Review: Confounding Oaths, by Alexis Hall

The year is 1815, and Mr. John Caesar is determined to orchestrate a successful coming-out for his younger sister, Mary. Despite his best efforts, he is thwarted by the various interventions of a ragtag regiment of soldiers, a mysterious military cult, and a malicious fairy godmother.
When Mary is cursed by the fair folk, the dandyish Mr. Caesar is forced to work with the stolidly working-class—yet inescapably heroic—Captain James to rescue her. While Mr. Caesar is no stranger to dallying with soldiers, until now he's never expected one to stay. Or wanted one to. But even if the captain felt the same, there'd be no chance of anything lasting between them. After all, he and Mr. Caesar come from different worlds.

"The world is chaos. We try to understand it and to shape it, but we cannot unsee it."

Alexis Hall's Confounding Oaths is a sequel, but as the spirited narrator tells us, we don't need to have read the first installment Mortal Follies (HERE you can read my review) to enjoy it, although the reading experience might be dampened if you haven't. Puck returns here to tell another story about the same family, as the helpful cousin from the first book is brought to the fore, and his immediate family faces the dangers this time. This tale delivers just as the first, with the right mix of humor (coming from Puck's witty comments), gravitas, and swoon-worthy romance.

As with the first book, the threat comes from both the supernatural world and the mundane, and we see more of the fairy court and its workings, more fairy characters, and gods again. We also see issues of class and racism, which didn't appear in the first book, adding some much needed edge; and the exploration of sexism and homophobia from the first book of course make a return, with a focus on what society deems beautiful. As Puck warns in the beginning, there is cruelty in these novels, but also a relatively happy resolution.

The romance goes fast, going from a strong initial physical attraction, which is immediately acted upon, to the slow and tender lowering of the walls the duo had to build around their hearts. The focus is mostly on Mr. Caesar and his struggles as the first and only male child, but Captain James has his say in more ways than one.

There are a lot more characters in this one, but they are all treated with care. Maelys and Georgiana return, of course, allowing us to see what became of them, and so does Miss Bickle, who I imagine will be the main character of a possible new novel.

Confounding Oaths is a delightful romp.

✨ 4 stars

 

🦋🕷 So you want to read about conniving fae in an alternate England?

Here's my review of Trip Galey's A Market of Dreams and Destiny  

 

Review: Mortal Follies, by Alexis Hall

It is the year 1814 and Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into the highest society of Bath hindered by an irritating curse. It begins innocuously enough, with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening at the ball of the season, a scandal she only narrowly manages to escape. However, as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, she realises she must seek out urgent assistance, even if that means mixing with the most undesirable company-and there are few less desirable allies than the brooding Lady Georgiana Landrake-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.

"A woman who lifts her own curses is a witch". Alexis Hall's Mortal Follies is a queer Regency romance with an unexpected narrator that I personally loved: Puck, or Robin, straight from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Forced to stay in the mortal world due to a transgression, Robin chooses to pay the bills by writing books about the many things he saw happen over his long life, and his narration constatly breaks the fourth wall in hilarious ways.

So we follow Maelys as she struggles against a curse set on her by a mysterious foe, and as she meets the devilish duke Georgiana and decides to put her faith in the mysterious witch. We meet witches, goblins, nymphs, and a goddess, as Maelys races against time to find a solution before she winds up dead or worse. All the while, Maelys cannot help feeling from the start a strong attraction to the duke, and their back-and-forth is exquisite.

In addition to the duke, Maelys has assistance from her cousin, a gentleman who loves other gentlemen, often the voice of reason, and from her best friend, an ingenue with hidden depths, who is enthusiastic and full of life and launches herself at things. The trio's banter is hilarious, but there's also more serious moments. I'm also in love with the prose, filled with conventions and turns of phrase of the time as the author satirises the genre - with many gentle jabs at classics - while also crafting an excellent romance.

The fantastical elements are well-woven into the tale, with two different curses coming into play and a clever denouement that definitely seems to set up for a sequel or a series. I'd give my firstborn for another book narrated by Robin.

Mortal Follies is a delightful romance with a unique voice.

✨ 4 stars