Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

12 reviews

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

MORTAL FOLLIES is a story of curses and romance, narrated by a faerie intimated to be Robin/Puck of A Midsummer Night's Dream. While it is set in 1814, Puck seems to be telling the story from some time further in the future, possibly in the 21st century. Maelys seems to be cursed, and keeps running into a woman nicknamed "the Duke of Annadale" who is rumored to have murdered her own father and brothers. She's also rumored to know magic, and seems to be Maelys's only chance at getting rid of the curse (as long as she's not really the one who cast it). 

The romance was fun, and the stakes escalated appropriately. I liked the story but found Puck frustrating as a narrator. Because they are recalling these events from so far in the future, their interjections kept me from sinking completely into the 19th century setting. It seems like these may form some overarching story which moves between books, but it happened to hit upon a style I don't personally enjoy.

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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crossingtheratterlin's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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lbelow's review against another edition

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4.0

It was a bit disconcerting to get to the halfway mark and have finished what I thought of as the plot, but the author managed to salvage the book in the end. I adored the whimsy of the tone and world building! 

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briar_fawn's review

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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ctara2123's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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ramakn22's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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hrtlss_grl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This is such a weird romance but it suits me so perfectly. I really enjoyed the story itself and the blending of regency and fantasy, but honestly my favorite part was Puck. It's such a fun device that adds a lot of comedy and also watching them actually grow to care about them when they are supposed to be objective was really fun. I think without it some of the characters could be thin but since it's coming from a third person POV that doesn't really get humans it works. I had a lot of fun and would love to see more of this.

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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adventurous funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a fun addition to Alexis Hall's many, many books, but not my favorite of his, unfortunately. It was also an addition to his many historical books where homophobia simply doesn't exist (although misogyny and racism still do, which at the end of the day doesn't make logical sense when considering social theory, but I digress...)

I liked many things about this book: the narrator, the world-building, and Miss Bickle, but it felt like it dragged at many points and could have been a bit shorter. I also felt that Georgiana was a bit flat, so I could not always understand why Maesly was so obsessed with her; it felt very much like she fell for the first other lesbian she met, and I don't particularly like that type of trope; it feels very princess in the tower. 

As a note, this had the least sexual content of any of Hall's books, and I wonder if that was due to it being sapphic or being so plot-heavy.

I look forward to more in this series (I assume there will be due to the epilogue and because Hall rarely does solo books) as I love the narrator, and I want to know more about him ASAP!

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