TGGTVAV spoiler free review
Mansi here! Sorry this is late oops I’ve literally been so busy with school and uni applications but here’s my review for our September book.
Overall rating: 4.25/5 stars
I adored this book overall, it was such a fun read and I thought that it was amazingly written. There was so much that I loved about it, the only reason I lowered my rating slightly was because whilst the plot was fun it wasn’t as gripping to me as I wanted it to be. I think the main strength of this book lay with the characters as opposed to the actual plot.The diversity was refreshing, particularly in a historical fiction novel, the characters were compelling and the messages the book gave off were important: overall a great read!
From the beginning of the novel, Monty is seen to be pretty hedonistic; he enjoys drink, sex and partying a little too much. I wasn’t 100% sold on Monty’s character at first, he just didn’t seem like someone I would get on with in real life and I thought that he was pretty selfish and said things to people that he really shouldn’t have said (like what he says to Percy at Versailles). However, I think the true strength of this book was the character development. Monty even says by the end that he’s basically unrecognisable now, and I think what makes his development so compelling is that you can genuinely tell that he wants to change and become better. He does some stupid things but mostly for the right reasons, and it was his character growth that made him such a three-dimensional, interesting character who I grew to like more and more as the book went on.
Another thing that I loved about this book was the pining. A bit of a weird thing to love so much, but the way Mackenzi Lee wrote Monty’s pining after Percy was so beautiful and heartbreaking. Sure, it was painful but it also felt raw and real; Monty’s emotions leaked off the page and into my heart so I was feeling with him with the way Lee described them. I was rooting for them to get together for the whole book and was a little frustrated at how they were both complete idiots who skirted around it, but the payoff was great.
This book seems to be marketed as a fun, lighthearted read and without a doubt it mostly is. There are some parts that made me laugh aloud (Monty’s adventures in Versailles, the fact that Monty is begrudgingly really short), but despite this I literally nearly cried about three times reading this. Huge trigger warning for homophobia and physical abuse in this book that caught me off guard with how traumatised Monty was by it all. It made the book feel more real but obviously sadder too. Despite this, it was so great to see Monty staunch in his sexuality (he’s presumably bi or pan) and answer his sister’s questions and dismissive attitude towards his attraction to guys in such a great way that really made me admire him. There was also a scene with Percy that made me choke up a bit with how raw it was and reminded me that this is a book set in the 1700s and Percy, who is biracial, would have faced so many prejudices he shouldn’t have had to.
I need a moment to appreciate Felicity (Monty’s sister) because honestly she was fucking amazing I loved her so much. She’s a young woman who wants to defy expectations and become a doctor and honestly I don’t know what the two boys would have done without her. There was one point when she literally stitched herself up and Monty nearly fainted at the sight of the blood, I loved how Felicity utterly smashed gender stereotypes of the time and was such a great character (apparently we’re getting a sequel from her POV and I’m so hyped.
Overall, would wholeheartedly reccommend and I had a hugely fun time reading this book, especially for the book club.