A review by blewballoon
Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

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.
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