Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

12 reviews

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A delightful adventure of two young women's love, in a magical version of regency England that's full of witches and fairies and old gods and magic. I sometimes have trouble getting into sapphic romances but this one was a quick easy read that grabbed me right away. The narrative framing was great.

The whodunnit that we start with seemed very obvious, but then it turned out to not be the real focus of the story, so I was more okay with it having been obvious. The rest of the story was well done. 

And Alexis Hall always treats the characters (especially the queer ones) with the respect and nuance they deserve, which I really appreciate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Classism, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Despite all the content warnings, this was a pretty easy, low-to-medium stakes read; nothing terribly traumatic to most readers.

melethwi's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really could’ve done without the narrator but otherwise love to see a good lesbian romance book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Blood

Moderate: Rape

booksthatburn's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

MORTAL FOLLIES is a story of curses and romance, narrated by a faerie intimated to be Robin/Puck of A Midsummer Night's Dream. While it is set in 1814, Puck seems to be telling the story from some time further in the future, possibly in the 21st century. Maelys seems to be cursed, and keeps running into a woman nicknamed "the Duke of Annadale" who is rumored to have murdered her own father and brothers. She's also rumored to know magic, and seems to be Maelys's only chance at getting rid of the curse (as long as she's not really the one who cast it). 

The romance was fun, and the stakes escalated appropriately. I liked the story but found Puck frustrating as a narrator. Because they are recalling these events from so far in the future, their interjections kept me from sinking completely into the 19th century setting. It seems like these may form some overarching story which moves between books, but it happened to hit upon a style I don't personally enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Transphobia, War, Classism, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

alli_gator's review against another edition

I can’t stand Miss Bicky or Robin, the narrator, those two characters have made my reading experience horrible. They’re annoying characters with far too many plot-interrupting quips. And while I love fantasy regency era stuff and I love lgbt+ stuff, I had high hopes that this book would have been just a tad more historically accurate on the general homophobia of the time. It certainly wouldn’t have been so knowledgeable that Miss Mitchelmore would have let herself be so forward or even allow Miss Bicky to be so loud about her queerness. I was just so annoyed by how helter-skelter the plot is that I couldn’t stand to read a page more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Sexual content and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

megj23's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Kidnapping, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing

Minor: Rape and Homophobia

artstitute's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Deadnaming, Murder, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Blood

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Slavery

musebeliever's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Transphobia, and Rape

seashel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Blood, Murder, and Sexual assault

ramakn22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Transphobia, Classism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Stalking, Rape, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

“But fleeing the law is rather easier if you do it before the law knows it is being fled from.” 

➽ Mortal Follies is another trademark fun, romantic story by Alexis Hall! It's set in 1814 and follows Miss Maelys Mitchelmore who has been cursed and is trying to desperately avoid a scandal when a ton of bad luck befalls her. It begins with some harmless, but embarrassing incidents, but quickly turns more dangerous. Maelys seeks help from Lady Georgianna Landrake, who has a questionable reputation herself, but might be the only person who can help her! I loved their interactions and her friendship with Lizzie! She was especially funny and entertaining, I'd love to have her as a friend!

➽ The story is told from the POV of Robin, a hobgoblin who loves following along with mortal stories. I loved the unique narrator and Robin's witty commentary on Maelys' story. They are always keen to follow an interesting, dramatic story and are invested in Maelys' personal scandals! I do think that the story felt very drawn out and longer than it had to be. There were quite a few subplots that I felt went nowhere! Robin as a narrator was fun, but I got a bit tired of their detached, omniscient perspective at times!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Animal death, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, and Death of parent