The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Are you up for a historical romp full of humor, wit, adventure, and some roguish behavior?

I'm also pretty sure this book has gotten a ton of well deserved press. So if you haven't heard of it, I'm happy to make your day!

This book does contain themes of feminism, LGBTQIA, race, and serious illnesses. It does have a good sense of humor through out all of these topics without belittling the subject matter.

There's ton of other stuff in the amazon review telling you to read this book, so I only copied the summary bit, "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." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Monty is about to embark on his grand tour before he takes over the family estate upon his return. His best friend Percy is going on tour with him, but much to Monty's despise, so is a chaperon. And his younger sister, Felicity. Monty has long enjoyed a life of debauchery; this grand tour is supposed to be his last 'hurrah' before settling down. Well, in Monty's eyes. His father, who is financing the trip, is expecting it to be very educational thanks to their chaperon and with the company of Felicity to keep things a little calmer.

As you can imagine, Monty is bound to have an adventure, regardless of chaperon, and they find themselves in one predicament into another. 

Throughout the entire adventure, the story definitely finds it's heart in Monty's and Percy's struggles, as they really begin to understand the life of the one who has been beside them the entire time. It's also a ton of fun to read about high society getting a little mucked up by this fierce friendship.

I don't want to say much more just in case I ruin any aspect of the book, but I found all of the character development, the world building, the pacing of the book, all of it was just wonderful. One of my most recommended books.

Happy reading!

York: The Shadow Cipher

York: The Shadow Cipher  by Laura Ruby

Who's ready for an alternate Earth history full of neat gadgets and a cipher that a couple of very famous inventors left for New York City? Is it EVERYONE? Yay!

An amazon summary without all of the reviews or praise, "It was 1798 when the Morningstarr twins arrived in New York with a vision for a magnificent city: towering skyscrapers, dazzling machines, and winding train lines, all running on technology no one had ever seen before.

Fifty-seven years later, the enigmatic architects disappeared, leaving behind for the people of New York the Old York Cipher—a puzzle laid into the shining city they constructed, at the end of which was promised a treasure beyond all imagining. By the present day, however, the puzzle has never been solved, and the greatest mystery of the modern world is little more than a tourist attraction.

Tess and Theo Biedermann and their friend Jaime Cruz live in a Morningstarr apartment—until a real estate developer announces that the city has agreed to sell him the five remaining Morningstarr buildings. Their likely destruction means the end of a dream long held by the people of New York.

And if Tess, Theo, and Jaime want to save their home, they have to prove that the Old York Cipher is real. Which means they have to solve it." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The Morningstarr twins were magnificent inventors who made inventions around the city of New York. Notably, they made things like a public transport system that also has little cleaners on it that take care of it. They also built many buildings throughout the city that have elevators that don't just move up and down, but every which way. The Morningstarr twins were also celebrities of a sort, had lavish parties, and met many people through many walks of life.

Tess, Theo, and Jaime live in a Morningstarr building, which is currently being bought by a real estate developer. They hope by solving the cipher, they can save their building. They love their building, they love their community, and they think that by solving the cipher and proving it's real, they can save their building.

That's enough summary.

I loved this book. There was plenty of mystery, there were also all sorts of different inventions, strong themes of family, and such a thrilling adventure.

The world was also full of it's own pockets of mysteries. It's a way more technologically advanced New York City, but they also have their own problems. Like, they have Chimeras; animals that are a combination of more than one animal. Tess has a chimera as a support animal for her mental health, but her chimera is unusual. It's a very large cat, but its unclear what aspects of other animals have been added with the cat. There's a bunch of fun little details like that throughout the story that paints the familiar New York City with a different color. It gives the world an entirely familiar feel, while also giving it more of an alternate world feel.

There's also a cipher society that's been trying to solve the cipher for years, and are FULL of a cast of wonderful, wonderful people. I also learned a crap ton about the different types of puzzles, which was oddly informative and makes me feel like I can take on Escape Rooms better.

I don't really want to talk about the general plot of the book because, it's a mystery book. I feel like any neat cipher clue that I talk about might lead to a reader discovering a clue too soon about the book. The mystery must be preserved!

But, I loved this book. It's very wonderful. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

Happy reading!

Cruel Crown

Cruel Crown by Victoria Averyard

Admittedly, I stumbled upon this book a little later in the whole series game? But....it's fine.

This is a side story to the Red Queen series, so if you don't want any spoilers, don't read this blog. YAY!

I've read and reviewed the first three books, RED QUEEN, GLASS SWORD, and KING'S CAGE. I think you're supposed to read this particular book between Red Queen and Glass Sword because it has a sneak peek for Glass Sword at the end? But.... whatever! Here we are!

To the amazon summary! "The #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Discover the truth of Norta's bloody past in this paperback bind-up of two novella-length prequels to #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series.

Queen Song:

Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary—how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life.

Steel Scars:

Captain Farley exchanges coded transmissions with the resistance as she travels the land recruiting black market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital. She was raised to be strong, but planting the seeds of rebellion in Norta is a tougher job than expected—until she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation: Mare Barrow.

This paperback bind-up also includes an excerpt of the second book in the Red Queen series, Glass Sword.

And don’t miss War Storm, the thrilling final book in the bestselling Red Queen series!" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This book is also a two part story, similar to books I've reviewed in the past. So I'm going to break it down to the two stories inside.

Queen's Song

Queen's song is about Cal's mother, Queen Coriane, and the slow descent into madness she experiences from her ordeals with Elara (Maven's mother). I thought it was an interesting read, but I don't think it was very enlightening to the series in general? If I didn't read this book, it wouldn't really impact my knowledge of the series. However, I APPRECIATE THAT SO MUCH! If you don't read this book, the author doesn't punish you. If you're an inquisitive reader, it does reveal more about the Queen herself, who she was, and what her priorities were. It was kind of nice. I do wonder if this book inspired the author to switch to different narrators in book 3 (and probably book 4). I will say, it was kind of gut wrenching read, similar to Mare's months in captivity and how you see that spiral into chaotic thought.

Steel Scars

I really liked this story. It's about Farley and how she started planting the seeds for the Scarlet Guard to lead the red rebellion in Norta. It showcases a lot more about her relationship with her father, but also gives you a firm grasp of how she views the world around her. I kind of loved it actually. Farley has been a character I've liked a lot throughout the series since she's just been a consistent badass and brings it to you every time (if you will). We also got to see more of Farley's and Shade's relationship before Mare's powers were uncovered, and that was also nice. To know how much they meant to each other before we saw it in the series. Again, I don't think this side story is inherently essential to read to understand the main series, but it also gave me more insight to Farley, Shade, and the Scarlet Guard. I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed both side stories really, and if you've read the other books and are curious about these story elements, I'd recommend picking up this book. If not, then it really doesn't hurt you at all to not read them.

Happy reading!

Song of the Current

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser

I found this book to be mesmerizing. It was like an entrance into a different world, and I only found myself eager to explore. ...which sounds really kind of corny and weird...so here's the amazon summary!

An amazon summary, "Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. Her father is a wherryman, as was her grandmother. All Caro needs is for the river god to whisper her name, and her fate is sealed. But at seventeen, Caro may be too late.

So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested, Caro volunteers to transport mysterious cargo in exchange for his release. Secretly, Caro hopes that by piloting her own wherry, the river god will finally speak her name.

But when the cargo becomes more than Caro expected, she finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies. With much more than her father's life at stake, Caro must choose between the future she knows, and the one she could have never imagined." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So what the amazon summary completely fails to mention is the hints of magic everywhere in this world. Literally, page 1 of the book states quite clearly, "There is a god at the bottom of the river," (Tolcser, 1). On top of that, Caro and her father have a frogman on board. They're basically like a humanoid frog, that are smaller in stature, look like a frog, and don't say much. They also aren't just along the river, but it tends to be the preference for them to work on wherries. Honestly, I wish there was a lot more about the frogman (like the lore, stories, etc), maybe in book 2. Which is not a spoiler. Maybe. I don't know....in summary, supernatural elements isn't this weird figment of the imagination, like maybe hinted at thing within the world...but a very real thing.

Anyways.

So Caro and her father are smuggling some cargo down the river when they stop in port and the harbor master catches them. They offer them a deal; transport a mysterious box to where they want or go to jail. Her father refuses and goes to jail. Caro makes a deal that if she delivers the mysterious box, her father will go free. Her father is against the deal, but Caro is adamant on freeing him. She sets off with the box, the frogman Fee, and adventure soon finds her. The box isn't ordinary cargo, it contains a person inside. Dun dun dunnnn

So I really liked the world building of this book (aside from the lack of frogman knowledge, but that could be just because I'm curious about oddities within worlds) and I liked the character development.

But, kind of a spoiler alert, I took issue with the romance. It felt REALLY forced at moments, and one of those "Oh, we happened to spend a lot of time in the same vicinity as each other, well now of COURSE I'm in love with you!" Which is kind of annoying. I did enjoy the plot twists, and the unfolding of Caro's background, why she's so motivated, etc; but sometimes it felt like the writing style didn't quite live up to the subject matter. For example, at times the clothing seemed to matter A LOT in some situations where it felt like it shouldn't have been that big of a deal?

There were just a few hiccups that prevent me from making this a recommended book. BUT, I would most definitely read the second one. A little nautical humor, but you may consider me 'hooked'.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....

Happy reading!

A Court of Wings and Ruin

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

This is the third book in the series. I reviewed the first two books, A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES and A COURT OF MIST AND FURY. This blog post will definitely contain spoilers for the first two books, so if you don't want any spoilers, don't read this blog post.

There are definitely scenes of sex and violence throughout this story. If you don't like reading about those aspects about humanity, then I suggest not reading this book.

An amazon summary, "Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, at the end of A Court of Mist and Fury, Tamlin essentially betrayed all of Prythian to Hybern, just to get Feyre back at a very steep cost. Both of Feyre's sisters were dunked into the cauldron and turned into immortal High Fae, and the night court managed to escape, but barely. Tamlin took Feyre back to the spring court...where Feyre has started to undermine Tamlin in the eyes of his court for everything he has done to her and now this betrayal of Prythian. The traitorous Ianthe is still running amok, and a couple of Hybern's royals have come to find a weakness within the wall that separates the humans from the Fae.

That's enough summary; I feel like anything else is really going to skip a lot of interwoven tidbits throughout the story and I would hate do that.

I still really enjoyed this book, but I enjoyed it less than the previous two books. I thought the previous two books had a lot more in the way of plot, world building, character development, etc; and some of this book just felt a little hasty. Especially towards the end. There were still a TON of cool elements at play, but it was less enchanting than the previous two books. I still freaking loved it.

Slight spoiler - I did take some issue with the ending since everything kind of wrapped up a little too neatly considering how MUCH has been going on up until this point. I'm also kind of upset with how everything played out with Amren....like it felt a little too cheesy to me.

But overall, I still loved the book, and I think there's going to be more in this series? I'm not entirely sure what that would entail though.

Happy reading!