The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Why did it take me so long to read this book?!? This is a one of a kind young adult book. It's full of swagger, sex, vice, adventure, pirates, romance (gay and straight), and intrigue. And it's historical fiction! It's freaking awesome. Henry, his sister, and his best friend Percy are out on their "tour" of the continent. Henry just completed his schooling and as one last hurrah, he's allowed to go on a year long tour before he has to go back and start helping his father with the family estate, something he is absolutely dreading. Their barely on their way when Henry's antics at Versailles land them in a world of trouble. As if escaping from the party in nothing but his birthday suit wasn't bad enough, they are soon apprehended by highwaymen and it only gets worse from there. If they are going to survive Henry is going to have to cut back on drinking, stop sleeping around, and get his head out of his ass. The three young teenagers will need all their wits. Fun and unique. I'll have to check out the sequel! ( )

Hot mess Monty is determined to make the most of his Grand Tour with his best friend/crush Percy before they part ways to miserable futures. Then, Monty’s hasty move sends them & his sister on the run.

I couldn't get into this historical m-m romance.

There was very little of historical interest. The characters are launched from one location to another with barely more than a "two weeks later..." thrown in. This is supposed to be the GRAND TOUR, and travel is at the heart of that whole concept. A lot of the overly modern teenage bellyaching could have been excised to make room for some travel narrative, Monty especially could have used the space to contemplate rolling landscape or shifting seas and think about what a rat bastard he was being.

This book is clearly already beloved, but I would have liked a little more effort given to the characters being of their period. I'm all for a little tweaking of mindsets to ensure a happy ending, but there were few points where the central characters expressed themselves in the language of the 18th century, there would have been value in having Monty and Felicity and Percy from his insider/outsider perspective examine their naive views on race and culture while they were hop-skipping across the continent and meeting people from all sorts of social and ethnic and political backgrounds, but there was hardly any discussion. I will say Felicity's enthusiasm and knowledge came across the best.

Related to the above narrative and psychological absences was a general lack of description. A great deal of the fun of the historical genre is the detail of clothes, cosmetics, furniture, buildings, customs, etc, that made the past so, well, different. I shouldn't have to put myself through Pamela again to get a taste of the 18th century. Monty is reluctant to give up the trappings of his privileged life and so toes the line with his brutish father. What were those trappings, exactly? Were there any contradictory notions of romantic friendship among men and women of the period that could be drawn on to give Percy and Monty some context? Being a teen novel, I realize dense, historical content has to be kept light, but there was hardly anything here!

The plot crashes on and we have a conclusion and there were some lovely scenes and character building here, but only when they're divorced from the time period they're supposed to be in could I appreciate them at all. I hate to say it, but this feels like a swing and a miss.

But then, this historical m-m romance wasn't meant for me: a history buff and gay man who loves sentimental novels. ( )

Oh Lordy that was a hilarious book! ( )

Ok well wow, I just read that in less than 24 hours and it was great and perfect and it was engineered to tickle me every shade of pink. And now I just don't even know what to do with myself. I should probably write a more coherent review at some point. ( )