Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

The writing is absolutely PHENOMENAL and so freaky funny. It's also heart reaching, but you can always kinda see it coming. It's technically a long book but something you could get through in a couple of days.

<Spoiler>It also talks about a lot of interesting topics that were seen as taboo (although some of them aren't brought to a whole lot of detail considering the whole book is told from the perspective of a traumatized white teen boy who's an Earls son... But he slowly starts to learn, grow, and mature as he keeps ALMOST DYING.

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thefightinside's review

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adventurous funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a beautiful book! It’s a lovely blend of English historical fiction and fantasy. With the LGBT+ inclusivity, I know that many young people will relate to these characters and develop empathy for those in different situations than their own, as the characters in the book do. This is the first book in a trilogy (and a novella), which makes it perfect for helping motivate my students to read more.

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vthecreature's review

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adventurous funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was great and not at all what I was expecting! I read this at the recommendation of a friend and went in knowing nothing. I’m glad for that, as it made certain plot twists so much more surprising and engaging

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such as the coach robbery and the “pirate” abduction

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I also really liked the character development in this. With Monty being so unlikable and problematic in the beginning, I had little hope for him and was only consoled by the reactions of the people around him, which assured me that he’d learn his lesson someday.
I found the writing very gorgeous, especially whenever Monty described the scenery (very immersive) and his feelings for Percy (heartwarming!). The character voice for Monty was well done and had me laughing.
I’m also very glad that

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all the “good” characters in this got a happy ending. Sure, it’s probably not very historically accurate (as the author said in the epilogue) but I appreciated that.

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This book was very action-packed, which did feel a bit much but then again it probably wasn’t meant to be read in a single day…
Some of the dialogue and characters’ behavior were unrealistic

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like Bourbon’s cartoon villain moment at the end, Percy’s uncharacteristic denial of the Robles’ suspiciousness, and the “pirates” turning out to be extremely wholesome

but that’s probably appropriate for a young adult novel. Though I wouldn’t categorize it as YA myself, since there was a fair amount of sexual and violent content. This book also addressed several important issues such as racism, ableism, sexism, classism, etc.
This book was clearly well planned, as certain tidbits from early in the story came into play later, which was great for the mystery aspect! I don’t know how to feel about the magical aspect though, since I had not been expecting it at all going into this. Also, the whole “misunderstanding between two people causes more drama than it should” trope knocked my rating down a bit.
Still, this was overall a delightful read!

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