With curses to be broken, and lovers to be won, and the best, silliest of friends, this fairytale was by turns passionate and humorous and perilous—in other words, immensely enjoyable throughout.

And I have to say, I liked our wry, mischievous narrator very, very much.

Imagine, if you will,, that it's England Times but there's magic and old gods and spirits and whatnot. Now imagine that you are a famed sprite (Robin Goodfellow) telling the tale of one cursed Miss Maelys (which I cannot help but pronounce Malice, though I am surely wrong) Mitchelmore and one possibily murderous Lady Georgiana, the Duke of Annadale.

I found this fairly charming. There is definitely a part 1 of the book (in which Maelys is cursed and must get uncursed) and a part 2 of the book. I found the pacing faltered toward the start of part two, where there wasn't much in the way of external conflict. This picked up toward the end as [REDACTED] occured.

This pacing, and my preference for part two to have been better set up (though I may have missed it) are what bring this down to four stars.

I'm very curious to see if Robin will be narrating any future stories...

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wasn’t intending for this to be an airplane read, but life got crazy and it just ended up that way.

I truly had every intent of reading Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall before its publication date a few days ago, but I only ended up getting around to it yesterday. This book is a sapphic romance with a sprinkling of fantasy and thriller elements set in the early 1800s and narrated by Puck/Robin from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare. There is honestly just so much happening in this book. It primarily follows Ms. Mitchelmore as she and two of her friends, as well as the enigma “the Duke of Annadale”, get swept into a plot containing a curse and the vengeful patron goddess of Bath.

Overall, the narration was kind of fun and I enjoyed the references to other tales interspersed throughout. My main thing was that I thought the pacing was a bit weird. There are 2 (kind of) climaxes in this book, and because of that, it felt like I could have been reading 2 separate books, especially since I thought the first climax was more exciting. It made the book feel unnecessarily long at times. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the sexy scenes in this book. They weren’t quite fade to black, but little to know information was given, so it just made them underwhelming. All that being said, this was a light and fun read and is perfectly fine for when you’ve got time to kill and can read a whole book in one sitting.

3.5 stars for this sapphic love story!

Alexis Hall has written some of my all time favorite books but this one fell a bit flat for me.

The overall story was great! I loved the premise, the magic, the slight whimsical feel to it all with an added layer of mystery! So well done and kept me intrigued.

My issue lies with some pacing problems.. one of the big concerns in this book wrapped up surprisingly quickly leaving the second half of the book a little slower than the first. The redemptive aspect of the second half being that it gives us a bit more room for the relationship to come around. Romance wise this was a slower burn and that aspect was great- I love a good slow burn and by the time our MCs got together I was begging for it! 🔥

My biggest complaint was the narrative style. In the end I applaud Alexis for doing something fun and the narrator definitely added to the whimsy and magic of the story, but they also removed me from the flow of the story on many occasions and in the end I found the constant thought streaming a bit on the annoying side.

Overall, 3.5 stars rounding down to 3 feels right. I enjoyed it, I’m so thankful for the ARC, but I also don’t know that I’ll be racing to the store to buy it.

📚New Book Review📚

Mortal Follies
Alexis Hall
Del Rey Publishing. Random House
Publication day: 6 June 2023

From the narrator to the main character, Maely, all the way through to the side characters, this book is such a hilarious, romantic, fantasy story. I loved how the fantasy aspect of witches, other worldly beings, and even things like curses are completely accepted in the Regency England of this novel.

Marketed as a Sapphic regency romance, Hall's newest work really ticked all the boxes for me.

The narrator is hilarious with quips from modern times (read it and you will see why) yet the language doesn't detour from the setting of the story so much that it becomes annoying or distracting.
The writing is well done. The setting is described in wonderful detail, and this doesn't stop with the just setting. The actions throughout the plot are also described in a way that pulls the reader into the story almost as if they too are in a shadow or a fly on the wall like the narrator.
I loved Maely, her best friend, her love interest, her cousin, all the parents, truly I really enjoyed every part of this book.

If you love historical romance, fantasy, humor, and mild spice then this book is for you.

Thank you #netgalley and #delreybooks for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

I don't know how Alexis Hall always manages to hit it out of the park with book after book, different genre after different genre, but I devoured Mortal Follies much like any and all of Hall's previous books. This story managed to be unique while not using unique elements, and brought back one of my favorite writing gimmicks: the narrator as independent character.

I loved that the whole story of Mae and Georgiana was told from a third person perspective - quite literally, since the perspective was coming from an unnamed, third character who had enough wit and sarcasm and additions to fuel the entire story. He was comic relief, stirred up trouble, and weighed in on the plot in ways no human character could. I loved reading about Mae's interactions with her friends, but my favorite character, by far, is the narrator.

Mortal Follies beautifully blended two of my favorite genres, and I loved this version of 1800s England where fairies and gods ran amuck, much to every humans knowledge, fear, and amusement. However, and unfortunately, one of my least favorite characters just so happened to be Mae's love interest, which caused me to repeatedly lose interest in the romance storyline. Had I been reading this story solely for the romance, I might not have finished it; there was just not enough chemistry between the two and too much protesting from Georgiana for me to fully be invested in their love story. Luckily, I felt that Mae's continuous issues with the deities far outshined her romantic entanglements and that kept me engaged with the story until the very end.

Overall, Mortal Follies was another hit from Alexis Hall. Sapphic in nature, this romance/fantasy definitely came across stronger on the fantastical, and less so on the romantic. But with entertaining characters, dialogue, and shenanigans from the narrator, this one was well worth the read.

Another funny historical from Alexis Hall loosely based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. A noblewoman-Lady Maelys Mitchelmore- is cursed by some unknown entity. She connects with alleged witch Lady Georgiana Landrake -The Duke of Annadale. She is accused of killing her family to inherit their riches, and someone is out to assassinate her. They have to deal with sorcerers and angry deities to break their curses. I thought the narrator Robin/Puck was a little crazy and I wasn't sure I could believe his memory of events. He is a jester after all.

Hall always makes inclusivity a central theme in a world that follows the norms of the time. I loved Miss Bickle and Mr. Casear as they are helpful (not really) to Mae and the Duke against the goddess. There's homophobia, racism, and inhumane treatment by the gods. I'd also recommend Something Spectacular by the same author.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
-A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 1 Scene 1

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I give my honest review voluntarily, and all opinions are mine alone. **

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of the book, a queer, Victorian/Shakespeareian story. However due to the fact the story was told from a completely different character's POV, it was hard to connect with The Duke or Miss Mitchelmore.

This book has a very unique narrator and whether or not you like Puck will probably determine how much you like the book. While I liked him at first, his narration got a bit distracting. Because Puck is so removed from and often ambivalent towards the main characters, I too felt ambivalent towards them and didn't get as invested in the plot and romance as I would've liked. And I really did want to love this as a fan of Alexis Hall and sapphic historical romances in general.

Miss Mitchelmore must navigate both polite society and the magic woven into it. Unfortunately, she finds herself cursed and must seek the help of the mysterious woman nicknamed the Duke of Annadale. There will be banter, flirting, kidnappings, and deals with the gods before this unique book comes to its end.

After greatly enjoying Boyfriend Material, I was excited to try Mortal Follies. This story has a nice mix of vibes from Bridgerton and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the year 1814. Background into the Shakespeare material does aid in understanding the novel quicker, but I don’t believe it is necessary to enjoy it. The story follows Miss Maelys Michelmore who needs to break her own curse. To break it, she seeks out Lady Georgianna Landrake, also known as the “Duke of Annadale” and has rumors swirling that she murdered her family to gain the inheritance. Along for the journey is Mr. John Caesar, the cousin of Maelys, and her best friend, Miss Lysistrata “Lizzie” Bickle. While the journey happens for the main character, the narrator for the story is told by a faerie.

The story opens with the introduction of the narrator, Robin “Puck” Goodfellow where the magical world is set-up. As the narrator “collects” the story, the reader learns about the characters and plot. With the hobgoblin narrating the story, there are opinions and tangents inserted into the story, which can be distracting. A romance develops between Mae and Georgianna, which felt natural, however, with a narrator telling the love story, it was a little difficult to fully connect as the reader doesn’t get into the innermost thoughts and feelings of the couple. The couple shared a nice connection and banter, but I do miss that connection. This element will be very reader dependent as some may love the outsider looking in perspective while others may want more “inside knowledge.”

The set-up is interesting as the main conflict at the beginning seems to be the curse, but then about halfway through it expands to something more. For me, the first part was easier to connect to than the second part. While I leaned towards four stars for the first, I was going with more along with three for the last, so I averaged it out with the final thoughts. I read this story in ebook form, but I think it would make a fantastic audiobook as I can imagine a great narrator adding another engaging layer to the story. I loved the representation of the story as it was not only a f/f romance for the main couple, but Hall dived deeper into the spectrum of each character. It was a great inclusion and added something unique to the story that I don’t usually read in other LGBTQIA+ stories. Overall, this was an amazing concept, but I think I would have loved the two plots to be split into two sub novels. This is just my preference, though, and I encourage others to read it for themselves. Since I continue to enjoy Hall’s work, I look forward to reading more in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Del Rey, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Out now [Thank you so much the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Narrated by the hobgoblin Robin (better known for Shakespeare fans as Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream), MORTAL FOLLIES is the 1814-set story of a young woman cursed by a goddess and the suspected murderess who may be her best ally or her greatest downfall.

I’m obsessed with the narration and framing of this one, which is slightly bizarre (in the best way) and takes a bit to fully get into—but once it clicks it is, to my mind, absolutely brilliant. I also loved all the characters—especially the headstrong Miss Mitchelmore, the brooding and Byronic Lady Georgiana, the delightfully hilarious and deceptively ingenuous Miss Bickle, and Miss Mitchelmore’s loving-if-slightly-oblivious parents.

I did find the plot a bit predictable and slightly thin—I expected more of a mystery element from the synopsis and ultimately didn’t find it particularly mysterious. But, read as an almost-Shakespearean period comedy with fantastical and dramatic elements? Top notch. If you’re up for a book that’s slightly weird but totally captivating, go pick this one up.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: historical fantasy; A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM; sapphic romance

CW: Injury/violence/mentions of death; mentions of sexual assault; homophobia and transphobia

A big thank you to Alexie Hall, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Mortals Follies is out and ready to read!!

I have been a fan of Alexis Hall for a while now and his new queer take on Midsummer Night's Dream did not disappoint! This book had slow-burn romance, humor and such good writing. Both Maely and Georgiana were enjoyable and relatable characters, I absolutely loved Maely's friends Lizzie and John. I do think it was a little slow in the beginning but once you get like two thirds of the way in I couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a sapphic romance full of humor and heart I highly suggest Mortal Follies.

“Just kiss me and see if you feel anything.”

This, Miss Mitchelmore was quite certain, was not how it worked. “I’m not kissing you, Lizzie.”

“Is it my bosom?” Miss Bickle adjusted her gown, then readjusted it. “I sometimes suspect that I have an inadequate bosom.”

“No. I think it might be more to do with the fact that I once saw you eat a live slug.”

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, a lady that has entered high society with the hindrance of a frustrating curse. In order to determine how to break said curse, she requires the help of Lady Georgianna Landrake, an “enchantress” thought to have murdered quite a few family members. But Miss Mitchelmore learns there may be far more concerning issues she must face besides ruining her reputation, like whether or not the reason she keeps turning suitors away is solely because they are men and what exactly that mean.

Oh, how lovely!! As someone that is an avid Alexis Hall fan, this one was just as charming as their other books. Also, very excited for another sapphic entry as we enter pride month! Add in the old gods and magic and what isn’t there to love? I also was able to listen to the audiobook for part of this and Nneka Okoye is a perfect choice for this! She has such a lovely voice and it reminded me of the Locked Tomb books with some of the voices she used for characters. I could listen to her talk all day!

Characters - 8/10
Of all the characters, I truly love our narrator the most. They will pull you out of an intense moment with a ridiculous comment and I love it. Although, we cannot let them know that, as it would surely go to their head. I also absolutely adoorrreee Miss Bickle!! She’s such a fun, uplifting presence in a dreary and dangerous world! Her intrigue for the supernatural is so unexpected, but really adds to her character.

I find Maelys to be one of those characters that just does not listen! Which makes her quite an interesting contrast to Georgianna. Their little tiffs are quite enjoyable. I must admit, Georgianna’s dom personality is quite fitting and also definitely kept me interested in their relationship (of sorts).

Atmosphere - 8/10

Writing - 9/10
Charming! Hilarious! Gripping! Alexis is good at crafting an enchanting and seductive environment with his writing. The reader will be jumping from laughter to blushing with very little than the turn of a page.

Plot - 8/10
This novel is broken up into two parts. First, we try to uncover the mystery of who has cursed Miss Mitchelmore. Second, we learn how Miss Landrake, the “Duke of Annadale”, has come into her name and how her family met their demise. I think I prefer the first half to the second, but they are both chock full of hilarity and chaos.

Intrigue - 8/10
Logic/World Building - 7/10
Enjoyment - 8/10

Overall, I would give this a 8/10 or a 4/5 stars.

Make sure to check the trigger warnings on this one!

This has such a fun voice with a Puckish type character narrating the story of this young woman who seems to be cursed by one of the gods. It's her regency style journey to figure out who cursed her and which god to ask for help. She meets the Duke of Annadale who is the only surviving member of her family, which makes her next in line or so they call her. She's Byronic and everyone thinks she offed her family but she's still invited to all the parties. Miss Mitchelmore is quite fascinated with her.
Such a unique story with the fantastical and the silent nudges and overt shoves by these ancient beings. All the while these two are trying to have a relationship but not agreeing on how since it's not traditional.
Um Ms Bickle made me guffaw throughout. She's ridiculous like me lol.

Thank you randomhouse for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

This book has been hard to follow. The storyline seems a bit disjointed at times, picking up in the middle of something that has happened before the book started with little to no context. I'm half way through and plan on finishing even if it takes some time. The world it takes place in seems rushed in creation.

Mortal Follies is an enjoyable novel with the unique feature of being narrated by hobgoblin Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck's distinctive, arch voice adds an extra layer of entertainment to the story. I fear the publisher has done the book a disservice by touting it as romantasy, however; the romance is more of a subplot here, and "romantasy" implies a high level of spice that this book lacks. This mismarketing is likely to disappoint readers when they realize the book is not the genre they were promised. This is unfair to the book, which is very good when taken on its own merits. Because of the blurb, I did go into this expecting a romance and I most enjoyed the parts of the book (especially towards the beginning) where this aspect was prominent.

I will say that the book has one of the prettiest covers I've ever seen, though. It will no doubt inspire many to pick this book up even if they've never heard of Alexis Hall!

I wanted to love this but sadly I couldn’t get into it mainly because of the writing style. The author used a narrator that was external to the story and that made it very hard for me to follow the story and connect to the characters. I felt like I was missing very important internal dialogue especially from the main character.

Also the world building needed to be more fleshed out especially in the first few chapters. I understand that you can’t info dump too much, but here it felt almost like it was a second book in a series.

I am very sad because it had all the elements of something I would love, but I just didn’t vibe with how it was written.

Period romances are not normally my thing, but I couldn't resist when I saw that it was 1) written by Alexis Hall and 2) it was a riff on A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favorite Shakespearean plays!

I started out listening to this, and while I couldn't put my finger on it, I couldn't get my brain and ear to focus long enough to figure out what was going on. I ended up reading along and it still took me a couple more tries before my brain was able to figure out who the different characters were and how they were connected to each other. I think part of it is that as brilliant a device as it is to make Robin/Puck the omniscient narrator for this story, it kept the characters at a distance from us readers, especially because Robin would mention how disconnected they were from humans and their foibles. But the narration in combination with the structure of the story made it hard to hold my interest. So, I eventually gave up and just read the book on my own.

And it was so much better that way! I was about a third of the way when the cow entered the story and I couldn't stop laughing. There were other ridiculous moments as well and I just ended up having a lot of fun with this. It was also fun for them to figure out the solution to the first curse, only to end up with a second curse, which led to the impossible task. It was amusing to me that Robin ends up telling us after the first curse ends that they had the feeling the story wasn't quite ended. It all just felt very Shakespearean to me. And the narrator really grew on me. Eventually, Robin's sly comments had me laughing out loud, garnering amused looks from bystanders.

I really liked the main characters, Maelys and Georgiana (the "Duke of Annadale"), and that both had interesting backgrounds. Maelys' parents were anything but conventional, but it worked for them, while Georgiana's family was awful and their sudden deaths within a short span made her suspect in society, even if she couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it. I also liked that while there was clearly something between them, neither of them jumped in like it was love at first sight-their relationship was definitely a slow burn. Maelys' friends Lizzie and John were hysterical, and I loved that Lizzie seemed to be completely flighty, and yet, she was wise in the ways that mattered, and more importantly, she absolutely had Maelys' best interests at heart, every single time.

So despite this being a period romance of sorts (yeah, this stuff would never fly in real period romances), and that I had to listen to the first few chapters several times, I'm glad I persisted, because I ended up really enjoying it and the ending was quite satisfying. I guess I need to read A Lady for a Duke next!

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

A lady in 1814 had to contend with propriety and balls, in addition to the fairies and wizards in the land. Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is cursed, causing her dress to unravel at her first ball. It goes all downhill from there, forcing her to seek help from Lady Georgiana Landrak, who is nicknamed the Duke of Annadale and is rumored to have murdered her father and brothers to inherit. Miss Mitchelmore is desperate for help with her curse, and the Duke is rumored to be a witch as well. But the Duke has secrets of her own, and they could be dangerous for Miss Mitchelmore.

Narrated by Puck himself, the story begins with the unraveling dress catching his attention. His voice is fantastic by the way, and he makes tons of fun asides all throughout the book. He follows as a shadow or animals as Maelys tried to figure out what was going on with the help of friends and family. This puts her in close proximity with Georgiana, as well as those her cousin and best friend try to figure out are the culprits. It's kind of hilarious watching them all play detective while maintaining social civility in Bath, visiting witches and non-conforming people. Maelys figures out she actually likes women and not men in talking with her friends and what her fascination with Georgiana really is. The two are attracted to each other, but Georgiana tries to push Maelys away. Even figuring out who cursed Maelys isn't necessarily the end of things, as the two must determine what their relationship is, and Maelys isn't the only one that is cursed.

I loved the mix of magic, fae, and Regency romance, as well as the casual acceptance that Maelys has around her. No one really cares that she is falling for a woman outside the fact that society won't allow them to marry. They only want to make sure she's certain of what she wants, and that she doesn't want to eventually marry. The sheer love in the book is clear, and carries through between all the characters and their comedy of manners, even with Puck's sarcastic asides and commentary on humanity. I really enjoyed the mix of styles as well as the way they moved around London and polite society.

The book was good and so was the writing but I found the second hand POV of the narrator to be odd. Also felt the book was too long at times. Some side stories were unnecessary.