The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue audiobook

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and VirtueYA adventure, own voices queer rep.I loved this novel, and not even just because one of the main characters is named Percy!Set in the 1700s, it’s the story of Henry “Monty” Montague, who is embarking on his Grand Tour of Europe -- one last teenage year of wildness and oat-sewing before he is supposed to take over as his father’s heir and get down to the deadly boring business of being an adult.If a year traveling around Europe sounds awesome to you, think again. For one thing, Monty has just gotten kicked out of university for having an affair with another young man. His father, after beating Monty severely, has warned him that he will come back from his Grand Tour ready to be a proper young gentleman or he will be disinherited and left penniless. Henry is given a strict chaperone who will make sure the trip is “educational.” Ugh. To make matters worse, Monty’s younger sister Felicity is tagging along. She is every bit as headstrong and untraditional as Monty, which means they butt heads and get on each other’s nerves as only siblings can. Then there’s Monty’s best friend Percy, a compassionate and gorgeous young man who was the product of his English father’s affair with a woman of African descent in the West Indies. Monty and Percy have grown up together and have always been close. The Grand Tour is meant to be their final year together before Monty comes home to run the estate and Percy goes off to law school in Holland. The biggest issue: Monty has recently fallen madly and hopelessly in love with his best friend. He is afraid to say anything in case Percy doesn’t feel the same way. He is afraid to ruin his friendship. But he also can’t stand the idea of not saying anything and then never seeing Percy again. What’s a fellow to do?We follow Monty, Percy and Felicity on their Grand Tour, which quickly goes off the rails in every conceivable way. There are scandals, highway robbers, mad scientists, pirates, evil nobles, daring escapes and impossible dilemmas. And of course, there is a twisting, turning, haunting love story as Henry struggles to let Percy know how he really feels. So much to love about this book. Monty narrates the whole thing first person, and his voice is clever, funny, wry and as unabashedly bisexual as imaginable for a young man of the 18th Century. (Apollo from The Trials of Apollo would heartily approve of Monty’s observations on life and love.) Monty is not a perfect protagonist in many ways: He is sometimes arrogant, narcissistic, self-absorbed, and unmotivated to do anything besides drink, game and dream about Percy, but we never lose sympathy for him because he is so wounded, so unsure of himself and so determined to figure out how to come to terms with being in love. Percy is a brilliant character as well. He struggles to make Monty understand what his life is like as a dark-skinned man in Europe. He cares about his friend, even when he is exasperated by Monty’s thick-headedness. Percy is also hiding a huge secret that affects how he sees Monty and his own future. He may not be going to law school at the end of their Grand Tour. The true is, in fact, much grimmer . . .As for Felicity, Monty’s younger sister, she is chafing against the limitations placed upon her because of her gender. She wants to go to medical school and become a doctor, not to finishing school to be a proper lady. She resents that her brother gets all the advantages and seems to just throw them away. But as their adventures begin, Felicity will find unexpected ways to shine.This book works as a love story, but it is also a rollicking adventure that includes a great mystery. It tackles issues like gender, race, sexuality, disability and physical abuse in the 1700s without ever losing steam or feeling preachy. It raises thorny questions that have no easy answers. Readers will be rooting for Monty, Percy and Felicity, but at times it may seem impossible that the threesome will reach their individual goals for happiness when so much is against them. I would highly recommend this book if you like reads such as THE SONG OF ACHILLES or ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. I didn’t want to leave these characters behind. Fortunately there is a sequel, THE LADY’S GUIDE TO PETTICOATS AND PIRACY, following the adventures of Felicity. Sign me up! (I discovered this book thanks to the site Queer Books for Teens.)

As we sail across the Channel toward Calais, this is what I’m thinking of—Percy and me and England sinking into the sea behind us, and also French lads and their tight breeches and, zounds, I can’t wait to get to Paris. I am also maybe a tiny bit drunk. This book is wonderful! Just so so much fun. It's light, it's silly, and I just couldn't stop giggling to myself from start to finish. It reminds me of My Lady Jane, but with lots of gay love and drunken shenanigans.Henry Montague, or "Monty" to those close to him, is about to set out on a Grand Tour of Europe with his sister and best friend, Percy. From Paris, through Marseilles, Barcelona, and Venice, to finally arrive on the beautiful island of Santorini. I'm jealous just thinking about it. He had initially planned a trip full of drink, love affairs, and merriment, but his father is trying to ruin his plans by sending Mr Lockwood to watch over him and put a stop to any scandalous behaviour. So, of course, Monty being Monty, the trip is full of drink, love affairs, and merriment. Only, he gets way more than he bargained for.Pirates and highwaymen make appearances on the journey, and they all seem out to ruin Monty's good time. And if that wasn't enough, Monty's not-so-platonic feelings for his good friend Percy just won't go away. The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single-sidedness. It is also not an epic monolith that has plagued me since boyhood, as might be expected. Rather, it is simply the tale of how two people can be important to each other their whole lives, and then, one morning, quite without meaning to, one of them wakes to find that importance has been magnified into a sudden and intense desire to put his tongue in the other’s mouth. Humour is highly subjective, but I found it hilarious. There's just something so delightful about watching British high society men being buffoons. Monty's narration is immature and silly, often sarcastic, and yet he is so damn lovable. Of course, his ridiculous actions land the group in trouble again and again, but it is very entertaining to watch.I really enjoyed this historical romantic comedy. The whirlwind of European tourism served as an exciting backdrop for the rest of the action and romance. Monty and Percy have the perfect amount of sexual tension/love angst and I ship them so hard. And the ending made me smile so freaking much.Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

Y'ALLTHISDANGBOOKCW: child abuse, alcoholism, abelism, racismI absolutely loved The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. It blew away all of my expectations. I went in expecting a cutesy YA m/m romance novel set in the 1700s, but it was so much more! This novel is full of action, adventure, feminism, a sassy narrator, high stakes, (AND a cutest m/m romance).I loved all the main characters - they are a terrific trio. Monty is particularly interesting to me because his addictions and recklessness make him potentially unlikable, but his sass, quick wit, and vulnerability make him impossible to love. Percy is such a mush - he is a precious lil bean who deserves the world for his kindheartedness. Also, kudos to the author for including epilepsy representation. I've grown up in a household with a parent who gets seizures and it's an immensely difficult thing to experience, but I'm especially pleased it was addressed within an 18th century context. Additionally, Felicity is a badass. I am SO HERE FOR women breaking societal norms and pursuing careers in fields like medicine. She is the Hermione of Monty and Percy and they would never have accomplished their feats without her. That being said, each character plays a crucial role in the strength of their relationship and they are all essential to the success of their endeavors. I'm not normally a historical fiction reader, but this novel is truly unique. The super comedic relief and the high-intensity action makes it entirely different from most historical YA novels I've read in the past. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a new novel with gay/bisexual characters, setting in 18th century Europe, intense action, and hysterical writing. So worth the hype!!

4.25 So much fun!

“Are you going to give me the fornication without the intention of procreation is of the devil and a crime lecture? I believe I could recite it from memory by now.”“Monty-”“Perhaps I am trying to procreate with all these lads and I’m just very misinformed about the whole process. If only Eton hadn’t thrown me out.” Wow, so I expected cute and amusing, but I did not expect to find both the funniest thing I've ever read, and also one of the most unfortunately-personally-relevant-to-me things I have ever read. This book means the world to me.[Also, THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY. I literally do not remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book so much. Even my reading slump couldn't conquer this book. After I got off my slump-creating kindle and on to the hardcover copy I read at the bookstore, I read this in less than 24 hours. YES.]Just to be clear: I love pretty much everything about this book. It's fantastically paced, especially for such a long book - I mean, it broke my reading slump. It's hilarious - I laughed out loud multiple times. The romance is adorable and has some of the best development I've read in YA. Monty's character development was 10/10. The holy trinity at the center of the book is a ton of fun. Maybe I'll even talk more about this later and add something to this review. But you know what? You can find a thousand reviews about how cool everything in this book is. I want to talk about why this book was worth reading for me. There are two things - no, three things - about this book that I think are really special. First of all, Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is hilarious, but not so light as to be flimsy. Not to shade every other book ever but this is 1) my niche category of favorite book and 2) a balance I think most books fail at; either we get books that are nothing but fluff, or books that are nothing but tragedy. This book is neither. It's dark, but it's also hopeful. When a book feels too light, it's escapist; when it feels too dark, it's depressing. This book made me feel like the universe doesn't suck too much. Just because people are survivors of abuse or trauma doesn't mean we always need to be in a world of angst.Secondly - I feel like such a pretentious asshole - I love the themes here about not needing to be cured to be an important person. You have no idea how rare it is for chronically ill / disabled / neuroatypical people to be treated as whole, to be treated as real. This book really explores the fact that Percy doesn't want to be cured; he just wants to be treated like a full person. I have never read a book that even mentioned this feeling. It was... perfect. God, I can't put every emotion I felt about this into a full sentence. Just... if you're looking for this theme, please pick this book up. Third, and maybe most important; this is historical fiction about people who don't get historical fiction. People love to declaim about how the historical fiction genre doesn't need diversity because, apparently, the only people who existed back then were white, straight, and abled. Which is serious bullshit. People like us have always existed; we just don't get books, especially historical fiction. Seeing representation like this in historical fiction is seriously new and it means the fucking WORLD to me. The great tragic love story of Percy and me is neither great nor truly a love story, and is tragic only for its single-sidedness. It is also not an epic monolith that has plagued me since boyhood, as might be expected. Rather, it is simply the tale of how two people can be important to each other their whole lives, and then, one morning, quite without meaning to, one of them wakes to find that importance has been magnified into a sudden and intense desire to put his tongue in the other’s mouth. And yet simultaneously it's so sweet. Like, someone tell me why this book invented romance and being in love. This is a cute historical romcom focusing on people who don't get historical fiction because the world used to hate us. It's adorable and hilarious and important and I had so much fun reading it. And this part from the author's note made me cry: — Which begs the question - would a long term relationship between two English men during the eighteenth century have been a real possibility? I don't know. They likely would not have been able to be open about it. But the optimist in me likes to believe that the twenty-first century is not the first time in history that queer people have been able to live full romantic and sexual lives with the people they love.And if that makes me anachronistic, so be it. God bless.And yes, I agree with this.Blog | Goodreads| Twitter | Youtube

4.5*This was so fun and cute! So much love!!!

4.5/5

its been over a year since i read this and you would not believe how often i think about the guy on the cover. has anyone seen this episode of the office where michael falls in love with the chair model he sees in the office supply catalog? thats how i feel about this guy. except i hope hes doing a lot better than the chair model. lol. ____________________________________goodness me, that was quite the ride! i had no idea this was historical fiction, so i went into this totally expecting ‘lads on tour’ but instead got ‘the journey of the century.’ and i completely underestimated how great this book would be - while it gave me fun summer road trip among friends vibes, it was so much more than that. i actually felt like i learnt a lot whilst reading this, and it also had some really deep and touching moments. the adventure, the romance, the wonderful cities and places - i just really enjoyed it all!↠ 4.5 stars

”Love may be a grand thing, but goddamn if it doesn’t take up more than its fair share of space inside a man.”This was a buddy read with my one and only precious Gem!!!

MYHEARTMYHEARTMYHEARTMYHEARTI absolutely LOVED this book and everything it stand for. I love the way the author created these characters and articulated their thoughts in such a marvelous way. I was in love with Felicity, Monty, and Percy before the second chapter even ended and only grew to like them more as the story progressed. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book but it definitely was not this. I knew I was going to love this book the second I started it and it met all my expectations, which were pretty high to begin with considering the amazing things I’ve heard about it. I read the blurb for this book on Goodreads and started reading it with a perspective that it was going to be this easy to get through, funny read and I did get that feel from it, but it was also so much more. This book is tagged Historical Fiction, Romance, and LGBT, even though they are accurate, they make the book seem kind of superficial but there is actually a lot of emotional depth to this book if you look for it.Our main characters, Monty, Percy, and Felicity make the most heartwarming trio possible. Henry Montague is an Earl’s son, yet he is the opposite of what you would consider to be a ‘lord’. He spends him time drinking, chasing after both women and men, and just about anything else that will tarnish his father’s reputation. Monty is so deeply in love with his best friend, Percy, to the point where it hurts to be around him as he is unable to tell him he’s in love with him. Through this book we get to see their relationship progress and it is so adorable because neither of them are sure if the other likes them and they are 2 very emotionally volatile people. Putting the nature of their relationship aside, their friendship and the fact that they stand by the other’s side no matter what, really hits you in the gut. It clearly reflects the value of friendship and how much it means to every single one of us to always have a friend to laugh with, to have fun with, to lean on, to confide in, to go so crazy with to the point where anyone else would put the both of you in a mental hospital, no matter what comes your way.The book deals with a lot of issues in the 18th century society such as racism and sexism. In the racism point of view, the author clearly shows how blacks were abused and dishonored and how they were never treated above the position of a servant. The sexism aspect we see clearly with Felicity as we see over and over again that women were not given the opportunities men were and that they considered to be inferior to the man. In such a situation, seeing Felicity’s dreams and how she will always defend and argue in favor of the position of women in society, is inspiring. Felicity is without a doubt my favorite character. Felicity goes against the picture of what an ideal ‘lady’ would be in that time period. She’s a total bad ass. She is capable beyond measure and can take care of herself. She stands against how women are treated and embodies a true feminist. She is a bookworm, which only gave me reason to love her more. I mean come on, when we were first introduced to her, she was eating breakfast with a book standing up with the support of a jam pot with a fork wedged in it to keep it standing. How can we not love this girl?!It’s a funny, clever, charming, delightful story and I loved it. I must say, I don’t really read much Historical Fiction but this book was amazing. All the hype surrounding this book was justified and if you are a person who enjoys reading Historical Fiction or a fun contemporary book I definitely recommend it to you.

4.5 stars Boys fighting pirates and their feelings for each other in 18th century Paris and Venice! *swoon* We hosted the official cover reveal this morning, accompanied by an early ARC giveaway and the MOST ADORABLE video by the author talking about why she wrote the book. She touches on wanting to address frustrating historical tropes and the lack of queer representation, as well as how "strong" femininity is defined. Oh, and there are pirates and villains and a swoonworthy romance, too!http://www.themidnightgarden.net/2016...PLEASE read the amazing excerpt on that post if you're considering the book. The witty dialogue and intimacy of the first chapter made me fall in love with it, and I'm fairly certain it'll whip you into a frenzy of longing as well. As Mackenzi says, this is the big gay 18th century road trip novel you didn't know you wanted!Also, I loved the book enough to write a blurb for the ARC. :) Here's a sneak peek: https://www.instagram.com/p/BK7MhzCAHER/

4.5 stars - audiobook

4.5 StarsRe-read:Bumping my rating up because I forgot how great the discussion of chronic illness is here. Honestly some of the best representation I've seen. "It isn’t easy and it isn’t very enjoyable but this is what I’ve got to live with. This is who I am, and I don’t think I’m insane. I don’t think I should be locked up and I don’t think I need to be cured of it for my life to be good." Otherwise I pretty much stand by my original review:----------------- 4 StarsOriginal Review: “I swear, you would play the coquette with a well-upholstered sofa.” "First, I would not. And second, how handsome is this sofa?” Hey look, historical fiction that isn’t all pain, bloodshed and boring people! (Also not just old white men!)Taking place in the early 1700s, Mackenzi Lee's latest focuses on Henry Montague (or Monty) and his parent's last ditch attempt to 'tame' him. Monty sets off on his coming-of-age tour of Europe with his sister (Felicity) and his best friend (Percy). They get detoured by highwaymen and end up in a scheme involving Alchemists and the French Aristocracy in a plot that rivals any adventure flick. But also a lot of introspection, as Monty struggles with finding his place and dealing with his massive crush on Percy. Pros: This is just so much fun. The story is bizarre and different, and takes you to several different lands as everything slowly starts to come together. It’s all a bit of roller-coaster ride, but really engrossing and hard to put down. It’s simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking? Like in one scene we have Monty calling a horse a leggy sausage then the next we have someone discussing the ramifications of chronic illness. Both the serious and silly topics are handled well.Especially the discussion of sexuality. Like damn. At one point Felicity and Monty sit down and discuss his penchant for attractive men and the whole discussion blew me away. It fits perfectly into the historical context, so they both really lack language we have now—like orientation and sexuality. But despite matching their characters and the time-period, everything they discuss feels so relevant. This is so tropey but does it so well. I will never tire of the mutual-pining and oh-no-we-have-to-share-a-bed tropes and I won’t even apologize for it. I want to be Felicity when I grow up. She’s seriously such a strong character and I love her. We discover half-way through the book that she’s interested in medicine, though it’s not ‘appropriate’ for women at the time. She has a really sharp wit about her and her functioning as the group’s quasi-doctor was an incredibly fun touch. ”Ladies haven’t the luxury of being squeamish about blood.”Other wonderful things this book contains• Bisexual representation• A man running naked through Versailles • Prominent gay POC• A baby referred to as “The Goblin”• Epilepsy representation• Privateers turned pirates• A minor-fantasy-sci-fi-sorta element Al of these elements are told through a very strong narrative. Not only does the writing reflect the voice very well, but it accurately sets the historical tone without coming across dry or boring. Cons Coming in at 525+ pages, I couldn’t help but feel this was just too long. As much as I enjoyed the wacky adventures and how it all unfolds, this takes a good 20% to get going, and then the real plot only kicks in around 40%. Overall, the writing is excellent but there were several paragraphs and sentences that could have been more concise, especially towards the end. There also was a pattern of repeating words that just felt really clunky. Examples: “No one but me had had to see her to realize…”“We’re breathing so hard it seems a miracle that that alone doesn’t give us away.” I think I expected a little more for Monty's character development? It's certainly there-- in bits and pieces that rush together at the end. As much as we are told he's changed, I don't feel we were properly shown. Though he has lovable traits, he still seems incredible selfish, and I'm not certain why they put up with him at times. In Conclusion Really fun, LGBT-themed, historical adventure. Though not without some pacing and structure issues.