Mortal Follies - Alexis Hall - ★

AUTHOR: Alexis Hall

GENRE: Historical Fantasy.

RATING: 1 star.

In a Nutshell: The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. 😢 This was potentially MY kind of book – a historical Sapphic romantic fantasy. But it didn’t click at all. Lacklustre in every way except for the stunning cover.

Story Synopsis:

1814. Miss Maelys Mitchelmore, a new entrant in the high society of Bath, discovers that she has been cursed. What starts as a minor irritant at public get-togethers becomes worse with time as she discovers that she cannot even leave the house without endangering herself or anyone in her group. She has already sought the assistance of her family, but she knows that to get the matter settled quickly, she should enlist the help of Lady Georgiana, who doesn’t come well recommended because of her murky past.

The story comes to us via the first person omniscient narration of Robin, a hobgoblin who has chosen to narrate to us Maelys’s misfortunes in the hopes of earning some rent money.

Bookish Yays:

😍 The cover.

😍 The representation, which shouldn’t be surprising considering the author.

😍 A couple of good quotes.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

😐 The omniscient narration by Robin – begins with the right mix of mischief and humour, but soon becomes tedious and repetitive. His personal remarks break the flow of the narrative. This point was especially disappointing because I had been thrilled at the thought of a hobgoblin narrating a human story.

😐 The “curse” – this plot idea was unusual for sure. But the resolution of this happens at the halfway mark itself and the rest seems like a convoluted way of extending the book.

Bookish Nays:

😢 The plot development – I still can’t understand how a premise with so much potential ended up as such a dud.

😢 The world-building – almost non-existent.

😢 The characters – monotonous. Everyone seemed to have only one role to play. The only one I came close to liking was Miss Bickle.

😢 The pace – Affected because of the narrator’s tendency to ramble and provide unrelated observations. The flow drags quite a bit in the second half.

😢 The length – I don’t mind reading 400+ pages, but give me 400+ pages of content, not clutter. The basic premise wouldn’t have required more than 200 pages; the rest was just filler.

😢 The secondary plot tracks – So many of them are introduced just for the heck of it, and many are left unresolved., Why were they even necessary in this novel? Especially when the narrator reminds us time and again that he is telling us the story of Miss Maelys, the rest of the arcs are irrelevant.

😢 The fantastical and mythological bits – Should have been the highlight but something was off in every unworldly plot point. It felt like the pieces from three separate jigsaw puzzles had been assembled into one hodgepodge picture.

😢 The frivolous use of cuss words. I don’t mind cuss words if they fit in with the character’s personality. In this book, not a single such word use was merited. Even a fantastical historical setup isn’t convincing when the leading ladies curse like sailors. Also, the phrase "that whiny prick Jesus" popping up in one character’s conversation. I'm all for humour and have even laughed at jokes on or about Christianity, when they are *in good faith*. But there's always a line of respect that shouldn't be crossed. To me, this phrase shattered the line.

😢 The humour – starts off well but soon seems forced. There’s ‘funny”, and there’s “trying hard to be funny.” This book, sadly, falls in the second category almost the entire way.

This book has so many elements I either love or like in fiction: historical, fantasy, same-sex romance, mystery, humour, and mythology. But they just didn’t come together harmoniously. Let me put it this way. If you gather all my favourite ingredients in a scrumptious dish but then burn it in the oven, you can’t expect me to relish the flavour just because the ingredients were great. The final product matters.

I hardly ever give out 1 stars. So when a book gets the minimal rating from me, you should know that it tested my patience in every sense of the word. This is only the second ARC ever that I'm rating a 1, and I hate doing this. But any higher rating would mean that I am lying about my experience. I had expected to blitz through this book in a day, given its premise. But I had to forced myself to continue it, and it is a minor miracle that I reached the finish line.

Sorry to the team behind the book and to the fans of the author, but this one gets a strong no from me. I can't recommend to anyone except those who wish to buy a physical copy as the cover art is so gorgeous to look at.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the DRC of “Mortal Follies”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Truly very sorry that this didn’t work out better.