I was so excited for this sapphic, witchy romance but I was extremely disappointed. I didn't like the gimmick of the narrator, I didn't care about the characters, and the world wasn't particularly well-developed. The writing style is modern but they speak old-fashionedy, and it wasn't particularly well integrated. The best part of the book was Miss Bickle trying to explain sexual attraction to Miss Mitchelmore.

I love Alexis Hall and was thrilled to receive this book as an ARC from NetGalley (thank you!)

A highly enjoyable mix between fairy tale and historical fiction, told by a third party narrator who happens to be a disgraced fairy and has fairy opinions but is mostly non-intrusive unto the story. I think the narrator served to keep the story light and fun, as being told from the perspective of either of the MCs it would be much more terrifying and much less comedic.

I really loved the magic of this and the mystery in the first half of the book. The misfortunes plaguing Mae start out as comical and get more and more deadly, and Georgiana swoops in continuously to save her in the last moments before her death.

What I didn't like as much is the romance. While Georgiana has very good reasons for keeping Maelys at arm's length, it means that they spent only a handful of occasions together by the time the mystery is resolved, and I didn't care for them much as a couple. And her treatment of Mae was confusing and frustrating for a romance reader, to the point where I felt the story rather fizzles out in the middle before picking up again.

I would've liked Georgiana to take a more active role in solving the Mae's curse, and for her to toe the line with attraction earlier in the book for the romance to really be a hook for me.

An enjoyable fantasy book. I found myself not enjoying the narrator, which odd because I love A Midsummer Night's Dream, but the story was nice enough, if unexpectedly dark at times.

A strong start, but then ran out of steam. I’m so disappointed because I really wanted to love this book! There are several things that I would highlight about this:

The narration. The story is relayed to us by Puck (yes, of Oberon’s court) as he follows the main characters on their adventures. I think this narration style will really work for some people, and others will hate it! I enjoyed it, although there were some parts of the story that I feel would have been better if we had been able to get into the character’s heads.

The pacing & order of the plot felt very off to me. This seems to be a recurring issue that I have with Hall’s writing so maybe it’s just not for me!

I also just didn’t love the dynamic between the two main love interests. This comes down to personal preference but I didn’t like the power dynamic in play and didn’t really find it very romantic.

Ultimately I think this will be a polarizing book but if you like a unique narration style and a regency/magical setting, give it a shot! Big thanks to Del Rey and Netgalley for the ARC!

Mortal Follies was an enchanting read full of humor, angst, and romance. The The story seemed to drag a bit. The banter between the characters was funny at times, and over the top annoying at others. Ultimately, its an enjoyable read.

If you liked the film version of A Midsummer Knights Dream staring Kevin Kline you would probably like this. Id pay all the money for Stanley Tucci to narrate the audiobook.

This was so unbelievably cute! I’m such a sucker for sapphic romance and when a pair isn’t following the cheesy love-at-first sight (not to hate on the trope—i love it too but this was a great realistic relationship in a fantasy setting). I loved the pair sm I finished this in one sitting<3

Mortal Follies is a regency fantasy romance that follows Maelys Mitchelmore, a young noblewoman who finds herself cursed for no apparent reason and ends up employing the help of the rakish Duke of Annadale, Lady Georgianna, who may or may not have killed her entire family and is also a rumoured witch (but not actually).

The novel is narrated by Puck/Robin Goodfellow, who has recently fallen out of favor with the fairy court and needs cash to live in the modern human world. It's an interesting and unique gimmick to have the story narrated by a somewhat omniscient and mischievous fairy. I liked Puck as a character and probably would've enjoyed a short story told by him or if he had introduced the story and then dipped out so that we could experience it without the narrator. But having a hands-off narrator break the fourth wall constantly was kind of annoying as the story progressed. Instead of connecting with the characters ourselves, we get told how Puck connects with them. Instead of being in the characters heads, we're told how they probably feel. Instead of experiencing intimate/romantic moments, Puck just tells us they happened. It felts like an intrusion on the characters instead of a romance. Like it was kind of creepy that Puck was secretly watching and relaying the characters' romance instead of allowing the reader to be taken in by it. I also just didn't feel connected to the characters at all because of Puck. Ultimately, I think the novel could've worked better without him. The gimmick is unique, sure, but also mostly annoying.

The story was clunky and chunked out into weird pieces. The main part of the novel, the curse, is resolved by 50%. The romance (what little we actually get of it) takes up the next 25%. And then another plot point rushes in suddenly and takes over the last fourth. I wish the first 50% wasn't so rushed, and that the romance was more evolved.

I liked the interesting setting, where magic and regency England mesh together seamlessly. I liked that all mythology was "real" and present in this world, from Greek and Roman gods to druids, fairies, and the Christian devil. I also liked the queer representation and how readable the writing is, despite my dislike of the narration.

3 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the advanced reader copy.

I loved this story! It was such a fun read and such a departure from what I know Alexis Hall for! A first round purchase for most libraries!

Thanks to Del Ray for this arc of Alexis Hall’s Mortal Follies. I feel conflicted about this book. While I loved the ridiculousness of the fantasy book in the Regency Era/Bridgerton-esque setting, and I thought a lot of the banter was hilarious, I wasn’t a huge fan of the omnipotent narrator. The narration made it difficult for me to get into the story, and I had a hard time making it through the book. I think it’s an interesting idea, but I didn’t really enjoy it. I think you’ll either love it or hate it. I would have preferred the same story told by the POV of the Duke, or even the ridiculous Miss Bickle. 3 star read for me.

i’ve read a large percentage of Alexis Hall’s work, and I think this is his best yet. Told from the perspective of a mischievous but occasionally helpful shapeshifting fairy, it follows a cursed lesbian who doesn’t realize she’s gay and her adventures falling in love with a hot suspected murderess. This was utterly delightful and I’d love to read more books like this one!!

representation: black side character, sapphic MC and LI

spice level: two or three sex scenes, one involving bondage

I loved this delightful tale told in the world of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream! It's a historical, fantasy, sapphic romance rolled into one fun and enchanting story. The plot is almost split into two portions: the first being fantasy and dealing with a curse, the second being more about the romance. I found the characters to be extemely compelling and delightful! Puck is such a fun narrator and just as mischievous as he is in Midsummer. Lizzy, the best friend, is also funny and quirky and adds so much comedic relief.

Overall I'd say the pacing is a little weird due to the way the story is split as I explained earlier in the review, but the story is so fun and cute that it's totally worth it

Part mystery, part fantasy, this Sapphic story brings two ladies together in an unusual way.

A puckish fae narrator known as Robin tells the interesting story of Miss Mitchelmore. Finding herself the objective of a curse, Miss Mitchelmore enlists the aid of her cousin, her whimsical best friend, and a suspected murderess. The latter of whom is especially intriguing.

While the story was entertaining and I do love a good Sapphic magical book, I was less entertained by this than Alexis Hall's previous works. Miss Bickle was by far the most interesting character, though I did enjoy Miss Mitchelmore's discovery of her own desires. I definitely look forward to Hall's next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

I adored this book!

The POV was a bit of a struggle to get into at first, only because I am not used to the omniscient involved narrator... but once I found my groove, I enjoyed it so immensely! The characters are FUNNY and the magical element mixed with the Bridgerton-esque setting was just so much fun.

Alexis Hall gets better with every book. They are improving in storytelling and writing. I will continue to support and read their books.

I love Alexis Hall so so much, like soooooo so much, but I absolutely did not like Mortal Follies. DNF 24%

Historical romance meets fantasy in one of the most unique books I have ever read. This book kept me laughing from prologue to epilogue as our hobgoblin narrator follows the tale of a young woman through a curse, a sapphic romance, and everything in between. The writing in this book was exceptional, whimsical, entertaining, and the characters were absolutely delightful.

This genre mashup left me wanting many more stories based in this fantastical world of faeries, gods, and witches. 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I suspect that "Mortal Follies" is a book that readers are going to feel strongly about one way or another due to its genre straddling (sitting somewhere between sapphic Regency romance and fantasy) and its unusual choice of narrator (the book is narrated by Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream, which added some humor and allowed for certain plot elements but also distances the reader from the main characters). Personally, I had a good time with this one.

Alexis Hall just pumps out the books these days. I was excited to read the book, but unfortunately I was not able to finish it. I just didn’t love the story, especially when compared to previous work. DNF @ 20%

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my early e-arc.

I liked a lot of things about this - the romance, especially, between the Duke of Annandale and Maerys, as well as the whimsical tone of the story. The curse was also a cool concept, and I enjoyed how it drew the two protagonists together. However, I wasn't such a fan of the narration - I found Puck's voice to be irritating and wish the story had just followed Gerogina and Maerys without the lens of his interference. It added a lot of tediousness to the story, and digressions that were not relevant and took me out of the main story. Also, although the sexual tension was EXCELLENT I need a good payoff in my romance novels, and I feel like while the build-up was good there was no....spiciness...to make it feel worth it.

***4.0 Stars***

Overall,
This was really cute. I love that Alexis Hall can right in so many different genres. While I am not always a big fan of a Midsummer Night Dreams, this was really entertaining. I definitely enjoyed it and literally laughed out loud at some of the antics the main character gets up to. I love a good Sapphic Romance and this does not disappoint. I would 100% recommend.

***Thank you Netgalley and DelRay for an ARC***