Mortal Follies is a Sapphic regency fantasy narrated by an omniscient fae. Although it starts off light, the story gave me Dangerous Liaisons vibes.

Young, naive Miss Mitchelmore is cursed at a ball. She hides in the garden and is saved by Lady Georgiana, Duke of Annadale, who has been shunned by society on suspicion of killing her father and older brothers to inherit the Dukedom. Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke spark an unexpected friendship, and maybe more. But will the curse ruin all?

I am not a Shakespeare head, so I'm sure many references and allusions went right over mine. I dislike characters who directly address the audience, and this book is narrated by just such a one. He was supposed to be comic relief, but I didn't find him funny, and disliked whenever he interrupted the narrative.

While the story is billed as an historical romance, there was a tone of malice and cruelty running throughout. The initial curse is harsh, and things become more perilous and violent from there.

I did like Miss Mitchelmore's friends and family. I'm always in favor of more friends for everyone in books.

This book was not for me, but I'm glad Alexis Hall is expanding their repertoire and writing as they choose.

this was so fun!!! i have never been captured in by the first sentence like i was with this book. it was absolutely hilarious and i wish all books were written in this style so that i can just escape into a little fairytale and forget about real life. but alas, i cannot. but i can recommend that you, gentle reader, read this incredible sapphic historical romance so you can learn the vocabulary of the book and we can start talking like this forever ✨ okay? cool. glad we’re in agreement 🫶🏻

*4.5 stars. I adored this book so much! The whimsy, the characters, the humor, I loved it all. The slow build of the romance was so good and I couldn't put it down. I do wish this book was either shorter or split into two novellas due to the two separate plot lines that occur. As soon as one plot ends, we go onto the next. It was still an amazing read and one I would highly recommend.

Mortal Follies was such a fun read with all the whimsy I couldn’t have even known to ask for. The narrator being pretty ominous to the main characters was a wonderful change of pace to read and enjoy. You wanted to root for the characters the entirety of the book! This is definitely a recommended book for anyone who wants a regency wlw romance with a lot of magical flare.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook!

3.25

Sapphic historical fantasy narrated by a snarky omniscient hobgoblin, this book had so much promise. I liked Robin, the aforementioned snarky hobgoblin, but all of the characters felt very one dimensional to me. I find that with Alexis Hall, many of his characters, especially side characters, often feel relegated to their singular quirk, and the humor he uses in his writing can be very hit or miss for me.

I also had a hard time buying into the relationship between Maelys and the Duke of Annadale, so when the answer to who cursed Maelys was resolved I struggled to keep focus for the rest of the book. Unfortunately that was like half of the book, so while I enjoyed the first half, I found the rest lacking. The pace dragged once the curse was broken and then the resolution of the second act conflict took like 2 pages, which was too quick for me.

I think this would really work for some readers, and it is far from my least favorite Alexis Hall story; however, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t love it the way I wanted to. That being said, I can see why it would work better for other readers.

I made it about halfway through before I had to stop, and I ended up skimming to the end. I just didn't like the way the story was told, even though the characters were interesting.

The concept of this book is captivating. I was expecting a Bridgerton-esque sapphic romance with scandal and magic. However, 77 pages into this book, I just couldn't continue on. I just couldn't get into the plot or the romance between the main characters. The mystery of finding out who cursed the main character was so boring to follow and I felt myself no longer interested in finishing the story. My favorite part about this book is the narrator. I found their voice to be witty and provides more entertainment to the story. The story could benefit from less mystery and more world-building about the magic system and the fairies.

Has the Alexis Hall wicked sense of humor
I think this is the first book I’ve read where the narrator is a character, although a bit confused in the first chapter it was quickly righted. Regency, curses, romance all good things that make a good book great.

I was so excited to read this book but I just can’t do it. The over blown prose (I’m not sure if it was supposed to be in jest) just made it painful. It moved too slowly but too fast all at once. I love a good lgbtqia+ romance but this missed for me

Mortal Follies is a regency era romance narrated by our friend Robin Goodfellow (aka Puck) from a Midsummer's Night Dream. The narration style could be a bit tricky at times (although I did enjoy the narrator's commentary and had some laugh out loud moments). I love Alexis Hall's writing - but for some reason I personally had a hard time staying completely engaged with this book. It started out with a lot of intrigue and mystery but somehow the plot got a bit off center during the way. By far my favorite character was Miss Bickle (our heroine's best friend) and I would certainly enjoy a book about her and one of her adventures! I am a huge fan of Alexis Hall and I will always look forward to his books. Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House Publishing for an advance copy of Mortal Follies in exchange for an honest review.

magical, regency era grumpy x sunshine sapphics are my favorite 💐

This book was very cute and very fun. At first, I wasn’t a fan of the narration style, but it grew on me about halfway through and I think it actually added more whimsy to the story! And the pining? The saucy scenes? Lizzie, in general?? Perfection.

Really the only thing that irked me was the conversations between the leading ladies about why they couldn’t be together was a bit repetitive.

Overall, I would love more stories in this universe!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for this arc 💘

“Lord, what fools these mortals be.”

Mortal Follies is a delightful combination of historical fiction and mythology, told through the eyes of a mischievous pixie you may recognize from another tale. Although if you had asked them they would say they didn’t get nearly enough credit for the story they provided to Mr. Shakespeare.

Robin is drawn to interesting mortals and everything is telling him Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is going to do interesting things. Like finding herself magically half naked in a garden during a ball only to be saved by the scandalous Lady Georgiana, more commonly known by the Ton as The Duke and Annadale, suspected of being a witch and a murderer. Realizing she has been cursed by the Goddess of Bath, Maelys and her friends, with the reluctant help of “The Duke,” begin a search for the person responsible.

Along the way Maelys realizes her connection with the mysterious Lady Georgiana is stronger than anything she has felt for the gentlemen of the Ton, and if she can survive her curse maybe can convince the Lady to explore it.

I feel like this book is going to be very controversial, mostly because of the formatting. Personally, I really liked it. It did take me a few chapters to get used to the 3rd party narrator, but once I did Puck’s commentary had me laughing and served to move the plot along quickly. The main ladies had great chemistry, however my favorite character was Ms. Bickle. She is the best friend everyone deserved and her obsession with all things fantastical really saved them all.

I kept finding myself wishing this story was about Miss Bickle. 3.5 ⭐️

Follow young Miss Mitchelmore as she discovers that being out in society in Bath may prove more challenging, and perhaps life threatening, than a young lady my expect. With the help of her sensible and skeptical cousin, Mr Caesar, and her whimsical-to-a-fault best friend, Miss Bickle, Miss Mitchelmore finds herself deeper into a hidden world of curses and intrigue that hadn’t asked for. Is the culprit the mysteriously wicked “Duke of Annadale” as Mr. Caesar is convinced or is this woman on society’s fringe truly out to help as Miss Mitchelmore argues?

I enjoyed this read overall. It took me a bit getting used to having a narrator, but once I did, I quite enjoyed it in comparison to the typical perspective the books I read are told from. I found it to be a Gina and clever, despite obvious, way to navigate some the plot that either needed further explaining or was left unexplained (the end).

I found the book to be split into two distinct halves that felt a bit separated to me - almost like I was reading two novellas in a series versus one book - which occurred toward the middle when we learn the source of the curse and the continued sapphic love interest and it’s continued hardships. I wish the whole story felt a bit more cohesive, but I found both halves interesting after adjusting to the divide.

But what I really loved from this story and what left me wanting more was Miss Lysistrata Bickle. I wholeheartedly found myself wishing this was a book about her. She was written with such whimsy and knowledge mistaken for aloofness by the other characters and I found myself always wishing for her to keep saying more.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this novel.

DNFed at 30% because I can’t follow it. The narrator is a third party - not the main characters. And the narration is completely batty and full of tangents. I feel like someone wrote this while on mushrooms.

It somehow amazes me that Alexis Hall can write stories that are as captivating and moving as A Lady for a Duke but then also write books like Glitterland which are riddled with problematic moments. Mortal Follies lands somewhere in the middle for me in terms of his books. It was just too damn long. Too fucking long. I actually made it about a third of the way through and realized I had no idea what was happening, ended up taking a break from it for about a week and then restarted the audiobook and finished in one day because I knew that was the only way I was going to get through it. I think that there's just too much going on and there's too many characters. The second quarter of this book is the best part. The last quarter is unnecessary altogether. The romance was a little bit clunky for me and honestly felt unnecessary even though I love a good sapphic romance. And then even though this book was so drawn out, the ending was rushed. I don't understand how that happened and I cannot explain it but this one just wasn't it for me.

this was a great novel. i loved the vibes and atmosphere. it made me feel like i was in the book the whole time.

Not sure if i want to give 2.5 or 3 stars because im still mixed about how much i enjoyed this book. It was interesting to say the least. I'm generally a fan of Alexis Hall's book, but this one left me a feeling a little mixed. I have liked other historical romance books with a touch of magic, but the magic is this was kind of all over the place because it had so many sources: old gods, fae, witches. I'm honestly not sure if some of those overlapped. And the narrator, was sometimes very amusing and interesting, and sometimes I found it a frustrating way to get the story across. The purely victorian romance parts, great. The mc and love interest were lovely and I wish their story was less magically convoluted, for their sake and mine.

Romance Alexis Hall is back, this time with a sapphic story told by a well-known yet unnamed Fairy and follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore who has been cursed and is subsequently having a rough time out in society. With the help of the unsavory and undesirable Lady Georgiana Landrake. Lady Georgiana is known as the “Duke of Annadale” and is rumored to have murdered her family. With her reputation (and her heart) at stake, Maelys must find out who cursed her and how to lift it.

I loved this book! I’ve given very few books 5 stars this year, but this is among them. This book has the traditional romance format, but with ladies and fairies. It’s hilarious, and I loved the narration. I very much enjoyed the characters and didn’t always see the twists coming. I definitely want to read it again and will buy a copy to mark up. If you’re looking for a sapphic, historical romcom, put this on your tbr.

Having not been too familiar with Mid Summer's Night Dream as other readers are, I feel I may have been at a disadvantage reading this book.

The story felt a little like a fever dream set in regency England, peppered with goddesses and fae and magic. It did feel like two distinct acts, with the first half of the book focused on one goal, and the second half on another.

The characters felt pretty shallow, which surprised me for an Alexis Hall book. But the story was mostly plot-driven, so it worked.

It was entertaining enough, with our characters finding themselves in various predicaments, but I do find that the lack of character depth kept me from being emotionally invested, so I didn't care too much about what happened to them.

Ok. Don’t get me wrong I liked the book. However, something seemed a bit off about it. There’s a detachment there, like I couldn’t immerse myself into the characters. The fairy held my attention the entire time, she stole the show.

I’m guessing that wasn’t the author’s intention, but that’s what happened. They other characters just faded into the background as we heard their stories through her observations. In the end my relationship with those characters were mundane at best.

3/5 stars