Alexis Hall always writes with their tongue firmly in their cheek, something which provides slightly unusual and altogether wonderful entertainment. MAlexis Hall always writes with their tongue firmly in their cheek, something which provides slightly unusual and altogether wonderful entertainment. Mortal Follies is a charming, and at times a little dark, historical romantic fantasy. It did lose momentum at about the 60% mark, but picked back up again rather quickly.
The ingenious device of using a puckish (the Puck, actually) sprite as a narrator seems to be pretty divisive. I thought it was a bit unnecessary, but it was also extremely fun, so I quite enjoyed it. It's a classic Hall eccentricity that certainly won't be for everyone.
i really liked the medical setting, but unfortunately the writing was very lacklustre and clunky and the romance wasn't particularly exciting or new.i really liked the medical setting, but unfortunately the writing was very lacklustre and clunky and the romance wasn't particularly exciting or new....more
a quirky, slice-of-life-y, darkly funny novella. i would have liked some more background around hvh (i think that's what that disease was called? i haa quirky, slice-of-life-y, darkly funny novella. i would have liked some more background around hvh (i think that's what that disease was called? i have the memory of a piece of moss) and it wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking, but i really enjoyed ero as a character and i had a lot of fun. ...more
Veins of horror run throughout, but this is basically a literary novel - allegories of grief and ghosts and letting go. Excellent writing, (3.5 stars)
Veins of horror run throughout, but this is basically a literary novel - allegories of grief and ghosts and letting go. Excellent writing, but make sure you're expecting literary fiction and not horror, per se....more
As my dear grandma would have said - "Too daft to laugh at."
All my life I lived with my grandmother until her passing a year ago, and I was raised on As my dear grandma would have said - "Too daft to laugh at."
All my life I lived with my grandmother until her passing a year ago, and I was raised on a steady diet of Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote, and Rosemary and Thyme. These two facts combined mean that I have an extremely soft spot for the elderly, especially senior citizens getting in trouble and solving crimes, and that's probably the only reason I'm giving this 3 stars instead of 2.
I feel that comedy is one of the hardest genres to write, because absolutely everyone likes to think they have a good sense of humour, and this is... rather rarely the case, at least when it comes to actually writing comedy. It's a particularly thorny issue when it comes to cozy mysteries, because you have to balance the quaint light-hearted comedy with the fact that, y'know...
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(Or has there?)
Unfortunately, the author has not nailed the comedy aspect at all. It's often overwrought and inappropriate, which CAN work (Mr. Bean), but can also fall flat on its face in an epic way (Mrs Brown's Boys). It was very surface-level humour rather than anything particularly clever, but it did get the odd chuckle out of me, and I have encountered far worse attempts at humour, and for the most part it was... tolerable.
The mystery itself was pretty good. No absolutely insane twists or anything, but it keeps one guessing (or it kept me guessing, at least), and it wasn't too unrealistic.
The main characters, Clementine (fantastic name) and Margery were... just okay. Deep characterisation is hindered by incorrectly utilised humour, and they didn't really seem like a couple to me. I know they've been together thirty years and I'm not expecting them to be all lovey-dovey like they're in the honeymoon period, but I expect some chemistry.
Overall, although this book wasn't bad, it was very squarely average. Wouldn't really recommend it, I'm afraid....more
this was a sweet story, but it was also just... dull. i know i've been calling books dull a lot lately, but it's true - i guess i'm on a dull book strthis was a sweet story, but it was also just... dull. i know i've been calling books dull a lot lately, but it's true - i guess i'm on a dull book streak. have i been cursed by a witch?
the characterisation was flat, the story was predictable, and the writing was... fine? no grammatical errors or terrible metaphors or anything like that, but it just seemed strangely lifeless. for a book about adultery, there was far less conflict than i was expecting, i guess because the author wanted the characters to be as likable as possible and not amoral sleazy people. which, i understand - but if you want your characters to be morally upstanding, why write a book about someone falling in love with someone else's wife?
overall - predictable, flat, dull - but still a little sweet, i guess....more
after having read the wonderful The Tattered Lands by the same author, i was pretty excited to read hehhhhhhhhhhh.
this one was rather disappointing.
after having read the wonderful The Tattered Lands by the same author, i was pretty excited to read her latest offering. but everything just fell so... flat.
the intriguing prologue aside, this was very slow to start off with, and although it eventually picked up pace, it took a hell of a long time to get there. the writing was mostly okay, but did seem stilted or awkward in a few places, which should really have been ironed out by an editor.
some parts of the plot were far too convenient, and some things were left completely unexplained. (view spoiler)[it was too convenient that adella and bridget just happened to meet when all this murder and intrigue was going down, and it's never explained how juno knew who bridget was. bridget literally states in the beginning that because of her gazillions of prosthetics and disguises, no one actually knew her face - or her real name.
and also, if the firellian empire DID have the means to make such lifelike prosthetics - which i consider a lazy cop-out when it comes to disguises anyway - why the hell didn't juno use them and just saunter out of the city instead of holing up in her hotel room like a rat? (hide spoiler)]
so, there was definitely potential here, but the pacing was a little off and there were some major plot points that i just can't look past.
not to mention the anticlimatic, mildly deus ex machina ending. ...more
Nemo ☠️ (pagesandprozac)
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