The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (Book Review)

*Synopsis*

The year is seventeen hundred and something and Monty is on his way to Paris with his beloved best friend, Percy, and his annoying younger sister, Felicity. He is supposed to go on a year long tour of the continent before coming back home to run his father’s estate. Felicity will be dropped off at finishing school on their way back and Percy will be going off to law school upon their return.

Monty’s reputation as a gambler, drunkard and hedonist precede him. This is his last chance to get into his father’s good graces. All the while, Monty must suppress his true feelings for Percy at all costs and be on his best behavior throughout the trip. Well, if that actually happened, we wouldn’t have this novel.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is definitely something to look out for at your local bookstores.

*Review*

I listened to the audiobook of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. It was my first read of Booktubeathon and a great way to start the week. I listened to this at 1.25 speed at the beginning then switched over to 1.5 speed as it is a long book and the 1.0 speed is just way too slow for me.

This was an excellent show of diversity. This is the first book I’ve read with an LGBT main character. I am very particular about historical fiction, especially those set in Europe but I was absolutely blown away by this one. A European historical fiction with one of the main characters being dark skinned is incredibly uncommon. Gender roles are discussed heavily in a natural way. It’s so well formatted and the humor is wonderful. The plot just kept getting thicker and thicker.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue has quite the colorful cast of characters. A bear leader, “pirates,” French noblemen, and alchemists are just a few of the kinds of people to be found in this story. Monty, Percy, and Felicity had the best group character development that I’ve seen in a while. The way their relationships with one another evolved were incredibly well done. Family, friendship, and love are central to the novel.

This is a definite 5/5 stars. It very well may have been the best book I’ve read this year.

*Spoilers*

I was shipping Percy and Montague so hard throughout the novel. Their relationship was so complicated and beautiful and I just wanted them to live happily ever after together. That night Felicity told Monty about the way Percy looked at him, I just knew the truth would come out soon enough.

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