Holy shit on a barby.
It's nice to have such fun reading a book. I read 'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue' in four days, and it is 500 pages, but if I hadn't had work commitments, I'm sure I would have finished it in one day; one fifth of a moon cycle (maths isn't my strong point so don't quote me on that).
Ahh 'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue' - a glorious adventure tale set in the rigid-yet-rapidly-changing and perilous 18th century, about a fantastically wealthy, heavy-drinking, womanizing, always-found-with-his-pantaloons-off-plus-much-more, teenage git of an English aristocratic heir, Henry "Monty" Montague. Monty is in love with his life-long best friend, the mixed-race compatriot Percy Newton (not Capulet). Together, along with Monty's fifteen-year-old sister Felicity who's his exact opposite, the trio end up running for their lives whilst on a tour around France, thanks to the reckless, stupid actions of a certain gentleman heir (hint: it sounds something like numpty). They also uncover a plot involving government corruption and conspiracies (why! preposterous! poppycock! hu-hu-hurumph hurumph hurumph!) surrounding an alchemic heart; the key to everlasting life (like the Philosopher's Stone! Which is oddly never mentioned in this book).
Monty learns ever so much about life on this journey that takes him across seas, surviving encounters with highwaymen and pirates, like recognizing his own privileges, and how easy everything came to him until now. He very slowly but assuredly learns that whatever society had blessed him with and given him the benefit of the doubt for regardless of his scandals and escapades, it's not the same for Percy and Felicity, just because of his race and her gender. Monty gets his head out of his arse crack by crack, and basically his main motivation throughout all this is to find the alchemist's heart so he can "cure" Percy of his epilepsy, a largely misunderstood medical condition in the 18th century, that had been kept secret from Monty up to this point (not that that was hard to do, for Monty only sees the world through his own end of a drained glass of booze). Percy is soon to be locked up in an asylum for his epilepsy, making the quest for the alchemist's Holy Grail all the more crucial in Monty's view.
Too stupid to realize that Percy, whom he had known since infancy, is in love for him too (why? I'unno), and yet is smart enough to literally know which boy is gay from afar in a bank, young Henry Montague braves through the trials and tribulations of his hero's journey to reach a valuable lesson in vice and virtue:
That it is all bollocks. And a gentleman is only so much as you make of him. Nobody's perfect, and everybody's a hypocrite, but what's great about life is that it's daring and wild; never as straightforward and orderly as some posh twats high up their own derrieres and the food chain in society might want us to think. Anyone can see how dangerous the big wide world is if they get out more - privilege means nothing outside or inside certain borders - but it can be fun and an eye-opener, too.
Seriously though, this book is a well-written, well-structured riot from beginning to end. Monty may be an ass, but I kind of love him. His arrogance and ignorance are charming and understandable, given his eighteen years of age, plus his upbringing. His abusive upbringing. With a violent and coldhearted father never hiding how much of a disappointment he finds Monty - his liking boys and bringing them to bed being one of the reasons. Monty has every right to not bother trying to earn his father's approval. Or that could be boiled down to his selfishness and laziness. He does get called out on his behaviour and thoughtless words and actions (mostly), but it takes a while for words not uttered by angry rich white men to sink into his thick skull. To think that it takes various life-and-death situations across continents for him to finally know the importance of compassion, love, (wise) family, and tolerance! To be in this idiot tosser's first-person narrative is sometimes annoying, but this is one of the ways the author elicits passionate emotions in the reader.
In a way Monty fits the stereotype of the wild, lying, cheating, thieving, insecure, abused bisexual (his alcoholism doesn't help matters), but he's written to be grounded and believable enough, with varied, honest thought processes, to be more human than that. His flaws are his best traits. Interesting as well is that when keeping in mind the setting, it isn't technically a stereotype yet. It's a first of human, free love expression!
Percy, sadly, receives the least compelling characterization and development - the only hobby and talent we know he has is violin playing - but he is nice and decent enough. He's not afraid to attempt to make Monty realize his disadvantages as a dark-skinned man in 18th century England and France, and how degrading he finds having to rely on Monty to stand up for him in public gatherings. Really, Percy's only flaw is caring for Monty too much, even when the little sod doesn't deserve it. Neither his race nor his epilepsy are Percy's defining character traits, and that is brilliant praise, especially for Young Adult historical fiction.
Completing the triad of unlikely heroes is Felicity, who is my favourite character in 'A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue'. To call her a girl "ahead of her time" is an insult: she's interesting enough all on her own. Smart, a bookworm, a budding scientist and doctor, and as stubborn and witty in personality as any modern politician and comedian, she is awesome. For her age, and her gender that was treated so barbarically poorly three hundred years ago. Felicity and her older brother are not close, understandably, but she will strike him down a peg; educate him when he needs it; is less cold when she finds out about their father's abuse (but she never comes across as a typical thawing ice queen bending to the wills of men); culminating in showing how she does care about Monty deep down.
Hermione Granger is sure to come to mind when thinking of Felicity Montague: she's the single female in an adventurous trio and the "smart one". She's serious and extremely resourceful, and the boys would be dead without her. Extra bonus: it is implied at one point that Felicity might be asexual! That a historical novel can have this much representation isn't wishful-thinking or overly-optimistic: it is in fact realistic. A whole spectrum of sexuality and sexual identities have always existed; they just weren't recorded (or were covered up) for obvious reasons.
'The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue' by Mackenzi Lee is astounding and commendable; contemporaries have no excuse not to be this inclusive. It was hyped for a good reason. I wish it could have focused more on changes to Percy's and Felicity's characters than Monty's. Felicity deserves better, and so does Percy. Protagonist status kind of works like privilege in that sense.
The romance shifts back and forth between being adorable and steamy in one sexy moment, and then irritating in the next, due to the characters' close-minded stupidity and lack of communication. But I suppose that's growing pains for these boys, especially for their individual circumstances.
The ending leaves behind quite a few glaring lose ends. Minor, non-spoiler example: an attack on the heroes' carriage by a gang of presumed highwaymen, which sets off the plot's inciting incident, leaves a driver appearing dead and bleeding on the ground, shocking Monty tremendously. It is his first sight of death - in the first dangerous situation he has ever been in far away from home.
The driver is never mentioned again after that chapter.
The book works exceedingly well for what could and couldn't happen in the time period it's set in, managing not to lose its sense of enjoyment throughout. Yeah, a lot of liberties and hopeful outcomes were taken. However, if a fantasy, written by a female author, gives hope and in fact a better, realistic representation of humanity than in modern day fantasy stories by (male) authors who seem incapable of writing women as people and who carelessly throw in prospects of rape into their fiction because female, then who's complaining? And why?
After finishing the entire rapscallion adventure, I could easily imagine it working as a TV series. Campy and fun, but educational, while also incorporating serious stories, character development, and issues.
So, in my humble opinion, 'The Rich Tool's Guide to Faking it and then Moving On from Society's Limitations to Have a Gay Old Time' deserves a standing ovation. It just needs more asexual, teenage girl doctor Felicity Montague in the LBGTQ mix!
Final Score: 4/5
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