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 <i>born</i> 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 <b>loved</b> about <i>Mortal Follies</i> 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 😊

For whom would you defy the gods? What started as what could be perceived as simple faerie mischief unfolded into a tale of mythical creatures, curses, gods, and sacrifices all with an English countryside backdrop. When Maelys Mitchelmore's dress begins to unravel seemingly by magic at a ball, she has no idea who is behind this affliction, or why. But unfortunate event after unfortunate event led her closer to a fellow society outcast, and possible suspect, Lady Georgiana Landrake, the unofficial Duke of Annadale. She must find the source of the curse or else be sucked into its spell.

Mortal Follies is so many genres at once, it's hard to pin it down. I would call this a Fantasy, Historical, Adventure, Sapphic Regency Romance. There is so much packed into this novel all told artfully by an unreliable narrator from the court of Oberon. The episodic nature of Maelys's adventures makes the book well paced and allows the reader to enjoy the book in small chunks, or all at once. At the heart of it all is a the burgeoning romance between Maelys and Georgiana. For fans of Gentleman Jack, Georgiana hits that sweet spot of not wishing to corrupt the object of her affections yet endlessly pursuing her.

The only reason this isn't a five star for me is the narrative style. The third party narrator telling the story almost entirely in third person except for when they wish to break the fourth wall and interject their personal thoughts or describe what they disguised themselves as to better observe the story was a bit jarring for me, but that should not deter readers, especially if that type of talking directly to the reader is a style they enjoy.

This is the first book I've read by this author, so I had no expectations. The mix of historical sapphic romance with magical fantasy elements was a true delight. The atory kept a smile on my face.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This Sapphic romance is narrated by a fae who has been cast out of favor. They follow Miss Maelys Mitchelmore as her introduction to high society is hindered by a curse. The only person able to help Maelys is the notorious Duke of Annadale, Lady Georgiana Landrake and so we begin the journey of trying to find out who cursed Maelys and how to end it. The world building in this historical fantasy was great but I struggled to connect with Maelys and Georgiana. Their relationship progressed quickly in the last 20% of the book but it seemed forced. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator but many times they detracted from the story - this probably would have been better for me if I listened to it instead of reading it. Overall this was a decent start to a series and I’m curious as to who the next couple will be.

All hail Alexis Hall! Alexis Hall can do no wrong in my opinion and this book was everything and more! I loved everything about this book. I felt like I was reading a sapphic Shakespeare play and I loved every last second of this book. I could sit here and write sentences upon sentences about how much I loved this book. Instead I will just say go read this book! Seriously go do it right now!

I loved this magical sapphic romance by Alexis Hall. It was unique and captivating and the characters were delightful.

mortal follies follows maelys mitchelmoore who has been cursed. when her dress slowly unravels at a high profile ball, she is rescued by the duke of annadale, miss georgiana landrake. as time progresses, the curse gets more dangerous and her savior becomes the greatest suspect. as miss mitchelmoore and her rag tag group of friends investigate they are sucked into a dangerous world of gods and goddesses, faeries, and many other deadly, magical creatures. time is running out for maelys before the curse will claim her life, and the only person who can help is georgiana. as they spend more time together, maelys finds herself drawn to the grumpy, brooding. suspected murderess.

mortal follies was just magical from start to finish. the way alexis hall combined the dangerous mystical world with that of the sweeping, dramatic regency era had me swept up quite easily. i loved the fact that the narrator was themselves a magical, omniscient, trickster with a proclivity for humor. there were some pacing issues that took me out of the story a bit after the 50% mark but i was still quite invested in mae’s story. the sapphic romance between mae and georgiana was beautiful and i just loved the will they won’t they mixed with georgiana’s angsty, i hate myself and i’m not good enough for you personality.

over all, this was a fun, magical historical romantasy that i definitely recommend if you are into whimsical fantasy romance books.

DNF @ 23%

I really wanted to love this book and I was SO excited for it, however, this really just didn’t work for me.

I loved A Lady for a Duke and I know that Hall usually writes slower paced books but this moved at such a slow pace that I feel absolutely nothing at all had been accomplished in the 23% of the book I read. The writing while good, is overly descriptive which added to the pacing issue.

Another issue I had is that I couldn’t tell what this book wanted to be. Is it a fantasy, a romance, a mystery? It has elements of all but unfortunately didn’t execute any of them well enough to keep me invested or to know where this story was going.

I found the narrator here to be very distracting. I think a third party narrator can be done well but unfortunately I don’t think it was executed well here. Robin was too involved and jumped in with his thoughts and opinions too often and I found it distracting. It also made it hard to actually connect with the characters the story is meant to be about.

In regard to the characters, I didn’t care for any of them. I didn’t particularly like our narrator, Robin, and as for the rest I had a hard time connecting due to the narration style. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of their personalities. I also feel that there were way too many characters introduced in the beginning and it was hard to keep track of who was who.

As for the plot, I didn’t find it compelling. The curse our main character is trying to solve is pretty mundane and she and her friends/family make essentially no progress at all in the 23% of the book I read. I was really interested in learning about the love interest as I found her to be the most interesting character in the book but she’s barely present.

Overall, there were a lot of interesting elements here and I was so excited for this but I don’t think it was executed well and I was not enjoying the book at all so I decided to DNF instead of trying to push through another 77%. I don’t think it’s a bad book, and someone else might really enjoy it, it just didn’t work for me personally.

Thank you so much to Random Publishing House and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC!

DNF @21% - I’m really sad to report this was a DNF for me. Like, the cover is so beautiful, and the synopsis sounded so much fun. However, I’m not even a quarter way in and I can already tell that no matter what this is never going to be anything higher than a three star. This book is just so exhausting to read. So many words are used to say so little, the dialogue seems a bit pretentious and feels forced, and then I haven’t talked about the extremely annoying narrator yet. God, this just isn’t working for me. Maybe, I should just start to accept that Alexis Hall is not the author for me no matter how interesting the synopsis sounds.

DNF a little over halfway but really just indefinite pause and I still have current thoughts

I’m sort of liking this, but it’s also not the kid of book I can read RIGHT NOW because of the historical aspects. This isn’t a DNF so much as a hiatus as I like it and plan on returning.

Maelys Mitchelmore is a young woman who is cursed. This curse first makes itself known as Miss Mitchelmore is attending a ball and her dress begins to unravel, forcing her to take cover in the gardens. With seemingly no rescue coming and her reputation on the line, Mae is distraught until Lady Georgiana, known to society as the Duke of Annandale, comes to her reluctant rescue.

However, the curse still isn’t broken and, as horrible consequences progress, Mae has to seek out assistance from Lady Georgiana as to how to break the curse. But Mae isn’t familiar with the type of deep dark magic and witchcraft that brings her face to face with gods and goddesses who have no reason to set her free.

Young Mae is also having romantic feelings for the first time and, while Lady Georgiana knows what she wants as well, she also knows that it is extremely inappropriate and forbidden for her and Mae to be together. Mae is determined to find out who has cursed her and to show Lady Georgiana that they could be a great fit. But the angry gods and vengeful magic have no reason to grant anyone a happy ending and the pair will have to make the greatest of sacrifices to not only break the curses, but to be allowed to carry on.

This book opens with a different spin, as the narrator introduces themselves. The narrator goes by many names, but “sprite” is one they are fine settling on. It is present day and the sprite has been banished from the courts and is living in the mortal realm, recounting Mae’s story from 1814. We never find out what the sprite did to be cast out. The sprite can take the form of anything it desires and follows around characters they find interesting to learn their stories. The worse time the mortals are having, the more interested the sprite is. The story is then told second hand through the narrator and this style kept all of the characters at a distance.

While Mae is young and supposed to be naïve, she has a strong will and has seemingly no issue with defying societal conventions. She doesn’t know why someone has placed a curse on her and the beginning of the book has her and family members traveling around meeting different characters trying to figure out who is out to get Mae. Yet, none of these characters resonated with me. The description of the book states it is in the style of Bridgerton and what I have enjoyed about historical pieces is the visual side that comes with the story, either through words or seeing it come to life in TV or movie. However, everything in this story felt flat to me. I didn’t care for the characters or the narrative style of the story. Since nothing is from the main characters’ point of view, there is little character development and the sprite had no way of knowing what the characters were thinking or feeling unless it was spoken out loud. There was also no world building. The characters are in a historical setting with rumors of magic and witchcraft, but all of a sudden the characters are tasked with battling gods and making sacrifices and there was no basic foundation laid and it was chaotic at times and not well executed at others.

The romance between Mae and Lady Georgiana is not the primary focus of the book and its soft and filtered tone left much unrevealed. This story was the narrator recounting a tale from long ago and how much was true and how much was embellished was also another point left open. This author has generally been hit or miss with me and this one wasn’t a hit.

2⭐️

I don’t even fully understand what was going on to even summarize this book. This is the second Alexis Hall book I have read, and maybe this just isn’t the author for me. I don’t really like the writing style in this book no matter how hard I try to. It’s kind of all over the place, especially with the narrator butting in often to add their opinion and thoughts. It’s very chaotic and kind of distracting. I wanted to love this book because it’s sapphic, but the pacing is also kind of slow and there’s not much happening plot wise while the narrator rambles on endlessly about things that don’t add anything to the story. There are also so many different characters that it was hard for me to keep up, and I ended up reading this book for five minutes and then immediately getting distracted by something else and putting it down or falling asleep. The premise of the book being a sapphic regency romance had me really excited, but the execution of it fell flat for me.

Heat Factor: Moderate, slow burn.
Character Chemistry: They have chemistry like an old hot rod…it takes a while to turn over, it stutters a lot, but when it goes, it goes.
Plot: Maelys ends up cursed by a goddess and the only person who can help her is “The Duke of Annadale”, who is actually the daughter of a Duke. Only, (of course) they bump along and end up half-smitten, half-irritated with one another.
Overall: This book was a toughie. Certainly enjoyable, but very long, very meandering, with an unreliable narrator and maybe too many moving parts in the plot.

I was thrilled to have a chance to read the newest Alexis Hall–Erin and Holly have both thoroughly enjoyed all the Hall books they’ve read and I certainly enjoyed one or two myself. This one looked absolutely juicy–goddesses, vengeance, women protagonists, and capers. Many, many capers.

It’s true that it did have all of those things. Maelys finds herself mysteriously cursed by a goddess in Bath. In this alternate reality, the Gods and Goddesses of yore are still active and participating in daily human life, along with witches, nymphs, and anything else you can think of. When her life starts getting more and more…intense…she turns to the Duke of Annadale for help.

The Duke is actually a teasing name for Georgiana, only remaining child of a Duke whose premature death (and the premature deaths of all of his sons) was unfairly pinned on the Duke of Annadale. She’s somehow linked to a lot of various mystical beings and helps Maelys figure out how to get out of her curse. It’s grisly.

But then Maelys convinces the Duke to give their chemistry a chance and Maelys becomes the next victim of the Duke of Annadale curse. The Duke has to go negotiate with an angry Goddess again, etc.

Here’s what I enjoyed about this book–it was playful, witty, interesting, and several of the characters were absolutely delightful. What I’m not sure I liked so much is more complex.

The narrator is Puck in all Puck’s glory–and that means the narrator is impish, funny, clever, unreliable, self-centered and excessive. What this also means is that the plot is SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWED by Puck’s shenanigans. Were it not for this choice as a narrator, it would probably be pretty gripping. Even if Puck’s presence was slightly reduced, the plot would move at a better clip. But as it is there are huge chunks devoted to where Puck is and how he gets there and what he thinks, and it’s kind of excruciating at a few points. Also, in the beginning it made it very difficult to follow who was saying and doing what and going where. Have you ever had someone relate an anecdote to you, but they pause and explain something that doesn’t really need explaining, and you’re really ready for them to move on, but they just keep going? That’s how some of Puck’s narration felt.

Also, Maelys and the Duke have kind of a stuttering heat–Maelys is relatively young and inexperienced, but she’s also very practical and straightforward. The Duke is more experienced but she’s also very closed off and cold. Their conflict consists of Maelys asking the Duke to hook up with her (but very politely and in a roundabout way) and the Duke saying “tell me when you can actually say what you want me to do to you”. And that’s pretty much it, for most of the book. Eventually they DO get together and of course the Duke is beastly, but clearly deeply in love with Maelys.

So do I recommend the book? If I were to recommend an Alexis Hall, I’m not sure this would be it, unless the reader was very interested in Greek and Roman mythology, witchcraft, etc. I think a lot was lost in some of the literary choices here, and it slowed the plot and complicated the characters to its detriment. But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the characters, and the luscious and descriptive setting, the general plot and creativity in execution. It was a good book, but it was a long haul and it might be better suited for die-hard Hall fans and mythology fans.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

I have read many Alexis Hall books, and i will say that this is probably my least favorite. The characters feel really flat with only the narrator being of interest to me. It became a bit of a struggle for me to dive into and i set it aside multiple times.

Mortal Follies was laugh out loud funny, with an intrusive-narrator I would love to explore more stories from.

A love story brought to us by a hobgoblin, fancy that. It is 1814 and Miss Mitchelmore has headed to Bath with her friends for the society ‘season’. There are balls and gatherings and alliances to be forged, but unfortunately something appears to be targeting her, as mysterious and frankly curse-like things begin to happen when she’s out in public. When her dress falls to pieces and she’s set upon by wasps, the (female, scandalous) Duke of Annadale comes dubiously to her rescue, and Miss Mitchelmore begins to consider that perhaps it’s not a husband she should be looking for.

The first half of this book was absolutely laugh out loud funny and very quick to get through. I loved the mystery, Miss Mitchelmore’s friends’ bizarre and dubiously helpful advice and comments, and the regency setting. Our narrator’s randomly interspersed comments also added to this hilarity.

There was a definite lull in the middle of the book after the mystery had been solved where Miss Mitchelmore was attempting to seduce the Duke of Annadale and it just felt like the plot had gotten a little lost in the characters’ relationships, however this picked up again towards the end - which I was concerned would feel a little rushed when I realised how much still needed to happen in such a short period of time - and it came together beautifully.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mortal Follies and I would love to read more books in this series in the future.

It's finally June (Happy Pride Month, everyone!) and as we're halfway through another year, I get to start to reflect on the best reads of this year (in which I add this one to my list!). Now, before I ramble about how excited I was to get this eARC, here we go onto our usual madness.


Short summary: a cursed debutante must team up with a sorceress as they try to deal with angry gods and the sparks of new emotions threatening to consume them whole.


Long Summary: It is 1814, and life for a young lady of good breeding has many difficulties. There are balls to attend, fashions to follow, marriages to consider, and, of course, the tiny complication of existing in a world swarming with fairy spirits, interfering deities, and actual straight-up sorcerers.



Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into high society hindered by an irritating curse. It begins with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening, but as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, Miss Mitchelmore must seek out aid, even if that means mixing with undesirable company.


And there are few less desirable than Lady Georgiana Landrake—a brooding, alluring young woman sardonically nicknamed “the Duke of Annadale”—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.



With the Duke’s help, Miss Mitchelmore delves into a world of angry gods and vindictive magic, keen to unmask the perpetrator of these otherworldly attacks. But Miss Mitchelmore’s reputation is not the only thing at risk in spending time with her new ally. For the reputed witch has her own secrets that may prove dangerous to Miss Mitchelmore’s heart—not to mention her life.


I LOVED THIS BOOK. The narrator is a true piece of art. With sarcasm, mischief and entertaining commentary as the story gets spun, it was one of my favorite parts while reading this book and not to mention Lady Georgiana who I absolutely loved in this book, the banter was PERFECT and left a smile on my face as it kept me hooked. Not to mention the mix between the regency/victorian era with Greek Gods, like what else does one need?


So, run don't walk to get a copy of this book out June 6th!


Overall: 5/5 stars

Mortal Follies 🧜‍♀️💖🧚‍♂️

We’ll start with the cover. It’s beautiful. I love it. I think it immediately tells you how whimsical and romantic and fun and beautiful this book is! 🧚✨💖

As for the book itself, I struggled to get into the story in the beginning. Unlike most romances, this book has a narrator, and is told from the POV of the snarky, yet charming, don’t call him hobgoblin, Puck. While I liked this fun, fresh view, I found it very hard to connect to the main characters. However, I was so intrigued by the premise that I couldn’t let myself give up, and I thought, I bet this would be really amazing on audio! So, I used a credit to purchase the audiobook, and guess what? I was right! It’s so well done on audio. It was like listening to someone (a very mischievous someone) tell me a whimsical bedtime story!

I loved Mae and all of the side characters (Lizzie was my fave 🥹) and the Duke of Annadale was a very interesting character that caught my attention the second she came on page! The two of them made a wonderful couple and it was a joy seeing them come together to break the curse set on Mae and fall in love along the way. 💖🥰

It looks like this is going to be a series, and I’m very much looking forward to future books set in this world!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc. All opinions are my own.

This book was good and had the potential to be great; however, there were a few issues with pacing (like the conflict being fixed halfway through the book and a new one being introduced which caused the book to feel forever long in a bad way) as well as the narrator told us what was going on from like an outside perspective, not getting involved really. I felt missing from the action a lot. But like always with Alexis, I love the writing, I love the characters, and the idea was great. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

It pains me to give this three stars because I generally adore Alexis Hall's' books and can almost guarantee them to be 5-star reads. But this one fell flat. It suffered from a few problems that killed it for me.

I liked the choice to have a capricious Puck narrate a story about a human cast of characters. It was at times amusing, but unfortunately it created so much distance between me and the characters that I felt like I didn't know them at all. It didn't help that the characters were dry, bland, and flat. Miss Bickle was occasionally amusing but in a distant, faint way. Another obstacle was the overly formal tone of the characters conversation and manner, which kept me even further from knowing the characters.

Since I am, first and foremost, a character-driven reader, this feeling of being so far removed from the characters that I was watching them from about a mile away didn't give me the enjoyment I usually get from Alexis Hall's books.

It was also incredibly awkward to have Puck narrating the sex scenes. I mean, I don't usually enjoy sex scenes anyway, but having everything filtered through Puck's gaze and narration felt weirdly intrusive.

It also seriously dragged in the middle. I felt like I was reading it for weeks without getting anywhere, and it almost put me into a reading slump.

There were some interesting bits and I did enjoy it enough to finish it, but not enough to really love it, no matter how much I wanted to or how beautiful the cover is.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an early copy for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for access to the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

Told from the perspective of our fiendishly friendly narrator Robin, a sprite on exile from the other court and great teller of stories, Mortal Follies details the cursed life of Maelys Mitchelmore, who unbeknownst to her, as encouraged the wrath of someone who wishes her great harm. Though her curse is generally disagreeable, it allows her to meet the byronic Lady Georgianna Landrake, who soon captures more than Maelys attention, and may be just the woman she needs to undue her curse.

Mortal Follies was an otherwise delightful sapphic regency romance that unfortunately fell a bit short for me. The strength of this tale lies within the first 50-60%, after all and up to that point, that is where the main conflict of the story unfolds and see’s our heroine encounter her predicament and ultiamtely extinguish it. I’ll be honest in that the stakes of the main plot never reach a high, but is still an entertaining read that kept me going.

However, what follows in the remaining 40% is a rash attempt at fleshing out the romance between maelys and georgianna, and a side plot that is almost entirely unnecessary had the author supplemented the main plot with developing the relationship between the two women.

The world is not the most developed, but skates by that by residing in a very familiar 19th century, just with more whimsy, gods, and nymphs. The side characters are fun, particularly Miss. Lizzie Bickle (let’s pray she gets a book bc i love her), the antics they get up to, and the comments from our narrator are hilarious, and the romance is decent despite the flaws of its lovers.