A hilarious and swashbuckling stand-alone teen historical fiction novel, named one of summer's 20 must-read books by Enternatinment Weekly! A young bisexual British lord embarks on an unforgettable Grand Tour of Europe with his best friend/secret crush. An 18th-century romantic adventure for the modern age written by This Monstrous Thing author Mackenzi Lee-Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the 1700s. Henry "Monty" Montague doesn't care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family's estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy. So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty's reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
Witty, dazzling, and intriguing at every turn, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is an irresistible romp that explores the undeniably fine lines between friendship and love.
You know that feeling when you read a book or watch a movie and feel like you’re found a kindred spirit in the creator? That’s how I feel about Mackenzi Lee and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. There are so many bits and pieces that I really loved about this book… both its content and the writing itself.
Okay so first of all, let’s talk about the language Mackenzi Lee used. It’s perfect. Both the dialogue and the narrative flow expertly. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is completely immersive. Mackenzi Lee has gone the extra mile to use language that would have been fashionable at the time. There was a moment when Monty says he didn’t want to use a jacket as a flag because they’re all so “macaroni” and I chuckled – I don’t know if the language is something that most people would notice, but I did! And I thoroughly appreciated it.
She also went the extra mile in character creation. The conversation flows like real conversation, not book conversation. Limited use of first names, and the way that Monty says “Hello, darling” like a real life catch phrase? I absolutely love it. There is a lot of rep in this book – epilepsy, LGBTQ+, racism, domestic abuse – and none of it felt like it was there just to make a statement. This… this is how I want to see rep in books. The rep is not the plot – we simply have diverse characters and that’s awesome. I think it’s important to have books that blatantly point out the wrongness of some things, and that humans come in all types. But also, we need rep in books where it’s just different people doing things together without making a big statement. As Percy says, he thinks he can be perfectly happy living just as he is. So sometimes, it’s nice to see characters just… live.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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31 July, 2019:
Finished reading
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31 July, 2019:
Reviewed