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A review by displacedcactus
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- 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
I don't know why I keep reading Alexis Hall books! I always love the idea of them, but inevitably there's something lacking in the execution, something different each time. I think I have to concede that he's a perfectly good author, but just not right for me.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Sexual content, and Terminal illness