Reviews

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

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shubagar's review against another edition

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2.0

DNF. The writing wasn't very engaging and there was a lack of complexity.

yinlin's review against another edition

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3.0

"We are looking at each other, just looking, and I swear there are whole lifetimes lived in those small, shared moments."

i’m gonna cry i loved this so much

book_busy's review against another edition

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4.0

I honestly thought this book was going to be much more gritty and late-teenish in its tone so I was somewhat surprised by how the drunken antics of the protagonist came off as heavily juvenile. In retrospect it makes a lot of sense though I do feel, to a certain extent, the obvious romance which could be seen to be blossoming between the protagonist and another character was kept on hold for a plot conclusion that I saw coming from a mile off (I'd rather it was addressed earlier at a time that made more sense: I'm not a fan of teasing the romance out of a story) . Still, I think this book put a unique spin on the historical coming of age queer novel in that it feels like the main bulwark of its genre that I will compare others to now. It was a fun little reading romp but not the most challenging or hard-hitting. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't fun and that I won't be reading the rest of the series if I can help it. This was well-written but felt a bit.... Elementary and is if it was suited for a younger audience. I got plenty a snappy quote from it so I'm pleased as punch. It must also be noted that this book tackles some key notions that others stray from including queerness, disability and racism which I found was pretty fantastic of it to do.

sketchy_reader's review against another edition

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4.0

Historical fiction always takes me longer to read than any other genre but I do really enjoy it. I've always had a hard time enjoying history for two reasons... 1. What we are taught in school is often straight up lies or only the truths that seem most appealing. And 2. I'm sorry but it can be really friggen boring to learn. I love fiction, everyone knows this. But books like this where the historical parts are actual facts and the fictional parts are fun or fantastical I really do love reading. The fiction makes the historical parts more bearable.
I do have to say that while I really enjoyed this book it was absolutely nothing like I was expecting. All the reviews I read talk of how much fun this book is and the humor of it but the majority of it for me was just very sad.
Spoilers ahead
A man that's been beat down by his father so badly he has become an alcoholic, on top of that he is bisexual and in love with his best friend who is not only of the same gender he is also of color. So of course in the 18th century it is illegal for them to be together. Now of course being a colored gay man is not enough he also has epilepsy and is being sent away to an asylum. And the main characters sister is a strong woman with a passion for science and medicine but is never going to be allowed to go to university. She reads to learn all she can but even that is highly frowned upon if you happen to be anything other than a white male of means. Her fate is finishing school. I do realize that all the things that made this book sad are all historically accurate... and that only makes it sadder.
The book did, however, have a happy ending and I really loved the final pages. It just felt like the only way it could have ended, not necessarily because of what lives they chose but the format in which we find out.