I received an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In Mortal Follies, a mischievous narrator relates the tale of Maelys Mitchelmore, a young lady in 1814 high society in Bath, England, who discovers herself to be on the wrong end of a curse. She has wronged someone, and is now facing unraveling ball gowns, pastry turning to insects in her mouth, and worst of all—the gossip of the town. To free herself, she finds help in the Duke of Annadale, the nickname for Lady Georgiana Landrake after she supposedly murdered her father and brothers for their money and title. But the Duke and Maelys are attracted to each other, even as the curse and its ramifications grows in danger. Maelys is determined to both free herself and win the Duke’s heart, but if she isn’t careful, she might not be able to succeed in either.

Honestly, the best part of this book is the narrator, Robin, who is so wacky and unusual. Imagine Puck from Midsummer Night’s Dream, but a version of that character who’s able to transform into anything from an elderly beggar to a cloud of mist and shadow—whatever is necessary to observe the story. Seeing things with Robin’s commentary makes it pretty entertaining.

However, I found the protagonist Maelys to be kind of annoying. She’s a bit whiny, especially when it comes to pursuing the Duke of Annadale. That, combined with Duke’s deliberate emotional distance, made it very hard for me to care about their relationship. Even by the end, I didn’t buy it, or particularly care.

I did like Maelys’ friends, her cousin John and her best friend Lizzy Bickle. They’re really just there as comic relief, especially the latter, but I enjoyed the scenes featuring the three of them. Sometimes they’re a bit much—I doubt very much that real people have never talked like this—but they did at least contribute to the plot, and sometimes give me a break from being irked by Maelys and the Duke’s relationship.

I do also wish that the plot had been paced differently. The final quest felt like it didn’t take nearly enough time (kind of like in Lucky Red from a week or so ago), so the stakes didn’t really have enough time to feel big or urgent. Of course, that could have been because I wasn’t very invested.

In the end, Mortal Follies was somewhat disappointing. The narrator is fun, and the side characters are amusing, but the love story as well as the pace of the plot didn’t work for me. Perhaps if Maelys had been less pushy and entitled-sounding, and if the Duke had been less aloof, my reading experience would have been different, but as it is, I didn’t have the best time.

Mortal Follies is available now!