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emmy_award's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Transphobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Racism
ladythana's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Classism and Blood
Minor: Racism, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Transphobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, and Body horror
readthesparrow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
'Fuck' also just feels a bit… uninspired, in this context. I’d much prefer some more interesting, funny, or clever ways of swearing or referring to intercourse than just using ‘fuck.’ Like, come on! The narrative is drawing, at least partially, from Shakespeare. Have at least a little fun with it.
Robin is obnoxious. While their humor is, I admit, sometimes clever, it often isn’t. Their humor--and thus, the novel's--relies too much on the whole quirky “wow being a human is sucks, what do you mean you have to pay rent, you can’t turn into mist? that’s soooo silly” gimmick. I cannot stand it.
They also constantly insert themself into the narrative in a way that wore out my welcome as soon as it came through the door. I'm fairly certain this is to set up later books, as I believe this is going to be a series.
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia
hrtlss_grl's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Misogyny, Blood, Animal death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, and Stalking
turtledonut's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Murder, Death of parent, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, and Death
aileron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Gore, and Medical content
Minor: Slavery, Terminal illness, Classism, and Racism
brontesauruses's review
- 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
4.0
Ok, so before I start the actual review: please take a minute to look at the cover. It's so pink, I love it. 💕
Did you look at it? Ok good.
As for the book itself, it's so much fun. It's queer and silly and told in a way that I ended up really enjoying. Our omniscient narrator is a character in their own right: Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow aka Stanley Tucci* in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)), who has been kicked out by Oberon, and now has to find a way to, you know, pay for food. The tone is very chatty. At times it felt like the chattiness was at the expense of pushing the story along, and it took me a couple chapters to get into it (it might even have been worse towards the beginning), but in the end I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if it had been told differently.
If
Idk that I have any readalikes per se, but I do think that if you like Emily Wilde you might like this one (and vice versa). Very different flavors of Faerie Nonsense, but yeah. Divine Rivals also maybe.
One quick bit of content warning: the Old Gods are still there causing problems, so there are three whole animal sacrifices in this one, each one more...well-described than the last. Lots of blood.
Also, there was a bit of virulent transphobia that was immediately challenged by the narrative and one of the main characters. OOF, though. Very jarring.
*I'm sure the audiobook narrator is very good, but as I was reading, I couldn't help wishing that they'd gotten my man Stanley in on this.
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Medical content, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Slavery
analenegrace's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Misogyny, Cursing, Classism, Sexual content, and Racism
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
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
Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, and Sexual violence
purplepenning's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Mortal Follies is narrated by Puck / Robin Goodfellow (of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" fame) with lots of nods, winks, and digs about Shakespeare and Shakespearean faerie chaos. It follows the misadventures Miss Maeylis Mitchelmore, a young society darling who has had the mysterious misfortune of being cursed by a goddess. Miss Mitchelmore, to her friends' mixed reaction of dismay and delight, turns to the alluring society outcast, Lady Georgianna Landrake (the "Duke of Annadale"), for advice, protection, and what comfort a brooding heiress who is also a possible witch and murderer may give a stricken innocent with hidden strength and spirit.
This should've all worked for me, but alas — I found the main relationship to be somewhat tedious. The pacing and character development didn't work for me and there was entirely too much brooding and badgering for my taste. But I did love the whole idea of this book, enjoyed the heck out of the narrator's perspective, and am happy that Alexis Hall just keeps writing whatever they want and I keep reading it.
Check the content notes — there are some surprisingly brutal sacrifice scenes (old gods, you know), some inner LGBTQ transphobic nonsense, and a little murder and debilitating disease.
Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Transphobia, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Grief, Racism, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Terminal illness