Name: Kirsten Maliepaard's review of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Item: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Rating: 5
Author: Kirsten Maliepaard

Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men. 

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is 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. . .

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he 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 that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Montague Siblings #1

Lindsay

Perhaps fashion is just a reinforcement of a lady’s chastity, in hopes that the interested party may lose interest and abandon any deflowering attempts simply for all the clothing in the way.

The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single- sidedness. It is also not an epic monolith that has plagued me since boyhood, as might be expected. Rather, it is simply the tale of how two people can be important to each other their whole lives, and then, one morning, quite without meaning to, one of them wakes to find that importance has been magnified into a sudden and intense desire to put his tongue in the other’s mouth.

A Kirkus Prize nominee and Stonewall Honor winner with 5 starred reviews! A New York Times bestseller! Named one of the best books of 2017 by NPR and the New York Public Library! "The queer teen historical you didn’t know was missing from your life.”—Teen Vogue "A stunning powerhouse of a story."—School Library Journal "A gleeful romp through history."—ALA Booklist 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. Don't miss Felicity's adventures in The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, the highly anticipated sequel!

sharkie

Kirsten Maliepaard

Anjorin Molayo 

I had fun reading this one! I loved the cute romance between Monty and Percy! And Felicity??? I love her entire personality.

Nova

this book is so lovely. monty is actually really relatable for a white nobleman in the 18th century.

(view spoiler)[ 
the only reason why i didnt give 5 stars is probably because of the bisexual stereotyping and how percy and other dark skinned characters are treated. it's realistic for the time it's set but im still saddened. i adore percy so much and his relationship with monty is so beautiful. i want them to be happy forever. 

felicity might be my favorite character in the way she's flawed but also badass. i enjoyed reading the progress of her relationship with monty! though there are things she doesnt understand, she tries her best to accept and normalize it and wow, i love this girl

the ending was so good, honestly. its what they all deserve
 (hide spoiler)]

paola !

BORING ….sadly I have it on physical paper

abby .˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and  Virtue is quite possibly one of the best books i have ever read! I usually read YA contemporaries, so this is my first historical fiction book, and i was surprised with how much i really enjoyed it! I love all the characters, although in the beginning, i had some trouble in regards to liking Monty or Felicity's character and it was kind of difficult for me to get through the first couple of chapters, BUT i was super surprised by how much i loved all of them so much and even related to Percy and Monty on some scale. The other characters such as the pirates and Helena i grew to love, even if they were on the bad side aha, all of these characters were in my opinion, well constructed and developed, although i wish we could have seen a bit more from Percy's thoughts and opinions. Overall, i really really really really really loved everyone in this goddamn book.

Another thing i really loved about this book was the adventure! It was sorta fast paced, especially during the scenes with the duke and Helena. I loved it and i felt almost like i was reading (??) an action-adventure movie! 10/10 would recommend if you love adventure-y type books!

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE ROMANCE?? Percy and Monty were the best goddamn thing ever!! It was light and flirty and overall amazing. Every time there was a scene with Monty and Percy being all flirtatious with one-another i could. not. stop. squealing! Not to mention the ACE representation with Felicity.

Another amazing thing in this book is the character development. We see Monty struggle with the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, and seeing him overcome that in the end warmed my heart. As i was reading the scenes were he realized just how much he was worth and needed and loved to everyone, was making me swell with tears. Monty was a very well-rounded character i hadn't seen in awhile. I loved his humor and personality.

I can't wait to read the next book that is coming out! I know i'll probably love it just as much as i loved this one.

Nabila Azahra

4.4 / 5 Stars!

Such a fun and entertaining read with lovable characters. Although the plot is quite predictable, I love the adventure they went through and the relationship between Monty and Percy.

chloe rae

I LOVED THIS BOOK. REALLY. And I honestly think the reason it doesn't get five stars is simply because of my timing.
I am a mood reader. I didn't realize just how much of a mood reader I am until I started reading this book and immediately knew I wasn't in the mood for it. I KNEW right from the beginning that I would love it, absolutely, but I just wasn't feeling it. However, one of my close friends and I decided to buddy-read this at the same time and I couldn't go back on that! So I pushed through (which wasn't hard to do because this book is just LOVELY) but I believe that's the only reason this didn't get the best rating possible. BECAUSE I LOVED IT. I loved the characters (especially our flawed Monty and incredible Percy) and I loved how the author dealt with both sexuality and racism and how she dealt with all the different relationships so spectacularly. And OH YEAH THAT ROMANCE. SO BEAUTIFUL. SO PURE. UGH, it was fantastic.
I just wish I'd read this in the summer! This is such a summer read! DARNIT. Well, I guess this just means I'll have to re-read it this upcoming summer. Can't wait!

Melissa Palmer

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee

Monty is a sort of rascal and his father is having no more of it. Monty is going on tour with his friend Percy and his sister Felicity, whom they will drop off at finishing school. Monty's father arranges for a strict chaperone for the group. That does not keep the trio out of trouble though and the trio cross the wrong duke, are hunted, meet pirates and more. This book, while over 500 pages, is an effortless read that readers will not want to put down. I loved Monty, rooted for he and Percy to get together, admired Felicity's grit and cannot wait to read the sequel, coming out in October. High school and adult readers alike will enjoy this romp.

Denaiir

I DNFed this audiobook because the story was not really my cup of tea, then picked it up again because I kept wondering why so many people seem to love it so much. 
I listened to the audiobook, then moved to the paper version then back to the audio. 
The narrator's voice is a great fit for Monty's character, even though it was a bit annoying to me that he did not know how to pronounce French names. I think someone at the publisher's probably speaks French, why not ask them (and I guess it's the same for the other langauges)?

That aside, I didn't find this book funny. That's what most of the comments were raving about: so funny, hillarious, laughed out loud. Well I didn't laugh at all. I smiled a little maybe 2 or 3 times, but I didn't think the book was funny. It was light and somewhat fun, but not funny.
Monty was quite annoying, although he got better after a few chapters, and Percy and Felicity were good characters (even though Percy was a bit 2-dimensional). I didn't like any of the side characters though, and didn't feel very invested in their quest.

The book was a good adventure, but I didn't really enjoy the sequence of events, kind of like one of the newer Pirates of the Carribean. Impossible to know exactly what doesn't work, but you still don't feel captivated. As Monty would probably put it, the plot lacked grandeur. 

The author did a great job with descriptions, the inner monologues were also quite good. and she's such a nice person that I feel quite bad for not liking her book more. 

If the next one is from Felicity's point of view it should be more interesting, so I'll give it a try. Probably on audio so I have something else to do while listening.

Erzse Reed

Danny Werhane

TW: alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation, child abuse

alexandra

3.5/5 • loved ALL THE DIVERSE REP but i wish i liked the characters a bit more? although it was fun, i expected it to be funnier and somehow ~more.~ my fave is def felicity who is the BEST. monty kinda got on my nerves, but his character arc is nice.

jinni

this development of the plot greatly underwhelmed me after the great setup in the first hundred pages. given the initial peek into the life that henry montague lived, the attitude of his father towards him, the criticism that surrounds monty, and the discrimination towards the biracial and epileptic percy newton, i thought that the book would explore the various obstacles that stood in the way of monty and percy’s relationship—homophobia, racism, social taboos of epilepsy, parental abuse, etc. however, all of the sudden, the plot does a 360-degrees turn and advanced in the direction of a mystery/adventure in order to spice up the story. the plot then became, in my opinion, severely mediocre and boring. not only was the hunt for [insert that object because i think it’s a spoiler] very predictable, but it also avoided addressing the problems that divided monty and percy.

Andrea Navarrete

4.5/5
I loved this book so much! It has lots of the things I really love: mystery, adventure, romance! It tackles lots of things like racism and queer culture that are not commonly found in historical fiction I believe.
It was so funny and entertaining. I loved the romance and the characters are beautifully written.

It’s been such a battle to finish this book (It’s been 4 months!!), I’ve lost it multiple times, I fell into a massive book slump, I’ve listened to part of it on audio, part of it I read on ebook before I got my copy...but it was all worth it!! 

I loved this book soooo much, despite the large amount of time it took me to read it. I loved the entire story so much, it was so different to what I expected it to be like, but different in a good way! Percy and Monty are just to die for and their adventure was so amazing and adorable yet so gripping. I really do ship them so much, and Monty is just so relatable I love him. 

I love Felicity so much as well, she’s just incredible and I’m super excited book 2 is out now so I can read more about her ahhhh!! I feel like it’s gonna be somehow even better than this one, these books are so amazing and the representation is great, I love Mackenzie Lee so much, I wanna read everything she writes! Even the authors note was great, I just love when authors add in historical context to the story and time period it’s set, it’s so interesting. 

I kept wanting to finish this book so badly, I read most of it in the first week, but I think subconsciously I didn’t want it to end so it just didn’t till now. I’m glad I’ve finally finished it and got to enjoy the story in full. I haven’t read a ~historical~ novel in a long time and I forgot how much I love them! The fantasy twists made my heart so happy as well. 

((Also this has one of the prettiest book covers I’ve seen in a while and I’m so glad I own it, not just for the glorious words inside, but also for that beautiful design. ))

Jamieson

“If you go behind my back, I swear to God, I’ll skin you alive—”
“I won’t—”
“—murder you, then alchemically raise you from the dead so I can murder you again—”


TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR: homophobia, epilepsy, racism and racial slurs, ableism, PTSD, alcoholism, parental abuse, 


BUT SPEAKING OF 2017 LIFESAVERS This book is a strong contender because it was really, really good and bought up so many important themes and issues and was also just really fun, adventurous, different from the usual and had ... my favourite .. PIRATES. 

Seriously, can you ever go wrong with pirates in books? 


  And then everyone turns to stare at me, the Viscount of Disley, standing in the courtyard, with his hair askew and a woman’s powder smeared across his face like flour. And, also, without a stitch of clothing on. And then, because Fortune is a heartless bitch, I hear someone behind me say, “Monty?”


So for those of you who don't know this is a book set in the 18th Century (NOT: During the Victorian era for anyone confused like ME) and follows three main character - Henry Montague (Monty), his best friend Percy, and Felicity Montague (Henry's little sister) Percy and Henry are taking "The Tour" (18th Century Gap Year) across "The Continent" - Henry's father hopes the year will settle him done, and that after the tour he will return ready to take control of his fathers estate. But what was supposed to be a tour of Venice, Florence, Rome, Berlin and Geneva goes pretty wrong when the trio are attacked by Highwayman. An intricate plot involving theft, alchemy, and life after death is soon revealed and our trio find themselves right in the heart of it. 

While the plot is really fun, and adventurous, it is the characters that make up this book. They are complex people, both in themselves and their relationships with eachother, but also in the ways they interact and exist within their society and how their different marginilisations effects their perspective. 

Henry is a bisexual man who's drowned his own self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy in vice - alcohol, poor behaviour and sex. Throughout the novel he must attempt to overcome those vices, whilst also growing into his own self and accepting the negative effects his actions have had upon those around him. There are other facets to his characterisation but at these are spoilers I will not say much here. I personally really liked his arc, and I thought there was noticeable and good development when you compare him at the beginning and end of the novel. 

Felicity is such a badass ! She's a massive bookworm with a passion for knowledge. She's both quick-witted and capable and takes no nonsense. I absolutely adores her character and the way she plays against Henry as a kind of opposite. She is also asexual. I literally adore her character, she reminds me of Hermione in many ways, she was a brilliant, well rounded and well written female character. Felicity deals with and suffers through sexism ingrained in the time period, and throughout her storyline she undermines and subverts the expectations and assumptions made about her due to her gender - even from those closest to her. You know how I said I won't accept any underdeveloped female character or damsel in distress anymore because Wonder Woman changed the game - yeah well Felicity compares to Wonder Woman thats how much I literally adore her. 

Percy is gay, biracial and epileptic and experiences systematic oppression, overt racism, ableism and marginalisation. Due to the time period, this is exaggerated - but what I liked is that although these marginilisations existed, and Percy is dealing with them, they are never normalised or validated. Characters within the story challenge the assumptions made about Percy - but what I also like is it was shown these characters were privileged and often made harmful comments and this was called out too. Percy is also just a really kind person, but someone who stands up for themselves and doesn't let the strong-will people around him push him around. I loved his character and the nuances embedded within his characterisation. 

I adored the representation in this book - In her notes, Mackenzi Lee made the comment she wanted to point out that disabled, queer and poc, and strong women have always existed with agency in history - and that their stories have often been untold or erased but they deserve to be. I loved that these characters existence within the setting was normalised, but simultaneously their struggles as marginalised people was highlighted and challenged. This book shows how history is so steeped in oppression and how so much of that still leaks into society today. 
(view spoiler)[ for 99.9% of this book I was worried that Percy's epilepsy would fall into that ableist trope where the character gets a magical cure for their illness. I was so glad this book didn't do that, leading to one of my favourite quotes of the book.  (hide spoiler)] I want to recommend this review about the representation of Percy's epilepsy!


  "And I don’t think I have to be well to be happy. God.”
 

On a small, little note: If you're looking for a super realistic historical fiction elements of this are not entirely accurate. I personally didn't mind this, but it's a note for those of you who might. Reading it kind of felt like Clockwork Angel. You're pretty sure thats NOT how it would have gone down at the time but you enjoy it anyway. 

But there are plenty of historical elements to love. Much of the politics, culture, lgbt+ elements, race relations and pirates and people are steeped in the real history of the time and since I love history especially at this time that was a massive plus for me. It added another element of nuance to what is already a great historical fiction. 

I also wish the ending had been less abrupt and had gone into more details of what happened after the events of the book. I felt a little short-changed, and I really think a longer style epilogue might have been nice. Some of the characters stories were left a little in the wind and I would have liked to know what happened to them. 


  


All this aside, I think this book is really just fun. The idea of an 18th Century Tour is completely new to me, and it's definitely not something we're getting an abundance of in YA. So this book genuinely has completely new elements I've never read in other stories. 

On top of that, Mackenzi Lee is able to perfectly demonstrate how diversity can be included within any setting - and that historical narratives have no excuse for their allocishet ablebodied whiteness. 

This book is so fun, we get to see so many places around Europe from an 18th Century perspective, and pirates, highway men attacks, alchemy and magic added so much adventure to it. The dialogue was full of banter and play and it carried along the story really quickly. The plotting didn't feel off to me and I felt like it was continuously well paced. I was reaching for this book all the time because I was invested both character and plot wise - I read it much faster and enjoyed it much more then I thought I would. 

Ohhh and the ANGST. There are so many tropes I love - friends to lovers, "we both like eachother but won't admit it", "it's obvious to everyone but us", and then just the "cradles you while you're injured trope" which really gets me everytime. You angst emo's are gonna be happy, especially if your angst emo also likes a soft happy ending and relationship. 


  

 “My hand is absolutely broken.”
“It’s not broken,” Felicity says, and the exasperation behind her voice makes me feel better.
“I think it might be.”
“It’s not.”
“We should sleep,” Percy says.




I seriously really hope you guys don't sleep on this one !!!! It's such a good exploration of hos history and oppression intersect, but also it's just such a fun and unique YA book set in such an interesting time period I wish I knew more about. 

I could not recommend it more, I genuinely am so happy I've read it and will definitely buy myself the final copy when it comes out. I am so excited to see where Mackenzi Lee takes her inventive stories next. 

4.5 stars in total !


  Thankyou to HarperCollins who provided me with this free arc in exchange for my review. All opinions here are my own

Olivia

Ary Dias 

Izza

4.75 stars | This was super fun! I really enjoyed it, I wasn't going to read it at first, but I'm so glad I did :)

Jude Moon

4/5.

AAAAAAi really enjoyed it!! Sadly, sometimes it took me too much brain power to get through it so im not giving it 5 stars :((( Apart from that, Monty's and Percy's relationship was just *cheff kiss", and in terms of writing style i loooved iiit. 

I must also admit the end has me crying all over the place. AND THE AUTHOR'S NOTE. SO GOOD. SO HELPFUL. WE LOVE OPTIMISTIC VIEWS IN THIS HOUSE.

Emelie

Second read: 24/12-19 - 19/1-20:
So I've decided that I liked it. 4,5owls. 

First read 20-26/12-18: 
I didn't particularly like it... but I can still see myself reread it in the future and I'm very eager to start the next book in the series... 

I'm so ambivalent about this book!

Connor 

Set in the 18th Century, Henry "Monty" Montague is a bisexual British Lord with a serious crush on his best friend Percy. During a year-long trip throughout Europe, he decides to flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. One reckless decision forces him to re-evaluate his life and his relationship with his friend.

La Guia del Caballero Para El Vicio y La Virtud

Fátima

Creo que el hype alrededor de este libro le jugó en contra, porque esperaba mucho más de él. No es que no me gustase, porque lo hizo. La cosa aquí es que no veo por qué es tan maravilloso para todo el mundo. Supongo que los libros que narran un viaje de aventuras no son lo mío.

Han pasado un par de meses desde que lo leí —tengo muchas reseñas pendientes—, y ni siquiera puedo recordar nada con exactitud que me parezca que merece ser resaltado. Excepto por el personaje de Felicity (que todo el mundo aclama y puedo ver por qué) y el romance entre Monty y Percy, porque realmente me pareció adorable y todas sus escenas juntas me hacían sonreír. Eso quiere decir que he disfrutado mucho a los personajes, pero no tanto la trama de la historia.

Se me hizo pesado y muy lento para avanzar, tenía que obligarme a mí misma a continuar todo el tiempo porque todo el asunto del viaje me aburría. Sin embargo, cuando había acción, de verdad valía muchísimo la pena. Y para ser sincera, me moría de ganas de saber cómo iban a terminar las cosas para todo el mundo así que poder llegar al final fue un alivio, especialmente porque sentía que iba a abandonarlo en cualquier momento.

El personaje de Monty me gustó mucho. Al principio es muy sinvergüenza y un poco más que insoportable, pero a medida que la historia avanza conocemos las motivaciones tras sus actitudes y logramos verlo vulnerable y asustado, y se agradece mucho porque entonces es un poco más fácil conectar con el personaje.

¿Que si voy a continuar con el siguiente? Claramente sí, especialmente porque está protagonizado por Felicity y con suerte no hay mucho viaje ni ningún "Gran Tour" Crucemos los dedos, y porque al final, sí que disfruto la construcción de estos personajes. Así que ya veremos qué tal.

sophia n

i put off reading this for a while because i was afraid it wasn't going to live up to my expectations and things i wanted from it. oh boy was i wrong. or right? basically yes it EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS and i went out and bought the hardcover immediately.

you know what just go read this review because they say everything i'd want to say and more. this is my new way of reviewing: linking to other people's reviews who say it better lmsdfljksd

Kirsten Maliepaard &
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Kirsten Maliepaard &The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Kirsten Maliepaard &
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee