A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

A queer historical fiction that is as romantic as it is delightfully adventurous, A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is the young adult book that keeps on giving.

Set in Georgian-era Europe, Gentleman’s Guide follows Henry “Monty” Montague, a privileged 18-year-old nobleman. When this novel starts, Monty is as hilarious as he is self-involved. When he sets off on a Grand Tour of the continent with his best friend Percy (who he happens to be in love with), the series of misadventures and miscommunications that follow force Monty to confront his privilege.

Monty may be the point-of-view protagonist here, but he is far from the only character we get to know. We also have Percy, Monty’s long-suffering bi-racial best friend who is hiding a secret of his own, and Felicity, Monty’s sister who is much more interested in studying medicine than acting as a “lady” should.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is one of those light, escapist adventures that transports you to another world for a time, while also challenging the mainstream notion of what history looked like—mainly, that it was predominantly white, male, and straight. This book’s has immense empathy for its privileged male protagonist, who is not without his trauma, while also constantly challenging him to do better and recognize the power he does hold.

— Kayti Burt

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

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

Sleeping Beauties is the perfect Stephen King story for the Donald Trump era. In this nightmarish tale, every woman in the world falls asleep and forms a strange diaphanous cocoon around their slumbering bodies. If the cocoon is removed, the women awake in a murderous rage.

Only a strange woman named Evie with unexpected origins and powers holds the secret to waking the sleeping beauties. Sleeping Beauties is not anti-male in any way, but it is pro-woman and that is so important in today’s political climate. The Kings offer multiple points of view on the female experience in America as the bulk of the tale is set in a women’s prison.

Like most long form King stories, Sleeping Beauties features an extended cast of fully realized characters that all must navigate their way through the unthinkable. Watching Stephen King compose a tale side by side with his son Owen King was fasinating as the younger King allows for a different voice and methodology than the elder King’s constant readers might be used to.

Most of all, this book offers some truly memorable and multi-faceted female protagonists as it explores some troubling modern societal gender conflicts in a genre setting that is as chilling as it is unforgettable.

— Marc Buxton

Buy Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans

One of 2017’s greatest films (adapted from one of 2011’s greatest books) is A Monster Calls, the story of a young boy who encounters the supernatural while struggling to cope with a seriously ill mum. Who Let The Gods Out? takes a much more comedic approach to a similar premise…

It’s the story of Eliot, his unpredictable mother, their snobby neighbour, a bullying History teacher, a crash-landed star and a whole host of Greek gods. It’s witty, satirical, a tiny bit frightening and a terrific read. Best of all, it’s the start of a new series, with book two Simply The Quest, already published.

— Louisa Mellor

Buy Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobbs

Robin Hobb’s long-running series about FitzCivalry Farseer came to an end this year—an end, not the end, as Hobb has not ruled out writing more books set in the Realm of the Elderlings and following some of the same characters.

For now, however, Assassin’s Fate is the end of the story begun all the way back in Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995. It’s been a long and emotional journey, and while the conclusion to such a long saga will never entirely please everybody, Hobb did a pretty good job of making most fans mostly happy. It was the ending she had always envisaged, it was the ending that was right for her characters, and the story was as exciting, compelling and heart-breaking as all the rest of her books in this series.

We wouldn’t recommend starting with this book, but if you’ve read any of Hobb’s previous works set in the Realm of the Elderlings, you’ll find something to enjoy in this story. For long-time fans, it’s a must-read.

— Juliette Harrisson

Buy Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb