Unfortunately I just could not get into this book at this current time. I think I will enjoy it though, so I will try it again at a later date.

Oh man this should have been an outta-the-park hit for me. It checks so many loves! Regency romance, Sapphic, magical realism, a Puck-type narrator! But ugh this was way too...well...British? It reads like an over the top Shakespearean sitcom. Think dry yet slapstick humor - what I've always associated with British TV. And as much as I love Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, he at least keeps his interjections to the margins and scene changes. The sprite here, Robin, inserts thoughts between nearly every sentence, taking the flow right out of the tale. I honestly think this will be a huge hit for British readers who can appreciate the humor, but for me it's a complete cringe-fest.

**Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the eARC**

I don't know. I didn't like the way this was written. I honestly was really confused. I didn't like the point of view. I didn't like the way they talked. I read smut so I'm use to the way they were talking but it just didn't seem to work for this book to me.

Alexis Hall really likes their cold distant characters. Overall, I finished the book and enjoyed portions of it. I did understand the characters and the overall helplessness they faced in which their actions meant absolutely nothing in the face of greater beings. What I didn’t like was the narrator, it just felt voyeuristic most of the time and made the entire story feel bland if that makes sense. I truly believe if it had been written in one of the ladies povs or switching povs it would’ve been more enjoyable.

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 fillers.
😢 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 story? 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 separates 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.

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 is a story about the beginnings of a romance between Maelys and Lady Georgiana aka the Duke of Annandale as told by Robin the hobgoblin. It’s also about curses, petty gods and goddesses, and how terribly inconvenient they are. Good times!

Maelys is cursed so she and her friends set about to find out who cursed her. On one such occasion when the curse is in full effect, she’s rescued by the Duke of Annandale who has a wicked reputation and rumors that follow her. Mae feels instant gratitude for the many times she’s been rescued by her and forms an attachment whereas the Lady Georgiana is cold and keeps her distance. The entirety of the book is overcoming the curses, and Mae seeking to get with Lady Georgiana.

The writing, as always, is delightful. There’s definitely more whimsy to it especially with Robin interjecting with notes throughout. I quite enjoyed learning about the curses, and how Mae and her eccentric friends would break them. I also loved Robin’s anecdotes about the various mythical creatures. I wasn’t fond of the middle part of the book where Mae pursues Lady Georgiana only because the latter was constantly standoffish, and poor Mae kept trying in her sweet way. It happened repeatedly which was tedious to me. It felt unnecessarily drawn out (and a little bit cruel on Lady G’s part) when the reason behind Lady Georgiana’s aloofness could’ve been revealed sooner. It got interesting again when the tables were turned and Mae and her besties had to do the rescuing and with great urgency.

I had fun reading it even if the middle felt slow to me. It’s a good summer pick if you’re looking for a bit of an otherworldly and offbeat sapphic romance adventure.

Many thanks to @netgalley & @delreybooks for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 is available now!

A young noblewoman must pair up with an alleged witch to ward off a curse in this irresistible sapphic romance from the bestselling author of Boyfriend Material.

I was really looking forward to this book. It's a delightful novel that delves into romance, friends and a pesky little curse. The book really plays out in two halves, with the first being a mystery and the second a love story. Recommended for fans of fantasy and romance.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for letting me review this book.

Thank you to negalley and Del Ray for the advanced copy of this book!

This was my first book from Alexis Hall, and now I understand the hype! I'm always a fan of queer historical romances, but admittedly it's not the first thing I gravitate toward. This book delivered for me though. It has a diverse cast of characters who's witty bickering had me laughing through many pages. I sincerely enjoyed this read and will be picking up more of Hall's book in the near future.

If you're looking for a book that's got fantasy, queer romance, and comedy then I'd definitely pick this up!

I really struggled with Mortal Follies. I found it to be so very slow and several times I almost put the book down and walked away to find something else to read. I'm glad I rallied because there was some excellent snark in this book but overall, I found myself disappointed.

3.5 stars. Alexis Hall has written some of my favorite romances. Even though his books are often wildly different in setting, tone and style, they are always so witty and clever. This was no exception.

Mortal Follies is set in the Regency era and follows the story of two women that come together despite the meddling of vengeful gods. The whole book is enjoyably narrated by an hobgoblin named Robin and has a charming cast of side characters. Overall, I think the main issue I struggled with here was the pacing of the plot. It’s quite engaging in the beginning as you have Maelys dealing with all kinds of supernatural mishaps and being rescued from them by Lady Georgiana aka the Duke of Annadale. This all culminates in quite the climax and I was a bit confused when I realized I was only about halfway through the book. Unfortunately, the ending dragged on for me and kind of spoiled the enjoyment I had of the first half.

Thanks so much to Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I don't know how Alexis Hall always manages to hit it out of the park with book after book, different genre after different genre, but I devoured Mortal Follies much like any and all of Hall's previous books. This story managed to be unique while not using unique elements, and brought back one of my favorite writing gimmicks: the narrator as independent character.

I loved that the whole story of Mae and Georgiana was told from a third person perspective - quite literally, since the perspective was coming from an unnamed, third character who had enough wit and sarcasm and additions to fuel the entire story. He was comic relief, stirred up trouble, and weighed in on the plot in ways no human character could. I loved reading about Mae's interactions with her friends, but my favorite character, by far, is the narrator.

Mortal Follies beautifully blended two of my favorite genres, and I loved this version of 1800s England where fairies and gods ran amuck, much to every humans knowledge, fear, and amusement. However, and unfortunately, one of my least favorite characters just so happened to be Mae's love interest, which caused me to repeatedly lose interest in the romance storyline. Had I been reading this story solely for the romance, I might not have finished it; there was just not enough chemistry between the two and too much protesting from Georgiana for me to fully be invested in their love story. Luckily, I felt that Mae's continuous issues with the deities far outshined her romantic entanglements and that kept me engaged with the story until the very end.

Overall, Mortal Follies was another hit from Alexis Hall. Sapphic in nature, this romance/fantasy definitely came across stronger on the fantastical, and less so on the romantic. But with entertaining characters, dialogue, and shenanigans from the narrator, this one was well worth the read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book

** I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and this is my honest review**

3.5 Stars overall

I struggled to get into this book until after about the 15% mark. I was excited about the blurb and the premise that framed this as a regency, fantasy, sapphic romance. However, our narrator Robin, left me feeling very disconnected from the main characters for much of the story. This would be fine if Robin ever revealed much about themselves, but we are left with comments eluding to their exile from the fae realm but with no true backstory for our narrator other than, they are bound to tell stories by their patron.

For the first 15% the narrator often pulled me out of the story at inopportune times. Then we had much of the action and immediate peril happening about the 55-65% part. The pacing slowed significantly after this and while we got a complete story that was satisifying in the end, it would have been easy to put the book down without the secondary perils being resolved.

As a fantasy story set in an alternate regency era England where magic is known and old powers revered, this story would hold up very well. As a sapphic romance where we fall in love with the characters as they too fall for each other, it fell short for me.

I'd put this under my solidly enjoyable reads, but probably not to be purchased for my bookshelf or reread. Once I was in the story, I did enjoy it and truly enjoyed this version of regency England. I even liked Robin despite their habit of yanking me through the story. The characters were well developed and each held a distinct spot in the story. The points that really caught my attention though were when magic and rituals and old powers were involved.

Mortal Follies is an 1814 Regency era slow burn, sapphic romance that is more slow and less burn. The narrator is this silly, mischievous fae sprite (Robin); doing such narrating from the modern world where they're exiled. Robin continually has a lot to say about their own story; very much like mystery science theatre. Which can be very funny, the idea of it anyway. However, in actuality it's quite hard to get into and more jarring and annoying, working against the story, rather than with it.

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO: non-mc narrator (delightful audiobook!), fairies & magic, historical, queer (sapphic main pairing), lovely cast of characters

CWs: sexual content, threat of violence (wasps, drowning), animal sacrifice, death of family members, transphobia (challenged), discussions of enslavement, period typical homophobia, severe illness (magic related)

>> what an intriguing tale! the audio narrator is A++ and made the story that much more enjoyable and feel like a true performance/piece of art. while it wasn’t my cup of tea (i like romances that have dual pov or at least have the mcs pov), i cannot deny how artfully Alexis Hall worked his magic on this story! i was thoroughly entertained and loved the cast of characters.

This took me forever to finish because the pacing was a little weird and dragged at times but overall, I really enjoyed this!

I thought it was fun that the story is being told by someone watching all the events occurring, it was different and the sidebars and little quips made me laugh. I also really loved that this was a Regency romance but magic and mythology and curses were also thrown in.

The romance was between Maelys and Lady Georgiana…… it had me ✨yearning✨ it was such a slow burn and at times I wanted to just push Georgiana to stop being so stubborn and just kiss the girl already but it was so well worth it when they finally did give in to their passion for each other. The ribbons scene was *chefs kiss*. I do personally wish the story had been spicy but this did not affect how much I loved the romance between the two characters.

The best way to describe this is a really fun, sometimes a little wacky, sapphic romance (think lesbian Bridgerton with faeries and vengeful goddesses), which I had a really good time reading.

Having enjoyed "A Lady for a Duke" last year, I was stoked to see a sapphic historical romance from Alexis Hall!

All of the characters were a delight (made even more so thanks to the embellishments from the unreliable fae narrator) and the world itself was a perfect balance between the dangerous and wonderful aspects of living alongside gods and mythical creatures.

While I generally felt that Robin's telling of the story was charming, I also think that distance did a disservice to feeling really immersed in the story and romance between Maelys and Georgiana. Maelys in particular read as one dimensional for the first half of the book, with bad shit just happening to her over and over and Georgiana rushing in to save her. The last 150 pages or so were what cinched my enjoyment of the story and really solidified the romantic chemistry! Would definitely be interested in reading other stories set in this same world.

Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I was surprised when I went into this story to find it told from a third person omnipotent view. Which unfortunately took me directly out of the story.

This book contained a wonderful love story and was beautifully written; however, it had a very hard time grabbing my attention in the beginning and, when it finally did, it struggled to hold it. I struggled with the narration coming from the fairy in which we are witnessing this love story through, I would have preferred to hear this love story from the two women experiencing it so that I could feel all of the emotions, highs, and lows that our main characters are feeling instead of getting them second hand from an observer.

Overall I like the story, but the narration from a third party made it feel less than it could have been.

3.75!

in a world of fairies, hobgoblins, witches, goddesses, etc. a noblewoman named Maelys and a suspected witch named Georgiana have to team up to break a curse that has been cast on Maelys, and despite their initial disdain for each other, the forced proximity of this search for a curse breaker may end up being a blessing of something more romantic.

there were a few points in this book that kept it from being a 4 star for me. first, the narrator being a fairy that is once removed from the main characters left the characters feeling a bit distant from your perspective, and really dampened any chance of building a deeper understanding of their feelings and emotions. i feel like i would just start getting absorbed into the story and then the fairy’s dialogue would pull me back out of it. second, the writing itself is a bit too wordy at times, like the author used a thesaurus to find the biggest word to use for every situation, and while i love big words, when there are so many artful and complex words, it’s harder to have a steady stream of reading because of all these speed bumps of mouthfuls of words. and lastly, i felt like most of the conversations between our MC’s felt very repetitive, like they were having the same argument over and over, and i would’ve loved to see their relationship have a bigger transformation over the course of the book.

other than these qualms, this book has a very entertaining plot, clever and entertaining dialogue between characters, charmingly vulgar conversations, and cute characters. i would recommend this book, it’s a very fun and cute read, but it’s not quite a perfect book for me! worth the read but could’ve been improved in the areas i have said. thank you to netgalley for an e-arc of this book in return for a review!

I liked parts of this book but it had issues. I think the problem in the story got resolved too quickly. Everything after the resolution should have happened before the problem got resolved. It would have made the story flow better. I loved the narrator and Miss Bickle though! Super funny.