Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

4 stars. Aww, how cute! Simply adorable! For some reason this was much more lighthearted than I expected, and much more ... adventurous. The stakes are never that high and the angst is a bit, well, angsty, but I really enjoyed this humorous little book.

I loved getting to know Monty, who begins about as far away from a fearless hero as you'll find in literature, his brave sister and his quietly noble travel companion / best friend / love interest. There are so many shenanigans I could hardly keep up - thievery, drunken debauchery, piracy, alchemy, numerous delicious illegal acts and just a hint of magic. They all add zest to this extremely heartwarming 18th century coming-of-age story.

I know it's shouted from the rooftops these days, but yes, representation matters. We have a bisexual protagonist in love with an epileptic biracial man - more stories like this, please. And take note - the representation here is done well. This isn't diversity for the sake of diversity, this book's message is folded with extreme care into its extremely well-written pages. The incredibly painful subjects of child abuse and chronic illness are handled with so much delicacy its almost breathtaking.

I docked a star because I suffer from really horrible secondhand embarrassment and couldn't stand Monty's many missteps in the first half of this book. I also find True Love tiresome. But seriously - read this book. I really, really enjoyed it, and I will read it again and again. After all, "what's the use of temptations if we don't yield to them?"

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue on: Amazon | Goodreads