You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
I think after over a year, I've safely declared a dnf on this book. I might enjoy it at a different point in my life, but I just couldn't get into it.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
(Reread x5) finally experienced my fav European tour book while on a European tour of my own
~*~
I’m back—for the fifth time—reading about my favourite lovesick bisexual doubling as a semi-alcoholic teenage lord. I present to you Henry “Monty” Montague:
I’ve re-read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue almost every single summer since I first bought it. Come on, how could I not fall in love with a 19th century Grand Tour of Europe narrated by a self destructive eighteen year old?
Alas, herein lay my demise: said protagonist is secretly in love with his best friend—Percy—who also happens to be his year-long travelling companion. (Friends to lovers… aka the best romance trope ever. No I don’t take criticism).
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Monty is a young lord living in the 1800’s, one that’s got a passion for spending his youth waking in the arms of women or men, gambling, and drinking his responsibilities away. He’s heading off on a grand tour of Europe with his sister, Felicity, and the best friend he’s pretty sure he wants to kiss—Percy. It’ll be their last hurrah before the three have to part ways for schooling and adult life, except when their tour begins, Monty’s reckless behaviour gets them into a bigger scramble than they bargained for. One that leaves them the subject of a continent-wide manhunt...
────── {⋆★⋆} ──────
Essentially, this is everything I could ask for in a book. Monty’s constant internal breakdowns over his inflating crush made my heart swell. Percy was an absolute angel (extra points for playing the fiddle), and Felicity took strong women to a whole new level.
Historical novels are commonly focused on rich white men, so I was delighted to find the opposite here. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue shines light on to the many discriminations of the time. 1. Our main character is as I mentioned, bisexual. 2. His sister, Felicity, is an aspiring doctor, despite the prejudice during the time that suggested women were near-useless. 3. His best friend, Percy, is black and epileptic. We are shown the racial segregation rampant during the 1800’s, along with the beliefs that epilepsy meant one was possesed. The commentary towards all three characters and their divergence from “normality” was so inspiring, especially because this is such an otherwise comical and romantic story. The balancing of impact and entertainment was spot on!
The romance, of course, was also perfect. Percy makes such a great friend and love interest. The amount of times I had to pause because I couldn’t process how cute he and Monty were stacks up to far more than I’d like to admit. For those who’ve read the book: I’m having MERCY engraved on my tombstone.
Everything about this book, I adore. Laughs, smiles (and tears) escape me every time I read it, mostly courtesy of our unapologetic main character, Monty. It’s a beautiful, romantic, hilarious romp that takes on the beauty of boundless friendship and love.
Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history, meaning she knows what she’s writing about. Everything was so greatly atmospheric; as the cast travelled through old Europe, I felt as if I was doing the same. Descriptions were perfectly handled; the writing was magnificent. Do yourself a favour: read this book. The swooning and constant cracking-of-smiles will be well worth it, I swear.
~*~
I’m back—for the fifth time—reading about my favourite lovesick bisexual doubling as a semi-alcoholic teenage lord. I present to you Henry “Monty” Montague:
“If my father is so keen on telling everyone what a rake I am, I’m happy to live up to my reputation. Wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”
I’ve re-read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue almost every single summer since I first bought it. Come on, how could I not fall in love with a 19th century Grand Tour of Europe narrated by a self destructive eighteen year old?
Alas, herein lay my demise: said protagonist is secretly in love with his best friend—Percy—who also happens to be his year-long travelling companion. (Friends to lovers… aka the best romance trope ever. No I don’t take criticism).
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Monty is a young lord living in the 1800’s, one that’s got a passion for spending his youth waking in the arms of women or men, gambling, and drinking his responsibilities away. He’s heading off on a grand tour of Europe with his sister, Felicity, and the best friend he’s pretty sure he wants to kiss—Percy. It’ll be their last hurrah before the three have to part ways for schooling and adult life, except when their tour begins, Monty’s reckless behaviour gets them into a bigger scramble than they bargained for. One that leaves them the subject of a continent-wide manhunt...
────── {⋆★⋆} ──────
“We're not courting trouble," I say. "Flirting with it, at most.”
Essentially, this is everything I could ask for in a book. Monty’s constant internal breakdowns over his inflating crush made my heart swell. Percy was an absolute angel (extra points for playing the fiddle), and Felicity took strong women to a whole new level.
Historical novels are commonly focused on rich white men, so I was delighted to find the opposite here. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue shines light on to the many discriminations of the time. 1. Our main character is as I mentioned, bisexual. 2. His sister, Felicity, is an aspiring doctor, despite the prejudice during the time that suggested women were near-useless. 3. His best friend, Percy, is black and epileptic. We are shown the racial segregation rampant during the 1800’s, along with the beliefs that epilepsy meant one was possesed. The commentary towards all three characters and their divergence from “normality” was so inspiring, especially because this is such an otherwise comical and romantic story. The balancing of impact and entertainment was spot on!
The romance, of course, was also perfect. Percy makes such a great friend and love interest. The amount of times I had to pause because I couldn’t process how cute he and Monty were stacks up to far more than I’d like to admit. For those who’ve read the book: I’m having MERCY engraved on my tombstone.
“Love may be a grand thing, but goddamn if it doesn't take up more than its fair share of space inside a man.”
Everything about this book, I adore. Laughs, smiles (and tears) escape me every time I read it, mostly courtesy of our unapologetic main character, Monty. It’s a beautiful, romantic, hilarious romp that takes on the beauty of boundless friendship and love.
Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history, meaning she knows what she’s writing about. Everything was so greatly atmospheric; as the cast travelled through old Europe, I felt as if I was doing the same. Descriptions were perfectly handled; the writing was magnificent. Do yourself a favour: read this book. The swooning and constant cracking-of-smiles will be well worth it, I swear.
“A small shift in the gravity between us and suddenly all my stars are out of alignment, planets knocked front their orbits, and I’m left stumbling, without map or heading, through the bewildering territory of being in love with your best friend.”
4,5
Tiene muchísimos puntos a favor, como las diversas representaciones, la acción, la narración sarcástica, la construcción de personajes (y en esto aclaro que aunq puedan tener actitudes que no me gusten, se entiende porq hacen lo que hacen y se nota un progreso), también el romance.
Dentro de lo negativo, a veces las situaciones pasaban muy rápido de un lugar a otro sin terminar de explicar cómo llegaban a eso, o se centraba mucho en ciertos detalles capaz no tan relevantes, pero igual no hacían que la lectura sea menos entretenida.
Percy es muy tierno y lo amo, Felicity genia total la adoro, y Monty un bonito caos de no saber expresar emociones.
Destaco mucho la nota de la autora dónde da más detalles de contexto histórico de la novela, ya que es ficción histórica, y me pareció muy interesante e importante.
Tiene muchísimos puntos a favor, como las diversas representaciones, la acción, la narración sarcástica, la construcción de personajes (y en esto aclaro que aunq puedan tener actitudes que no me gusten, se entiende porq hacen lo que hacen y se nota un progreso), también el romance.
Dentro de lo negativo, a veces las situaciones pasaban muy rápido de un lugar a otro sin terminar de explicar cómo llegaban a eso, o se centraba mucho en ciertos detalles capaz no tan relevantes, pero igual no hacían que la lectura sea menos entretenida.
Percy es muy tierno y lo amo, Felicity genia total la adoro, y Monty un bonito caos de no saber expresar emociones.
Destaco mucho la nota de la autora dónde da más detalles de contexto histórico de la novela, ya que es ficción histórica, y me pareció muy interesante e importante.
this book was so much FUN!
if you like a marvellous light, pining, and a slow burn this book is for you.
i would have never predicted the adventure this book took me on, and I love it for that reason.
i definitely recommend this and am so excited to learn more about this wild world!
if you like a marvellous light, pining, and a slow burn this book is for you.
i would have never predicted the adventure this book took me on, and I love it for that reason.
i definitely recommend this and am so excited to learn more about this wild world!
I'm not one much for historical fiction, but this was cute.
This book was absolutely amazing and I’m finding it hard to put into words just how much I loved it.
The book follows the story of Monty and Percy who are going on their grand tour of Europe with Monty’s sister Felicity in tow as she’s being sent to a Finishing School in France. However thanks to Monty’s recklessness things don’t go as planned and the trio are spirted off on an adventure that takes them across Europe.
I absolutely adored the characters in this book. Monty is a scoundrel, a rake, selfish and can be a privileged prick at times but I loved reading from his point of view. I also liked that people call him out for the things he says throughout the book. I also loved Percy he has such a good heart and I just want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him form the world. Of course I can’t forget Felicity, she is such a badass , she loves books and wants to become doctor instead of a lady.
I loved the sibling relationship between Monty and Felicity, it was so realistic. They argue with each other a lot and find each other annoying but when it comes down to it they both care for each other and want to protect each other. Monty and Percy have now been added to my OTP list, I adore them together. They both care for each other so much and this comes across so well in the book. While their relationship is so cute and sweet it also has just the right amount of angst.
The writing style is amazing. Its written in the first person following Monty’s point of view. Its fast paced and had me hooked from the very beginning and will also have you laughing out loud throughout.
The book is also very diverse. Monty is bisexual, Percy is biracial and suffers from epilepsy. It also features a M/M romance and covers issues such as PTSD, alcoholism, racism and abuse.
Overall, this book is amazing. It’s full of adventure, absolutely hilarious and you never realised just how much you need queer historical fiction in your life until you read it. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars and it will definitely be on my favourite books of 2018 list.
The book follows the story of Monty and Percy who are going on their grand tour of Europe with Monty’s sister Felicity in tow as she’s being sent to a Finishing School in France. However thanks to Monty’s recklessness things don’t go as planned and the trio are spirted off on an adventure that takes them across Europe.
I absolutely adored the characters in this book. Monty is a scoundrel, a rake, selfish and can be a privileged prick at times but I loved reading from his point of view. I also liked that people call him out for the things he says throughout the book. I also loved Percy he has such a good heart and I just want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him form the world. Of course I can’t forget Felicity, she is such a badass , she loves books and wants to become doctor instead of a lady.
I loved the sibling relationship between Monty and Felicity, it was so realistic. They argue with each other a lot and find each other annoying but when it comes down to it they both care for each other and want to protect each other. Monty and Percy have now been added to my OTP list, I adore them together. They both care for each other so much and this comes across so well in the book. While their relationship is so cute and sweet it also has just the right amount of angst.
The writing style is amazing. Its written in the first person following Monty’s point of view. Its fast paced and had me hooked from the very beginning and will also have you laughing out loud throughout.
The book is also very diverse. Monty is bisexual, Percy is biracial and suffers from epilepsy. It also features a M/M romance and covers issues such as PTSD, alcoholism, racism and abuse.
Overall, this book is amazing. It’s full of adventure, absolutely hilarious and you never realised just how much you need queer historical fiction in your life until you read it. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars and it will definitely be on my favourite books of 2018 list.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were parts of this book that were super sweet and had me feeling warm and tingly, and other parts where I was infuriated by the characters, their actions, or their refusal to talk to each other. I liked it, but there are a few points where I lost interest or felt more could have been done. Overall, this was a sweet queer historical romance, but it could have been stronger. (I did love the not pirates, though. They were my favorites)
UFA! Todos os livros que eu estava com a expectativa alta nesse ano eu não gostei, mas finalmente um legal!
História boa, escrita boa, personagens muito legais. Só achei o final meio corrido, mas gostei de quase tudo! gg
História boa, escrita boa, personagens muito legais. Só achei o final meio corrido, mas gostei de quase tudo! gg
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes