A review by just_one_more_paige
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
I believe I'm on a journey to slowly read through all of Alexis Hall's books - or at the very least all the ones that I can get access to through my US-based library system. I'd been looking forward to this one since pre-publication (that cover!, the witchy-fae vibes, the sapphic historical - regency, victorian, idk? - romance...all in all, yes please). 
 
When suspiciously magical and not particularly enviable things start happening to Maelys Mitchelmore, like a dress unravelling as she's wearing it to an evening party and dessert turning to maggots in her mouth, her best friend, Miss Bickle, suggests that perhaps the cause is...supernatural. With very few alternate explanations, and no direct experience dealing with curses themselves, they turn to "less desirable" persons for help. In particular, the Duke of Annadale (the Lady Georgianna), reputed to be a witch because her family all died quickly and conveniently left her heir to a very large fortune. But as the women work together to find out more and break the curse on Miss Mitchelmore, they find out that perhaps the Duke of Annadale is unfairly accused. And in the process of facing down terrible magic and angered deities and all manner of other not-fit-for-ladies situations, Maelys and Georgianna must also face down their own feelings for each other. 
 
If I'm being honest, this was a *little bit* of a mixed bag for me. First, the good stuff. Starting with the Prologue, and rolling all the way through the Acknowledgements and Author Bio, this is absolutely and without a doubt the most uniquely narrated book I’ve ever read. Robin, our disgraced and exiled hobgoblin narrator, was straight up hilarious and observationally sarcastic, but in a fantastically unreal/magical sort of perspective. Hall really took his normal (high quality) smart, sarcastic writing tone and stepped it up to an 11 here. #iykyk  If I'm being honest, it was a lot. Like if you start reading this and the narration isn't for you, go ahead and stop. It doesn't let up. Personally, I thought it was great; the perfect type of eccentric. Plus, the combination of Hall's normal phenomenal banter, added to the pomp and properness of the historical language, made for fantastic dialogue all the way through. I also loved the creativity in all the forms the Robin takes while staying on the trail of this unfolding and dramatic story of love and magic and revenge: dust mites, candle flames, smoke wisps, mouse, a bird, etc. That was one of my favorite little details. 
 
My biggest issue, and really the primary (and possibly only) reason for my lukewarm-ish response, is that I just never really bought into the relationship between Maelys and Georgianna. And to head off any misinterpretation, no, it is not because it was more "fade to black" than I would have liked nor because of the more straight-laced-ness of the time period it's set in. Hall met (and exceeded) my expectations on both those fronts with A Lady for a Duke. I just never really got invested in them ending up together. I think there's a chance it was related to the narrator, who (as I've said) was entertaining AF, but that style of story-telling kept the characters themselves at a bit of a distance from the reader, so I never got as emotionally invested in the outcome as I would have wanted. Also, and this is more of a me thing, the vibes from both were not really my style. I was much more here for Miss Bickle, tbh. The whimsicality and flightiness of her character is one of my favorite kinds to read. It's just so light and fun, which is perfect for what this novel was. And I do love that that same trait of loving the magical and fairy tale-based, that was generally just tolerated like one would for a child, ended up being instrumental to the HEA...don’t knock something just because it isn’t immediately important to you! 
 
But anyways, the point I was making is that the adventure and curse-breaking and general entertainment level of this novel were great, but the romance, a fairly central aspect, never grabbed me. I think I would have been happier with a general tale of historical, slightly off-kilter (by societal standards), leading ladies taking on those magical adventures and melodramatic curse-breaking. Take from that what you will. But, just know that I still stan Hall's writing and recommend this one if it sounds like your vibes.  
 
 
“I have a fondness for scenes of mortal misadventure, especially those that befall preposterously…” 
 
“…I’ve always found strangers rather fascinating. They have such a wonderful habit of turning out to be beautiful, unexpected, deadly things.” 
 
“I suppose that depends on what you think a witch to be. It might be better to say that I have needed, over the years, to learn a number of things about the world that other people seldom need to learn.” 
 
“Gods are, in many ways, like sharks and, in many more ways, like cats. They are drawn to blood, and love to toy with the wounded.” 
 
“…for her own part, was rather less sure. But it was, she was finding, a sweet unsureness. An uncertainty grounded in the hope of better, rather than the fear of worse. And that, she allowed herself to believe, made it worth pursuing.” 
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