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  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

  • By: Mackenzi Lee
  • Narrated by: Christian Coulson
  • Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (386 ratings)

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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

By: Mackenzi Lee
Narrated by: Christian Coulson
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Publisher's Summary

A Kirkus Prize nominee with five starred reviews! A New York Times best seller!

2018 Audie Award® nominee for Best Male Narrator!

Named one of the best books of 2017 by NPR and the New York Public Library!

"The queer teen historical you didn’t know was missing from your life.” (Teen Vogue)

"A stunning powerhouse of a story." (School Library Journal)

"A gleeful romp through history." (ALA Booklist)

A young bisexual British lord embarks on an unforgettable Grand Tour of Europe with his best friend/secret crush. An 18th-century romantic adventure for the modern age written by This Monstrous Thing author Mackenzi Lee - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the 1700s.

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Witty, dazzling, and intriguing at every turn, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is an irresistible romp that explores the undeniably fine lines between friendship and love.

Don't miss Felicity's adventures in The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, the highly anticipated sequel!

©2017 Mackenzie Van Engelenhoven (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Highly enjoyable fluff!

This was a highly engaging and satisfying historical LGBT romance, which morphs into a transcontinental caper partway through. Being a young adult book, it's horny, but not explicit, which I think is a slight shame; a sex scene or two wouldn't have gone amiss. The adventure caper elements at first seemed to be there just to break up the romantic elements, which I think is a good idea (a full-length romance with no breaks, like 'Call Me By Your Name,' can be a little too heady for me), but the caper ended up being the focus of most of the story. It's quite a good caper though, with layered twists changing the stakes regularly, and a variety of colourful settings and characters. The story also has very modern social sensibilities regarding race and gender and so forth, and it does a pretty good job of not seeming too anachronistic about it. The narrator's perspective of well-meaning but ingenuous white male privilege is well-portrayed. On the subject of the narrator, I recognised in him many of my own worst impulses toward selfishness and insensitivity toward loved ones, making him very relatable to me, and quite literally making his development a guide to virtue, as promised by the title.

Christian Coulson, who was the original Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, (!) is a perfect narrator for this story. He brings an Eton boy, received pronunciation quality that is entirely appropriate to the character, and he has a frankly very surprising amount of range for all the other characters, making them all sound distinct, sometimes very subtly, and managing convincing French, Catalan, and Spanish accents to boot.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So bloody brilliant

The blurb for this book does not do it justice! I was not expecting to go on such an amazing journey of scandal, romance, highwaymen, Spanish prisons, magical alchemy hearts, pirates and more. Im going to have a book hangover for a while after this one. I truly wish that I could be friends with Monty, Percy and Felicity. Theyve left an imprint on me.

The naration.... my goodness it could not have been more perfect! So so good, each character given their own perfect tone, and read so beautifully. I am going to miss the sound of his voice in my ears. I can not recommend this book enough

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Loved this story. Very well written and very engaging. The plot was great, the story had no downfall

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully suited narrator

Brilliant narrator, this story really suited being read aloud. A wonderfully arrogant dandy travelling with his clever, medially minded sister - what more could you want? Final climax fell a tiny bit short but loved everything else.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Abso-bloody-lutely a must read.

Finally found a book that I could confidently say "One of my favourite book of all time"—probably my favourite—I know because, there was no hint of lazyness to re-read it immediately—like felicity and her book.

This book is packed with just everything I want in a book;

-It's a History Novel! (Gotta love my history!)
-Adventure
-Romance
- Fantastic Writting Style — Mackenzie Lee, Yo my girl!
-Strong/Intelligent Female Character (Okay, my adjectives for Felicity is definately an understatement—Well, I think all my adjectives for this book is going to be an understatement— this is just to give you a general Idea that, the second main character won't be like any female-just-acting-like-females in 17— she's amazing—okay another understatement.)
-Fast Paced
-Humour
-"Character complimenting plot" base book (Is this a thing? Like in every book I read, there is always a book that slides to a character based novel or a plot based novel, but this one, is too dang just right that it was never annoying!
-It's not dragged!! There is never a frinkin' pages or chapter I feel like tearing, all the pages are so precious!

I'm still smiling after re-reading this novel, and call me crazy but, definately going to read it again! 💃💃

Though the only issue I've had with this book is, I can never read it in public again—had a fair share of embarssment, mainly because I can't stop smiling like a madman—and my attempt to not dance with ecstacy has been rather disastrous, might as well strip me naked.

but, other than that, It's sublime.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good book

it's a good book narrator sounded bit old for the protagonist over all the writing is good

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • AT
  • 11-01-2024

Good narrator

Story was a little predictable however characters were likeable and a very easy listen with many swoon worthy moments

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fun and different!

I say different only cos the story went in a total different direction to my initial prediction - I didnt expect Alchemy/magic to be apart of this world at all! But I was pleasantly surprised that it did.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

it was beautiful

I really loved this story! it is interesting, light, engaging. There are perfect twists an turns. The characters are realistic and likeable. The romance is beautiful.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic performance

I absolutely adore this book, and Christian Coulson's performance is simply perfect. Mackenzie Lee writes characters that you can't help but get invested in.

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