I really enjoyed this alternative regency fantasy romance novel by one of the most fantastic authors writing in romance right now, Alexis Hall. Seriously, I don’t think there is anyone else writing such varied romances right now. Hall’s romances are bold and incredibly witty and Mortal Follis is no different.

Maelys just wants to attend parties like a normal young lady, but she has somehow become cursed. Her friends think it’s the mysterious Lady Georgianna because she keeps saving her from each bizarre incident and over time, the two fall in love. Yes this is an FF romance people!!! This is very much a queer normative world and I loved every second of it. Aside from our main couple there are LGBT supporting characters as well and they’re written so exquisitely!

Another bonus is the story is narrated by a fairy witnessing all this and transforms themselves into everything from animals to insects and they were such an entertaining narrator.

Highly recommend this book for anyone looking for queer, whimsical historical romances!

These may be conflicting thoughts..
I loved the narrator of this book! I thought it was a fun/funny way for the story to be told! But, I also think the downfall of this romance was that it wasn't told from 1st person. I needed more emotions from both parties to be invested.
The plot was also almost completely lost on me by the end.
I love, love, love Alexis Hall's writing style which will keep me coming back, but this was not my favorite of his by far.

A whimsical, magical romance that sometimes dragged on and other times moved very quickly.

I really liked the narration style and LOVED Miss Bickle’s personality. She was truly the best comedic relief.

I thought that the resolution of the curse on Maelys around the 50% mark to be a bit odd but the continuing storyline with the Duke of Annandale made it a bit better. Overall I was expecting a bit of spice but the narration style didn’t match with a spicy book.

I loved the idea of this book, a young lady is cursed in mysterious way and her 2 bffs (one goofy one serious) help her solve the case and try to stop her/help her fall in love with a dangerous lady, fairies and gods and polite society etc etc. and the whole thing being narrated by Puck, a mischievous sprite, sounds like a dream come true. But actually, it was just meh. The first half I found fun and engaging and exciting but the second half fell totally flat. I didn’t care about the plot and I didn’t care about the couple at all.

Lots of fun fairy lore and I loved Miss Bickle from start to end but this was hard for me to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!!

Alexis Hall does it again in this charming historical fiction about a young woman and her friends trying to get rid of a curse that was put on her. They have to consort with witches, goblins and Goddesses to find out who and why she was targeted, and how to save herself.

I loved the characters in this book so much, starting with the narrator. He was entertaining, and I thought his side comments and the whole premise of who he actually was, was very well executed. The young woman, Maelys was well written and I liked her character development. The standout character in this book was Lizzie. I loved every scene she was in, and I laughed out loud at some of her lines.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. The only critique is that it feels a bit drawn out at the end. I would have liked to see more scenes with Lady Georgiana and Maelys exploring their attractiveness with each other. I did love the way their relationship developed, and I just wanted more of the two of them together.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall is a great novel! I really enjoyed the writing especially.since it was greatly written.

*Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing a preview copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall was a pleasant read overall, pulling me into this story of a cursed Regency era noblewoman entering society but also discovering that she may be attracted to women. Our protagonist, Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is a lovely ingenue who finds strength, with the help of friends and family to face both the goddess Sulis Minerva and the object of her affection Lady Georgianna.

The characters in this book are absolutely wonderful, and I would very much enjoy reading spin-off tales of most of them. Miss Mitchelmore’s best friend Miss Bickle may be my favorite character in the book, being absolutely ridiculous and delightful. She reminded me of Ivy in Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate, but in a far more endearing way. Mr. Caesar was a good (not) straight man, trying to remind his friends of society mores, while giving in and supporting Miss Mitchelmore completely using all of his connections in the process. Maelys’s parents are amusing researchers and scientists, who fully support their daughter however she chooses to be or not be in society. I suspect that the side characters of Miss Tabitha and Sweet Maggie could easily fill a volume each with stories of their lives and adventures. And Lady Georgianna… she is covered far too well in this book to get a second, but I enjoy her wit, barb, and underlying care too much to not mention her once more.

The book is not without one main detractor though: With a nod to Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream, the entire story is narrated by Robin, a troublesome creature of another world. For the first few chapters, this narration style made me debate whether to keep reading at all. I am glad I did, and I came to even feel a bit of fondness towards Robin. However, I did find that this style dropped me out of the flow of the story, particularly during a few …heated scenes, which I found a bit frustrating.

Additionally, the book feels like two in one. I got to what felt like the end of the story and was surprised to find myself only at 50%. In one way, this quirk makes the book feel like a bargain, to not have to buy a second book for the rest of the story. However, it may be something to be aware of going into the book that where you may expect a denouement, you instead find the story picking back up. I still feel a bit thrown by the pacing.

Overall, though, I am glad to have spent the time with this cast of characters. They were pleasant company in my week, and I would gladly enjoy reading more of the others should they demand their own stories.

This is the classic "I'm cursed and I don't know why" story, but make it sapphic. We love.

I really liked the narrator for this book but the actual plotline fell a little flat for me. I'd definitely read more with this narrator, though. And Miss Bickle has a large portion of my heart. She's so weird and wonderful.

Overall, I will always try out a new Alexis Hall read, even when it's not really within my typical style.

What a cleverly written adventure! Highly entertaining, loved the main and side characters equally, wonderful supernatural aspects. This book will be featured on a future episode of Your Rainbow Reads podcast.

This is an abstract twist on the Bridgerton we’ve all become obsessed with or at least heard of. Our author here centers the drama around a curse and we’re thrown into a world of magic playing a role just as important. Our narrator Puck the Hobgoblin describes every thing in such a gloriously charming way. He has you laughing and and looking forward to every time he interrupts the story to give us a little crumb or morsel of gossip. We’re taken through several little hijinks with our main characters, who happen to be enduringly sassy and adventurous. In a time and place you wouldn’t suspect, the author takes us on the best sapphic fueled ride of love and romance. I think where this fell short was the different parts of our story not blending as smoothly as I would have liked. What you think is the end of the main plot line fizzles off a bit and you’re still left with tons left over.

A fun sapphic tale in a fairytale setting, this was a mystery with 3 entertaining “sleuths”. Our narrator is an observer and an occasional trouble maker on the outside of the action. They were funny and mischievous and kept me laughing. This book was a great blend of romance, fantasy, mystery and laughs.

I love halls writing. I couldn't get enough of this and read it in 2 sittings. I love her characters and her plot and im ready for the next one.

I will read everything Alexis Hall ever writes. Per usual, this book was packed with plenty of heart and humor. I really enjoy Alexis branching out into other romance genres, as I’m not one to typically read books with fantasy elements, but I really enjoyed this.

I ended up with mixed feelings about Mortal Follies. Most books of this size take me only a few days to get through, but this one took me a few weeks.

Pros: For the most part, I enjoyed the major storyline of this book, just seemed to struggle to get through it. I did enjoy trying to guess who cursed Miss Mitchelmore, and will admit I only figured it out when it was too late, as did she. I also enjoyed Miss Bickle’s character during the final conflict resolution.

Cons: I feel as if there were multiple parts of the book that weren’t entirely necessary to the storyline. If the book were instead written from Miss Mitchelmore’s perspective, I think it would have read quicker and smoother than with the added narration from Robin. The storyline for the first half was a bit slow moving, and then the second half of the book proceeded to give me whiplash from all of the new conflicts and resolutions. The two halves almost felt as if they could have been two separate books.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Release Date: June 6, 2023

2.5/3 stars

The cover art is beautiful and had me immediately wanting to pick up the book.

The prologue was interesting and set up the witness of the book moving forward. The magical elements and the world having me wanting for more but never gave it to the reader.

Some of the characters were witty and interesting but the romance felt detached reading it from a third party’s POV. I felt like I didn’t really truly connect to the characters and the romance to even care near the end.

The ending left me with questions and felt rush which is unfortunate since I normally enjoy Alexis Hall’s other books.

Thank you for NetGalley and Del Rey for letting me read and review this ARC.

I hardly know what else to say other than - THE NARRATOR. So funny, so delightful, so snarky. Just the right amount of presence. Completely satisfying.

Also it's sapphic! Some of the most delightful/least angsty "coming out/coming in" realizations that I've seen in awhile. Charming. Extremely fade-to-black content.

4.5 rounded up

3.5/5

I was immediately drawn to this book because 1. Alexis Hall is amazing and 2. this cover is so beautiful!! If sapphic Bridgerton with a narrator that far outwits Lady Whistledown sounds interesting to you, I definitely recommend!

I’ll start with my “meh” thoughts - The romance itself wasn’t really amazing. I was never rooting for the main couple as much as a wanted to. There were also some issues with pacing. The first half of the book was very captivating, but once the “mystery” aspect is solved, the second half moved very slowly and the plot wasn’t very engaging.

Now for my good thoughts! I absolutely loved the narrator! Robin was hilarious and I loved having a third party narrate the entire book and provide witty commentary. Also, the entire book in general was so funny and entertaining that it kept me engaged even when the plot slowed down.

Alexis Hall is a superb writer and Mortal Follies definitely showed a new side of his writing that I really enjoyed! Although it wasn’t my favorite romance, I would be very interested in more books set in this same universe.

While I hold an overall dear opinion of this book, my biggest problem lies in the narrator, which composes a pretty bulky portion of the tale. I did not like the narrator, nor the narration style. I thought the world and plot and many of the characters were interesting and vivid and vibrant, but the narration deeply unseated me throughout.

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did.

It reminded me of period piece romances but with an added bit of mystery. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I’m definitely here for the representation. However, I did find the narrator to be more of a distraction. Some parts of the story become almost laughable and it’s hard to connect to the characters through a third party.

Overall I did enjoy the plot enough that I won’t dock the rating for it. But it’s something to keep in mind before reading! I thought the book was pretty good and I’ll probably be adding it to my shelves because the cover is beautiful.

This book was so good!!!! I didn’t know much going in and was so surprised by it. Alexis Hall can do no wrong.