Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Katherine Tegen Books (2017), 528 pages
Description
Henry "Monty" Montague was bred to be a gentleman. His passions for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men, have earned the disapproval of his father. His quest for pleasures and vices have led to one last hedonistic hurrah as Monty, his best friend and crush Percy, and Monty's sister Felicity begin a Grand Tour of Europe. When a reckless decision turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything Monty knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
User reviews
LibraryThing member rivkat
Queer YA romance: Monty is taking the European Grand Tour with his friend Percy (whose mixed race means that others around them often mistake him for Monty’s servant) and his annoying sister who’s far more interested in the schooling forbidden to her than Monty ever was before he got kicked out
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of Eton for sodomy. Monty, straining against constraints imposed by his abusive father, impulsively steals a trinket from a room in Versailles and plunges them into a saga of highwaymen, alchemy, pirates, and privateers. It’s charming. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
I was very excited to get this book. This was an incredibly fun read for me. This book is a historical fiction which just a little bit of the unbelievable and a tad of magic. I loved the humor and wit throughout. I enjoyed the alchemical ramblings and plotline as well. However most of all I enjoyed
Monty is getting ready to go on tour with his best friend Percy before being forced to settle down and learn how to run his father’s estate. However, Monty has a huge complication..he has fallen in love with Percy and can’t be sure that Percy feels the same way about him. When Monty and his friends are set upon by highwaymen and left penniless and lost, things turn into even more of an adventure.
I loved this book right from the beginning. The relationship between Monty and Percy is sweet and complicated. The side characters, especially Monty’s sister, were equally interesting. Then when the mysterious puzzle box and the alchemical aspects were added to the story I was completely hooked.
I am not a huge romance reader but this book was a perfect blend of humor, adventure, romance, and mystery. I really enjoyed it a ton and absolutely could not put this book down. The writing style was amazing as well; it flowed beautifully, was flawless, and was a joy to read.
Overall this was an amazing read that was incredibly fun and entertaining. I loved the characters, the adventure, the setting, and the mystery. I can’t wait to read the second book in this series when it releases.
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our wonderful characters and the romance between them; it was just so sweet and well done. Monty is getting ready to go on tour with his best friend Percy before being forced to settle down and learn how to run his father’s estate. However, Monty has a huge complication..he has fallen in love with Percy and can’t be sure that Percy feels the same way about him. When Monty and his friends are set upon by highwaymen and left penniless and lost, things turn into even more of an adventure.
I loved this book right from the beginning. The relationship between Monty and Percy is sweet and complicated. The side characters, especially Monty’s sister, were equally interesting. Then when the mysterious puzzle box and the alchemical aspects were added to the story I was completely hooked.
I am not a huge romance reader but this book was a perfect blend of humor, adventure, romance, and mystery. I really enjoyed it a ton and absolutely could not put this book down. The writing style was amazing as well; it flowed beautifully, was flawless, and was a joy to read.
Overall this was an amazing read that was incredibly fun and entertaining. I loved the characters, the adventure, the setting, and the mystery. I can’t wait to read the second book in this series when it releases.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I really enjoyed this book about three young people's mis/adventures around Europe in the 18th century. It was a good mix of fun adventure, character relationships, and thoughtful reflections on how race, gender, sexuality, disability, and abuse affected the protagonists. The narrator takes a while
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to acquire a clue, but it's totally in character given his background. Would definitely recommend this to fans of historical fiction with diverse characters! Show Less
LibraryThing member Narshkite
A relentlessly funny, charming and very chaste 17th century m/m romance. Are there anachronisms? There are. Did I care? I did not. I really enjoyed the story, the characters. The ways in which the story addressed racism and the hateful treatment of women and those with illnesses that were not
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understood are smart and creative and authentic. Maybe even better is the way the book addresses white privilege both as it intersects with social class, and in ways that have nothing to do with income. And again, along with all of those good things the read was just fun and moving. Can't wait for book 2! Show Less
LibraryThing member Lisa_Francine
Appeal Factors: Character, Romance, Humor, and Tone
Follow the 18th-century escapades of Henry “Monty” Montague, expected to be a gentleman by his family, but wanting to play the rogue, and in love, he thinks, with his best friend, Percy Newton. Monty and Percy set off on the Grand Tour of
PS: The audio version performed by Christian Coulson is delectable!
Follow the 18th-century escapades of Henry “Monty” Montague, expected to be a gentleman by his family, but wanting to play the rogue, and in love, he thinks, with his best friend, Percy Newton. Monty and Percy set off on the Grand Tour of
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Europe which quickly devolves into a swashbuckling, penniless adventure of being chased and chasing their hunters. Will Monty and Percy escape? Will Monty confess his love for Percy? Prepare to be delighted with Mackenzi Lee’s historical fiction romp, and the swoonablity factor of Monty’s potential romance with Percy. As an aside, Monty’s sister, Felicity, is a resourceful, intelligent, and fierce companion throughout the book, and will be the main character in Lee’s second book in the series: The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.PS: The audio version performed by Christian Coulson is delectable!
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Definitely fun in the rollicking sense of the word, while still managing to explore the real challenges Monty, Percy, and Felicity all face. I got the feeling that Monty used his humor and shallowness as a defense against all the disappointment heaped upon him all the time.
LibraryThing member iansales
At Sledge-Lit last year, I was talking to Jeannette Ng, author of Under the Pendulum Sun, and we were discussing the novels of Georgette Heyer, and Jeannette recommended The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (she was clearly a fan as she’d decorated her nails in homage to the book). When I
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got home that evening, sat watching telly and having a drink or two, as you do, I found myself visiting the website of a well-known online retailer and ordering myself a copy of the book, as you, er, do… And now I have read it. Well, I complained earlier in this post that “feel-good” and “quirky” are not descriptors that draw me to a book, and there’s a lot in The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue that would normally mean I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole. For one, it’s YA. The narrator, Monty, is a bisexual teenager, the son of an earl. In eighteenth century England. In a novel written by an American woman. His sister, Felicity, is a bluestocking who wants to study medicine, and Percy, his best friend (for whom he’s burning a torch), is the adopted mixed parentage son of a family of Quality. The two guys are off on a Grand Tour, delivering the sister to a finishing school en route in Marseilles. In Paris, they’re invited to a party at Versailles, where Monty, who is a complete rake, upsets the the king’s ex-PM, the Duke of Bourbon, steals something from him, and then makes a complete tool of himself by running around the famous garden stark bollock naked after being caught in flagrante delicto… Except the item he stole proves to be important, especially to the Duke of Bourbon. It’s a box with a combination lock, and it contains a key to a tomb in which can be found an alchemical pancea. So Monty, Percy and Felicity are forced to go undercover and travel incognito to Barcelona to find the original owner of the box… The novel is told entirely from Monty’s point of view and he’s not at all convincing as an eighteenth-century teenager – and did they allow children out of the schoolroom before the age of twenty-one in the 1700s? The prose tries for British, but a quarter of the way in gives up, then it’s all “goddamn” this and “goddamn” that. But pretty much everything Monty does or says results in a lecture from the other characters. Percy lectures him on his white privilege; Felicity lectures him on his male privilege; yet’s he’s bisexual and there’s little discussion of that, other than a generic condemnation by society (the author says in an afterword she researched “mollies”, but Monty doesn’t feel like a person who would be part of molly culture). The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue reads like contemporary characters in an historical setting. Lee is quite good at plotting, and she is generally good at setting the scene. But the characters do not convince. And the frequent lectures feel contemporary. When I compare a book like this to, say, William Golding’s Rites of Passage, then there’s no comparison. Golding’s novel does more, and more convincingly, in half the pages than The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. True, it doesn’t include the lectures on privilege, and there’s certainly a place for that, and I rue that fiction has to include such explicit lectures – but that says more about modern society and fandom than it does an individual novel. All told, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was not for me. The lessons it was teaching, I have been taught elsewhere (not that it isn’t an ongoing process)… which meant I looked at other elements of the story. And there, it failed. I can’t fault its objectives, but I wasn’t impressed. Show Less
LibraryThing member ablachly
Utterly fucking charming.
LibraryThing member elenaj
I wanted a little more out of the ending, because I'm the sort of person who enjoys the romantic fancies more when they're grounded in some practical realities , but this was engaging, as charming as its protagonist, and a surprisingly quick read for a 500-page novel.
If anachronisms in language and
If anachronisms in language and
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tone bug you, this one may not be for you. Georgette Heyer it is not. On the other hand, it's got a nice dose of diverse characters, including a couple of badass women (Felicity ftw). Show Less
LibraryThing member samnreader
This book struck a perfect balance of sweet, swashbuckling, adventure, and sentiment.
While I enjoyed the adventure, there was just so much happening in this one little (ok, not little) book. Some more focus and depth to certain adventures or parts might have been lovely. I wouldn't have minded
While I enjoyed the adventure, there was just so much happening in this one little (ok, not little) book. Some more focus and depth to certain adventures or parts might have been lovely. I wouldn't have minded
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being more immersed in some of the cities or the relationships. It always felt like it scratched just beneath the surface before moving abruptly on. I will happily read the next book, without a doubt, because it was fun and funny without being too overboard on humor, and it was an all-around easy read. Show Less
LibraryThing member yvonnekins
This is a firmly middle-of-the-road experience for me. There were some cute scenes, but overall not a very memorable book.
The alchemy part of the plot took far too long to kick off. When I think 'alchemy' my brain also goes immediately to Full Metal Alchemist AKA the best anime of all time so
I liked Percy and Felicity (but not enough to continue the series and read her book, tbh.) Monty is not my favorite character, which is unfortunate since this was about him, but I know some readers have really liked him so that's just a personal taste thing and I can't fault the author for that as it would be impossible to cater to every reader's personal taste. But I will express that I wish this had been written from Percy's perspective because I found him way more interesting than Monty.
The writing was fine. There were some witty lines here and there and you can tell the author researched the period thoroughly. The speech patterns were a little too modern, even with the attempt to keep the characters' vocabulary accurate to the period, but overall that didn't bother me too much.
This was fun and cute, and I'd say it's worth the read if you were already thinking about giving it a chance, but I doubt that I'll be thinking about this much now that I've finished it.
The alchemy part of the plot took far too long to kick off. When I think 'alchemy' my brain also goes immediately to Full Metal Alchemist AKA the best anime of all time so
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there's a lot that I was hoping this would live up to and then the alchemy was just like, not very important at all? This is first and foremost a love story, but because it tries to have a plot + love story, neither the plot nor the love story gets the development that I was hoping for.I liked Percy and Felicity (but not enough to continue the series and read her book, tbh.) Monty is not my favorite character, which is unfortunate since this was about him, but I know some readers have really liked him so that's just a personal taste thing and I can't fault the author for that as it would be impossible to cater to every reader's personal taste. But I will express that I wish this had been written from Percy's perspective because I found him way more interesting than Monty.
The writing was fine. There were some witty lines here and there and you can tell the author researched the period thoroughly. The speech patterns were a little too modern, even with the attempt to keep the characters' vocabulary accurate to the period, but overall that didn't bother me too much.
This was fun and cute, and I'd say it's worth the read if you were already thinking about giving it a chance, but I doubt that I'll be thinking about this much now that I've finished it.
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LibraryThing member phoenixcomet
Henry Montague is a ne'er do well who is in love with his best friend, Percy. His father beats him senseless periodically over his "affliction" for boys and his lack of responsibility. Before settling down into his father's business and the peerage, Henry is determined to have his Grand Tour of
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Europe with Percy. Along for good measure is his sister, Felicity. Between the 3 of them, they get into many adventures due to Monty stealing a puzzle box from the Duke of Bourbon of France, trying to return it to its rightful owner, get robbed by highwaymen, kidnapped by pirates and in general get themselves into quite the messes all while falling deeper in love and gaining some maturation. Show Less
LibraryThing member PaperDollLady
Henry "Monty" Montague has the reputation of a rake. He's been kicked out of Eton, yet he's nonetheless given a year-long "Grand Tour" of European cities by his father. It is, as Monty is told, his last chance to change his roguish ways. Once the tour ends and Monty returns to England, his father
What makes this coming-of-age story memorable -- and what I like most in a book -- is when a full range of story elements come so marvelously together in plot and character. It holds crisp and humorous dialogue, especially the banter between siblings, Monty, and Felicity, who is super smart (she's a reader after all) and it turns out that she also has quite a feisty spirit. The quest the characters take on holds a touch of gothic, adding to the tale's wonderful plotting. But what I liked best is the story's protagonist -- Monty. He makes mistakes, yet while doing so he learns how not to be selfish. I just couldn't help but care about him, and what makes Monty so endearing is that he has HEART!
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expects him to learn the duties of a lord, to take over the family estate, and to be a gentleman. All of which Monty wants no part. He is not sent on his tour alone, traveling with Monty is his bookish fifteen-year-old sister, Felicity, and his best friend, Percy. Monty holds unique feelings for Percy, yet is reluctant to reveal them for fear of jeopardizing their long friendship. The three-some manage to separate themselves from their bear-leader (guide/cicerone) on the first stop of their itinerary in Paris, and a good amount of derring-do follows. Many escapades, which often stem from self-perseveration, come about as Monty, Felicity, and Percy endeavor to obtain a "panacea" for a condition that Percy suffers from -- the falling sickness (a centuries old name). It's an ailment that Percy has kept from Monty until after they depart England. And so the trio takes on what at-first seems merely a caper but soon becomes a quest. And something goes wrong at every turn, including run-ins with pirates and highwaymen. What makes this coming-of-age story memorable -- and what I like most in a book -- is when a full range of story elements come so marvelously together in plot and character. It holds crisp and humorous dialogue, especially the banter between siblings, Monty, and Felicity, who is super smart (she's a reader after all) and it turns out that she also has quite a feisty spirit. The quest the characters take on holds a touch of gothic, adding to the tale's wonderful plotting. But what I liked best is the story's protagonist -- Monty. He makes mistakes, yet while doing so he learns how not to be selfish. I just couldn't help but care about him, and what makes Monty so endearing is that he has HEART!
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LibraryThing member norabelle414
Henry "Monty" Montague is thrilled to be going on his very own Grand Tour of Europe - WITHOUT his father and WITH his best friend Percy (and also his little sister might be going but whatever). He plans to stay out all night, drink, chase after handsome men and women, and hopelessly pine for Percy.
This book was cute and I liked it, but it's very similar to Gail Carriger books and I think those are slightly better. But this is the author's first novel! It was very fun to read and I look forward to more of her work.
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But Monty's wanten ways and lack of a filter have always gotten him in trouble at home and at school, and Europe is no exception. He makes one little mistake and now he's being by a French duke over half the continent! He'll need to use wiles he didn't know he had to get through this, and meanwhile discover who he is, what he wants from life, and possibly the biggest discovery of all - his sister might be cool?!? This book was cute and I liked it, but it's very similar to Gail Carriger books and I think those are slightly better. But this is the author's first novel! It was very fun to read and I look forward to more of her work.
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LibraryThing member kamoorephoto
I think this may have been the first book I have ever pre-ordered online...I'm so glad I did! After reading rave reviews about its upcoming release and looking for a book while enjoying 'My Lady Jane' (which I loved too), I came across this. It didn't disappoint! Mackenzi has written a wonderful
This was one enjoyable romp and fun read and now I really want to know if Monty and Percy 'make it after all'!
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adventure with these three fabulous characters, with Monty as our protagonist, and you can't help but fall in love with him, even with all his boyish flaws and devilish charms. The 'tour' they take through Europe is much more interesting than the one I took in my year off I had between HS in England, and Uni in London, but I loved being taken through the rich tapestry of the cities of Paris, Venice, Barcelona, etc. It was luscious and vivid. You can feel how complicated it is for these characters to navigate their feelings for each other, and it's constantly complicated by this journey as well as the time that they are in. There's so much going on in this tale, and as a reader, I felt connected to this trio, hoping that things would work out, but also constantly was enjoying each mishap and crazy juncture they came across. This was one enjoyable romp and fun read and now I really want to know if Monty and Percy 'make it after all'!
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LibraryThing member mamzel
I love books that are different from anything I've read before and this one is definitely that.
Henry Montague is the son of an abusive titled father, 18 years old, and up until today only interested in partying. Partying hard. He has an unrequited crush on Percy, the mixed race son of a family
Things do not go as planned as a major discovery about Percy is revealed, Monty steals an item from a desk in Versailles which begins a chase around Europe.
Things I love about this book is how Felicity has to hide medical texts she is studying in romance covers. I also love how Monty describes his feelings for Percy. It is a romance described as never before.
Henry Montague is the son of an abusive titled father, 18 years old, and up until today only interested in partying. Partying hard. He has an unrequited crush on Percy, the mixed race son of a family
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friend. They grew up together and Monty's feelings grew sexually though he was afraid to act on his feelings. Now Monty's dad has given him a last chance to grow up so that he can start learning how to manage their holdings. Monty is to go on Tour in Europe making connections to help him in business and accompany his sister, Felicity, to finishing school. Not exactly his idea of a good time. But Percy will be joining them along with a bear-leader.Things do not go as planned as a major discovery about Percy is revealed, Monty steals an item from a desk in Versailles which begins a chase around Europe.
Things I love about this book is how Felicity has to hide medical texts she is studying in romance covers. I also love how Monty describes his feelings for Percy. It is a romance described as never before.
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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
Narrated by Christian Coulson. Seventeen-year-old Monty is hedonistic in mindset and lifestyle, loving boys, girls, parties and gin. His father sends him on a Grand Tour of Europe accompanied by a tutor in order to set Monty on a straighter path or risk getting cut off from the family. Also coming
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along are Monty's sister and his childhood friend and secret crush Percy. It turns out an item that Monty stole at a party from the Duke of Bourbon holds greater value than he realized; while on the tour he is pursued by soldiers. The stolen item may also be the key to curing Percy's epilepsy. Wild adventures and chases abound, climaxing with a truly grotesque scene in an underground tomb. Despite noticeable inhalations throughout the production, Coulson relishes the adventure and has Monty's shamelessly louche character down. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Parts of this early 18th gay love story are great fun and parts are just so not 18th century it doesn't bear saying. The events and places seem pretty accurate other than the main story line and it's fantastical elements, but the people just are not from any 18th century. Silly, sad, and strange.
LibraryThing member Catherine_GV
Two things really stood out for me in this book: the quality of the writing and Monty.
This book was very well written. The drama was there as well as humour and intriguing plot points.
As for the characters themselves, I found them to be quite unique and they even managed to develop over the
The plot was fun and interesting, though it sometimes lacked realism or high stakes.
My favourite character was Felicity (hands down!). She's strong, independent, determined and impressive in her own way. She's pursuing medecine in her free time despite what her father and society think of a woman having a passion (or the wits!) for it. I can't wait for the sequel, which is all about Felicity!
However, Monty didn't sit well with me. At all. He's such an idiot from beginning to end. Yes, okay, at the end he's a bit more open-minded and kind, but since the characters were done realistically, people will often come back to behaving just like they used to so with very few differences... He's arrogant and careless and doesn't even put himself in Percy's shoes for... EVERYTHING. It's always others' fault and he's so oblivious. I know he has a hard past, but he's really just blind or plain stupid. Either way, I don't like him. It's his personality I dislike. Reading this book wasn't a lot of fun because he was in it, see? I don't even know why I finished it. Probably because Felicity is awesome and Percy is so cute. But Monty? Thank God the sequel isn't about him!
But not everything is lost for there's a special treat in this book: interracial homosexual love. Like, why don't we see this more often? In all possible combinations: interracial love, homosexual love, and interracial homosexual love. It's cruelly missing and this book gives it to us.
Lastly, the realism surrounding epilepsy and madhouses is heart-wrenching. But well done!
Oh, I forgot: it's set in 18th century, so that's pretty great.
All in all, the book and story themselves weren't bad, but Monty ruined it for me. I hated picking up the book and having to read HIS point of view. If it had been Percy's, now, that would have been perfect and sweet, I'm sure of it. I guess it's 4 disappointing stars for this one. I can't rate it less than 4 because a character didn't sit well with me, right? Let's say I'm judging the overall product as a 4 stars.
This book was very well written. The drama was there as well as humour and intriguing plot points.
As for the characters themselves, I found them to be quite unique and they even managed to develop over the
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pages. Although I'd have wanted for Monty to grasp things more quickly and change more than what he did, but it was simply realistic so I can't really talk against that aspect.The plot was fun and interesting, though it sometimes lacked realism or high stakes.
My favourite character was Felicity (hands down!). She's strong, independent, determined and impressive in her own way. She's pursuing medecine in her free time despite what her father and society think of a woman having a passion (or the wits!) for it. I can't wait for the sequel, which is all about Felicity!
However, Monty didn't sit well with me. At all. He's such an idiot from beginning to end. Yes, okay, at the end he's a bit more open-minded and kind, but since the characters were done realistically, people will often come back to behaving just like they used to so with very few differences... He's arrogant and careless and doesn't even put himself in Percy's shoes for... EVERYTHING. It's always others' fault and he's so oblivious. I know he has a hard past, but he's really just blind or plain stupid. Either way, I don't like him. It's his personality I dislike. Reading this book wasn't a lot of fun because he was in it, see? I don't even know why I finished it. Probably because Felicity is awesome and Percy is so cute. But Monty? Thank God the sequel isn't about him!
But not everything is lost for there's a special treat in this book: interracial homosexual love. Like, why don't we see this more often? In all possible combinations: interracial love, homosexual love, and interracial homosexual love. It's cruelly missing and this book gives it to us.
Lastly, the realism surrounding epilepsy and madhouses is heart-wrenching. But well done!
Oh, I forgot: it's set in 18th century, so that's pretty great.
All in all, the book and story themselves weren't bad, but Monty ruined it for me. I hated picking up the book and having to read HIS point of view. If it had been Percy's, now, that would have been perfect and sweet, I'm sure of it. I guess it's 4 disappointing stars for this one. I can't rate it less than 4 because a character didn't sit well with me, right? Let's say I'm judging the overall product as a 4 stars.
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LibraryThing member seriesousbooks
this was definitely entertaining and I did find myself laughing at times. the adventure of it all was fun but I did find myself getting a little bored near the end. I'm not sure if I was in a weird mood or if the book was just a tad to long for me. regardless, I get all the praise and
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wholeheartedly enjoyed this book Show Less
LibraryThing member electrascaife
A young English rogue (Monty), his best friend (Percy, with whom he is desperately in love), and his prickly, too-smart-for-a-young-lady sister (Felicity) set out for their tour of the continent, intent on having a riot of a good year away from strict and abusive fathers and as-yet-still secret
The story of the puzzle box and the trouble it causes is okay, I suppose, but not fabulous. I was much more interested in the story of Monty (whom I didn't really care for at all until suddenly deciding that I did) and Percy (whom I adored from start to finish), which played out most satisfactorily and made me quite happy in the end.
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ailments. But one disastrous trip to a royal French party, which sees Monty streaking through the crowd after being caught in flagrante delicto and after stealing what seems to be a harmless little puzzle box, and then a run-in with some apparent-but-not-really bandits, has them separated from their tutor, penniless and on the run. While trying to solve the mystery of the box and its importance, they all learn tons about each other and themselves of course, and learn alternately to battle and befriend pirates along with their own fears and demons.The story of the puzzle box and the trouble it causes is okay, I suppose, but not fabulous. I was much more interested in the story of Monty (whom I didn't really care for at all until suddenly deciding that I did) and Percy (whom I adored from start to finish), which played out most satisfactorily and made me quite happy in the end.
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
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
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"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! Show Less
LibraryThing member infjsarah
This was another by chance pick to borrow audiobook from my public library which I didn't expect a lot from. But again I thoroughly enjoyed it - you are not sure if you like the main character at first but he grows on you. And some parts are very, very funny. But it also has a serious side dealing
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with homosexuality when it was illegal, individual identity, race and violence. Show Less
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
Monty is born with seemingly endless good luck -- wealthy, privileged, charming, and handsome. He seems to be squandering his life away, so his parents offer him one last glimpse of freedom in the form of a European tour before demanding he buckle down to run the family estate. Accompanying him on
This book took a little bit of getting into for me. Monty is so decidedly self-adsorbed and careless in the beginning part of the book that I had difficulty being concerned about his issues. As the novel progressed, he did mature somewhat (gaining an inkling of looking from another person's point of view) and we also see more of his backstory, which makes him feel like a more three-dimensional character. Percy and Felicity were more interesting characters, and I am intrigued by the follow-up book to this title being focused on her.
For the listener, Christian Coulson was an excellent narrator for the audiobook, giving so much life to each character through a diversity of accents, inflections, etc.
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this tour are his younger sister Felicity and his best friend Percy, for whom Monty is feeling something more than friendship. Early on in this trip across Europe, Monty pockets a seemingly small trifle from a nobleman at Versailles, and the trio soon finds themselves in the midst of a complex plot that could very well change the course of history!This book took a little bit of getting into for me. Monty is so decidedly self-adsorbed and careless in the beginning part of the book that I had difficulty being concerned about his issues. As the novel progressed, he did mature somewhat (gaining an inkling of looking from another person's point of view) and we also see more of his backstory, which makes him feel like a more three-dimensional character. Percy and Felicity were more interesting characters, and I am intrigued by the follow-up book to this title being focused on her.
For the listener, Christian Coulson was an excellent narrator for the audiobook, giving so much life to each character through a diversity of accents, inflections, etc.
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LibraryThing member dcoward
A very enjoyable read. Set some time in the 1700's, Monty is a member of the aristocracy with a terrible father and a secret crush on his best friend, Percy. Percy has his own secrets and his own challenges - he is a biracial member of the aristocracy who faces racism. And Monty's sister Felicity
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is fiercely intelligent, but is kept from pursing higher education because of her gender. So what happens when the three go on a Grand Tour of Europe? Alot! Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Best Male Narrator — 2018)
Nutmeg Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2020)
Stonewall Book Award (Honor Book — Children's and Young Adult Literature — 2018)
Thumbs Up! Award (Top Ten — 2018)
Oregon Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2020)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Almost Made It — 2019)
The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2019)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (High School — 2020)
Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2018)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2019)
ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection — 2018)
NPR: Books We Love (2017)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2018)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Teens (Fiction — 2017)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Teens (Fiction — 2017)
Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2018)
Just One More Page Recommendation List (Young Adult — 2018)
OYAN Book Rave (2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2017-06-27
Physical description
528 p.; 8.3 inches
ISBN
0062382802 / 9780062382801