The gentleman's guide to vice and virtue by Mackenzi Lee || REVIEW

Good morning readers!
It's been a while since last I posted a proper review so today I decided to review for you "the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue" by Mackenzi Lee.

photos by @chiaraschreave

➽Title: the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue
➽Author: Mackenzie Lee
➽Publisher: Harper Collins
➽Pages: 513
➽Price: $18.99
➽Genre: historical fiction
➽Goodreads profile

"In the east there is a tradition known as kintsukuroi. It is the practice of mending broken ceramic pottery using lacquer dusted with gold and silver and other precious metals. It is meant to symbolize that things can be more beautiful for having been broken." 

➽Synopsis: Henry "Monty" Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding school in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven't been able to curb any of his roguish passions- not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women and men. But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family's estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossibile crush on his best friend and traveling companion Percy. Still, it isn't Monty's nature to give up. Even when his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make his yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty's reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he loves.

"After two more neat stitches, she knots off the thread and cuts it with her teeth, then gives her embroidery an examination, looking pleased as Punch. -I've never actually done that on a person before.- She glances up at us, Percy looking very obviously away and me swooning against the artillery. And rolls her eyes -Men are such babies.-"

➽Review: If you are a wanderlust, and you love cute romances and action-packed novels, then this is definitely the book for you. The gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue surprised me a lot, I didn’t expert to love it as much as I did actually, but it’s absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2017. The plot is never predictable, you’ll  say “woah I didn’t see it coming” literally every single chapter, and this is one of the things I’m always looking for in a novel. We follow the characters in their Grand Tour, but nothing will end like you expert; Monty, Percy and Felicity  will indeed live many misadventures, they’ll be chased by highwaymen, sent to prison and they will even sail the seas with pirates.

"Here, in the bellow of this music and the torchlight dyed as it flickers through the Murano glass that lines the shop windows, it's easy to pretend we're sweethearts, ordinary as anything, out for a night together in a brillant city we have never known. Though I could have done without any of it, the drinking and the partying and the revelers in a whirlpool around us, so long as Percy and I were together. The workd could have been a blank canvas and I still would have been exactly this livid with happiness, just to be with him."

 Beside the plot, another strong point of this book are the characters. They are very realistic and well characterized, you can’t help falling in love with them. But, beware, they’re not perfect, at all. They’re flawed, they show fear and make mistakes, but that’s what makes them relatable to the reader. Monty has been rased to be a lord, and take over his father’s estate, but he doesn’t want to live live like that, he only wants to have fun and be with his best friend Percy, whom he’s secretly in love with. Percy, on the other hand, is the responsible one, he hasn’t the priviledge to behave like his inconsidered best friend. Being biracial and living in the 18th century, most people treat him like a slave and he’s forced to be almost invisible, to blend into the shadows, except when he’s with Monty, the only one who really loves him. Obviously a book like this cannot fail to include a strong female character like Felicity, Monty’s younger sister. She is necessary throughout the whole story, without her Monty and Percy would have probably died a thousand times; she’s only 15 years old but her dream is to study medicine. In the 18th century, though, such priviledges were inconcivable for a woman, so she’s forced to attend a finishing school once the tour ends. But something will happen, and it will change everyone’s lives completely.

Another good point to discuss is the diversity, this book is very very diverse; we have a bisexual main character and a black main character as well as many secondary characters, whose problems were well written by the author. She also talks about sexism, epilepsy and child abuse, but I won’t say more about those because you’ll discover everything while reading the book.

"-Dammit.- Percy tips his face at the sky with a moan.-I've had this whole speech worked out in my head, I've been planning it for weeks, waiting for a moment on our own..- -Oh no, did I wreck it?- -You completely wrecked it.- -I'm sorry.- -And it was so good!- -I'm so sorry!- -Couldn't keep your fat gob shut for two minutes. Dear Lord.-"

Okay readers, this is the end of the review. I really hope you liked it and that you’ll read this book. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

See you soon.