The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

“Before the end of our first month in Paris, the violent biblical deaths we are seeing immortalized in paintings and hung in an endless procession of private collections are beginning to look rather appealing.” 

Synopsis

Henry “Monty” Montague has made a mess of himself one time too many as he was kicked out of one of the finest english boarding schools of the 1700s. His father disapproves of everything he does, which is mostly gambling, drinking and sleeping with women and men. This is how his Grand Tour of Europe gets a baby-sitter who is supposed to turn the trip from parties to culture and mingling. Along on the trip is his fierce little sister Felicity and his best friend Percy.

My thoughts

Monty stays a bi (?) rich douchebag troughout the book and it’s fantastic. He’s flamboyant, a rebel and an up-and-coming expert on escaping through gardens nude. Even as the book is written in first person, the author manages to hide Monty’s thought-process and motives at the beginning, which I would say is a fantastic feat. That way the reader learns about him along with the other characters. And I nearly liked Percy and Felicity as much as Monty. Felicity is the bookworm that represent most of us, Percy the good soul that needs to save them all. Of course they’re all flawed characters, and with those three together it’s no surprise the Tour quickly unravels.  They’re nearly murdered and need to run through half of Europe on a mission they can only hope is good. Mostly what drives them is not wanting to return, so they live while they have the chance. Also it’s gay romance with lots of feelings through all the big cities – Paris, Florence, Rome.

Can’t say much more about it without major spoilers, but the plot took turns I didn’t expect, the character interactions were great and I would absoloutly recommend this book!