I wanted to love this book, I really did, the premise is fantastic, the characters are phenomenal, and the world building is impeccable. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end for this book and the issues I had began, I will say if I could give this book three and a half stars I would.

The blurb hooked me and that cover art is beautiful, the narrator of our story however, I just couldn't get into this story, I mean a regency romance mixed with magic and for pride month to boot I was so excited, and I will say the love portion of this book is realistic and easy to read.

Our characters are funny and well developed, they mingle wonderfully with each other, and that portion of this story is so much fun, but again, that narrator, the flow of the story just kept getting broken, maybe it's just me.

I would highly encourage anyone interested in this story to read it, the issues I had with it may not be an issue for other people.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Somehow underdeveloped and too long at the same time. This is one of the most bafflingly paced books I've ever read: the exciting climax takes place around the 50% mark, then the story sort of spins its wheels for 25% or so, and then a new, entirely unrelated problem is introduced and quickly (and less excitingly) resolved in the end.

The narrator was entertaining to begin with, but was WAY too present throughout the story, and his constant comedic quips got really irritating pretty quickly. That narrative device also created a degree of separation between the reader and the characters that did not serve the story well; I was desperate to just get the perspective of the characters, but you never get to have that. This creates a huge disconnect and makes it challenging to really emotionally engage with the story or romance.

Speaking of the romance: you know when you're reading a love story, and think, "ok, settle down, you guys barely know each other." Not only did I feel like the characters knew nothing about each other, *I* didn't even know anything about either of them! Genuinely, someone tell me a single personality trait of the protagonist besides "beautiful" and "in love." She fails the sexy lamp test until the last 10% or so of the book; her only role is to be beautiful and desirable, and she's sort of toted around from location to location while things happen to her. There's also a lot of her and her friends putting their heads together to try and solve her problems but just rehashing the fact that they have no plan and no idea how to solve her problems.

The romance is underdeveloped, the world is underdeveloped, the promise of fairies and gods feels pretty thinly executed. I actually, devastatingly, have very little positive to say about this book at all. It was cute that it directly refuted the not like other girls trope a few times, I guess. I did like Miss Bickle - she would have been a much more interesting protagonist.

🪄 Magic, Romance❤️‍🔥and Mystery 🔎

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 Stars)

Review:

The romance between the main characters is beautifully portrayed, with a slow-burn that will make your heart flutter. Alongside the love story, there's a gripping mystery that keeps you engaged, eager to uncover the truth alongside the protagonists.

Alexis Hall's writing is poetic and elegant, creating a delightful reading experience. Touched on themes with so much caution such as: love, sacrifice, and the consequences of one’s choices. The witty dialogue adds humor and depth, making the story even more enjoyable.

While there were a few moments where the pacing felt rushed, overall, Mortal Follies is an extraordinary book that will transport you to a world of magic, love, and intrigue. It's a must-read for fans of fantasy and romance, offering an unforgettable journey.

Note: I received an advanced copy of Mortal Follies in exchange for an honest review.


#Bookreview #MortalFollies #AlexisHall #MagicalJourney #Netgalley #NetgalleyReviews #NetgalleyARC

Since Alexis Hall is one of my favorite historical romance authors, I eagerly awaited “Mortal Follies.” Then he upped the ante, adding magical elements and an unreliable hobgoblin narrator, to create a mythic odyssey worthy of the Goddesses he depicts. Yum!

When the chaste, beautiful and temperate Maelys discovers her gown melting supernaturally at a ball, she is (barely) rescued by the disgraced Lady Georgianna, reputed to have killed her father and brothers in order to inherit the estate. But neither lady is as appears. An attraction ensues, bonding them to outfox magical creatures and Goddesses, helped by Maelys’ best friend and her cousin. All the while, I was uncertain if unfolding events were exactly as our narrator, Robin, was describing them, or if he was intervening, upping the thrill.

Mr. Hall masters dialogue, bringing us into the era, while dispelling confusion, despite language differences. “My circumstance are beyond my control Your speech is within yours.” And he conveys the norms of that time with humor. “That she continued to be invited to balls despite the broad consensus that she had murdered four men by witchcraft might, perhaps, tell you everything you need to know about the fashionable set.” Or, “old scandals never die, they just acquire embellishments.”

Mr. Hall always make me laugh at myself and at the English language, which rarely conveys life’s insanity adequately. “It turns out being surrounded by the ruck and run of humanity is much less pleasant when you have no power to prevent it from rucking and running all over you.”

While Mr. Hall’s classical education was clearly more extensive than mine, I merely highlighted passages to examine after the plot’s dizzying excitement no longer held me in thrall. Yes, the background proved fascinating and added subtle shading to the plot, but it wasn’t needed to follow Maelys and Georgianna as they lurch from one adventurous episode to the next, in ever deepening riddles, ever dangerous attempts to dislodge their curses.

And I was delighted to watch women in roles once written only for men. Their courage, wit, loyalty and creativity are imminently recognizable by all women or marginalized individuals, simply our survival tools. But these gals make it look elegant, while drawing us into the push and pull of their love.

“Mortal Follies” is layer, upon layer of richness with exquisite attention to detail – divine characters, glowing in their human foibles, wit, and insight. This is definitely a novel to re-read, simply to bask in its pleasures!

This was a somewhat disappointing read for me. I was drawn in by the thought of a Regency romance combined with fantasy, but Puck, the narrator, was distracting and often drew away from the plot, and the romance was really slight. The fantasy elements were intriguing but took precedence over the romance.

I loved this book! The characters were well defined and so much fun! The scenes were so well drawn I felt like I was right there.

I really did enjoy this book and highly recommend it!

Edwardian romance with splashes of murder mystery, family curses and spurned deities! A fae narrator sets the scene in Bath, England, where the society elite attend tea parties and balls to see and be seen. Unfortunately, one misunderstood intention means that Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is cursed to be struck down in the most impolite ways. With the help of her fanciful best friend, logical cousin, and the scandalous Lady Georgiana Landrake, Maelys will try to appease a goddess, uncover a not-so-nice suitor and attempt to find a happily ever afterwards.
I just reviewed Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. #MortalFollies #NetGalley

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book—it was irreverent, mystical, murderous, and mysterious. There were gods and curses and witches and sprites. The narrator was a verbose hobgoblin who was at times hilarious fun but who I too often found tedious. I was quite fond of them by the end though.

I loved all the other characters. Maelys, the heroine, was outwardly an ingenue but quite certain and determined in her desire to be ravished by Georgiana, “The Duke of Anadale.” Georgiana was a stern dominant lover who resisted a relationship with Maelys. Their dynamic was very refreshing to read about in a story about two women but their relationship wasn’t as developed as I would have liked.

Maelys’s best friend Lizzie was such a fun character! She’s flighty in the best way. I loved her and would definitely read her book if it’s ever written.

The pacing really dragged through most of the first half so I would give this a 3.5 but rounded up because maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for the narrator’s humor.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very funny romp of a book, a fantastical alternate history LGBTQIA romance. The fantasy and ahistorically, humorously accepting friends and family were all delightful. Some aspects were a little hard to engage with, mainly around the narrator—though there were plenty of instances of humor in the narration, it was an odd choice to have a romance narrator with little interest in either human feelings or in sex, who kept turning away from or otherwise disdaining both sexy stuff and emotional arcs!

The narrator (Robin - featured in a Midsummer Night's Dream) is really want makes this so great. Robin is not a huge fan of humans unless they're in the middle of some catastrophe, and he watches plenty of it.

One of our main characters Maelys seems to have angered a minor goddess and thus is experiencing a variety of extremely inconvenient situations (like her dress falling apart at a party, being attacked by wasps, etc.).

Thankfully in each scenario she's handily rescued by the Duke of Annadale, or really Lady Georgiana, who is suspected of being a murderous witch.

Slowly suspicion turns into something else.

I'm a fan of most of Hall's works for there ridiculous humor and this one is no different.

Mortal Follies is a fun, historical fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. Set in the Regency Era and narrated by a sassy hobgoblin, it was unlike any other fantasy I’ve read! Full of magic and romance with an LGBTQ Bridgerton vibe to it, I think all fans of romantasy will enjoy this story. Mortal Follies is available now!!

Thank you to the author, Penguin Random House and @netgalley for my review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have mixed feelings about this book.
I loved the story and the characters.
The narrator always made sure you understood what was going on.... however I didn't enjoy the narrator.
I like to feel immersed into a story and I kind of felt detached.

I loved the magical elements, that goes without saying.
There is romance but no real spice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I want to preface this review by saying that Alexis Hall is one of my favorite authors and I delight in reading whatever he wants to write. I think he is one of the more clever and prolific authors out there and I adore how he jumps into different genres and subgenres and is clearly having a ton of fun.

Unfortunately, the latest installment in his oeuvre didn't work for me as much as I wanted it to.

I know Hall can write beautiful romance and I know he can write beautiful historical romance. I think this was my first foray into reading any fantasy by him and although he has labeled this "romantasy" I sort of have to disagree with this characterization. The romance didn't seem to play as big of a part in the story that I wanted it to.

Part of that is because the story is narrated by an almost omniscient third party narrator, a faerie, a sprite, named Robin who can't be seen by the main characters mostly and who has knowledge of Other Worlds in addition to our own current mortal world. This gives the book a lot of charming and punchy moments I found really lovely but also keeps us at a distance from our main romance. In doing so I never latched on to the main romance or conceit of the story.

There were also SO many characters and while I enjoyed when they all got together on the page to be irreverent...sometimes it was a bit too much? Hall enjoys getting meta in his stories and while sometimes I enjoyed it, other times I was begging the book to pick up the pace.

Which is another problem. The pacing. The main conclusion of the book seems to come at about 50% and the remaining book is repetitive and bit slow although I do think it sticks the landing. One weird thing about having the narrator as such is that Hall can kind of...cop out in explaining things? I didn't love it.

I do think that this book will appeal to a lot of people and I will always enjoy being privy to Hall's word play and lush writing. I'll always pick up a book by Hall and be somewhat entertained and always charmed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Narrated by a fairy, Mortal Follies follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore on her rather disastrous entry into high society.

If Alexis Hall is going to do any one thing, it's going to be write an entertaining book. This fun, magical, sapphic regency romp kept me glued to the page, not necessarily out of suspense -- what is a regency romance if not at least a little predictable? -- but simply out of joy. I loved the narration, overwrought as it occasionally was, and I quite enjoyed the overall whimsical tone of the read. There was something of an imbalance to the plot, as there's a first-half conflict and then a secondary conflict near the end of the book, which took a bit of adjustment, but in all I was so enthralled with the characters and their romance that it didn't bother me as much as it might have.

Any fan of Alexis Hall will certainly find a lot to love in this book, and I for one already cannot wait until their next book.

I'm so glad that I kicked off Pride month with this wonderfully cute, gay book. I went in a bit blind, because I've never read a book by this author before and it's always such a treat to love a new book and discover the author has a huge backlist you can read next!

Do you like to read books where regency ladies kiss, fairies and gods cause a muck, and a dash of cozy mystery? If you said yes, you'll probably love this book, too.

I loved that this book balances a witty and at times dark humor with the MC's friends' acceptance of her feelings for a woman. While they didn't always support her choice in this lady in particular, it was never a point of contention that she had feelings for one.

I really enjoyed Alexis Hall's distinct voice, her unique characters, and the witty humor of the narrator and look forward to reading more from Hall.

To celebrate release day, I'll be jammin' to the Mortal Follies playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/52qSTicWtl7ShJ3B8CbFIS?si=9eb1dffc7d954c85&nd=1

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I would honestly read Alexis Hall's grocery list and enjoy it. His writing style and sense of humor never misses for me and is always such a delight to read. This book was no exception, and I particularly loved the use of an in-world narrator. It's a trope that I'm finding I really enjoy. The setting of this book was spot-on; both whimsical/magical and historical at the same time. It was very much Bridgerton, but with actual queer characters and magic. I do wish more time had been spent establishing the rules of this world and the role of the gods- at the end of the book I still wasn't really sure on what the gods actually did and what the limitations of their powers were, as well as the role of their followers in society. On one hand it seemed like followers of the gods were shunned by society but then at other times it felt like they were respected.

I loved the characters of this book- I would die for Miss Bickle and I very badly want a sequel where she gets the adventure and love she's looking for (but not at the price of her idealism!! It was one of the best parts of her character). Obviously, I loved Robin as well, although at times I think the pacing of the book suffered for his need to be clever and insert quips rather than focus on the story he was telling. The development of the relationship between Mae and Georgiana as well was just delightful. I was concerned when about halfway through the book the plot felt resolved, but then I realized even if it was it wouldn't matter. I would gladly read an entire book about them living their lives together and being in love. The plot very much wasn't resolved but at that point it was just a bonus to the excellent relationship development.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely love it if Hall were so inclined to write additional books in this world (obviously with Robin as the narrator).

This was cute! I think it might appeal to Gail Carriger fans. Period romance, touch of the supernatural, fairly light read… I liked the character development and I enjoyed have Puck as the story narrator. I’ve also read and enjoyed The Affair of the Mysterious Letter. If you want fantasy with your romance this is a good story!

Thank you NetGalley, Del Ray and Random House Publishing Group for providing me an ARC, all views are is my own.

Alexis Hall is an automatic buy author for me. I always love their mix of heartwarming relationships—romantically and friendly— and top tier banter, while also diving into heavier subject matters in a realistic way.

Mortal Follies is my second regency read of theirs but first of magical/fantasy. I enjoyed it immensely. The side characters like Miss Bickel make this book even better, the dialogue is so entertaining and this book overall was so much fun. This story is told from a narration POV, the Hobgoblin Puck. I found it interesting told that way, but I sometimes felt like it was hard to connect to the main characters that way.
Overall, this is an amazing and delightful story.

When I heard that Alexis Hall had a sapphic fantasy regency era romance I was so excited. The premise of this book was interesting, but I think this one fell flat for me.

My major dislikes of this book were that it was over detailed to the point that the pacing dragged at times. This story is also told through an omnipresent narrator rather than one of the main characters thus the story feels devoid of details when it really counts. I think the only things that kept me going were the witty sarcasm from the narrator as well as the whimsical secondary character, Ms. Bickle.

I felt like it was hard to root for the two love interests as the narrator didn’t give us the chance to understand the depth of their emotions or relationship. Every intimate interaction felt stiff and brought back the issue of why we even had a narrator. I thought the fantasy elements mixed with the regency era setting was really neat, but despite how much I wanted to love this book, it just didn’t do it for me.

I had heard that Mortal Follies was like Queer Fantasy Bridgerton, which is totally correct. Told through the eyes of a fairy narrator, we first meet our regency heroine, Maelys, as her dress is mysteriously unraveling at a party. Each time she goes out, something bad happens and they keep getting progressively worse, pointing to her being under a curse. To figure out who cursed her and why, Maelys enlists the help of her best friend, her cousin, and the mysterious Lady Georgianna, who is rumored to be a witch that killed her whole family. Although Lady Georgianna keeps saying she doesn't care to help Maelys, it is odd that she always happens to be around when the curse is taking effect, putting into question where she is there to help or if she is the one cursing Maelys. As Maelys continues turning to Lady Georgianna for help, the undeniable attraction between them grows. But as one conflict ends another begins, and their burgeoning relationship just can't catch a break.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, it had a good premise and a lot of action! I was really invested in our group figuring out who was cursing Maelys and why. I really enjoyed her best friend, Lizzie, who was so funny and over the top. However, I was surprised when the curse storyline wrapped up and the book was only about 50% done. Because of that, the second half of the book felt confusing - it was focused primarily on the relationship between Maelys and Lady Georgianna, and while I really love love and romance stories, it felt like it really dragged on. A new conflict was introduced in the second half but it felt like it wasn't fully fleshed out and resolved too quickly.

I also enjoyed that the book was told through the eyes of a narrator, a fairy who is has been sent to the human world to find stories. I wish we got to hear more about the narrator's background! He does have a lot of running commentary on Maelys and her story throughout the book, and while I enjoyed that I could see how it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

The love story between Maelys and Lady Georgianna was fine! I wish there had been more explanation about WHY they liked each other but overall the romance was sweet.

There was also a questionable amount of detailed animal sacrifice, which was off-putting to me as a vegan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Del Rey publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!