Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
I didn’t see the purpose of the outside narrator, not enough backstory was given so I was just confused by their interjections and they often just took me out of the story. Generally it was moving a bit too slow, and while I did get a bit mildly interested once it became clear what the main plot/conflict was, it still was not attention keeping enough. The romance wasn’t really selling me either. Possibly on audio it might be a bit more interesting but I just wasn’t invested enough in the outcome of the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early eARC of Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall!

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite writers. I always enjoy the way he creates characters with such unique and strong personalities. You really cant help but bond with them as they are taken on whatever adventure Alexis has dreamt up for them.

Mortal Follies is built with the incredibly fun idea of having a hobgoblin as our narrator. It gives an outsiders perspective in to what is going on with the main characters and lets us feel as if we're watching it all play out through the narrator's eyes without having to be in any one specific characters head.

I really enjoyed the first half of the plot with Maelys dealing with her curse and trying to find who cursed her, why, and how to undo it. Her few encounters with Georgiana were perfect as we got to see and feel the tension between them as they interacted more and more.

Overall I think this book was a lot of fun with a slow burn but enjoyable romance between the two MCs. I do think some parts felt a little slow after about 2/3rds in but there was enough going on to look forward to that I didnt mind it at all. Another strong installment in Hall's catalog!

More like this book please! I mean, for me, I don’t know if you will like it. A lot of people who read it said it was weird. But weird is such a loaded word sometimes. Like, sure it’s weird but it’s my kind of weird!

The book is narrated by Puck, like the character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I am not a Shakespeare fan in particular, but I love Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is such a fun ensemble show. And Puck is obviously the best character. Puck tells us that he is living in our modern world, is on the outs with Oberon, and needs to make some money and is doing so by writing this story. There is a lot of him talking straight to you, the reader, just as he does in the play. If you’re not into this kind of narration, you’re not going to like this book. It’s what makes it weird. I thought it was hilarious. I loved it. I wish Puck narrated more books. Alexis Hall could write two of these types of books a year and I would devour them.

The story itself follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, who finds herself cursed. (I suppose it is also a weird part of the book that it’s a sort of magical realism / historical romance hybrid. But again, very much my kind of weird.) She is frequently helped by Lady Georgianna Landrake, also known as the Duke of Annadale, who may or may not be a witch and may or may not have murdered her father and two brothers with magic. Their love story is SO romantic.

A special thank you to Random House Publishing Group for the free copy of the ebook for review. This was the first story I have read by Alexis Hall.

I normally don’t rate Romance novels because I have a hard time calculating personal enjoyment alongside literary merit, but because this was a copy gifted for review I have decided on a rating. I usually equate three star ratings to books that I feel like others may love but I wasn’t that reader. Most books that I read fall into this rating.

I admit that the cover originally got my attention (there will never be enough pink books.) I definitely recommend this to fans of Bridgerton as marketed, but I also recommend this to fans of Amanda Quick’s Arcane Society, which I enjoyed reading several years ago. The time that it took me to read this is in no way a reflection of the story.

Love Alexis Halls books and was excited to read this one. Unfortunately I just don’t think it was for me. I found the narrator to be good at the beginning but way too present cutting in all the time to the point that you just can’t get into the book. Maybe I’m just not cut out for reading books with narrators who knows. The characters felt underwhelming and yet the book was soo long.

This is a historical fantasy and love story between two women but uses a framing narrator which is distracting from the story. Everything is narrated from a third person point of view who is literally following and watching the main characters. This regularly break scenes and keeps the reader detached from the characters. The first main plot is solved by 60% leaving a long period of nothing really happening before a second round of plot that is solved quickly. The plot pacing is very uneven. Finally, I have no idea why the MC likes the main love interest. This may be a result of the framing narrative, but I wish there was more time for building up that relationship and clear communication.

**ARC received with thanks from NetGalley**

Now my schooling did not involve deep study of Shakespeare, that prick from Stratford 😂, so I’m not a scholar of the source material Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, that did not diminish one bit my enjoyment of the story of Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, Lady Georgiana Landrake (aka the Duke of Annadale, for there is a distinct lack of male heirs in this line presently) and their assorted companions. I loved the balance between the world as I know it, and the magical realm of gods, fairies, magic and curses. I sometimes find an omniscient first person narrator a little unsettling, but here I was all invested in the puckish Robin, a gleefully mischievous fairy whose disdain of mortals and their follies is matched by the secret tenderness I’m convinced he lets at times slip through despite his protests to the contrary. The course of true love does not run smooth but is lined with obstacles, curses, one particular appalling human, surprisingly gruesome animal sacrifice and a dollop of pestilence. But also plenty of support, empathy, and the clever comedic beats we’ve come to expect from Alexis Hall. Mortal Follies is a book more towards the plotty end of the vibes—plot continuum but the central relationship is painted with nuance and feeling. The beauty of the prose peaked to me in Robin’s descriptions of the unfathomable world of magic, and I hope we get to hear more of his story in the coming book(s). I can’t wait for the next instalment. Oh, and do give the audiobook a listen. Nneka Okoye is simply exquisite in bringing this cast of characters to life 🧚‍♂️🐝🐦💨

While I generally enjoy historical novels or period pieces, this just had a little too much going on. I enjoyed the narrator and their uniquely chaotic POV, but sometimes it was hard to follow what was happening. Similarly, the character dialogue was also sometimes confusing. And the switch between using first names and last names would be difficult to keep track of who was talking to whom. The overall plot of the story was very simplistic. I am not sure how to explain it, but it didn’t really feel like a series of events that really needed a whole book. I did appreciate the wit and humor. I know that there are some hardcore Alexis Hall fans that would enjoy how chaotic this is, but personally it was hard for me to get into.

ARC provided by NetGalley

The start of this book was phenomenal! I was captivated by the story telling from the prologue alone. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I found the characters to be charming, hilarious, and all around well written. I highly recommend reading just for the narrator alone!

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

I really, really wanted to love this book, as it has so much going for it: Alexis Hall wrote it, and I have loved all the other books I've read by this author. The premise seemed fun and romantic and just a bit magical, all things I love. It's sapphic! THAT COVER, OHMYGOD. And for the most part, I did enjoy it, but there were parts that left me... unsatisfied.

Well I initially enjoyed and was intrigued by the fact that it was narrated by Robin/Puck, there were his little digressions and asides just took me right out of the story. It also seemed to go on a little longer than it should have?

But, overall, I liked the romance of it, and the tinge of magic with the historical was so fun. Also, if I don't get a sequel focused on Miss Bickle, I will be profoundly upset, as she was by far the best character. All in all, it was a nicely entertaining story, with some good laughs.

Mortal Follies is exactly what you'd expect from any Alexis Hall Novel!
His humor and heart are ever present in this is fresh & delightful sapphic whimsical tale! The characters and scenes felt so lifelike and vividly described!
And Puck as the narrator?!?! Pure genius!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I was not a huge fan of Boyfriend Material from the same author but enjoyed the conceit of this one where the narrator is Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream to please his lord Oberon. Seeing what I thought would be the biggest plot point (who cursed Miss Mitchelmore) be resolved halfway through was refreshing to go a different way with the ending. The whimsy of having Puck narrate and tell the audience more about the world of the fairies made this a much more interesting book for me. This definitely stands out from the pack for me. 3.5 stars

In a regency England full of magic, fae, and old gods, Maelys has been cursed. She and her friends must figure out how to break the curse before it's too late. I enjoyed the story overall, but my favorite part was having Puck be the narrator. I thought it was very fun and allowed a lot of context of the world's mythology to be added through his perspective on Maely's story.

I liked the narration at the beginning but it started to get more and more difficult to separate from the actual story. I liked the characters too but the story was just really hard to follow and I was super confused. I would give this another try at another time but I don’t think it’s for me right now.

I love Alexis Hall! I always find myself reading their books no matter what it is about and usually I have a good time.

This one I went in feeling neutral, that this would be good, but not blow me away and I was pretty much right about that.
I enjoyed the narrator and how they were telling me a story. I felt like there were so many funny moments and I loved the sapphic romance things. As the story went on though I was losing the plot, it felt like I was reading on vibes only.

Alexis Hall gives good vibes so even if I don't care about the plot I still love the vibes.

This was a quirky fantasy type regency romance as told by the perspective of a witty hobgoblin. It was very heavy on the humor and romance development but light on the actual story. There were essentially two events that our protagonist, Miss Mitchelmore had to navigate - being cursed and then dealing with her love interest’s curse. The characters were interesting and fun to read, but ultimately I felt the novel lacked in fullness. 2 stars.

Review based on an Uncorrected Digital Proof provided by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley. Thank you!

This was really fun! It's a sapphic historical fantasy. Personally I'm not a big fan of historicals, so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as some people would. However I really loved the humor in it, each character had their own fun personality and the romance was super cute. I did not really like the narrator I felt it took away from the story, but other than that this was a fun read, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

First I would like to thank the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have read a few of Alexis Hall’s books and I was excited to see her newest release available on NetGalley. This is the story of two women in a time where people do not have a high opinion of them and if you do not fall within that expectation you are cast out and looked upon as a witch.

What I loved
- Narrator, I really enjoyed having a third-party storyteller who not only kept the story going but also added additional “flavor”
- Strong Women, there are a lot of characters in this story and so many of them are strong women. They stand up for themselves, what they want and everyone else be damned
- Magic, there are a lot of different types of “magic” that is explored in this story and additional bonus throwing stones at the traditional church system 😉

I had high hopes for this book but something about it really did not resonate with me. I think all of the pieces were there but it did drag in some points and there were plenty of points in the book where I wanted to throttle the main characters. Without spoiling things I can’t really say much else but this book literally put me to sleep at times. Now if you are one that likes a longer story with great magic references wittiness and a great LGBTQIA romance I would absolutely encourage you to give this book a try!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a galley in exchange for an honest review.

I like the book. The setting is fun and nicely developed. The characters are neat. The concept is cool. That is, the concept of the main character being cursed and trying to track down the person who laid the curse. That was fun. Except the story is only kind of about that. It's about curses and romance. Which is fine but I really assumed the balance would be a little more even. For me, the pace of the book suffers from that unevenness.

Three stars.

If you have been dreaming of a crossover between Bridgerton and A Midsummer Night’s Dream all centered around a sapphic relationship, Alex Hall has you covered in Mortal Follies.

I enjoyed the narration, but it was very stylized as it was told from the perspective of Puck (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and had magical elements that defined the plot and story progression. Now I personally have no problem with a fun deus ex machina moment or two, but it did get to the point where even I was giggling at the ridiculous nature of the plot progression at parts.

Hall does an amazing job of telling diverse and inclusive stories whiles exploring queer emotions and relationships in a realistic and nuanced way. And of course, where Hall always gets me is with the supporting characters, from witches to parents I would read a book starring every last one of the wonderful cast that was playing support to Miss Maelys Mitchelmore. Her relationship with her friends and family was everything I wanted and more, and as always I left this book with a silly smile on my face.