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terranstorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First, the batty best friend toed the line a bit too close to irredeemably annoying. Second, the Viscount was so obviously guilty from the start that the characters lost a lot of my faith when they were casting about like “golly, but who else could it be?!” Between those issues, several times I had to put the book down or skip ahead a paragraph because I was just irritated instead of fondly amused.
And mostly? The Pacing. Was. Off. The whole second half, if I’m being honest. I kept feeling bored when a little too much tension had leaked out while waiting for the next interesting thing to happen. Our Puck-like narrator occasionally commenting on feeling bored by mortals’ silly little lives honestly didn’t help the effect? In the end it was a choppy read for me, at times delightful and more often tedious.
Oh, but Maelys’ delightfully nerdy parents were a highlight, and Mr. Caesar’s queer friend set, and everything about the lady Duke being domme-y, moody and withdrawn (“Byronic,” HA). Still a lot of really good bits in here even if it didn’t hang together for me.
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Terminal illness
growintogardens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Blood
kay_w'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? It's complicated
3.75
I loved the whole concept and execution of the narrator. Without it I don’t think I would’ve have enjoyed the book as much.
I’m very keen to read more of Alexis Hall’s books.
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
chase0w0's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Slavery, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
artstitute's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Transphobia, and Death of parent
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: Blood and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation
jencolumb0's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Stalking and Death of parent
Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, Excrement, Colonisation, and Classism
Given that this book is about confronting a lack of agency and aggressively claiming space and happiness that the patriarchy denies, a number of these difficult topics are challenged. There’s also a bit about food turning to maggots in someone’s mouth that is not for the squeamish.wishbea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I initially found Mr. Caesar and Miss Bickle quite irritating, Mr. Caesar is solely there to mistrust the Duke of Annadale and Miss Bickle was mostly very naive, however by the end of the book I cared more for Miss Bickle than Miss Mitchelmore.
The pacing was off, the main plotline is solved halfway through the book and the plot meanders around a bit and we don't get to see enough of the main relationship blossoming or even learn enough about their personalities to get invested in them. I enjoyed how Miss Bickle is so key to solving the final puzzle of the story because of her unique way of thinking, it really endeared me to her character. However the ending of the book does fall flat.
I also got the impression that we were exploring an alternate regency England because of clothing made by fairies and humans openly discussing fairy-made clothes, open worship of pagan gods, naiads, the overt presence of a Goddess, witches and magic. The world was too obviously magical for me to accept this story takes place in regency England.
I will also note, as others have, that Medusa became a monster by Athena's hand and not Apollo's. You'd really think the author, editor or publisher would pick up on something so easy to fact check.
Graphic: Animal death, Terminal illness, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
displacedcactus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
In the case of Mortal Follies, my issues with the book can be summed up in three points:
1. It's incredibly slow-paced and repetitive, and could have been tightened up by about 20-30%.
2. It wants to be light-hearted but also involves sacrificing animals to old gods.
3. Having Robin Goodfellow narrate the story from a distance would be GREAT in a short story or novella! He's an entertaining narrator! But having him narrate a full-length (slightly over-long) romance novel was a poor choice, IMHO, because he puts a real distance between the reader and the main characters. We never truly know what they are thinking or feeling, which makes it hard to buy the romance.
Btw, this distance also extends to the love scenes. Very low spice level here.
It does get points for depicting the fae folk in a way more in line with traditional lore than with the current genre tropes of smexy faeries.
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Blood
alyxinthestars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Murder