[ARC Review] Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into high society hindered by an irritating curse. It begins innocuously enough with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening at a high-profile ball, a scandal she narrowly manages to escape.
However, as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, Miss Mitchelmore must seek out aid, even if that means mixing with undesirable company. And there are few less desirable than Lady Georgiana Landrake—a brooding, alluring young woman sardonically nicknamed “the Duke of Annadale”—who may or may not have murdered her own father and brothers to inherit their fortune. If one is to believe the gossip, she might be some kind of malign enchantress. Then again, a malign enchantress might be exactly what Miss Mitchelmore needs.
With the Duke’s help, Miss Mitchelmore delves into a world of angry gods and vindictive magic, keen to unmask the perpetrator of these otherworldly attacks. But Miss Mitchelmore’s reputation is not the only thing at risk in spending time with her new ally. For the reputed witch has her own secrets that may prove dangerous to Miss Mitchelmore’s heart—not to mention her life.
My thoughts: I don't know how Alexis Hall always manages to hit it out of the park with book after book, different genre after different genre, but I devoured Mortal Follies much like any and all of Hall's previous books. This story managed to be unique while not using unique elements, and brought back one of my favorite writing gimmicks: the narrator as independent character.
I loved that the whole story of Mae and Georgiana was told from a third person perspective - quite literally, since the perspective was coming from an unnamed, third character who had enough wit and sarcasm and additions to fuel the entire story. He was comic relief, stirred up trouble, and weighed in on the plot in ways no human character could. I loved reading about Mae's interactions with her friends, but my favorite character, by far, is the narrator.
Mortal Follies beautifully blended two of my favorite genres, and I loved this version of 1800s England where fairies and gods ran amuck, much to every humans knowledge, fear, and amusement. However, and unfortunately, one of my least favorite characters just so happened to be Mae's love interest, which caused me to repeatedly lose interest in the romance storyline. Had I been reading this story solely for the romance, I might not have finished it; there was just not enough chemistry between the two and too much protesting from Georgiana for me to fully be invested in their love story. Luckily, I felt that Mae's continuous issues with the deities far outshined her romantic entanglements and that kept me engaged with the story until the very end.
Overall, Mortal Follies was another hit from Alexis Hall. Sapphic in nature, this romance/fantasy definitely came across stronger on the fantastical, and less so on the romantic. But with entertaining characters, dialogue, and shenanigans from the narrator, this one was well worth the read.
[A huge thank you to Del Rey for providing a review copy of Mortal Follies. All opinions are my own.]
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Release date: 6/6/23
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: NetGalley
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