Out now [Thank you so much the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Narrated by the hobgoblin Robin (better known for Shakespeare fans as Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream), MORTAL FOLLIES is the 1814-set story of a young woman cursed by a goddess and the suspected murderess who may be her best ally or her greatest downfall.

I’m obsessed with the narration and framing of this one, which is slightly bizarre (in the best way) and takes a bit to fully get into—but once it clicks it is, to my mind, absolutely brilliant. I also loved all the characters—especially the headstrong Miss Mitchelmore, the brooding and Byronic Lady Georgiana, the delightfully hilarious and deceptively ingenuous Miss Bickle, and Miss Mitchelmore’s loving-if-slightly-oblivious parents.

I did find the plot a bit predictable and slightly thin—I expected more of a mystery element from the synopsis and ultimately didn’t find it particularly mysterious. But, read as an almost-Shakespearean period comedy with fantastical and dramatic elements? Top notch. If you’re up for a book that’s slightly weird but totally captivating, go pick this one up.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: historical fantasy; A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM; sapphic romance

CW: Injury/violence/mentions of death; mentions of sexual assault; homophobia and transphobia

A big thank you to Alexie Hall, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Mortals Follies is out and ready to read!!

I have been a fan of Alexis Hall for a while now and his new queer take on Midsummer Night's Dream did not disappoint! This book had slow-burn romance, humor and such good writing. Both Maely and Georgiana were enjoyable and relatable characters, I absolutely loved Maely's friends Lizzie and John. I do think it was a little slow in the beginning but once you get like two thirds of the way in I couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a sapphic romance full of humor and heart I highly suggest Mortal Follies.

“Just kiss me and see if you feel anything.”

This, Miss Mitchelmore was quite certain, was not how it worked. “I’m not kissing you, Lizzie.”

“Is it my bosom?” Miss Bickle adjusted her gown, then readjusted it. “I sometimes suspect that I have an inadequate bosom.”

“No. I think it might be more to do with the fact that I once saw you eat a live slug.”

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, a lady that has entered high society with the hindrance of a frustrating curse. In order to determine how to break said curse, she requires the help of Lady Georgianna Landrake, an “enchantress” thought to have murdered quite a few family members. But Miss Mitchelmore learns there may be far more concerning issues she must face besides ruining her reputation, like whether or not the reason she keeps turning suitors away is solely because they are men and what exactly that mean.

Oh, how lovely!! As someone that is an avid Alexis Hall fan, this one was just as charming as their other books. Also, very excited for another sapphic entry as we enter pride month! Add in the old gods and magic and what isn’t there to love? I also was able to listen to the audiobook for part of this and Nneka Okoye is a perfect choice for this! She has such a lovely voice and it reminded me of the Locked Tomb books with some of the voices she used for characters. I could listen to her talk all day!

Characters - 8/10
Of all the characters, I truly love our narrator the most. They will pull you out of an intense moment with a ridiculous comment and I love it. Although, we cannot let them know that, as it would surely go to their head. I also absolutely adoorrreee Miss Bickle!! She’s such a fun, uplifting presence in a dreary and dangerous world! Her intrigue for the supernatural is so unexpected, but really adds to her character.

I find Maelys to be one of those characters that just does not listen! Which makes her quite an interesting contrast to Georgianna. Their little tiffs are quite enjoyable. I must admit, Georgianna’s dom personality is quite fitting and also definitely kept me interested in their relationship (of sorts).

Atmosphere - 8/10

Writing - 9/10
Charming! Hilarious! Gripping! Alexis is good at crafting an enchanting and seductive environment with his writing. The reader will be jumping from laughter to blushing with very little than the turn of a page.

Plot - 8/10
This novel is broken up into two parts. First, we try to uncover the mystery of who has cursed Miss Mitchelmore. Second, we learn how Miss Landrake, the “Duke of Annadale”, has come into her name and how her family met their demise. I think I prefer the first half to the second, but they are both chock full of hilarity and chaos.

Intrigue - 8/10
Logic/World Building - 7/10
Enjoyment - 8/10

Overall, I would give this a 8/10 or a 4/5 stars.

Make sure to check the trigger warnings on this one!

This has such a fun voice with a Puckish type character narrating the story of this young woman who seems to be cursed by one of the gods. It's her regency style journey to figure out who cursed her and which god to ask for help. She meets the Duke of Annadale who is the only surviving member of her family, which makes her next in line or so they call her. She's Byronic and everyone thinks she offed her family but she's still invited to all the parties. Miss Mitchelmore is quite fascinated with her.
Such a unique story with the fantastical and the silent nudges and overt shoves by these ancient beings. All the while these two are trying to have a relationship but not agreeing on how since it's not traditional.
Um Ms Bickle made me guffaw throughout. She's ridiculous like me lol.

Thank you randomhouse for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

This book has been hard to follow. The storyline seems a bit disjointed at times, picking up in the middle of something that has happened before the book started with little to no context. I'm half way through and plan on finishing even if it takes some time. The world it takes place in seems rushed in creation.

Mortal Follies is an enjoyable novel with the unique feature of being narrated by hobgoblin Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck's distinctive, arch voice adds an extra layer of entertainment to the story. I fear the publisher has done the book a disservice by touting it as romantasy, however; the romance is more of a subplot here, and "romantasy" implies a high level of spice that this book lacks. This mismarketing is likely to disappoint readers when they realize the book is not the genre they were promised. This is unfair to the book, which is very good when taken on its own merits. Because of the blurb, I did go into this expecting a romance and I most enjoyed the parts of the book (especially towards the beginning) where this aspect was prominent.

I will say that the book has one of the prettiest covers I've ever seen, though. It will no doubt inspire many to pick this book up even if they've never heard of Alexis Hall!

I wanted to love this but sadly I couldn’t get into it mainly because of the writing style. The author used a narrator that was external to the story and that made it very hard for me to follow the story and connect to the characters. I felt like I was missing very important internal dialogue especially from the main character.

Also the world building needed to be more fleshed out especially in the first few chapters. I understand that you can’t info dump too much, but here it felt almost like it was a second book in a series.

I am very sad because it had all the elements of something I would love, but I just didn’t vibe with how it was written.

Period romances are not normally my thing, but I couldn't resist when I saw that it was 1) written by Alexis Hall and 2) it was a riff on A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favorite Shakespearean plays!

I started out listening to this, and while I couldn't put my finger on it, I couldn't get my brain and ear to focus long enough to figure out what was going on. I ended up reading along and it still took me a couple more tries before my brain was able to figure out who the different characters were and how they were connected to each other. I think part of it is that as brilliant a device as it is to make Robin/Puck the omniscient narrator for this story, it kept the characters at a distance from us readers, especially because Robin would mention how disconnected they were from humans and their foibles. But the narration in combination with the structure of the story made it hard to hold my interest. So, I eventually gave up and just read the book on my own.

And it was so much better that way! I was about a third of the way when the cow entered the story and I couldn't stop laughing. There were other ridiculous moments as well and I just ended up having a lot of fun with this. It was also fun for them to figure out the solution to the first curse, only to end up with a second curse, which led to the impossible task. It was amusing to me that Robin ends up telling us after the first curse ends that they had the feeling the story wasn't quite ended. It all just felt very Shakespearean to me. And the narrator really grew on me. Eventually, Robin's sly comments had me laughing out loud, garnering amused looks from bystanders.

I really liked the main characters, Maelys and Georgiana (the "Duke of Annadale"), and that both had interesting backgrounds. Maelys' parents were anything but conventional, but it worked for them, while Georgiana's family was awful and their sudden deaths within a short span made her suspect in society, even if she couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it. I also liked that while there was clearly something between them, neither of them jumped in like it was love at first sight-their relationship was definitely a slow burn. Maelys' friends Lizzie and John were hysterical, and I loved that Lizzie seemed to be completely flighty, and yet, she was wise in the ways that mattered, and more importantly, she absolutely had Maelys' best interests at heart, every single time.

So despite this being a period romance of sorts (yeah, this stuff would never fly in real period romances), and that I had to listen to the first few chapters several times, I'm glad I persisted, because I ended up really enjoying it and the ending was quite satisfying. I guess I need to read A Lady for a Duke next!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and the publisher, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A lady in 1814 had to contend with propriety and balls, in addition to the fairies and wizards in the land. Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is cursed, causing her dress to unravel at her first ball. It goes all downhill from there, forcing her to seek help from Lady Georgiana Landrak, who is nicknamed the Duke of Annadale and is rumored to have murdered her father and brothers to inherit. Miss Mitchelmore is desperate for help with her curse, and the Duke is rumored to be a witch as well. But the Duke has secrets of her own, and they could be dangerous for Miss Mitchelmore.

Narrated by Puck himself, the story begins with the unraveling dress catching his attention. His voice is fantastic by the way, and he makes tons of fun asides all throughout the book. He follows as a shadow or animals as Maelys tried to figure out what was going on with the help of friends and family. This puts her in close proximity with Georgiana, as well as those her cousin and best friend try to figure out are the culprits. It's kind of hilarious watching them all play detective while maintaining social civility in Bath, visiting witches and non-conforming people. Maelys figures out she actually likes women and not men in talking with her friends and what her fascination with Georgiana really is. The two are attracted to each other, but Georgiana tries to push Maelys away. Even figuring out who cursed Maelys isn't necessarily the end of things, as the two must determine what their relationship is, and Maelys isn't the only one that is cursed.

I loved the mix of magic, fae, and Regency romance, as well as the casual acceptance that Maelys has around her. No one really cares that she is falling for a woman outside the fact that society won't allow them to marry. They only want to make sure she's certain of what she wants, and that she doesn't want to eventually marry. The sheer love in the book is clear, and carries through between all the characters and their comedy of manners, even with Puck's sarcastic asides and commentary on humanity. I really enjoyed the mix of styles as well as the way they moved around London and polite society.

The book was good and so was the writing but I found the second hand POV of the narrator to be odd. Also felt the book was too long at times. Some side stories were unnecessary.

Narrated by Puck of Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream fame (at least that's who they say they are I don't always trust the word of the folk) we follow Miss Mitchelmore a young woman that seems to be a little cursed. She seems like the type that will have an interesting story so our esteemed narrator follows her and relays to us the adventures of Miss Mitchelmore, her cousin Mr. Caesar, her friend Miss Bickle and her love interest the "Duke" of Annadale Lady Georgiana. There are gods, and fairies, chickens that give notifications from the gods and curses galore. I found this to be a sweet story of a young woman discovering herself, falling in love, and fighting for her love.

I feel like I say this for every Alexis Hall book, but the humor is top notch... In Mortal Follies, he has taken the "typical" formula for historical romances and flipped it on its head, with a mythical narrator, (who is so much fun as their own character) curses, the female Duke, and so many other fun twists and turns. I still cannot say I have read any historical romance that is close in style to what Alexis Hall does, and that is certainly a compliment. This book brought me so much joy and laughter and I can't wait for more from this world!!

What a beautiful cover! What an exciting list of tropes! Regency sapphic romance with magic and curses. Yes and yes and yes!

This book was kindly gifted to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review. And here it is- I DNFed this book at 10%. I do not have experience with Alexis Hall’s work. I know she has some popular books out there, but this is her first I picked up. The reason I knew I shouldn’t continue with this book so early on was the narrator. Right off the bat I was not a fan. I won’t go into details as to who the narrator is, but know they are a literal observer of what is happening and they are recounting the events to you. Like the chorus of a Greek play, but with a lot more ego. It felt too detached even though they are literally in the room for every event, and that detachment led to me feeling detached as well.

I think if the book grabs your eye you should give it a try. This book was just not the right one for me.

I couldn’t resist this gorgeous cover or the irrepressible spitfire third person narration by a Greek goddess who can’t stop meddling in the lives of mortals.

This Regency Sapphic romance had a little bit of everything - curses, kidnappings, fairies, forbidden love. It’s also great on audio read by Nneke Okoye (a new to me narrator!). Many thanks to NetGallley and @prhaudio for the complimentary June ALC!!

This was an interesting read, mixing historical romance/suspense and fantasy. It was very descriptive, so you got a real feel for the otherworldly portions, but it also dragged on. And you truly have to leave your sense of reality at the door when you walk through and start reading. The fantasy aspects are given with the narrative, but the interactions with the characters just didn't ring true. It was hard to connect with them, and maybe that's partly because they are continually referred to as Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke of Annadale (don't get me started on this moniker, it annoyed me to no end) so you don't get a sense of them as who they are.
Bottom line, lots of glossing over of character development and not much in creating a real connection between the two woman.

This was an interesting read, mixing historical romance/suspense and fantasy. It was very descriptive, so you got a real feel for the otherworldly portions, but it also dragged on. And you truly have to leave your sense of reality at the door when you walk through and start reading. The fantasy aspects are given with the narrative, but the interactions with the characters just didn't ring true. It was hard to connect with them, and maybe that's partly because they are continually referred to as Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke of Annadale (don't get me started on this moniker, it annoyed me to no end) so you don't get a sense of them as who they are. Bottom line, lots of glossing over of character development and not much in creating a real connection between the two woman.

A bit of Midsummer Night’s Dream mischievousness mixed in with a soupçon of The Book Thief’s omniscient narrator, in this case a fairy who morphs delightfully into myriad forms of life, yields a delightful regency romp. We see, we cogitate about, we hear the goings on, the hysteria, the beliefs in personas unseen and the acting upon motives both rational and irrational are delightful as Mae and the Duke meet, grow familiar, and become enamored. Once again, Alexis Hall captivates with vibrant imagination and vivid prose.

This regency sapphic romance was a delight to read. Though people compare this book to the Bridgerton series, I think it would be more accurate to say that this is a regency novel set in the universe of Midsummer Night’s Dream. The narrator of this story is in fact “Puck” and we are quickly thrown into a whimsical, fantasy world with this mischievous character as our guide.

Though I love Puck (playing the role of Lady Whistledown) as a character and Hall does a wonderful job adopting his voice, I found the narration a little overdone at times. Despite that, I loved Maelys Mitchelmore and “The Duke of Annadale” Georgianna Landrake and the evolution of their relationship. Maelys strikes a good balance between feeling smart and capable but still a little naive while Georgianna immediately feels more world weary without being overbearing. Some of the early tension between the characters is understandable, but it still leaves room for their relationship to develop in a natural and meaningful way. The other characters were also wonderful and made the whole thing work. If “Shakespeare meets Bridgerton” sounds like a fun time to you, I would definitely pick this one up!

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!

I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review.

So, I had very high hopes from the beginning. I really enjoyed the narrator to start, but as time went on I think it started to get old. In some places when they would interject it took you out of what was happening in the story. That being said, this story follows (quite literally) Maelys and her quest to find out who cursed her and her trying to break said curse. Well we finally figure that out right around 53% and it felt like the story should have been coming to a close, but it kept going.

Overall, I think the author does a tremendous job with the banter between characters, it's witty and reminiscent of their other book Boyfriend Material and I definitely enjoyed it most of the time. I do think that at around 35% the banter is overdone and starts to drag out the plot. I think this book also suffers from being a tad over written. The scenes we get are all well done, until they're not. I think another round of editing some things out would have helped this book a lot. That being said I did really enjoy the banter between Mae and Georgiana.

I recommend this to those that enjoy the narration style similar to The Book Thief, mixed with the romance of Boyfriend Material, in a setting similar to Bridgerton or Pride and Prejudice. If those three things are up your ally, then you'll love this book.