The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

I was really hesitant about this book when I got it initially. But I went to a signing with MacKenzi Lee and the more she talked about the book and her writing process the more intrigued I became. The idea of reading about two friends and a sister on a journey around Europe in the 18th century is not at all appealing to me. But this book is so much more than that.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is about two best friends coming to terms with their feelings for each other, a sister figuring out how she is going to live her life, throw in a bunch of drunken endeavors, some streaking, and pirates and you have this fantastic book.

I was never bored reading this book, between Monty's antics and the adventure of the tour there was always something moving the plot along. Mackenzi Lee did a fantastic job adding her own spin to the Grand Tours of the 18th century. From the signing, I know she spent a lot of time researching and reading journals from English adolescents during their Tours and she used this information to augment the adventure Monty, Percy, and Felicity embark on.

Our trio of characters are fantastically well written and each are so unique but also work so well together even when they are fighting. While this is definitely Monty's story, Percy and Felicity still play a large role throughout the book and it was so easy to fall in love with these characters and want them happy at the end. There were times when I wanted to slap Percy or Monty across the head for some of the stupid choices they were making, and let me be honest, I'm mostly talking about Monty because that boy can be absolutely ridiculous sometimes. I also appreciated how his character grew throughout the book, but he was still very much him at the end too.

I'm sure the genre of Historical Fiction will turn many away from this book, but hopefully the cover and the summary will help reluctant readers pick it up and fall in love with this characters like I did. I cannot wait to read Felicity's story next in The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. Hopefully we see more Percy and Monty in there too, but also more pirates!