Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

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

89 reviews

sagagi's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Self harm, and Slavery

vthecreature's review

adventurous funny hopeful tense 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? Yes

4.25

This was great and not at all what I was expecting! I read this at the recommendation of a friend and went in knowing nothing. I’m glad for that, as it made certain plot twists so much more surprising and engaging

such as the coach robbery and the “pirate” abduction

.
I also really liked the character development in this. With Monty being so unlikable and problematic in the beginning, I had little hope for him and was only consoled by the reactions of the people around him, which assured me that he’d learn his lesson someday.
I found the writing very gorgeous, especially whenever Monty described the scenery (very immersive) and his feelings for Percy (heartwarming!). The character voice for Monty was well done and had me laughing. 
I’m also very glad that

all the “good” characters in this got a happy ending. Sure, it’s probably not very historically accurate (as the author said in the epilogue) but I appreciated that.

. 
This book was very action-packed, which did feel a bit much but then again it probably wasn’t meant to be read in a single day… 
Some of the dialogue and characters’ behavior were unrealistic

like Bourbon’s cartoon villain moment at the end, Percy’s uncharacteristic denial of the Robles’ suspiciousness, and the “pirates” turning out to be extremely wholesome

but that’s probably appropriate for a young adult novel. Though I wouldn’t categorize it as YA myself, since there was a fair amount of sexual and violent content. This book also addressed several important issues such as racism, ableism, sexism, classism, etc. 
This book was clearly well planned, as certain tidbits from early in the story came into play later, which was great for the mystery aspect! I don’t know how to feel about the magical aspect though, since I had not been expecting it at all going into this. Also, the whole “misunderstanding between two people causes more drama than it should” trope knocked my rating down a bit.  
Still, this was overall a delightful read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Outing

kaii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Racial slurs, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Outing, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

akwardgrinch's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

onefineelephant's review

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

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

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

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

kpkuegler's review against another edition

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

5.0

this book was incredible, I went into it thinking it was going to be cheesy and really surface level but it dealt with so many sensitive topics and treated them all so well. I'm also a sucker for the childhood-best-friends-to-lovers trope but I've NEVER seen it done this well. The way Monty talks about Percy?? >>>>>.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Racism

jenarae's review

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

briely's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent