Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

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

57 reviews

rotfaced's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

A few things, before I dive in: I got this as an audiobook, which I think affected my review in positive and negative ways.

Positives first: The writing style is very whimsical and engaging, made more-so by the expert narration. It was truly enjoyable, listening to this book, and for a brief two weeks it made my long commute more bearable. The author really has a way of twisting internal dialog to contribute to a scene rather than to detract from it, and the narration capitalized wonderfully on this style to provide an animated audio experience.  The characters themselves were engaging-- the sister, Felicity, especially-- and the plot really felt like it was taking us on an adventure. I sometimes had no idea what to expect from it.

On the subject of Felicity, I think she's a much more compelling character than her brother and I'm glad to get a second book in her perspective. She was a breakout right away. I love her defiance, her knowledge, her demeanor. She was well and truly the star of many of the scenes she participated in. What a great voice.

Now for the criticism. Warning: Spoilers ahead! 

Monty, the main character, is fun to follow-- at first. His antics and bad behavior kick the plot of spectacularly, and the messes they get in are fun and compelling to follow, at first. But then it gets old very, very quickly. 

This man literally never stops fucking up. He's a lecherous clown. He has no meaningful growth-- any internal dialog he has is kept private and exacerbates his miserable, selfish perspective. He rarely apologizes. He defies reasonable authority for no other reason except that it seems like the author needs a contrived reason to move the plot along in another disastrously ill-executed direction. I literally had to skip some scenes because they were SO painful to listen to. Monty is a total buffoon, and I really came to despise his selfishness over the course of the book-- especially because it's rarely ever actually, meaningfully dealt with. Sure, he has a few spats here and there with people he cares about, but none of it matters! They forgive him in the end anyways! And somehow this resolves in him being a better person in the last couple of pages of the book. It's maddening, and it's made worse by the allowances given him by Percy

and Scipio

. 

Percy exists, primarily, to be Monty's romantic fixation and source of tumult. I actually liked Percy when his personality wasn't being defined and modified by Monty's dramatic interior monologue, but I think the thing that really kills his character is the fact that he... never holds Monty accountable. Monty steals, cheats, lies, wastes their money, gets blasted,

has them arrested, nearly dies-- twice!--

and overall drives the plot purely through his inability to contend with his own behavior. I cannot imagine what Percy must see in Monty, who does nothing but make life worse for the both of them, and it's never really touched on. I would have loved to see Percy's perspective even for a bit of the book. More, I would have loved to see Percy stand up for himself more often. I would love to have seen Percy actually deny Monty refuge in his comfort. 

Scipio and his pirate crew are also

more or less just plot devices. Scipio spends so much of his screen time acting as yet another person who comforts Monty, tries to convince him of his worth, and then refuses to hold him accountable for his bad behavior.

It seems like every 'good' character exists for the sole purpose of propping up Monty and cleaning up his messes with almost no recompense. 

(As an aside, I only found out after finishing the book and beginning the sequel that the author has been repeatedly smug, rude, entitled, etc. but that's neither here nor there. Probably.) 

The only exception to this is Felicity, who regularly needles her brother but has no control or power over him. She is often

literally fixing his wounds and cleaning up his messes,

but at least she seems properly put-out about it. However, in line with the perspective of good versus bad, the author apparently felt the need to have Felicity voice

her disgust and lack of understanding surrounding the Percy/Monty relationship and homosexuality in general, complete with 'it's a sin' rhetoric

. This came out of nowhere? Why do this except to give Monty just an ounce of moral high ground to a sympathetic audience?

Takeaway: I had enough fun with the book that I didn't stop listening to it, but it's another tick in the box of 'disappointing m/m fiction' for me. I wish the love interests were more than just a pair of arms to hold the protagonist sometimes, and especially here. 
 
Extra .75 points for the narration, though! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

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

tezarit's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

Wasn't super into it in the first half, but the second half really had me. My only main concern is the random and sudden vivid descriptions of suicide ideation and self-harm which were off-putting and honestly unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

jenarae's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

elleandon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

violet_pages's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content

jupitermond's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Forced institutionalization

taelights's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I thought the story and adventure was very fun plus Percy and Monty's relationship and dynamic was very good. I just wish we saw more of them as they don't get together until much later in the book and we barely get a pay off of all the pining as we don't get to see them actually being together much. I was hopeful for more content with them. 

I didn't enjoy Monty's character originally. I thought he was a selfish fuckboy alcoholic. Plus I hate in gay books when authors make the bi characters hook up with girls. If I wanted to read a hook up scene between a man and a woman I would have read a f/m romance rather than a m/m romance. Like it felt like Monty had more content with women than with his actual love interest Percy and I was very annoyed by that because as a gay person I want to read gay content which is the reason I read this book to begin with. 

While Monty did have some funny moments, I didn't come around to Monty until towards the end of the book. I preferred both Percy and Felicity a lot more. for most of the book. 

Also I found out the author is problematic so it also makes me also enjoy the book a bit less. I will try reading the others because I am interested to see more about the series and hopefully also get more Percy and Monty content but I will do so by also borrowing from the library like I did with this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization

inuy21's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs and Slavery

Minor: Bullying and Vomit