This is one of the most delightful books I’ve read in quite some time. It’s a Kirkus Prize nominee, and deservedly so.

The story is told in 1st person present tense by Henry “Monty” Montague, an 18-year-old bisexual lord. The story begins with the set-up of a friends-to-lovers European tour scenario and takes some very interesting turns in plot through French politics, bandits, pirates, and more along the way.

What impressed me the most is how successfully Monty is portrayed as deeply flawed while still being sympathetic. I’ve tried a few books lately that push things too far, where I’ve ended up putting the novel down because the MC is so unpleasant. I have to like a character in order to care what happens to them, and I think at times it’s tempting for authors to show ‘flawed’ as a characterization that reads to me as ‘horribly rude and unapologetically selfish.’ Monty is the most successfully drawn characterization of sympathetic teenage idiocy that I can remember reading.

For all of his many flaws, it was obvious from his charmingly voiced narration that Monty was much more oblivious than malicious, even as he blundered through dealing a lot of harm to those around him during the early chapters. His charm wore thin for me through his worst series of decisions in Paris, pushing just up to the limit where I was about to lose patience with him, and then, slowly, he began to redeem himself enough to keep me cheering for him. It helped that his way of telling the sequence of events was often hilarious.

It was also clear, as the book moved along, just how much pain Monty was numbing under his established habit of drinking himself to blackout drunkenness at every nearby brothel. He becomes more sympathetic and moderately self-improved in relatively equal increments while dealing with all of the plot elements set in motion by his Parisian choices. I should also note here that although his pain and his history are clearly established, the book is never depressing. The balance of Monty’s flippant rendition of his past without veering into a cavalier dismissal of it for the reader is deftly done. The book’s overall tone is light, for all of the weighty issues it takes on. Monty’s more risqué habits are also left largely off the page and in the immediate past, leaving what’s actually on the pages with what I’d describe as a T rating.

At Monty’s side for the entirety of the novel are his best friend Percy, who is a lovely human being Monty adores, and his younger sister Felicity, who he initially loathes and dismisses categorically. Readers get to learn with Monty in real time just how much depth and strength there is to Felicity.

I highly recommend this. Enjoy!

The book is available in many places, including here: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

Official Overview:

A young bisexual British lord embarks on an unforgettable Grand Tour of Europe with his best friend/secret crush. An 18th-century romantic adventure for the modern age written by This Monstrous Thing author Mackenzi Lee—Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the 1700s.

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are 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 impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this 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, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Witty, dazzling, and intriguing at every turn, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is an irresistible romp that explores the undeniably fine lines between friendship and love.