Status
Checked out
Due 4/20/2024
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Katherine Tegen Books (2020), 480 pages
Description
Romance. Historical Fiction. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Felicity Montague must use all her womanly wits and wiles to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctorâ??even if she has to scheme her way across Europe to do it. A must-have for fans of Mackenzi Lee's extraordinary and Stonewall Honor-winning novel. A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mindâ??avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science. But then a window of opportunity opensâ??a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity's way, so long as she's allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl's true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlan… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member infjsarah
Audiobook. Muchly enjoyed this one too. It is a bit slow to get going - takes to half way before adventure really takes off. Great fun then though.
LibraryThing member m_mozeleski
An amazing follow-up to The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, the Lady's Guide follows Felicity Montague in the aftermath of her brother's absconding to London with his boyfriend.
Felicity is, rightfully, irritated with a lot of the world for demanding that women not work. Anywhere. She meets
There is a lot to read in the pages of this story, but it was utterly fantastic.
Felicity is, rightfully, irritated with a lot of the world for demanding that women not work. Anywhere. She meets
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two more women during her adventure who tend to share the same views, and she meets men who claim to, but do not.There is a lot to read in the pages of this story, but it was utterly fantastic.
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LibraryThing member sprainedbrain
I enjoyed this audiobook just as much as The Gentleman's Guide. Lee writes funny, action-packed, adventurous and original YA historical fiction, and I just love her characters. Felicity, Johanna, and Sim are strong female characters, and it was fun to catch glimpses of Monty and Percy again, too.
LibraryThing member cavernism
I'll be honest- the plot kind of lost me at times, but the characters were absolutely wonderful. I had such affection for each member of the trio of girls - and I love that Felicity is not without her flaws. The book rips apart the garbage "not like other girls" trope and makes a very clear
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statement that feminine qualities do not equal weakness or silliness. I adored that Felicity is, as I suspected in the first book, asexual! And seemingly aromantic as well! Hooray! Representation! AND she gets to use her medical skills in a realistic and satisfying way. I really hope there's a third book in the works because there is still a lot of story left for the Montague siblings. Show Less
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I love this book! The protagonists are well-drawn and complex. There's representation galore! And the plot explores a number of important topics (misogyny, imperialism, conservation, heteronormativity) with grace and compassion. Plus there's a super-cute proto-romance.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
I loved The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, and so I was excited to hear Felicity was getting her book. Then, lo and behold, the only part of Felicity's book I liked was when Monty and Percy (the leads in A Gentleman's Guide for those who did not read that book) popped up.
It turned out
This is pure YA fantasy. If you read it as that maybe it works. I don't like fantasy or YA much so take that into account Also, dragons? Puhleez. I listened to the audio, and the reader was really excellent. If I had read this in print I think it would have been a a DNF.
It turned out
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Felicity was insufferable. She was mean, preachy, superior, judgmental and 100% humorless. The weird, part? Not one of those things was the worst thing about her character. No, the biggest problem was the absolute and utter disregard of history. I like a plucky girl as much as the next person, but that person has to have had some chance of existing in her time. Books that were written near the time the stories were set show independent girls who strove for things that were possible (though not the norm) in their time (see eg, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and for nonfiction A Vindication of the Right of Women.) No woman at the time this was set could possibly have had the thoughts, goals, reactions of Felicity, or Johanna, or Sim because they were unimaginable. There is a joke about drawing penises with hats on them on people, like they were all sitting around watching 10 Things I Hate About You the night before. Also they bandied about the word "penis", a word which a well-bred woman at the time would never have uttered and might not even have known. It would be like a Cro-Mag-non woman fantasizing about Netflix Originals. There is no context for those goals or that knowledge. Lee dropped 20th century women (essentially these were unwilling 50's future housewives) into the 19th (18th?) century. I hate when writers do that. Its so lazy and encourages laziness in readers who believe this junk. (I will note here that the ridiculousness and historical inaccuracy of characters extended to all the characters male and female. Alexander was like an evildoer on Scooby Doo. Darn those meddling girls!)This is pure YA fantasy. If you read it as that maybe it works. I don't like fantasy or YA much so take that into account Also, dragons? Puhleez. I listened to the audio, and the reader was really excellent. If I had read this in print I think it would have been a a DNF.
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LibraryThing member SandSing7
This book is FANTASTIC! It covers a whole range of issues like misogyny, environmental conservation, ingrained patriarchal systems, imperialism, asexuality, and the ills of women judging other women and it does so without becoming preachy or didactic. The characters are wonderfully strong and feel
I read The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and really enjoyed that, but this one is even better! Highly recommended!
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real. I would love to go on an adventure with both of them!I read The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and really enjoyed that, but this one is even better! Highly recommended!
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LibraryThing member scarylullabies
There is a lot to praise in this book, but I'm writing this review because it's one of those books where I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until I was finished with it. I was dreading the ending as it approached - there's plenty of narrative tension, but additionally, I was sure we were headed
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for something that was deeply unsatisfying in one way or another because of so many factors - the colonial and sexist mindsets of the various characters, the prominence of an aspec character (when so many stories go poorly for aspec characters), but it's been months since I finished and I just can't stop thinking about how satisfying this book was. It's one of those that really sells the happy ending well, it doesn't seem too fanciful or convenient or coincidental, partially because it's different than the happy ending that the protagonist was planning and working towards. It's a good one and it stuck with me. I'd say I was wishing for a sequel if I didn't think that saying that is a huge jinx. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shahnareads
I like it!
Three strong ladies fighting dudes and kicking butt.
It was an adventure.
Three strong ladies fighting dudes and kicking butt.
It was an adventure.
LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Felicity wants to be a doctor in a world that won't let women be doctors. In her quest to make that happen, she befriends Simm and Johanna and together they adventure and also explore what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a friend. This novel embraces all the ways that women can be
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and individuals can be and what it means to accept someone for who they are. Show Less
LibraryThing member widdersyns
I had trouble with some of the anachronisms. I feel super pedantic but the one that I simply could not suspend disbelief for was the “grapefruit-colored house”. Grapefruits weren’t called grapefruits until the nineteenth century and the pink ones didn’t exist until the twentieth! I did not
I actually liked this better than the previous book! I did like that one (enough to read the sequel, even!) but this is a more nuanced plot with more complex characters, in my opinion. Good stuff!
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actually subtract stars for that because I’m the worst for even caring about something that minor. In any case, the actual fantastical elements also threw me off a bit but I didn’t mind them so much. I actually liked this better than the previous book! I did like that one (enough to read the sequel, even!) but this is a more nuanced plot with more complex characters, in my opinion. Good stuff!
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LibraryThing member jmoncton
One of last year's surprise favorites was A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. It was the perfect combination of historic fiction, bawdy humor and heart throbbing romance. So this year's sequel was very highly anticipated. But, we all know how tough it can be to follow a bestselling first in a
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series. No worries and no sophomore slump here! This fun Victorian romp follows the adventures of Monty's sister Felicity as she tries to break the gender barrier and be admitted into the all-male world of medical school. Fun and entertaining with just the right amount of feminism. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lisa_Francine
4.5 stars/5 stars
As spectacularly delightful as the first Montague Siblings book. Keeping my fingers crossed that Mackenzi Lee has more books to share with Felicity and/or Monty involved!
As spectacularly delightful as the first Montague Siblings book. Keeping my fingers crossed that Mackenzi Lee has more books to share with Felicity and/or Monty involved!
LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the second book in the Montague Siblings/Guide series. This was a good book but not as good as the first book in the Montague Siblings series. I felt like the story here was really unfinished and the pacing was a bit slow.
Felicity spends a lot of the book running around trying to get to her
I didn't feel like this story was quite as engaging as the first book. Felicity spent a lot of time preaching about women's rights which I know were (and still are) a big deal but there was so much time spent on this the book felt a bit...preachy...at points.
All the above aside...I enjoyed the characters and this was a quick and easy read. The story is entertaining and fun. It's a great read if you are looking for a light Victorian novel with some subtle fantasy. There really isn't any romance in here; so if you are looking for the level of romance that was in the Gentleman's Guide book you won't find it here. This is more of a girl power book.
Overall this was a good book and made for an entertaining and light read. I enjoyed it but didn’t fall in love with it like I did the Gentlemen’s Guide. I will definitely be keeping an eye out to see what Mackenzi decided to write next.
Felicity spends a lot of the book running around trying to get to her
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ultimate goal of becoming a medical student and eventually practitioner but things are left really open at the end.I didn't feel like this story was quite as engaging as the first book. Felicity spent a lot of time preaching about women's rights which I know were (and still are) a big deal but there was so much time spent on this the book felt a bit...preachy...at points.
All the above aside...I enjoyed the characters and this was a quick and easy read. The story is entertaining and fun. It's a great read if you are looking for a light Victorian novel with some subtle fantasy. There really isn't any romance in here; so if you are looking for the level of romance that was in the Gentleman's Guide book you won't find it here. This is more of a girl power book.
Overall this was a good book and made for an entertaining and light read. I enjoyed it but didn’t fall in love with it like I did the Gentlemen’s Guide. I will definitely be keeping an eye out to see what Mackenzi decided to write next.
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LibraryThing member ashleytylerjohn
Mostly fun, with a bit of a defensive afterword (the author insists her characters are in keeping with historical behaviour, so long as you look at the incredibly rare exception to the norms, which is fine). I have more of a problem with most of the characters having incredibly modern, PC attitudes
This one, and the first in the series, are indeed ostensibly fantasies. I liked how the first one gradually revealed a fantastic element, and in this case the same thing happens, rather more abruptly, and I don't think it works as well. It's easier to accept alchemy than sea dragons, essentially.
And I liked Felicity more in the last book (she seemed sensible) than here (she seems angry, sullen, bitter, and prickly), but at least the author acknowledges her character's faults (so often authors seem enamored of their perfectly dreadful protagonists and blind to their failings).
Still wondering what the next book will hold, but might not rush to read it.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
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(and I'm gay myself!) and the vocabulary that goes with it (e.g. phrases like "Alexander could be a gender-neutral name,"). I get that it's a fantasy, but it takes me right out of my willing suspension of disbelief.This one, and the first in the series, are indeed ostensibly fantasies. I liked how the first one gradually revealed a fantastic element, and in this case the same thing happens, rather more abruptly, and I don't think it works as well. It's easier to accept alchemy than sea dragons, essentially.
And I liked Felicity more in the last book (she seemed sensible) than here (she seems angry, sullen, bitter, and prickly), but at least the author acknowledges her character's faults (so often authors seem enamored of their perfectly dreadful protagonists and blind to their failings).
Still wondering what the next book will hold, but might not rush to read it.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
I was really interested in this book after finishing The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue because Felicity was my favorite character from that book, so I was surprised to find that while I liked this book focused on her adventures, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as its precursor. Felicity
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manages to traverse much of Europe and more as she starts a journey at first to pursue further medical education, but she gets waylaid by other, more fantastical matters. Overall, it's fun reading, I enjoyed seeing Monty and Percy again, and, of course, I was happy to see Felicity have an adventure of her own. Show Less
LibraryThing member majkia
The Montague Siblings always manage to find the action. Felicity is out to become a doctor, despite England's refusal to let women go to school or practice medicine. So, she invites herself to a friend's wedding to meet her hero. Well, that leads her and her brother into all sorts of trouble,
Highly entertaining.
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including dragons and pirates, not to mention bad men.Highly entertaining.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
I'm sure some of the allusion to the previous novel will make more sense once I read it, this is a story with lots of feminism, lots of non-traditional sexuality in the story, many people who have been missing from a lot of stories. It also features a character who is mostly asexual and who really
Then one of the gatekeepers gives her an option, go to Germany where a former friend is marrying a man who might allow her to help with an expedition he has planned.
But nothing is as it seems and Felicity has to find a place in the world where her original plans aren't going to happen but what will happen might just be better.
It was a fun read with interesting characters I really wanted to succeed and who wanted the best for each other, it also explored different ways of being female and that you can like frills and be not interested in other things. The characters are varied and the author seems to be having a blast with them.
And here there be dragons.
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wants to be a doctor but no matter how many hoops she jumps through she just can't do it. The medical establishment of the time just don't want her to study with them. Her temptation is to marry the man who asked, but she doesn't really love him.Then one of the gatekeepers gives her an option, go to Germany where a former friend is marrying a man who might allow her to help with an expedition he has planned.
But nothing is as it seems and Felicity has to find a place in the world where her original plans aren't going to happen but what will happen might just be better.
It was a fun read with interesting characters I really wanted to succeed and who wanted the best for each other, it also explored different ways of being female and that you can like frills and be not interested in other things. The characters are varied and the author seems to be having a blast with them.
And here there be dragons.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Hugely entertaining high adventures in the 18th century. I enjoyed the first book; I liked this even better. The prickly and stubborn main character is an delight to my heart. Her constant impatience with romance is refreshing, and all of the women’s struggles with ambition vs expectations reads
Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss.
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as deeply authentic. Pirates, cleverness, Muslim characters, same sex attractions, a really drooly dog, and all in a fast paced, historically grounded book. What more can you want? It’s excellent.Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss.
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LibraryThing member ViragoReads
This books was a bit better than the first. I found the story and characters more enjoyable. There were some twists I didn't expect, and the plot captured my attention moreso in this novel than the last.
LibraryThing member electrascaife
The sequel to A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, this novel follows Monty's sister, Felicity, as she desperately tries to make her dreams of becoming a doctor a reality. But the medical field is run by the Old Men's Club and they are gatekeeping her at every turn. When she discovers that her
I don't know why it took me so long to get to this sequel when I loved the first one so much. The adventure is a fun one, and the characters are like old friends, with some new ones along for the ride as well. Definitely recommended. You don't have to have read the first one to read this one, but why wouldn't you?
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childhood frenemy is getting married to Felicity's idol, Dr. Platt, she runs off to Europe with a suspected pirate to crash the wedding. Things don't go at all as she plans, though, and she finds herself entangled in another adventure bigger and more dangerous than she could have imagined.I don't know why it took me so long to get to this sequel when I loved the first one so much. The adventure is a fun one, and the characters are like old friends, with some new ones along for the ride as well. Definitely recommended. You don't have to have read the first one to read this one, but why wouldn't you?
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LibraryThing member Rekki
I enjoyed book 2 in the Montague siblings series quite a bit! It was nice getting to know Felicity better, and I'm very pleased to see that she wasn't pushed into any unwanted romances. Much like the first book I was caught a little off guard by the plot device/twist near the middle-end- but I
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think I'm used to this sort of progression by now and ready for book 3. =) Show Less
LibraryThing member dinahmine
I loved The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, and perhaps that’s the main reason I was so disappointed in this novel. One of the main aspects of Gentleman’s Guide that I enjoyed was the humor, which was sorely lacking in Lady’s Guide. Instead the reader was subjected to continued
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preaching about feminism and how suppressed women were in that era – yes we understand that; it’s been done before and it did not need to be announced during every conversation. Felicity was such a frustratingly weak character until the middle-end of the novel, which didn’t line up at all with her courage in the first of the series. I’ll return to Gentleman’s Guide, I’m sure, but I have no interest in the rest of the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Linyarai
Not quite as good as the first book, but very close. It was still very humorous and adventurous and I really enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member BarnesBookshelf
I enjoyed this book so much. I cheered and gasped and couldn't put it down! There's such a lovely camaraderie between the women in the novel, and it's nice to see such positive female relationships. There is also period-typical sexism, but all three of the women manage to circumvent it and use it
Another thing I love about this series as a whole is the way that magic is interwoven with historical fact. Lee does point out that she takes some artistic liberties, but who doesn't? The way that each story seems like it's just a historical fiction novel, but slowly and believably peppers in some magical aspects like the dragons is amazingly well done. I can't wait for the next book!
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for their own gains in the end. Also, it's so nice to have an unapologetic Aro-Ace character in a story. Another thing I love about this series as a whole is the way that magic is interwoven with historical fact. Lee does point out that she takes some artistic liberties, but who doesn't? The way that each story seems like it's just a historical fiction novel, but slowly and believably peppers in some magical aspects like the dragons is amazingly well done. I can't wait for the next book!
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Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Young Adult — 2019)
Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2020)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2021)
ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection — 2019)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2019)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2019)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-10-02
Physical description
480 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0062795333 / 9780062795335