 been The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee.
There are unlikeable narrators, and then there's Henry "Monty" Montague. It's the early 1700s, and Monty, the 18-year-old son of an English nobleman, is about to set off on a Grand Tour of Europe with his sister Felicity and his best friend Percy. Monty doesn't care about anything except getting drunk, gambling, getting drunk, sleeping around, getting drunk, hating his family, and did I mention getting drunk? I have nothing against alcohol, but I'm ready for a moratorium on using it as an easy plot device, like when two characters only have their first kiss because they're both smashed out of their minds. Monty's only sympathetic qualities are that he's dealing with an abusive homophobic father, and that he's desperately in love with Percy. Percy is the out-of-wedlock son of an English gentleman and a Caribbean woman. He's been raised as a gentleman, but has to deal with the blunt racism of that era. Monty's 15-year-old sister Felicity deals with the sexism of the era by putting romance novel covers on the medical textbooks she's secretly studying. Percy also has a secret, which partially explains why he puts up with Monty. Much of the plot is driven by Monty stealing a seemingly unimportant item, to get back at a man who insulted him. This results in Monty and his companions being attacked by bandits. Monty sees their coachman lying on the ground with his head bleeding, and it's unclear if he's alive or dead. Monty escapes with Percy and Felicity, and they later hear from another of their companions. He doesn't mention the coachman's fate, and we never learn - nor do any of the characters even wonder - whether he died for Monty's prank. Fictional characters are allowed to make mistakes, especially teenagers, and Monty does show some growth over the course of the book. But he continues to make stupid, selfish, impulsive decisions, right up to the end, putting himself and others in danger. There are some entertaining parts of the book, like when (once again drunk) Monty winds up stark naked at a garden party in Versailles. But honestly, I'd have been fine with Felicity and Percy leaving him there and never looking back. Popsugar Reading Challenge: About teen angst. 52 Book Club Challenge: Includes a map. Booklist Queen Challenge: Includes a map.
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