My biggest struggle with this book is how fragmented it is. The first half and the second half have the same characters, but two completely different plot arcs and resolutions. It was confusing and I finished feeling like I just read a fever dream and maybe also had a fever dream myself in reading the fever dream.

I loved the first hundred pages, the setting in regency time but with queer characters is something I love and want to continue to see more of. The bantering between Mae and Georgiana was wonderful and I loved the set up of their relationship. However, after that the book started to lose me. I don't know much at all about greek gods and maybe this all would have made more sense if I did but there was too much going on with curses (past and present) and offerings to gods. I totally lost me after the second animal was cruelly murdered as a "sacrifice". By the second half I was very annoyed with Georgiana and how she was treating Mae, their relationship did not seem healthy but it was supposedly all okay because they loved each other ???? I wished there was more conversation and time spent on their relationship developing instead of on the curse multiple plot arcs

While the narrator was occasionally funny and certainly witty, I did not think it added much to the story and made some of the more intimate scenes really awkward to "watch in" on instead of getting the experience from the characters themselves.

I felt that the story was disjointed and uneven. The predominant conflict was resolved halfway through the book, which was pretty unsatisfying. There was a lot of back and forth between Maelys and Lady Georgianna's relationship before a brand new conflict was introduced. The plot felt a bit slow and dragged periodically, especially with the focus on Maelys and Lady Georgianna's relationship. The premise was intriguing but not something I would read again.

The Story
The story began with Miss Mitchelmore having discovered she was under some spell while at a ball and her clothing was coming undone. She happened upon a Duke, a woman, who saved her from public humiliation. Miss M's friend, Miss Bickle, urged her on to pursue feelings for the woman all throughout the story while Mr. Ceasar suspected the duke of the source of the crime.

The story followed along like a mystery. Halfway thorough the book, the mystery was solved, leaving the reader wondering what the purpose of the second half of the book was supposed to be about.

Firstly, I was stricken by the quality of writing, which was thoroughly enjoyable to read. The setting of the book took place in a Jane Austen-esque Bath with a magical, fairy tale style to it, along with paganism and witchcraft. The narrator was a hobgoblin with almost, but not quite, omnipotent abilities. Personally, I enjoyed the narration, sometimes it was humorous.

Characters
There were issues with the vast amount of characters, who were often mentioned by their last name, but not introduced into the story yet. Later, the multitude of characters—who the reader wasn't familiar with yet—were mentioned by their first name, or a nickname, or a second nickname, and it had all become confusing. For many characters, I wondered why they had been introduced at all and weren't significant to the story.

Miss. Bickle was fun for a side character, since she was rather odd and had a strange way of thinking that could be considered dumb amusement. The main character was rather dull and the duke shelled herself in and tried to push others away. The picnic had some amusing characters as well, like the father who kept reciting poetry.

The duke so happened to always be at the right place at the right time and saved our damsel in distress multiple times. That had became tedious and ridiculous after a while.

Conversations
Some of the conversations seemed to draw out and didn't fit into the story well. For instance, after the duke saved Miss M., each time, it's indicated that she knew more that she was letting on and the heroines met to discuss things. Eagerly, I wanted to know what the duke knew, but instead of discussing anything of any importance (like the mystery they were trying to solve), they discussed having sex together and what they wanted to do to each other. It always seemed out of place and at the wrong time.

Again, when the trio was together discussing who could be the suspect, the conversation seemed to be pointless and went nowhere, and then the conversation was brought back to the feelings between Miss. M and the duke . . . again, and again. It didn't feel as if the story was moving along, but rather it was the same conversations in a different setting.

The parts about the sacrifices and idolatry was gross and lost stars for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. I decided to read this during the trans rights readathon during a week when I was experiencing an extreme reading slump, but boy, did this one get me out of it. I love that the action starts immediately to draw the reader in. However, towards the middle, it did become a bit of a slog, but it picked back up by the end. I must say, the ending was just ok. It could've used a little reworking to draw the action out a little bit more. It’s probably because most of the conflict seemed to disappear or get resolved by the second act, which is why I removed a star from my review. It's not all bad though, this book had some great moments! Several times I laughed aloud, which is rare for me. It goes to show how well-written the narration is. The characters were easy to root for, the dialog was well done and I felt like these could’ve been conversations I’ve had with my friends in real life. The romance was charming! I won’t drop any spoilers, but it's a cute sapphic love story. I was swooning! Overall, the plot was a bit unhinged, but that’s what made this a fun, exciting and quick read for me.

The story itself was a bit all over the place for me as I personally felt that this book could have been broken up into a duology. However, I am a sucker for any sapphic fantasy so I really can't complain that much. Above everything, my favorite part of the story was the narrator. If Hall decided to do a collection of short stories with this narrator I would read it in a heart beat (hint hint).

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


A whimsical story that feels like a mix of genres, that include romance, comedy, drama and fantasy. Trigger warnings include rape, animal harm and language. It was a quick read with lovable characters and some that bore.

This book was interesting, the hobgoblin narrator having very strong opinions and telling the story is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoyed the narration.

I loved the characters and especially Miss Bickle, who is Miss Migchelmore’s best friend. She is utterly ridiculous and hilarious and often provides the best insights and advice. Miss Mitchelmore was clever, assertive, and sometimes impulsive. Their interactions with witches, priestesses, and goddesses clever and interesting. The Duke of Annadale is withdrawn and protective; but the self sacrificing trope has never been my favorite.

My biggest issue with this book is that I felt like it was two separate books. There was the Miss Mitchelmore’s curse and resolution and plot, and the Duke of Annadale and her curse and resolution. However, those two stories felt like two entirely different stories to me (though related). Because there were two stories in one book, as well as potentially the narrator, the relationship wasn’t developed as much as I would like it to have been. They say they’re in love but we don’t get enough of their interaction that isn’t life/death or sex related.

Parent’s guide:
Sex & Nudity: moderate (attempted rape, sex—closed door, reference to tying someone up during sex)
Violence & Gore: moderate (animal sacrifice, murder, curses)
Profanity: moderate (multiple uses of f***** to refer to sex)
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: mild
Frightening & Intense Scenes: moderate (attempted kidnapping, attempted rape, murder, animal sacrifices)

This is…fine? Much less manic than the Something series, but more whimsy than Hall’s other standalones. It’s not helped by some haphazard pacing, but it leaves you with a warm feeling overall.

The first-person outsider POV doesn’t really do a lot for the story. The narration’s asides are few and far enough between that they end up entirely forgettable aside from the fact that it’s the structure (and aside from the one bit in the Assembly Rooms where we get a glimpse what the live telling would’ve been) and what they are doesn’t add much other than the quirky interest of having a first-person outsider POV (which you do forget at some points, especially as it slides into each woman’s emotions and then abruptly pulls back with a “or that’s what she looked like, humans are so abstract” just to remind you that there’s a narrator to the story. I can’t decide whether I would have liked it better if Puck had been more present as a narrator or not.

Unfortunately, that’s also how a lot of the side characters and side plots feel as well. They’re all there just enough to leave you wanting more and to feel unfulfilled, but also little enough that you look back and think why was this a plot diversion. It’s either setting up for more novels or Hall wanted so badly for us to know about these characters that were far enough outside of the plot that he fit in these scenes. It also fits in with the pacing - half of the book is concerned with one plot, a quarter with another, and then the last quarter with one last bit, skipping around with not a lot of regard for timing or pacing.

That said, what’s there is cute and inventive (even if a lot of the legends are…wrong, with no indication as to why they would be different from our knowledge of them), and it’s a solid Regency romance.

Mortal Follies is Bridgerton meets A Midsummer Night’s Dream, although I’d also argue it weaves in a bit of Gentleman Jack and a pinch of Good Omens (or maybe that last one is just because I pictured the narrator as Michael Sheen).

My favorite part of this book (apart from that gorgeous cover) is definitely the writing, which was far wittier than most romance or historical fiction novels I’ve read. The narrator, Robin/Puck from Midsummer, often interrupts to provide some world-building or make little comments about each character’s thoughts or whether they’re right or wrong. Granted, sometimes this would get a little distracting, but this narrative device was responsible for some of my favorite lines in the book. I did /so/ much highlighting compared to most books.

I also enjoyed the world-building—as you might know from the blurb, it’s Regency England but with mischievous faeries, clever witches, and vicious gods, and there were several side characters I’d love to see sequels about.

I think the thing that kept me from /fully/ enjoying this book was the pacing. It was partly a mystery, partly a romance, but the pacing doesn’t follow either of those genres super well. Without spoiling, it felt like the climax of the novel happened about halfway through, and then the plot meandered a bit until the end, which came kind of abruptly. Plenty 0f bad things happen to the cursed protagonist. but I don’t think I ever bought that she was truly in any danger, and there wasn’t a lot pushing me to keep reading. There were a few times where one side character in particular seemed like he might be a threat, but nothing ever came of it except for the protagonist’s grandpa being like “oh yeah, that guy sucks,” and that confused me.

A lot of the time, the narrator would end a chapter with “and then I got bored so I left,” which ended up being more relatable than I think was intended. I’m not sure how much changes between an ARC and the final copy, but it felt like it was missing some kind of catharsis at the end, at least.

I’d still recommend this book, though, especially to fans of fantasy and Regency romances. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy!

This review will appear on Instagram on 03/29

We love a sapphic romance book, especially one that gives Bridgerton vibes. It was nice to shake up the environment to include fantasy elements like fae, gods, goddesses, and witches. The narrator being a hobgoblin jester brought the Good Folks to the reader's world, a little fourth wall break that I appreciated. I enjoyed the narrator, having an outside complaining persona was very amusing for me and brought a little outside perspective to fae people.

The pacing of the novel was good until after the main issue was solved, there were still plenty of pages left and left me a bit confused to what the rest of the story would be about. I wished the second tiny arc was hinted at earlier so that the flow into it would be more cohesive.

My ABSOLUTE favorite character wasn't any of the female leads. It was definitely Miss Binckle. She was quirky, cute, and a bit of an air head that brought humor to otherwise tense situations. She was the character I most related to in the whole book. Especially with her shipping of the two main leads.

The romance between the two leads was very cute but not at all spicy. This story fades to black during ✨those✨ scenes. I guess the narrator isn't a voyeur in that sense.

Overall I very much enjoyed my time with this read, and it left a smile on my face.

This was an unique book. Having a narrator was a nice change to the same ol’ same ol’ romance. (Especially a faerie as one). I enjoyed the descriptions with the scenes and characters. And I enjoyed having a story of two women falling in love. All in all, an interesting read.

One sentence to describe this book?

It’s Bridgerton if it had magic and fantastical elements.

The beginning of this book started out in a very familiar tone that bridgerton fans would love. Oberton’s jester starts out this book with a direct letter to us- the gentle readers of this tale. Being called that immediately put me down memory lane and put me in the mindset of - okay so we’re entering high society. It called me to brew some tea and beckoned me to read it outdoors with a gentle breeze at my side as I sip tea and immerse myself into a new story.

And what a weird beginning this story took on. We’re introduced to one of the main characters, Miss Mitchelmore as she goes through a rather strange ordeal. Miss Mitchelmore’s dress comes undone mysteriously and she is forced to hide in the garden as it magically disappears. Mercifully, she is found by Lady Georgiana and avoids scandal.

The next day she meets with her friends and they ponder who could have possible meddled with her dress. In this world, magic exists so they wonder who wielded the spell and try to solve the mystery. It gets dizzying as the narrator of the story takes on different forms and follows everyone around. While it’s a unique way to tell a tale, I also found myself quite annoyed with this jester. And I also found it hard to continue forward with this book.

DNF 34%
I couldn’t get into it. Only the hope of future interactions between the love interests made me want to keep going.
I like the unit and the characters but it’s just not captivating unfortunately.

This book is unhinged regency sapphic Shakespearean shenanigans.

I loved it.

ARC review from NetGalley

I really wanted to like this book, and I did like a lot about it. I liked the style, mostly liked the characters, and, compared to other reviews I've read, I did like the narrator style (despite it occasionally feeling a tad forced). Ultimately, this book's demise was in its pacing. This book would have made a great novella - instead there were whole pages I read and felt unnecessary. When a major conflict rexolved, I looked at the number of pages left and wondered why the story was continuing. My preference for spicy rather than fade-to-black romance is a personal preference and made the romance fall flat for me, but even the plot and adventure built around the romance dragged on long past when I as a reader wanted it to. Three stars because I appreciated the book's commentary, style, and most of the characters!

I found this book to be interesting. I loved the idea and in the story but found I had a hard time getting into it at first. That is probably my ADHD getting the best of me. I do like that it takes place in the 1800s I always did prefer that time period when reading anything that wasn’t contemporary. I overall enjoyed it but would not pick up a physical copy for my library.

I really enjoyed this book! Thank you to NetGalley for the access to the ARC! I love Alexis Hall’s writing and will automatically read anything from them. I loved the way that the story was told and the dynamic between the characters. Definitely a fan of the Bridgerton vibes and I loved the narrator. The romance was also very sweet. I liked that there was a pretty even balance between the mystery and adventure of the plot and the sweet moments of the romance. Reading this just ensured that I will continue to read from this author regardless of what they write about!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

This book was a lot of fun specially the narrator Oberon’s former jester and a hobgoblin who will tell you much he enjoys mortals suffer.
The story itself as he will tell you involves romance and curses and a heroes and villains and be assured a happy ending too.

ARC was provided by Del Ray via Netgalley for an honest review of the book.
4 1/2 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It was narrated by a hobgoblin and I thought his thoughts were very funny. It’s a historic romance with a sapphic love story. It has curses, and mystery and romance and magic and mayhem. This book had me laughing on every other page but also made my heart flutter.