Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

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

11 reviews

lou_loo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It was a re-read for me. I had first read it 3-4 years ago. I decided to re-read it for the nostalgia since I loved it so much when I was younger. What I didn't expect was to enjoy it just as much, if not more. The characters are great, well-written and fun, Monty has a serious character development and seeing him evolve was so cool. The plot of the story is captivating, and it's quite an adventure. Our trio makes such a nice team and seeing them together, with their differences and relationships is amazing. 
Overall super cool book, I would recommend it to anyone interested in a fun adventurous story occurring in XVIIIth century Europe, with some stakes (but not too high). It's an overall lighthearted read which can be read fast but will still touch your heart because of the characters and their personalities.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Police brutality, Vomit, and Racism

andyourstruly's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

GGtVaV is a very indulgent queer adventure story.  Though the main cast all struggle with their own hardships, external and internal, the reader always knows they'll overcome to get their happy ending, and in that way, despite themes of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and physical/emotional abuse, it feels very light.

The author studied history in university, so a lot of the historical details of events and cultural norms are more accurate than your average YA novel, but there are still glaring blind spots, like the author not being well-versed in clothing culture or that almost every educated person would have been fluent in French in the early 1700s, particularly if they had a French parent.

My biggest takeaway with it was that, as fantastical as so many elements were, it seems strange that the author didn't just ... write an adventure where people happened to be queer or black or women.  It felt like a strange decision to hand-wave away a lot of actual problems they may have encountered but to really spend a lot of time projecting modern-day feminism onto a character from the era and bringing up homophobia and racism that wasn't even always period-accurate.  Fun book, may read the sequels, not so invested that I'm prioritizing it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

mickij's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ooo! A book got 5 whole stars! Usually, that means it did something extraordinary, and it did exactly that! I have never been so sure I wanted to buy a book in my life!

Beyond that, I suppose I should talk about the book. This book is utterly fascinating for a variety of reasons. For one, it's grounded in history but it's not bleak for the characters of color. Slavery is mentioned, as it somewhat has to be for a book set in the 18th century, it's not weighing heavily on the narrative. A second thing is that 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

water_violin's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Misogyny, Self harm, Gun violence, Classism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Colonisation, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery

a_bloom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The writing is absolutely PHENOMENAL and so freaky funny. It's also heart reaching, but you can always kinda see it coming. It's technically a long book but something you could get through in a couple of days. 


<Spoiler>It also talks about a lot of interesting topics that were seen as taboo (although some of them aren't brought to a whole lot of detail considering the whole book is told from the perspective of a traumatized white teen boy who's an Earls son... But he slowly starts to learn, grow, and mature as he keeps ALMOST DYING.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Biphobia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

8/10. I wasn't exactly swooning over this book but I did really enjoy it. I like the ending message that we would all be happier if we accepted our own and others' flaws. Monty had to learn to love himself. Felicity was a firecracker. Percy was a gracious love interest. I enjoyed the realistic sibling relationship. I also enjoyed the more tender moments. I'm not a fan of ambiguous endings but I understand why this book needed to have one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Addiction, and Alcohol

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I read this for the first time in 2022. I really enjoyed it and read it in one day. I decided to reread it, this time taking just over a week. My rating hasn't changed. I loved this book. I loved Monty and Percy and Felicity. It was so good. I listened to the audiobook and really liked it.

There were times when, along with Percy and Felicity, I got really annoyed or even angry with Monty. But I think that was the point. Monty is a flawed character and throughout the book he grows and develops. I think it's actually cool that the author took the risk of starting out with a main character that I didn't actually like as a person. I thought he was funny and I felt empathy for him. But I thought he was a brat. I think a lot of books choose to introduce their characters with more palatable flaws out of fear that the reader won't like them. But the author was able to blend his charisma and flaws together. He was fun to read about, despite his flaws and I was constantly cheering for him to grow. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, as well as the audiobook.

When Percy and Monty are at the festival and Monty is super drunk, I got so angry! Percy asked him about running away together. Monty loved Percy and I think at this point, he knew he wanted Percy more than he wanted anything else. But I think he was scared and very drunk. I was so sad when he said all the wrong things to Percy. I was sad for Percy having to hear all the wrong things. I was sad for Monty knowing he said the wrong things, but not knowing how to fix it. I just wanted them to be happy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Addiction, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Classism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

ginadapooh's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery, Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Police brutality

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

a hilarious and adventurous historical romp. the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue is also compulsively readable; the writing just flows so smoothly and i couldnt stop turning the pgs. peppered w/ a subtle social msg and critique, the book explores abuse, racism, sexism, and homophobia, w/ major queer, black, and disability rep.

and though i like the characters (esp percy and felicity), my major caveat of this book is prolly our leading guy monty, who i find insufferable way too often, and his character growth happens too late for me. nevertheless, his yearning-filled friends-to-lovers relationship w/ percy is a delicately romantic one. might be reading the sequel just to (hopefully) see more of them! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Biphobia

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Blood, Ableism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Alcohol

valpuri's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Police brutality, Outing, Misogyny, Medical content, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Blood

Minor: Slavery, Self harm, Infidelity, Excrement, Drug use, and Body shaming