diff --git a/client.cpp b/client.cpp
index b156c37..9acddc3 100644
--- a/client.cpp
+++ b/client.cpp
@@ -70,12 +70,11 @@ std::optional<Account> MastodonClient::get_account_by_username(const std::string
     using namespace std::string_literals;
 
     try {
-        std::string resp = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/accounts/lookup?acct=" + username);
-        Account res = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(resp));
-        res.same_server = host == res.server;
-        return res;
-    } catch (const CurlException& e) {
-        if (e.code != CURLE_HTTP_RETURNED_ERROR || this->_response_status_code() != 404) {
+        Account account = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/accounts/lookup?acct=" + username);
+        account.same_server = host == account.server;
+        return account;
+    } catch (const MastodonException& e) {
+        if (e.response_code != 404) {
             throw;
         }
 
@@ -86,8 +85,7 @@ std::optional<Account> MastodonClient::get_account_by_username(const std::string
 std::vector<Post> MastodonClient::get_pinned_posts(const std::string& host, const std::string& account_id) {
     using namespace std::string_literals;
 
-    std::string resp = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/accounts/" + account_id + "/statuses?pinned=true");
-    std::vector<Post> posts = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(resp));
+    std::vector<Post> posts = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/accounts/" + account_id + "/statuses?pinned=true");
 
     for (Post& post : posts) {
         handle_post_server(post, host);
@@ -114,8 +112,7 @@ std::vector<Post> MastodonClient::get_posts(const std::string& host, const std::
         url += '?';
         url += query;
     }
-    std::string resp = this->_send_request(url);
-    std::vector<Post> posts = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(resp));
+    std::vector<Post> posts = this->_send_request(url);
 
     for (Post& post : posts) {
         handle_post_server(post, host);
@@ -128,12 +125,11 @@ std::optional<Post> MastodonClient::get_post(const std::string& host, const std:
     using namespace std::string_literals;
 
     try {
-        std::string resp = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/statuses/" + id);
-        Post post = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(resp));
+        Post post = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/statuses/" + id);
         handle_post_server(post, host);
         return post;
-    } catch (const CurlException& e) {
-        if (e.code != CURLE_HTTP_RETURNED_ERROR || this->_response_status_code() != 404) {
+    } catch (const MastodonException& e) {
+        if (e.response_code != 404) {
             throw;
         }
 
@@ -144,8 +140,7 @@ std::optional<Post> MastodonClient::get_post(const std::string& host, const std:
 PostContext MastodonClient::get_post_context(const std::string& host, const std::string& id) {
     using namespace std::string_literals;
 
-    std::string resp = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/statuses/" + id + "/context");
-    PostContext context = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(resp));
+    PostContext context = this->_send_request("https://"s + host + "/api/v1/statuses/" + id + "/context");
 
     for (Post& post : context.ancestors) {
         handle_post_server(post, host);
@@ -166,7 +161,6 @@ CURL* MastodonClient::_get_easy() {
         }
 
         try {
-            setopt(curl, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, 1L);
             setopt(curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, 10000L);
             setopt(curl, CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS_STR, "https");
             setopt(curl, CURLOPT_USERAGENT, "Coyote (https://gitlab.com/blankX/coyote; blankie@nixnetmail.com)");
@@ -186,7 +180,7 @@ CURL* MastodonClient::_get_easy() {
     return curl;
 }
 
-std::string MastodonClient::_send_request(const std::string& url) {
+nlohmann::json MastodonClient::_send_request(const std::string& url) {
     std::string res;
     CURL* curl = this->_get_easy();
 
@@ -198,7 +192,13 @@ std::string MastodonClient::_send_request(const std::string& url) {
         throw CurlException(code);
     }
 
-    return res;
+    long response_code = this->_response_status_code();
+    nlohmann::json j = nlohmann::json::parse(std::move(res));
+    if (response_code != 200) {
+        throw MastodonException(response_code, j.at("error").get<std::string>());
+    }
+
+    return j;
 }
 
 long MastodonClient::_response_status_code() {
diff --git a/client.h b/client.h
index a99fc4d..021d246 100644
--- a/client.h
+++ b/client.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <exception>
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <curl/curl.h>
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
 #include "models.h"
 
@@ -30,6 +31,20 @@ public:
     CURLSHcode code;
 };
 
+class MastodonException : public std::exception {
+public:
+    MastodonException(long response_code_, std::string error) : response_code(response_code_), _error(std::move(error)) {}
+
+    const char* what() const noexcept {
+        return this->_error.c_str();
+    }
+
+    long response_code;
+
+private:
+    std::string _error;
+};
+
 class MastodonClient {
 public:
     MastodonClient(const MastodonClient&&) = delete;
@@ -58,7 +73,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
     CURL* _get_easy();
-    std::string _send_request(const std::string& url);
+    nlohmann::json _send_request(const std::string& url);
     long _response_status_code();
 
     std::mutex _share_locks[CURL_LOCK_DATA_LAST];