Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

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

60 reviews

elskabee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

The hype for this has well and truly died by the time I've gotten around to it, but I can see why it was hyped at the time (and honestly maybe should still be!). Well-rounded, flawed but growing characters are the highlight of this book in my opinion. Monty is an asshat, but he also kind of knows it and his sister and best friend do their best to badger some sense into him. Give me flawed and messy main characters! I love them!

I also really loved (and was joyfully frustrated by) the angsty friend-to-lovers/idiots-to-lovers plotline. Plus we even get some (I believe) aroace rep in Monty's sister Felicity. Considering that she's firmly a side character and we also see her through the eyes of her brother who does not really get along with her, she was still well characterised enough that I still felt like she was a character with complexities and nuance. I also loved her arc!

I think where this book fell from its possibility of a five star was in the plot. It was okay and kept the characters active, but I just didn't care that much and towards the end felt a little rushed maybe in a haste to wrap things up.

The narrator was excellent and I highly recommend picking up the audiobook for this one!

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katie0528's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

5.0

A fun adventure following Monty, the rakeish bisexual son of a lord, his younger sister Felicity, who wishes to become a physician, and Percy, Monty's Black best friend who he is desperately in love with. The trio set out on a Grand Tour of Europe but it doesn't take Monty to make an enemy of one of the most powerful men in France who chases them across the continent. There are touches of magic in this novel which I didn't expect at first.

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sam_gartley91's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Well loved the themes of this book. But for some reason I thought there would be more of a focus on the romance in the book but so much adventure happened! Love that just didn’t expect it haha I guess I miss read it. Monty was a lot but really showed growth through out and has skills it’s just charming people and appearing dumb! Loved Percy and excited to read Felicity’s book. The setting and the light fantasy elements were nice. Want to know what happens next between Monty and Percy! That cannon blow was just plan mean! Anyway found this via the vibes search you can do with similar books you’ve liked. Definitely will do that again! And did this as such a fun buddy read, can’t wait to do another!

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nutmegandselkie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

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broke's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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readingqueerly's review against another edition

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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

4.25

So this came out quite some years ago now and I remember it being a hype then. It's been on my shelf for so long and I was afraid it might have aged dubiously but no this was actually so much fun!!
I mean it checks all the boxes for me: a queer historical romance with disability and POC rep that has actual good plot, friends to lovers and a badass female character (who is the MC in the sequel which I will DEFINITELY be buying).
The writing was quite compelling, a relief as one of the main reasons I put off reading this for so long is the fact that it's 500 pages long. But I enjoyed it from start to finish. There were enough propelling windings in the plot to keep it interesting and the wit and banter from the characters kept it light and breezy.
Just a good time all the way through with some action and heart.

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andyourstruly's review against another edition

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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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