The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

[Isis]

I haven't done one of these discussion things in a while. I'm not sure I remember how to do this, but here we go.

I really liked this book. Did I enjoy it? Not so much. I was intrigued by it because the main character is bisexual. I was sold when I heard he was a rich boy who wanted nothing to do with the gentleman life and he just wanted to drink and be with all the boys and girls. That sounded great to me. And that's mostly what I got, kind of.

I had trouble reading this because the characters were sick ALL THE TIME. They were okay, and then they weren't, just like me. First, Percy with his seizures, then Monty getting poisoned, then Felicity getting that arm wound, then Monty getting shot. And all in between, Monty described how he couldn't breathe in great detail. I MEAN COME ON. I couldn't breathe while reading this and reading this only made it worse.

But I just wanna talk about the good things now. I loved the pirates. They were great. I loved that they weren't ordinary pirates. I never knew about that part of history. Slaves who became pirates. That's amazing. Definitely not what I was expecting. I also loved Felicity. She was so smart, and I trusted her so much. When she was around, I felt better about all the bad stuff happening to everyone. She always knew what to do.

I really liked Percy too. That scene where Percy sees Monty all beat up and tells him all the reasons he has to stay alive, it just filled me with so much happiness and warmth and sun. I loved Percy so much. And I honestly thought Percy and Monty had a legendary friendship. Did I ship them romantically? Not really. I would have been okay if they'd ended up just friends. But I'm glad they got together. It just really didn't make a difference in the end. I did find Monty super endearing when he went on and on about how much he loved Percy. I can relate. I'm just as dramatic.

The whole alchemy plot was weird, to say the least. It made me sick to my stomach when they extracted the heart and then poor Helena had to hold her mom's heart in her hands. It was so twisted. I couldn't handle it. I didn't get why they went through all that trouble just to not get the heart in the end, though I would have judged Percy for eating that poor woman's heart. You can't win. I just hated having to read about that heart when my heart was in pain and it was scary on all accounts.

I liked the ending. I know there will be a sequel following Felicity and I am here for it. If she's there with the pirates, or non pirates, I'll be really happy. I'm hoping it's easier to read than this one.