My first book for Tome Topple!

Tw: domestic violence, alcoholism, epilepsy, ableism, sexism, racism, suicide ideation, homomisia, bimisia, gore, graphic injury. (There might be more that I missed but I think I covered everything.)

After seeing how much everyone loved this, I went in with very high expectations. I wasn't disappointed. I absolutely freaking loved this book!

Monty, Percy, and Felicity are all imperfect, amazing characters. I loved the sibling banter and relationship between Monty and Felicity, and how it grew into something more genuine. And omg, I loved Monty and Percy so much. Their slow-burn romance was awkward and adorable, although sometimes I wish they would've talked their issues out and kept kissing. But everything was resolved, so that was fine in the end! 😉

Monty is one of the most flawed characters I've seen in a long time, and I appreciated it. He's very witty but favors drinking and sleeping around, and deals with his father's and basically everyone else's disapproval. But over the course of the story he realizes his mistakes and tries to fix them, sometimes succeeding and others making bigger mistakes. Underneath it all he's a sweet, awkward boy and I love him so much. ❤️

Points to Percy for always coming back to Monty and being the sweetest friend (and more 😏) ever, and to Felicity for her perfectly-timed quips and determination to shape her own future.

I didn't go into this book expecting fluff, exactly, but I did expect a humorous, generally lighthearted read. And that it is not. There are times where that's fitting, but it's also a historical adventure, and there are darker twists throughout. I liked the spin they put on the story, and that it was one more way to keep me turning pages at every opportunity.

For those of you interested, my favorite scenes were Versailles, the moments Monty and Percy had before they got messed up one way or another, the trio with the pirates, and the ending. That is to say, I thought the end was really cute in its awkwardness and resolution, not that I was glad for it to be over. I would've liked an epilogue just to see what happened a few months later, but altogether it was still perfect.

So if you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed this book. If you can handle the content, you should definitely read it. And bring on Felicity's book! (Hopefully with a lot of Monty and Percy.) 😍