Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

39 reviews

musebeliever's review against another edition

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3.0

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ramakn22's review

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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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betweentheshelves's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Not my favorite of Alexis Hall's books, but this was still a fun time! I enjoyed the overall format of the book, and the inclusion of the fantasy/magical elements along with the romance. If you enjoy authors like Freya Marske, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

The romance at the core of this story definitely takes center stage, and I loved how it evolved throughout the book around all of these different curses and such. The pacing of the book does get a little weird by the end, but since we have a narrator telling us this story, she actually acknowledges that. Which I actually found to be fun! 

If you like historical fantasy romance, this is definitely the book for you. Plus, it has an absolutely gorgeous cover!
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emmy_award's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

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ladythana's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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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luvkdr's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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readthesparrow's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • 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

REVIEW

Before we begin, I must invoke the Muses–I call upon Thalia, and Erato, and, of course, my girl Calliope. I beg you, sing; grant me the patience (and the caffeine) to get through writing this review without being too much of a joyless critic.

Let’s begin with the positives. 

The setting is fun, if a bit sparse on the worldbuilding. It’s a very modernized (though in a self-aware way), romanticized version of 1812 Bath/London, where the gods of yore and faeries in tales are very much real, though largely not too much of a deal. The primary inspirations for Mortal Follies seem to stem from Shakespeare plays and Roman myth, with the two primary mythological figures being a Puck-ish narrator and a minor goddess local to Bath.

Prose-wise, the style is lighthearted and a bit flowery in a lively, frolicking way. The story is told in the first person from the point of view of a fae narrator, who primarily follows Miss Mitchelmore, with the occasional diversion to trail Lady Landrake or a side character. 

The characters are good, primarily because they have snappy, witty dialogue and personalities that play well off one another. My favorite, likely surprising no one, is an extremely niche side trans character who gets two-ish scenes and is the coolest character in the whole novel. Tabitha (human Tabitha, not muse Tabitha) rules and it’s a crime she didn’t get more page time.

With that, we must unfortunately pivot into the more negative of my thoughts. 

Setting was too modern at times. There’s a whole conversation about ‘tinging,’ a term coined by Miss Mitchelmore’s best friend, Miss Bickle, which is defined as her desire to see two characters–or two people–end up together. What's in a name? That which we call shipping by any other name would still be completely anachronistic in a Regency era setting, even if we call it something different. I believe it was supposed to be amusing, but it was not. It was eye-roll inducing.

There’s also the issue of swear words. I’m a great proponent of the word ‘fuck;’ it’s fun, but felt out of place in Mortal Follies, especially as it got to be used so liberally. (Yes, I’m well aware the word has been around for ages–this is a Tiffany Problem sort of issue.)

'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.

Now for my biggest issue: the narrator. In the prologue, Mortal Follies is framed as a novel written by a now-mortal fae, Robin, (who, within the lore, is actually also Alexis Hall, and maybe also Puck?). Due to a quarrel with Oberon, they have to make a living by writing books.

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.

While Robin does follow the characters to whom the most interesting things are happening, they do not, in my opinion, follow the most interesting characters. Outside of her misfortune, Miss Mitchelmore is, quite frankly, boring, and so is Lady Georgiana Landrake (if to a slightly lesser extent). The side characters--such as Mr. Caesar, a gay man of color, and Tabitha, a trans woman and priestess--are so much more interesting. My favorite moments in the book were Mr. Caesar's visit to Serena's, a sort of gay gentlemen's club/salon/coffee house, and his subsequent visit to Tabitha, because those scenes explored what it meant to be queer in the novel's world in a really interesting, nuanced, genuine way, something completely lacking from the rest of the book, which overall came off as quite saccharine and shallow in comparison. 

Anyway. Speaking of queerness and our leading ladies: their romance may be slow, but it does not burn. It barely sparked. I couldn’t give two hoots about their relationship and, quite frankly, do not ‘ting’ them. Especially since I'm not much of a fan of the age gap; Mitchelmore is 19, while Landrake is 24. Not the biggest age gap there is (especially in the context of a Regency era romance rather than a contemporary romance), but it's enough of a difference for me to get a little icked out. Probably couldn’t identify much of a real personality trait for either of them. There’s lots of dialogue between them that’s good but is also clearly designed to be ‘shippable,’ if that makes sense, rather than creating any real, deep, or interesting bond between them. They barely know each other, and I barely know them, either. Quite frankly, I don't really care to.

I had a fun enough time with the first half
(which focused on solving the mystery of Miss Mitchelmore’s curse).
The second half
(which sort of? focused on the romance and on Lady Landrake's backstory, which ended up being, in my opinion, boring)
felt disconnected, dragged in pace, and fell flat. An astounding accomplishment, considering it contains
an Orpheus-and-Eurydice mini-retelling.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The folklore/mythological elements and side characters, though far more interesting, were not the focus and thus did not compensate for the irritating, intrusive narrator and unengaging romance. While I’m sure others would like the humor, I don’t go for the type of quirky fandom-y humor often used. The second half dragged. And, in my humble opinion, the book had no business being over 400 pages in the first place.

Ultimately, this book just didn’t click with me. Maybe you’ll like Mortal Follies if you love Regency era romances and are itching for a sapphic one, but I’m not chomping at the bit to recommend it.

I’m not usually a romance reader, though, so it may be a matter of taste.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley. If you are interested in Mortal Follies, you can find more information from the publishers. If possible, support indie bookshops by purchasing the novel from your local brick and mortar or from Bookshop.org.

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jencolumb0's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • 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

This is a bit darker of a tale than I am used to from Hall, and without the more intense periods of emotional struggle/growth endured by the main characters (so more on par with Something Fabulous). Nonetheless, Hall carries it off in their typical hallmarks of deliciously layered tales, classical references, delightful subversion, and deft honesty. It’s also not the typical kissing book with magic, by any stretch of the imagination, but well worth exploring. 
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yourbookishbff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Steam level: 🌶

This book set out to do too much, and I think it suffered for it.

Rather than being told in first person POV from the main characters, the first person narrator is Puck (although he is referred to by different names) from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The way he tells the story is amusing—at first. After a while, I found that the things he inserted felt like repetitions, and it added nothing new to the story. In fact, it made me feel even more removed from the main characters, which is an interesting choice in a romance, because it led to me not being emotionally invested.

I also think the romance was more of a subplot than the actual focus, and the least interesting part of the book. Instead, the plot surrounding Maelys's curse is much more compelling. I was expecting the focus to be on the romance once that part of the story was resolved, but what happened instead is that the second half dealt with Georgiana's backstory. An interesting plot in its own right, but the book ended up doing too much by including it. I also think it led to a feeling of "same old" in the way it was executed. 
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