meaganleereads 's review for:

Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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I knew I’d eventually read a 5 star from Alexis Hall! Amazing voice, characters, story. 

Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall follows a secondary character from the book Mortal Follies, John Caesar, as he works to rescue his sister after she’s been abducted and cursed by a malicious fairy godmother. Along the way, John meets and receives help from Captain James, a soldier whose upbringing couldn’t be more different from the nobleman’s. Told in the point of view of a fairy who recounts tales of mortals, Confounding Oaths is a witty, adventure-filled romp through London in 1815.

Despite being mostly humorous, the novel still touches upon important societal issues. John and his sisters are half-Black, half-white and Mary, who is dark skinned, is shunned by suitors while her light skinned younger sister is fawned over. It also explores class - John is a nobleman and Captain James is working-class, which at times complicates the two men’s romance. There’s also some fun gender diversity - Sal, when dressed as a soldier, is referred to as “he” and out of uniform in a dress is referred to as “she.” 

I had so much fun listening to this on audio - Nneka Okoye is an amazing narrator with great comedic delivery. The characters truly came alive with her voice. Like with the first book, I was especially fond of Miss Bickle. This book actually worked better for me than Mortal Follies. While I enjoyed the first book, this one had stronger characters in my opinion. 

This and Mortal Follies are truly so underrated! I want to shout from the rooftops about how much fun they are. I don’t think Hall plans to write anymore in this world but if they did I would absolutely eat it up. I’m definitely going to be on the hunt for more historical fantasy novels!