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hazel_oat's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
elliya's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Not my cup of tea. I didn’t find the narrator humorous at all — just contrived. Because of the limits of the narrator, the whole story felt stilted and we got almost zero character development. A fairly standard old/young, grumpy/sunshine — but not getting anyone’s genuine perspective or any emotional depth made the whole thing fall flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Blood and Murder
crossingtheratterlin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Misogyny, Transphobia, and Kidnapping
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
sommermeyer27's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia
blewballoon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I'm giving this a 3 because I can see how it could work for the right reader, but unfortunately it didn't work for me. The fairy narrator's commentary is mostly what ruined my reading experience. I didn't find it funny or enhancing to the story, and it broke my immersion constantly. I feel like I can understand what it was going for, but it missed the mark in my opinion and as I was reading I wished it had been cut entirely. Due to the narration, I felt very removed from the human characters in the story and it was harder to get invested in them or their plot, which is paced erratically. In addition to the pacing feeling off, I thought the romance did as well. I did not feel the chemistry, and I didn't want these women to be together. It's lamp-shaded in the text that the Duke is a Byronic broody character, but she came off as dry and cold to me rather than mysterious and deep. I don't know if maybe this just needed some more time and editing, or I wasn't in the mood, but I didn't have the good time reading this that I had wanted to. I listened to the audiobook at 1.6 speed, if I had been reading it myself I probably would have taken weeks to finish because I wasn't into it. Still a big fan of Alexis Hall and I'll definitely be reading more of their books, just not more of this series probably.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, and Death of parent
lbelow's review
4.0
It was a bit disconcerting to get to the halfway mark and have finished what I thought of as the plot, but the author managed to salvage the book in the end. I adored the whimsy of the tone and world building!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Murder
gbmillar2002's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The writing of this novel is lovely, the use of a sprite as a narrator and move alonger was perfect to keep the book along. Specifcally utilising the Bordem of the narrator to remove the boring plesentaries that often plague more historical books.
The romance aspect was also beautifully written; wherein the palpable chemistry between the two characters were fiery but not unnecessarily crude. Especially as an audiobook listener the dirty talk wasn’t cringy and vulgar but tantalising and engaging.
My only issue was how lady Georgina’s emotional withholding from maylis felt empty. Especially after the reveal that her house was cursed and therefore could never truly be with her, it fell very flat for myself. And therefore the last few chapters felt drawn out.
What I would really really LOVE is a book about the narrator, hearing about their court life and modern life and why their thrown out would be amazing
The romance aspect was also beautifully written; wherein the palpable chemistry between the two characters were fiery but not unnecessarily crude. Especially as an audiobook listener the dirty talk wasn’t cringy and vulgar but tantalising and engaging.
What I would really really LOVE is a book about the narrator, hearing about their court life and modern life and why their thrown out would be amazing
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder and Lesbophobia
rabblearouser's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Our world has been in dire need of a spritely, swoon-worthy sapphic romance– Alexis Hall has answered the call.
This journey into the fae-core romance space is an underrated, ambitious undertaking outfitted with a thoughtful and whimsical mosaic of fae & queer lore alike. As always, every character is intentionally crafted and delightful. Our love interests are a brooding Duke (f) who’s rumored to have wielded dark magic to commit grave crimes and a precious, flower-child damsel with terrible luck… or something like it. If you’re an ACOTAR stan who swooned at Azriel & Elain’s stolen moments but are impatient for Elain’s actual character development or perhaps just craving more of who she becomes when Azriel lends her some teeth (not to mention some queer characters who actually kiss), I might have a recommendation. Alexis Hall can’t help being charming and hilarious so there’s plenty of that, of course.
I imagine what puts people off is the unconventional narration. The point of view is not one of the main characters but, instead, a mischievous mythical creature who many of us first encountered when reading Midsummer Night’s Dream back in high school. Once you get past the initial novelty, this choice brings new life to some tired tropes and settings by filtering them through the scrutiny of an unimpressed and often peeved otherworldly perspective. I know it sounds odd but it works and, frankly, the book is all the better for it. Truly, what will always make a sapphic romance even more queer is an impish narrator rolling their eyes at lesbian nonsense, and perhaps, caring more than they’d care to admit by the end.
In a romance space where it can feel like we’re reading the same stories again and again, Mortal Follies is an eclectic and thoroughly queer love story that I’m proud to have on my shelf. Thank you to Alexis Hall for writing this and gifting it to the world.
This journey into the fae-core romance space is an underrated, ambitious undertaking outfitted with a thoughtful and whimsical mosaic of fae & queer lore alike. As always, every character is intentionally crafted and delightful. Our love interests are a brooding Duke (f) who’s rumored to have wielded dark magic to commit grave crimes and a precious, flower-child damsel with terrible luck… or something like it. If you’re an ACOTAR stan who swooned at Azriel & Elain’s stolen moments but are impatient for Elain’s actual character development or perhaps just craving more of who she becomes when Azriel lends her some teeth (not to mention some queer characters who actually kiss), I might have a recommendation. Alexis Hall can’t help being charming and hilarious so there’s plenty of that, of course.
I imagine what puts people off is the unconventional narration. The point of view is not one of the main characters but, instead, a mischievous mythical creature who many of us first encountered when reading Midsummer Night’s Dream back in high school. Once you get past the initial novelty, this choice brings new life to some tired tropes and settings by filtering them through the scrutiny of an unimpressed and often peeved otherworldly perspective. I know it sounds odd but it works and, frankly, the book is all the better for it. Truly, what will always make a sapphic romance even more queer is an impish narrator rolling their eyes at lesbian nonsense, and perhaps, caring more than they’d care to admit by the end.
In a romance space where it can feel like we’re reading the same stories again and again, Mortal Follies is an eclectic and thoroughly queer love story that I’m proud to have on my shelf. Thank you to Alexis Hall for writing this and gifting it to the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
immyx13_tv's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Death