I absolutely loved the narrator, they kept me laughing and also kept me curious about the story of Maelys and Georgiana.

After finding herself at the center of a curse a young noblewoman seeks the assistance of a rumored witch, getting entangled in more than she might have bargained for in Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall.
In 1814 the young Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds herself facing a variety of difficulties with seemingly inexplicable origins. While attending a ball scandal nearly befalls her as her dress starts dissolving; escaping to the gardens she is soon found, and unenthusiastically rescued, by Lady Georgiana Landrake, who within society is frequently referred to as the Duke of Annadale and is believed by many to be a sorceress and murderer of her father and brothers. As the impact of the curse on Miss Mitchelmore progresses to increasingly dangerous, and potentially fatal, proportions she seeks out aid from wherever she can find it, even if it’s from company society deems undesirable. With the unwavering assistance of her dear friend Miss Bickle, who fervently believes in fairies and magic, and her rather pragmatic cousin Mr. Caesar, and the additional help of the brooding Duke, Miss Mitchelmore navigates a world of gods and magic in an effort to reveal her tormentor and undo the curse, but in undoing the curse upon her she finds herself becoming increasingly intertwined in a romantic entanglement that leaves her to boldly navigate, and voice, her yearning for what might be.
Told through an entertaining and puckish narrator of the hobgoblin often referred to as Robin, who fleshes out the more magical side of events and references other notable literature featuring fairies, a story of yearning and romantic pursuits, however misguided they may be, unravels with the humorous and informative commentary that Robin provides. Many events stemmed from magical interventions making the general acceptance of magic within the world a necessary element and it was well-depicted, particularly though the portrayal of the delightfully whimsical Miss Bickle and her steadfast belief in and consideration of magical beings. Though the tale follows Robin’s collective telling of Miss Mitchelmore’s misadventures, which begin with an unfortunate, though noteworthy, event of her dissolving dress that draws Lady Georgiana in to be part of the story’s events, once the identity of the curse layer is revealed and dealt with, the second half of the story feels more like a separate tale from the one of magical adventure with the narrative's shifted focus on a foray toward reluctant romance while using a few connections in the form of common characters to link the novel together into a broader narrative; meanwhile there are other characters with distinct personalities or quirks who were introduced and quickly forgotten leaving them to not be explored or used to their full potential or for a deeper purpose and raising a question to the reason behind their introduction in the first instance.
Overall, I’d give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I must admit I'm a little disappointed.
The first chapter had me hooked. The Duke if Annadale had me swooning, and the banter was incredible. I was hooked all the way up to about page 150, where we had the fight with the big bad, the villain, and I was genuinely confused where the story would go and how it could continue.
Had I not read the first half, I would have enjoyed the second half well enough. The problem was that each half felt like two different books.
There was a who dunnit reveal, and an epic fight by page 150 which almost made the second half feel unnecessary.
The second half arguably didn't need the first half at all, in terms of furthering the story, hence why I felt like I was reading two different books.
The first 150 pages were easily 5 stars. The second 150 pages were closer to 3 stars. It's hard to rate this book as a whole when it didn't read like a whole book.

With that said, Alexis Hall's humor wasn't missed, and truly that's why I love her writing.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This is my first read from this author, and I really enjoyed it, I loved the twist on a historical read, and the inclusivity, however the narrator was not my...favorite part. When I looked past that however, I really enjoyed reading it, and would highly recommend for lovers of sapphic slow-burns, light fantasy and those looking for surprisingly inclusive topics that are important in today's real world.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC.

Amidst high society luncheons and unrequited romantic advances, Maelys Mitchelmore finds herself cursed. Not a fantastic, fairytale kind of curse, either-- the kind of curse that seeks to destroy her reputation.
From her dress unraveling at a ball to being attacked by swarms of wasps, the curse goes from ridiculous to deadly.
It quickly becomes clear to Maelys that the only person who may be able to help her is the outcast Duke of Annadale-- a woman they call a witch after the unexplainable deaths of her male relatives. Will the Duke be able to save Maelys from her curse, or is she perhaps the one who doomed her in the first place?

I would rate this book a solid 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed that, but am happy to round up to 4. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by this novel! I had no idea what to expect going into it, and found that it was one of the most intriguing books I'd read in a long time.

I wasn't sure how to feel about the narration at the beginning, in fact I felt it may be a bit too much, but it settled well over time. There were a few moments that I felt we were given more information about Robin than was necessary, but that may just be personal preference. I really do love a strong voice and that is exactly what we got-- there was such an interesting mixture of religions and magic and folklore and Shakespearean references thrown around-- I was constantly on my toes.

As for the romance, I really enjoyed the characters but felt that some of the emotions fell a bit flat. This, I believe, is just because with an outside narrator, we don't really get to experience Maelys or Georgiana's thoughts or feelings at all-- we are just told about their actions. They were also very hot and cold with each other, which began to feel a bit repetitive. I think if Georgiana's *secret* was announced sooner, it would have flowed a little bit better and felt less rushed at the end. Despite this, I did root for them and relished the few little moments they were truly honest with each other about how they felt.

I did also find that there were quite a few characters mentioned that seemed to disappear out of nowhere. John's friends, for one, were there for just a moment. It was very clear that the author had thought long and hard about who they were as characters (they felt so genuine and flushed out!), but they were never mentioned again after that one encounter. I would have loved to have more information on them, personally. I can't quite figure out what purpose they served.


SPOILERS BELOW!

My final thought is that the plot felt incredibly strong in the beginning, so I was very shocked when everything seemed quite resolved right in the middle of the novel. When we discovered that Maelys was under another separate curse, it felt a bit repetitive. It seemed as though there were two climaxes of the book, but that the second one was significantly less exciting since we had already done the same song and dance before. I kept waiting for a big overarching climax to set in, but there was none. There was one curse, it was dealt with, and then there was another curse and it was dealt with. The ending also appeared rather rushed, and perhaps the intent was to show that Maelys was now a trained curse-breaker and could easily win this round, but it ended up feeling just a bit less impactful because of the pace.

END OF SPOILERS!


Despite my slight nitpicking, I did really quite enjoy this book! I thought the characters were unique and the setting/voice/language was unlike anything I've read before. There should be far more sapphic fairytales in the world and I would gladly eat all of them up!

I love Alexis Hall’s writing, and when I found out he wrote another queer historical book, I immediately added it to my TBR and requested an ARC.
 
Sadly, I didn’t like Mortal Follies as much as I wanted to. Worse, I decided to DNF. I tried to start reading this ARC several times, and while the different style of the Mortal Follies could have been a fantastic way to tell a story, I just didn’t like the narrator. I’m eagerly waiting for Alexis Hall’s next book, though (after all, he publishes so many books in 2023, and I’m pretty sure I’ll love at least one of them).

This was a fun read. I loved the narrator and the twist on a regency romance. If you are fans of Bridgerton and sapphic dalliances, this would be perfect for you.
That being said, my favorite part of this book were the sprinkles of fantasy. I liked the fae and the gods and the magic. I would really recommend this book and this author to anyone!

Thanks to netgalley for accepting my request to have access to this arc. I loved Alexis Hall's A Lady For A Duke and I was sure I was going to love this one. Although I liked it, I found the romance to be unconvincing. I enjoyed the storytelling though and most importantly the dialogue. One of Hall's strength is their ability to craft dialogue that just feels so witty and organic, it just feels like a real conversation that people would be having in real life. I thought this book was entertaining but for the romance part, it left much to be desired.

Quite a fun romp, I enjoyed it. I was on the fence about the narration from puck for most of the book but landed on the side of entertaining. Very much A Romance, set in a world with magic conveniently there to cause any particular outlandish situations. For fans of Northanger Abbey, but it’s kinder to the protagonists. As always Alexis Hall includes delightful secondary characters who clear have their own intriguing stories to tell.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for the ARC!

Mortal Follies follows a woman who's seemingly been cursed and mysterious The Duke of Annadale, who may or may not be the savior or the one responsible. This book is cute and cozy, like a cup of hot chocolate when it's snowing outside, and everything I love in a book so I had high expectations. While the humour (the choice of narrator is one of my favorite things about the book) and the writing are both so lovely, I wasn't as engaged with the plot or characters as I needed to be early on and found myself losing focus often while reading this book. At the time of writing this review, I found myself stuck at 25% percent because I wasn't engaged enough to continue currently (I hope to circle back to this however!).

I really wanted to like this book, there are only so many sapphic books that get published a year and they are so important to have for queer readers. Mortal Follies fell very short for me, where I was not a fan of boyfriend material I was hoping that I could be surprised by this novel. The romance for me was half baked at best and the same goes for the world it felt as if a little more time was given to the plot and romance at the heart of the story I could have truly enjoyed it. That is with the exception of the narrator made me want to pull my hair out constantly ;the first person point of view not from any of the main characters but rather a goblin recounting the tale. I really wanted to enjoy this book and I believe that some readers who have more tolerance for goblins could truly enjoy this novel I just wasn't one of them.

3/5

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review- thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey!

This was my first Alexis Hall novel, so I went in not quite knowing what to expect. I think this was both a good and a bad thing for my reading experience.

To start with the things I loved:
-The representation in this story was wonderful. The plots of many LGBTQIA+ stories that I have read have centered solely on the character's sexuality (i.e. coming to terms with their own sexuality, coming out, facing rejection, etc). While those stories are of course so important, it was a nice change of pace for the sexuality of the characters to be almost secondary. Nobody batted an eye at our main character realizing that she is queer, so much so that it was hardly a conversation. One of the supporting characters is clearly queer, and it is again, never a topic of conversation or conflict. The conflicts and plot points were the same that we see in so many straight romances. I know this is becoming more and more commonplace, and I for one love it. These stories are important.
-The whimsical atmosphere was fun. I am not a huge historical romance/fiction/fantasy reader, but I had a good time with the setting.
-The acceptance of magic and the folk in everyday life was also a fun element. I particularly loved the scenes where our narrator could been seen and had to interact with (read: do favors for) the character who could see them.
-The plot and overall atmosphere felt very low-stakes. This was a nice light read.

Things I did not love:
-The narration/writing style took me quite a bit of time to get used to. I did not love the meandering narration and the way the narrator inserted themselves into the storytelling in ways that didn't have anything to do with the story. I found it distracting. I'm sure others found it entertaining- this is likely just preference.
-Because of the narration style, I also didn't feel quite as invested in the characters. Hearing about their story rather than experiencing it with them just didn't do it for me. I was happy for them, but not overly excited about their progression.
-There were many characters that were introduced that could have been interesting to develop, but they were abandoned. Without spoiling anything, particularly those who Mr. Caesar seeks help from in the beginning, and our main character's vindictive family members. They were introduced, used for a specific purpose, and then never addressed again.

Overall, I think this was a fun, light-hearted experience, but is not something that I will go out of my way to come back to.

I’m not usually a histrom reader but Alexis Hall using Puck from a Midsummer Night’s Dream as a narrator convinced me to pick MORTAL FOLLIES up and give it a go. I’m SO GLAD that I did! Much love for this book! From Puck’s narration to the rep to that sexy slow burn.

Alexis Hall has created a magical Regency England with witches, fairies, and old gods. There’s Black rep including talk of slavery and abolitionism. Characters talk about not using sugar from a plantation with slaves. Mae’s uncle and cousin are Black and face prejudice. While there’s queer rep and the main characters and their families accept queerness, there’s pushback from society about that as well. Which shows that you can have a historical novel with contemporary sensibilities.

So much dazzling banter here! Mae’s BFF Lizzie was an absolute delight with her love of all things fairy and her fabulous flights of fancy. Lots of giggling while reading.

The slow burn sexual tension between Mae and Georgiana was intense, down to the wordplay between them. The scissors! The ribbons! *fans self*

This one is such a sweet, fun read! For fans of Freya Marske.

It was a good book, I could have done without the narrator though. This book is a little Shakespeare, a little Jane Austen. Definitely a different take on the time period. It is lightly steamy. I have not read anything by this author before I might give their other books a try.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this early Netgalley copy of Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall.

Miss Mitchelmore has been cursed. By whom no one is certain, but it is most definitely someone with possession of dangerous magic. With her fragile reputation in society at risk—and, as is becoming increasingly apparent, her life—Miss Mitchelmore, along with her dearest friends and the infuriatingly unusual Lady Georgiana, sets out to find the perpetrator. Told from the unique perspective of a famously beloved Puckish sprite, the mystery—and romance—unfolds before our eyes.

As a lifelong fan (and past performer) of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” I knew I would enjoy this book from practically the first sentence. There are frequent references to the work that I never grew tired of. The particular magic of that play pairs perfectly with the ever-popular regency setting; this book has made me believe that all such stories would be benefited by the presence of magic!

The narration here is humorous, and the characters are so darling. I particularly adored Miss Bickle, who I’m sad to leave behind in the pages of this book. There was a section near the middle of the book that dragged somewhat and that seemed rather plotless, but the turnaround that followed was not disappointing.

In “Mortal Follies,” Alexis Hall has created a sumptuous and lively world where gods and sprites live among mortals. “Mortal Follies” is absolutely delightful and so funny. I’m not sure I expected to enjoy it as much as I did, especially since it’s not my usual cup of tea, but I certainly did.

☆ ☆ ☆ - GOOD

CW: explicit language; animal sacrifice; mild sexual content.

I loved the whimsy and humor of this book! Set in the Regency era, but with magic and fairies openly known to the world, this is like a historical urban fantasy romance. I found the weaving of fancy with the pageantry of the period a delight. There is queer rep and POC rep, which is always nice to find in historical romance, and it’s done in a way that felt respectful and authentic. The dialogue in the first portion of the story is quite witty, and I chuckled out loud at many quips at the expense of both the characters and the society.

The first half of the book is stronger than the latter half. As I moved into the second act, I was unsure the story needed it and got a bit bored. Things did pick up again, and I enjoyed the ending, but this could have been pared down. I have only one other criticism whichis of the third-person narrative device. It’s a cute idea, and mostly it worked, but at times it grated. The romance is drier and more practical than I expected, but I still enjoyed the personalities of both love interests and felt they were well-characterized. This is the next thing to a fade-to-black, very little spice but some explicit references to sex! Hall has penned a charming diversion, if a bit bulky in the middle.

*I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own*

Thank you to Alexis Hall, Random House, and NetGalley for the Mortal Follies Arc.

I really really wanted to like this book. I love fantasy elements, have heard good things about Alexis Hall, and was excited to read a book with a relationship between the two female leads. However, I was ultimately left wanting.

I think the biggest issue for me was the narrator. It COMPLETELY took me out of the moment and I wasn’t fond of reading about their intimate moments from a third perspective. It was something that kept bothering me throughout the entire book and unfortunately I just couldn’t forget about it or get used to it.

I might be in the minority with this as well, but some of the writing also felt very 2008 kitschy. This may work for some people and may be a selling point! For me it was not. It also seemed like there was a lot going on in the story with the element of fae, Greek gods, and others all mixed into the same story. It was a bit confusing.

However I do think that the chemistry between the two main characters was written VERY well. I enjoyed all of the side characters as well, they were very funny and I enjoyed whenever they had a bit of center stage.

Ultimately I think this book is good, just not for me.

Mortal Follies
Alexis Hall is one of my favorite writers!!!! I don't read historical romance. But if Alexis Hall is writing it, then I am reading it!

I am stealing word for word from my review of A Lady For A Duke. I received an ARC of Mortal Follies from NetGalley and the only issue with that is I can't highlight to my heart's content. Alexis Hall's writing is so highlightable! I guess I'll just have to buy a copy when it comes out!

Mortal Follies is Whimsical!!!!!! In one sentence, that is the book.

I love the narrator! Tremendous!

I absolutely adore in this book that someone being part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community is freely accepted with Miss Mitchelmore's family and friends. It's a historical book, but there is so much common sense added.

The dialogue is top notch as always! I found myself itching for that highlighter!!!!!

Miss Bickle is fantastic! Her sense of wonder is so great. And her theories are spectacular.

Whimsical!!!!!!

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

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great fantasy novel. I loved the cultural influence on this novel.

I will preface this review by saying that if you are a slow or distractable reader, then you may want to wait for the audiobook. The pacing is quite fast and, for me at least, it was a bit of a struggle for me to mentally keep pace which kept pulling me out of the story.

That said, this was an enjoyable book! It’s like Bridgerton + A Midsummer Night’s Dream + Boyfriend Material. My inner theatre kid loved that Puck (of Midsummer Night’s Dream fame) was the narrator. But it also gave a complicated element to the story: it’s technically a first-person perspective but the narrator is an observer of most of the action, not a participant, so along the way he’s having to constantly make excuses for his presence. “I was disguised as [this]… [Character] was being boring so I followed [Other] instead…” it got to be a bit overmuch at times. Most of Puck’s remarks add a layer of humor, certainly, but I do think it would have been an easier read to just have this book be told in third person. Bonus points for originality but if there are future books in this series, I would exclusively consume them as audiobooks. The snappy dialog and Puck’s narrative interjections should be read aloud.

The characters, both main and secondary, are very interesting and loveble. Miss Mitchelmore’s best friend, Miss Bickle, is a hilarious weirdo and definitely my favorite.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my neurotypical friends who are fast readers. I would recommend the audiobook to anyone else.