books – Page 12 – Lyndsey Hall

Review: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Mackenzi Lee Lyndsey's Book Blog

I listened to the audio book of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee back in September, and it was one of my absolute favourite reads of 2017! (Check out My top five books of 2017)

TL;DR Monty and Percy are best friends and high-born gentlemen living their best lives in 1800s London. Drink, gambling and general debauchery are the order of the day, until their Grand Tour of Europe becomes a mad dash across the continent, pursued by dangerous men who will kill to take back what Monty stole from them…

Henry “Monty” Montague is the son of an English aristocrat, attends one of the poshest boarding schools in the country, and is being groomed to take control of the family estate and affairs when he grows up. If he ever does. Unfortunately, he’s not interested in taking over from his father, or growing up. He’s also madly in love with his best friend Percy, who is blissfully unaware, and he’s being kicked out of school for his roguish behaviour. Surely a few months travelling around Europe will solve all his problems?

Joined by Percy and his sister Felicity, Monty sets off for France – first stop, the palace of Versailles. Unfortunately, one rash decision and a stolen trinket lead to our gang fleeing for their lives, pursued by some very angry French men. They eventually wind up in Barcelona and take refuge in a house with the strange siblings whose father invented the fascinating stolen trinket, looking for an explanation. When the French catch up to them, they’re forced to make another run for it, this time heading for Venice by pirate ship. Their quest for the truth becomes a race against time as the answer to all their questions is in danger of becoming submerged when the islet housing it crumbles into the sea.

Will Monty ever confess his love to Percy? What is the mysterious affliction that affects Percy and why did he really agree to join his best friend on his European Tour? And will Felicity be able to convince her parents and society that women are just as capable as men, and study medicine at university like she wants? You’ll have to read it to find out…

I absolutely adored this book, it was funny, touching, gripping and filled with diverse, complex and deeply flawed characters who charmed the socks off me with every page. I’m giving it 5 stars and am absolutely gutted that it’s technically a standalone, however Mackenzi Lee has written a companion book from the perspective of Felicity called The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to get my hands on it the instant it comes out in October. Lee is a huge advocate for amazing women throughout history, you can often find her tweeting about a fabulous lady from the past, proving that girls have always been badass and brilliant. Her Twitter threads have even been turned into a book, Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World – go buy it immediately and celebrate International Women’s Day 2018 like a proper lady, with an awesome book and a cup of tea (or something stronger if that’s your style, no judgement here! Only four more weeks of pregnancy to go and I’ll be joining you!).

Until next time,

Lyndsey

The 90s Kid Book Tag

If you grew up in the Nineties, like me, you’ll love this new book tag by Amber @ The Literary Phoenix. Being a Brit, a few of these 90s trends didn’t cross the pond from the US, but most of them are things we all remember from our childhoods. Let’s step back in time!

The Rules

Please, please, please steal this tag and spread it around! I only ask that you link it back to The Literary Phoenix so that I can see everyone’s answers!
Freeze tag was all the rage in the 90s. Tag someone (or many) you think would have fun with this!
Have fun!

Pokemon

A GBA game and trading card game where you battled pocket monsters and strived to catch them all. Back in the day, there were only 150 Pokemon.

The author you need every book from.

Sarah J. Maas! There isn’t a book she’s written that I haven’t loved so far (I haven’t gotten round to Tower of Dawn yet, so no spoilers!). I’ll be heartbroken when the final Throne of Glass book is finished, but at least we’re getting some new ACOTAR spinoffs, starting with the A Court of Frost and Starlight novella this year!

AIM

AOL Instant Messaging – how 90s kids communicated with their friends after school before everyone had a cell phone.

Book that connected you with your best friend.

Me and my bestie are both huge Harry Potter fans – I can’t remember if we ever bonded over the books at school, but we definitely share the love now!

Furby

Creepy needy robots you could teach to talk and were probably demon possessed. Somehow these made a comeback?

Book that seemed like a good idea but was actually a monster.

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine – I feel like I’ve been hating on this book way more than necessary, but it’s so rare that I DNF a book, especially a YA fantasy! I can completely see why some people loved it, the concept is right up my street, but for some reason the execution just didn’t click with me. Or maybe I was in a bit of book slump. I might come back to it later… (like the Furby comeback!)

N’SYNC

90s quintessential boy band. You may have heard of Justin Timberlake?

A book you hated to say Bye, Bye, Bye to.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas is the last book that left me with a raging hangover and a gaping hole in my life.

Slimed!

Getting green slime thrown on you, courtesy of the show Figure it Out. Also apparently still a thing at the Kid’s Choice Awards?

A book everyone loved but you hated.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater – I really wanted to like this book! I’ve loved every other Steifvater book, but for some reason this one just wasn’t for me and I ended up DNFing it and returning it to Audible. I do wonder whether I’d enjoy the physical book better than the audio book, but I probably won’t get round to trying for years because of all the other books on my TBR…

Oregon Trail

90s computer game you could usually play at school, which was great. It taught us people used to die a lot of gruesome, messy deaths.

A book that made you wish you died of dysentery.

That’s a pretty strong negative reaction, I’m not sure I’ve ever hated a book quite that much! I really didn’t enjoy the Maze Runner series after book one though, and gave up on the series completely, despite owning them all. I’m not a fan of the movies either.

Mixtape/CD

Back before everyone had music on their phones (remember, we didn’t have cell phones!) folks would rip their CDs and make mixes for each other.

3 books you recommend to anyone, anywhere, no matter what.

Dial-Up Internet

You know how it’s annoying when you aren’t on LTE? IMAGINE WAITING 10 MINUTES FOR INTERNET TO START AND ANOTHER 20 MINUTES FOR GOOGLE TO LOAD!

A book that took FOR FREAKING EVER to read.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner – I struggled so much with the second Maze Runner book that I gave up and didn’t bother with books 3 and 4, it just went completely off track for me, and if I’m honest Maze Runner wasn’t exactly a favourite of mine. I had high expectations after seeing everyone rave about this series online, so I bought the boxset, and I’m disappointed I didn’t love it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Kenan Thompson

He’s that guy who’s been on SNL forever. Also Mighty Ducks. Good Burger. Kenan and Kel. All That. Everything.

That book you see referenced everywhere and is in everything, but that’s okay because it’s awesome.

Harry Potter is the obvious choice here, or possibly Lord of the Rings for those slightly older than me (I feel like there’s a very clear divide between the HP and LOTR generations).

Thumbs Up, Seven Up

A game where most the class closed their eyes and seven people tapped someone’s thumb and you had to guess who did it without peeking.

Book where you peeked just REAL quick at the ending because you don’t like guessing games.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – I spoiled the ending before I finished because I didn’t want to turn into an emotional wreck reading it in public (I read it on holiday). After The Fault in Our Stars I needed to know what I was dealing with advance!

Dunkaroos

These were basically just Teddy Grahams dipped in frosting, which is still a wonderful snack idea.

Your ideal bookish snack.

Any kind of cake, cupcake, cookie, pie, tart, chocolate, biscuit… anything sweet basically. Plus tea, lots of tea.

Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark

Collections of short stories that would scare any sensible kid! Plus, there were illustrations…

A book that kept you up all night.

I love a bit of horror, one of my favourites is Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. It has the right balance of creepiness, gore and humour.

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Basically the coolest thing you got to do in science class was watch Bill Nye. He has a Netflix show again!

A book that taught you something new.

One of my favourite things about reading is that every book leaves me with a little bit more knowledge about a different subject, I love learning and building on my collection of random facts. I recently learned a lot about historical medicine and pathology from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Included with the books are photos and explanations from the author about which elements of the story are factually accurate and which she used her poetic licence to embellish. All books should come with maps, glossaries and notes from the author with snippets of their research!

That was fun! The 90s was a great decade to grow up in, technology was advancing at an incredible rate, but we were protected from the negative effects of being constantly online that kids are faced with today. The music was brilliant (fight me), TV shows like Saved by the Bell and Sister Sister played on repeat after school, and we had a lot more freedom than most kids now – we didn’t have mobile phones so our parents just had to trust us when we went out to play with our friends and were late for dinner. Playing outside was the norm, cyber bullying hadn’t been invented yet (although normal bullying sadly still existed), and there was no such thing as FOMO, Instagram filters or online trolls. It was a simpler time!

If you feel like taking a swing at this tag, feel free, I won’t nominate anyone so consider yourselves all tagged!

Lyndsey

Review: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I read One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus on my holiday in Singapore in September and I literally flew through it, it was such a fun read.

TL;DR Five kids go into detention, but only four come out alive. They’ve all got secrets, but do any of them have a motive for murder? Simon’s plan to expose all their deepest, darkest truths on his popular gossip app could be the key…

A jock, a geek, a prom queen, a bad boy, and Simon the outcast are all thrown into detention for having phones in their bags. The weird thing is, they’re not their phones. That doesn’t seem to matter to the overzealous teacher though. When a crash in the school car park draws the teacher away from the room, leaving the kids alone, it’s not long before Simon is dead, the cause a suspected allergic reaction.

One by one, the kids are questioned by the police and their darkest secrets start to come out, secrets so big they might push anyone to kill to keep them hidden. Any one of the four could be responsible, or could they just be the scapegoats for a killer who’s hiding in plain sight?

By the end of the book, no one is who they seemed at first glance, and they’ll never be the same again. Isolated and feared by their schoolmates, and demonised by the local media, Bronwyn, Addy, Nate and Cooper gradually form a tight-knit circle, but is it a case of keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Or are the four witnesses to Simon’s death the only ones who can solve the mystery before the crime is pinned on the wrong person?

This book is a fun, fast and gripping read with so many twists and turns it’ll keep you up at night turning page after page. Billed as a cross between The Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars, it brings together a band of misfits from every well-known high school clique and throws them into a compelling murder mystery plot for the modern age.

I had my suspicions about the climax from somewhere in the middle, but I certainly didn’t predict the whole reveal and was pleasantly surprised by some of the twists. The only reason this wasn’t a five star read is because a few of the secrets were pretty predictable and some of the drama was very high school, which is not a criticism as such, but knowing that I’m not exactly the target demographic for YA, despite it being my favourite, from a personal point of view some of the issues could have been easily resolved with a little communication. I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem for younger readers, so that’s a very personal feeling on the novel and definitely wouldn’t make me recommend this book any less, I still think it’s a brilliant read.

I gave One of Us is Lying four stars, it’s a great contemporary thriller with well-written, flawed and interesting characters and an explosive plot twist. Have you read it yet? If not, what are you waiting for? If yes, tell me in the comments what you thought! Who was your favourite character? Did you see the twist coming? (No spoilers please!).

Lyndsey