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A review by idesofjaim
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is my first foray into Alexis Hall's work so I went in without any expectations. I picked this out on Libby as a Pride month read and was drawn in by the artwork, which is stunning.
I feel just fine about this book. It was a fun listen, but not an exceptionally memorable story. The main romance didn't make sense to me; I ultimately could not tell you why Maelys and Georgianna came together other than proximity and convenience (well, other than Mae likely having a sort of "I can fix her" view of Georgianna). I also don't know Georgianna's motivation to help Maelys, other than her own experiences with a curse. The spice was... just fine. I've read better. And while I know that "f***" is not an unheard of word for the time period, Georgianna forcing Mae to say it didn't do anything for me. Maybe that's a personal thing; I do personally love the wordplay used in books set in the Regency era to mask the direct meaning of "yeah I wanna tap that."
The reveal of the one who cursed Maelys was also a bit anti-climactic, and it felt as though there should have been more drama around why that person was motivated to do it. After the reveal, it felt like the interactions Mae had with other individuals in society were meant to hint at a more convoluted plot against her, which unfortunately was not the case.
Overall, I think there were plenty of things laid out in the plot that could have flourished into something greater but were not used to their full potential. Which is odd, considering the length of this book; it's not as if there wasn't space to do it. While I did like Robin, the hobgoblin narrator, I do agree with others that a romance novel was not benefited by them being there. And you're either going to love or hate Miss Bickle. She grew on me, I won't lie.
I feel just fine about this book. It was a fun listen, but not an exceptionally memorable story. The main romance didn't make sense to me; I ultimately could not tell you why Maelys and Georgianna came together other than proximity and convenience (well, other than Mae likely having a sort of "I can fix her" view of Georgianna). I also don't know Georgianna's motivation to help Maelys, other than her own experiences with a curse. The spice was... just fine. I've read better. And while I know that "f***" is not an unheard of word for the time period, Georgianna forcing Mae to say it didn't do anything for me. Maybe that's a personal thing; I do personally love the wordplay used in books set in the Regency era to mask the direct meaning of "yeah I wanna tap that."
The reveal of the one who cursed Maelys was also a bit anti-climactic, and it felt as though there should have been more drama around why that person was motivated to do it. After the reveal, it felt like the interactions Mae had with other individuals in society were meant to hint at a more convoluted plot against her, which unfortunately was not the case.
Overall, I think there were plenty of things laid out in the plot that could have flourished into something greater but were not used to their full potential. Which is odd, considering the length of this book; it's not as if there wasn't space to do it. While I did like Robin, the hobgoblin narrator, I do agree with others that a romance novel was not benefited by them being there. And you're either going to love or hate Miss Bickle. She grew on me, I won't lie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder