Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Title: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Author: Mackenzi Lee

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

On-Sale Date: June 27, 2017

Length: 501 pages

Format: ARC paperback

Lord Henry Montague has one year left before he’s forced to grow up. His father thinks it’s high time eighteen year-old Monty take over the family estate and learn something about business. But before Monty throws his life away he’s going to enjoy it. So, he goes on Tour with his best-friend-turned-major-crush, Percy, and his much-too-sarcastic, knowledgeable little sister, Felicity.  Monty only has one year to drink all the booze in Europe and bed all the boys he wants, but he only wants Percy, and their chaperone’s not letting Monty anywhere near alcohol. Unfortunately, that’s the least of their worries when Monty sees too much, and gets them into a world of trouble.

If you want to read one book this year this should be it.

This book was so well put together, and so well written. It contained some of the most beautiful passages I'd ever read—including the middle paragraph on page 30. The words painted a picture of a world I could never have imagined.

Gentleman’s Guide was really action-packed, and allowed you just enough time to just get your bearings before something else happened. It was also really funny, and I laughed so hard at the situations that Monty got himself (and others) into.

Monty was sarcastic and, in my opinion, hilarious. Excuse my language, but he was a little sh*t, and I loved him for his pompous attitude. However, Monty needed to go through all the trials and turmoil in Gentleman’s Guide to admit to his shortcomings and to grow. Monty had his father’s voice in his head putting him down, and he had to change his way of thinking. He had a hard time opening up to others, and being honest with himself and those around him. When it came to his emotions Monty hid behind sarcastic words. It wasn't until the end that I, (the reader, well, and Monty too), realized that Monty was a very emotionally damaged character and needed to allow himself to heal.

Gentleman's Guide became much more serious than I expected compared to the many pure moments of hilarity in the beginning.

I loved Percy, Monty's best friend and the boy he's in love with. He and Monty were perfect for each other, even though Monty always said the wrong thing. They cared about each other very much and put the other first. I was so shocked that Monty and Percy were romantic with each other very early in the novel, but that was one moment and then there was tension hanging over them for the rest of the novel.

Percy lived through so much unfairness because of things beyond his control, and I was so upset on his behalf. Percy was simply one of the most likeable, selfless, loyal characters and he was such a good friend to Monty.

I also loved how much I learned about the time period that Lee wrote about. I would definitely not have liked to live in it. Although I very much enjoyed this trip into another era, it reminded me how much things have changed since then, and I'm very grateful for how they are now.

Gentleman’s Guide was and is so much fun to talk about, and my internal voice gained a British accent, which made me incredibly happy.

I couldn’t imagine a different ending. I thought it was perfect and fit exactly who the three had all become.

Rating

Premise: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Writing: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

Disclaimer: I received an early review copy from Indigo Teen in exchange for honest feedback. This did not influence my opinion in any way.

Book Review: Legend

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Publisher: Penguin Group

On-Sale Date: April 16^th, 2013

Length: 305 pages

Format: Paperback

June, a fifteen year-old soldier for the Republic, is tasked with apprehending the vigilante, Day, who’s charged with the murder of her brother.

But what will happen when June finds out the Republic has been hiding secrets?

And what if Day isn’t what he seems?

The first chapter didn't capture my attention but the next few captured me immediately.

Legend is told in alternating points of view. This was an ideal format because the two narrators, June and Day, were on opposing sides—June was on the side of the Republic and Day fought against it. The dual narration was valuable because they had different opinions, insights and secrets that the other wasn’t privy to. June and Day’s storylines became tightly intertwined and I wondered how they were going to respond to each other; at some point they had to decide whether the other could be trusted or not.

June had the tendency to act distant, even though she was far from heartless. Throughout the novel she was grieving and didn’t have many people to open up to. She was primarily a soldier and a sister, but she was forced to step out of those roles in Legend and become something else.  She was tasked to find her brother’s murderer, which led her away from her loyalty to the Republic.

Day was desperate and his every action put him in danger from the Republic’s retribution. My heart broke for him because he fought so hard against a world that was against him. Day had some unnamable quality that drew me in—he was honourable. I rooted for Day, because he always tried to do the right thing even with the odds stacked against him.

June and Day had a lot of similarities; they were a set of extremely intelligent, empathetic and moral individuals. They both loved intensely and it drove their actions. No matter what else was going on June and Day put their families above all else, and they had difficulties because of that. They were both planners who thought things through, but were tested when circumstances drove them into making quick decisions. They sensed when something wasn’t right and tried to do something about it. June and Day bonded because of these similarities and the traumas they both experienced. There was a lot of interpersonal discovery between June and Day because neither was who the other thought they were. They cared about, caused problems for, and challenged each other.

There were some really upsetting revelations in Legend, but overall it didn't give me plot twists that I couldn't predict. I was able to pick out when something was amiss, because Lu left breadcrumbs that I followed. There was a conspiracy that Day and June uncovered. Unfortunately they didn’t have time or opportunity to expose it in Legend.

I disliked more characters than I liked, which was a new feeling for me. Fortunately, the characters I disliked were ones that June and/or Day also didn’t like, however, I missed having more than a handful of characters to care about. Neither June nor Day were close to a great number of people and most of the relationships they had were fractured in some way. However, June and Day were alone only because of circumstance and I felt sad for them because their pain was obvious. They certainly had every reason to be distrustful, but I wanted to see them rely more on others because they would have benefited from building stronger relationships.

June and Day have a difficult path ahead of them. They fought many fights in Legend, but the battle has only just begun.

Rating

Premise: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Writing: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Early Book Review: Vicious

Title:  Vicious

Author:  V. E. Schwab

Length:  364 pages

Publisher:  TOR Books

On-Sale Date:  September 24, 2013

Format:  ARC paperback

Eli Ever and Victor Vale meet in college.  They are both brilliantly clever and curious kindred spirits, but everything changes when Eli’s thesis gets out of hand.  Eli chooses to study ExtraOrdinaries – people with superhuman abilities – and when the boys learn how to create an EO, they can’t help but try their hand at becoming one.  Victor and Eli obsess about nothing else, and then everything goes horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor and Eli are as far away from friendship as two people can be.  After all, it was Eli who landed Victor in prison.  Ten years is a long time; time for Victor to plan his revenge, and time for Eli to keep himself … busy.  Ever since Eli and Victor’s unfortunate falling out, Eli has been repulsed by the unnaturalness of EOs, and he has made it his mission to eliminate them all.

ExtraOrdinaries are not heroes.  Or villains.  Or lucky.  Or cursed.  They have been given a second chance … and they are fighting for their lives.

Now, Victor is coming for Eli, but Eli is not alone.

Can Victor stop Eli?

Vicious was wonderfully horrifying.

There were no true superheroes or villains in Vicious.  Every character held their own brand of darkness, some more twisted than others, just as every character tried their hand at being good.

No one was inhuman.  V. E. Schwab was very clear on making that point.  Not one character was truly, completely evil.

Victor Vale was not good or innocent or loving, but he was right and safer than his former friend.  I was surprised to learn that despite his questionable choices and dangerous actions, Victor was likeable, and he was a character I would miss if something bad happened.  His quirks had not changed from the time he was a student – before EOs and prison and Eli.  Regardless of all the strikes against him, Victor was a decent ally who cared about his accomplices.  Victor was someone who could hurt you, but he only really wanted to hurt Eli.  He was not a victim.  Victor’s crimes began as mistakes, and he did not deserve to lose everything.

Victor wanted Eli.  He wanted his friendship before he wanted his death, but now he was focused solely on ending Eli Ever’s existence.

Eli was intriguing.  You never really learned who Eli was before he became ExtraOrdinary, and his secrecy and all-consuming interest in EOs was enticing.  Eli had an appeal that was impossible not to be drawn to.  It was what lurked past the handsome, charming exterior that interested Victor.  Victor was the first to see something in Eli – something dark – and Eli’s own opinion of himself was wrong – distorted.  It seemed like Eli was in the right and he felt like the character you should like, and should be rooting for, but there was something off-putting about him that would make a reader hesitant to be on his side.

Victor and Eli had no idea how much they influenced each other.  In college, Eli fascinated Victor, and Victor wanted to be a step ahead of the boy who got everything – he wanted to be better.  When Eli became an EO, Victor did not think of the consequences in following the same path.  Now, ten years later, it was clear that Victor and Eli had shaped each other into what they were today:  killers, purposeful, and ExtraOrdinary.

Both men were similar.  They were strong-willed, and never explained themselves.  Victor and Eli would do anything – use anyone – if it gave them an advantage over their enemy.  They didn’t mind ­– liked – getting their hands dirty, and they saw killing as a necessity.  But in their similarities there were also differences, because Victor did not believe in God or a greater good, and Eli believed that ExtraOrdinaries should be removed.

Eli was not righteous, and Victor was not innocent.  However, Eli had every right to be mad, and Victor had every right to want revenge.  I didn’t like either of their choices, but I understood them.  Victor would stop at nothing to get to Eli and there was bound to be collateral as he executed his vendetta.  Victor and Eli gained unlikely accomplices, and these characters grew on you.  Mitch and Sydney and Serena; the bodyguard, the lost girl, and the girl you hated.

Nothing posed a true challenge for Eli, until her.  He could get away with anything, do anything, but now, she was the one in control, and he couldn’t get enough – couldn’t leave her.  Eli was the first person to fight Serena, say no, and not let her have everything she wanted.  And Serena saw right through Eli.  Her immediate attraction to Eli made sense, because she was sick of having power – of everyone saying yes.  You couldn’t know Serena until the second half of the book.  And she would surprise you.  She would keep surprising you.

I liked Sydney and Mitch; Victor and fate threw them together.  Mitch had the best intentions and could see what Victor’s vendetta would doubtlessly cause.  You wouldn’t think that Victor was a character who instilled unwavering loyalty, but Mitch stood with him.  Mitch and Sydney were incredible assets.  Sydney unexpectedly fell onto Victor’s side after Eli tried to have her killed, and she proved to be a formidable player and stronger than her twelve years would have you believe.

I found that I liked not knowing whose side I wanted to be on.  Victor and Eli were not easy to like or dislike, because beneath the anger and cruelty lay good intentions and other redeeming qualities.

I liked finding things out, like truths and stories, in little pieces.  And I liked being kept in the dark because the answers, when exposed, had a greater impact.  We wouldn’t have gotten the same story if it were told any other way.  It worked very well, and made the story even more gripping.

In the end, Victor and Eli were just boys playing at death, and life, and revenge.  In the end, they were both wrong.

Rating:

Premise:  5/5

Plot:  4/5

Writing:  4.5/5

Characters:  5/5

Overall:  5/5

Disclosure:  I picked up an advanced copy at Book Expo America 2013.  This did not influence my review in any way.

Book Review: Pushing the Limits

Title:  Pushing the Limits

Author:  Katie McGarry

Length:  392 pages

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

On-Sale Date:  July 31^st, 2012

Format:  ARC paperback

Echo Emerson wakes up in a hospital bed, arms covered in bandages, with no memory of how she got there.  She remembers going to visit her mother, and then … nothing.

Noah Hutchins’ parents died several years ago, and he’s been bouncing from foster home to foster home ever since.  The only important thing left to him is family, and Noah will do anything to gain custody of his brothers.

Flash-forward a couple of months:  Echo is trying to put her life back together, and Noah is failing miserably at being responsible and is barely allowed visiting rights to see his brothers.

Seeing the new school counselor is a step in the right direction for both of them, and ultimately it’s what shoves Noah and Echo together; but can falling in love make any of it easier?

Pushing the Limits was heart wrenching and heartbreaking, and I would read it again in a heartbeat.

I fell into this book.  All I wanted was to completely immerse myself in Noah and Echo’s lives.  Echo’s voice grabbed me from the first chapter and I was sold as soon as I met Noah.  I was on their side from the very beginning; Katie McGarry created characters you cheered for.

Pushing the Limits was a love story that you couldn’t help but fall in love with.  It was Echo and Noah, two broken teenagers, mending themselves and each other.  It was beautiful, painful and felt very, very real.

This was one of the most emotional books I had ever read.  My heart lay in little pieces on the floor and was put back together as the story progressed.  Noah and Echo had been through so much, even before the story began, that you couldn’t help but ache for them.  Echo was broken in such a way that she didn’t know how to fix, while Noah was filled with doubt because of how he’d been let down.  Instead of giving up, with all the odds stacked against them, they fought for what they wanted:  normalcy, family, answers … and they also, unexpectedly, found love and comfort in each other.

Echo’s relationship with her family was dysfunctional.  Her mother wasn’t even present, but the damage she had caused in Echo’s life was permanent.  Echo’s relationship with her unstable mother was extremely painful, and it left a bitter taste in your mouth.

Echo was going through an extremely rough time when she met Noah, but he somehow helped her wade through it.  She was looking for answers, and when she found them, they changed her.  Although it was impossible for her not to be affected by the truth, at least she was no longer restrained by ignorance and lies.  Unfortunately, the hardest part was that Echo was forced to learn some completely unfair lessons that she would never get closure for.

Noah’s brothers were wonderful.  They brought joy to the story when it was shrouded in sadness, and being a good big brother was an extremely important facet of Noah’s character.  Noah’s entire future was driven by the desire to be a good brother.  He wasn’t known for being especially caring, but Echo brought out that sweet side of him that was usually only seen when he was with his brothers.

Noah and Echo’s relationship was tender and moving.  There were many unexpected aspects to it that were actually very, very, sweet.

The two became even more likeable because they faced insurmountable odds.  They were admirable because they didn’t give up when they wanted to; they made the difficult decisions, and most of all, they fought to make things better.  Moving past the bad choices, and traumatic experiences were not easy for either of them, but having each other made all the difference.  Anyone who called Echo weak would be wrong, and Noah would melt your heart when you gave him the chance.

I could spend ages examining the depths of these characters.  It was wonderful to peal off layers as I read, and uncover more about Noah and Echo.

Things were not always fair, and sometimes it was very difficult to bounce back from a painful experience, but Echo and Noah coped as best they could.  Pushing the Limits taught you that it was better to let go of the pain and the grudges and the anger, and that even though it was the hardest thing to do, it could be done.

I’m proud of Echo and Noah.

Rating:

Premise:  5/5

Plot:  5/5

Writing:  5/5

Characters:  5/5

Overall:  5/5

Disclosure:  I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher.  This did not influence my review in any way.