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

5.0

I am going to review both The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue as well as The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy together, as I loved them both and would recommend them together. Book one focuses on Monty and book two on his sister Felicity. Percy their childhood friend is part of both books. The story is set in the eighteenth century and Monty the son of a wealthy English aristocrat is sent on a grand tour of Europe. Percy his childhood friend and Felicity his sister tag along and adventure ensues. Monty is a terribly bad boy, but is annoyingly endearing, so as much as you would like to hate him, you can’t. The adventure continues in book two, but Felicity is the focus. Along with the cast of characters from book one we are also introduced to two new kick ass female characters. Sim a tough and mysterious Muslim pirate and Johanna a childhood friend of Felicity’s, who although beautiful and feminine hides a spine of steel.

Initially I would have categorized this as a historical fiction but the heart of this story is the adventure. Through the adventure each character has struggles to overcome, which they hide from one another for as long as possible. We could assume that these struggles are directly related to the era that the story is set in, but upon reflection we see that these are universal struggles. Sexuality, gender equality, racism , discrimination, and substance abuse to cover trauma are all issues explored.

I love that each book features a character of the opposite gender, specifically a brother and sister who struggle to understand one another and don’t really get along. I suspect I will be able to recommend this to readers that may relate to that specific aspect.