. as a neurodivergent,,,,,, i resonate so much with this woman. she is goofy and kind and makes no sense to anyone but herself. ADORE.

by about the 80% mark i slowed down a lot in my reading, partially because of my own ~personal life~ but also due to the unusual pacing of the novel. there were so many problems to overcome and the fact that things just... took longer... in 1814 did feel like it played in a bit. i don't know if this is a major issue or just from my reading experience though!

my largest problem was that i felt the ending fell a bit flat. the final problem and solution were just slightly contrived? for my taste? and felt clunky and rushed sadly. didn't ruin the book for me at all, but was a disappointment for sure.

overall, i had such a fun time reading this and i definitely recommend giving it a shot if you're open to lots of jokes about mortals and their behavior (i very much am. yippee!).


one final note: i wish i had looked up some trigger warnings before reading! off the top of my head, here are a few: stalking, transphobia from minor characters, threat of physical/sexual violence, death, animal sacrifice. i would certainly double check other reviews/sites for ones i may have missed as these were a bit off putting to read in a rom-com-esque setting :)

(as always, much thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.)

*Disclaimer: I may have not enjoyed this book, but this does not mean you will not like it. I personally wanted to love this book, but in the end this book was not for me.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Mortal Follies is marketed as a sapphic fantasy regency romance that follows Miss Maelys Michelmore as she enters high society, but finds herself cursed that can ultimately become fatal, so she pairs up with a rumored witch (Lady Georgianna Landrake) to help get rid of the curse.

I have been a fan of Alexis Hall's London Calling series and when I saw Mortal Follies up for request on NetGalley, I just had to request it. I was approved for the arc, however I did not get time to read the arc, so I requested the audiobook from Libby.

Point of View Disclaimer:
Now, first thing first, you all should know that Mortal Follies is told with a third person omniscient point of view.

I believe even if I physically read Mortal Follies I would still have the same opinions on the things I will be talking about in this review.

Characters:
For this book being told in third person omniscient they have the qualities of what type of third person narration this book would be in, BUT they are but are not a third main character, have a name, and breaks the fourth wall a lot, which all of this throws you out of the story and messes with the pacing.

Then, with how the POV is done, it makes it very, very hard to connect with the characters because they feel blended together and I really struggled to tell the characters apart. Their characteristics felt pretty similar too and the characters were not really relatable.

Also, our narrator calls use the proper titles (ie. Miss Mitchelmore or some version of this and then Lady Landrake or some version of this) of the characters and it really takes out that personal aspect with these characters, makes them less unique, and takes you out of the story because it just feels way too proper. I do suppose maybe the properness could be due to this book being set in 1814 and when you read classic books from around that time period, we see the properness of names.

Romance:
For the romance between Maelys and Georgianna I felt no chemistry between them and cannot even tell you why they like one another, but it did feel pretty insta-love like.

Plot/The World:
The plot consists of Maelys being cursed and teaming up with a possible witch, Georgianna to help her get rid of the curse. So, that in the nutshell is the plot, but from the time we come to the conflict and start to rise to the rising action to the climax, then down to the falling action and resolution it was all over the place with things happening superfast/rushed, then there being many times we are doing nothing with the plot or staying in place for a while. The falling action and resolution felt very rushed and did not feel super satisfying, but more of me thinking "finally this book is done." The world building could have had more development since it felt like that there was not much known about the world.

On a Positive Note:
I know I have spent a lot of time talking about the negative aspects of why I did not enjoy this book, so here are some positives.

The cover is very pretty and eye catching, which is another reason why I wanted to read it before seeing it was written by Alexis Hall.

For the premise of the book, I think it is unique and could have been promising. If this book was told from one of the MC's point of views, the character development and world building being more fleshed out, and I believe the romance would have had more chemistry and realistic if we, the reader, knew more about each of the characters.

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.