michelel72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
michelel72) wrote2021-12-20 06:19 pm
michelel72) wrote2021-12-20 06:19 pm
Entry tags:
Books: "The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue"/"The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy", M Lee
(Full author name is Mackenzi Lee.)
The first of these came up in reply to a call for M/M romance set before a certain time period. The second is a direct sequel to the first.
They're both set in 17-- (literally), and the main characters are English folk gallivanting about Europe. Both books are first-person present-tense. Keep in mind that I don't read much in this setting, so I could easily be missing out entirely on loving homages.
The first book is about Henry "Monty" Montague.
- The story wastes no time at all establishing him as a promiscuous drunk. (I do recognize that the lovable rake is 100% an established character type here.)
- The narrative is so open about his same-sex attractions, in fact, that it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized, no, this isn't an alt-history England in which M/M was merely a bit uncouth for the gentry. It's treated very casually at the outset and then only eventually addressed as oh-yeah-you'll-be-imprisoned-or-hanged.
- Speaking of dropped-in-late: working alchemy! I'd personally prefer that this kind of thing be signposted earlier. I don't really see how that would work with the narrative structure, but given the apparent realism to that point, it comes across as very deus-ex.
- Certain other developments are excessively signposted, to the point that the main character comes across as quite unintelligent not to put them together himself.
- I didn't much like the main character at the outset, which is becoming my thing of late, but I was weirdly okay with it here, and he did slowly grow on me.
- There are two conversations in which the MC and his love interest fail to recognize their mutual attraction, and frankly, neither one made any sense to me. They felt entirely artificial and for-the-sake-of-plot.
- The main character's gradual recognition/admission of his relationship with his father and how it has affected him is honestly quite powerful.
- If you need to eat while reading this, don't be eating when you get to the discussion of provisions while asea. Learn from my unfortunately timed mistake.
The second book is about Felicity Montague (Monty's younger sister).
- Without looking up other reviews, I think she's meant to come across as neurodivergent, aromantic, and asexual. Hooray for representation!
- On the one hand, realistic women-being-gatekept-from-science! On the other ... I'm tired, and being in the head of yet another woman fighting these same battles is exhausting. She does get to a point she's (relatively) happy with, though; and she learns Important Lessons about not disdaining more feminine women for being more feminine.
- I liked Felicity more than Monty.
- There is a LOT of slapstick humiliation. Not my thing.
- Fantasy/alchemy drops in late again, though this time I was better prepared for it. (The characters' acceptance makes perfect sense, for the record. It just feels genre-crossing for the reader.)
Overall: Readable, fine if they're your thing; not so much my thing, but I'm content to have read them. (It looks like there are more in this 'verse, but my library only had these two; I haven't yet decided if I'm going to request more.)
The first of these came up in reply to a call for M/M romance set before a certain time period. The second is a direct sequel to the first.
They're both set in 17-- (literally), and the main characters are English folk gallivanting about Europe. Both books are first-person present-tense. Keep in mind that I don't read much in this setting, so I could easily be missing out entirely on loving homages.
The first book is about Henry "Monty" Montague.
- The story wastes no time at all establishing him as a promiscuous drunk. (I do recognize that the lovable rake is 100% an established character type here.)
- The narrative is so open about his same-sex attractions, in fact, that it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized, no, this isn't an alt-history England in which M/M was merely a bit uncouth for the gentry. It's treated very casually at the outset and then only eventually addressed as oh-yeah-you'll-be-imprisoned-or-hanged.
- Speaking of dropped-in-late: working alchemy! I'd personally prefer that this kind of thing be signposted earlier. I don't really see how that would work with the narrative structure, but given the apparent realism to that point, it comes across as very deus-ex.
- Certain other developments are excessively signposted, to the point that the main character comes across as quite unintelligent not to put them together himself.
- I didn't much like the main character at the outset, which is becoming my thing of late, but I was weirdly okay with it here, and he did slowly grow on me.
- There are two conversations in which the MC and his love interest fail to recognize their mutual attraction, and frankly, neither one made any sense to me. They felt entirely artificial and for-the-sake-of-plot.
- The main character's gradual recognition/admission of his relationship with his father and how it has affected him is honestly quite powerful.
- If you need to eat while reading this, don't be eating when you get to the discussion of provisions while asea. Learn from my unfortunately timed mistake.
The second book is about Felicity Montague (Monty's younger sister).
- Without looking up other reviews, I think she's meant to come across as neurodivergent, aromantic, and asexual. Hooray for representation!
- On the one hand, realistic women-being-gatekept-from-science! On the other ... I'm tired, and being in the head of yet another woman fighting these same battles is exhausting. She does get to a point she's (relatively) happy with, though; and she learns Important Lessons about not disdaining more feminine women for being more feminine.
- I liked Felicity more than Monty.
- There is a LOT of slapstick humiliation. Not my thing.
- Fantasy/alchemy drops in late again, though this time I was better prepared for it. (The characters' acceptance makes perfect sense, for the record. It just feels genre-crossing for the reader.)
Overall: Readable, fine if they're your thing; not so much my thing, but I'm content to have read them. (It looks like there are more in this 'verse, but my library only had these two; I haven't yet decided if I'm going to request more.)