Nobleman’s Guide to Shipwrecks and Scandals

This is the final installment in one of my favorite trilogies: The Montague Siblings. We heard Monty’s story, then Felicity’s. It only makes sense that we get to meet “the Goblin.” While I was expecting a well-written and executed story, I did not anticipate meeting a character with whom I identified so strongly. Reading about Adrian is like looking in a mirror: the OCD and the self-mutilating, paralyzing anxiety was difficult to encounter but also refreshing. I never knew someone could understand me like that.

We get a different view of a Montague life from Adrian’s perspective, including seeing his parents in a different light. Adrian, for example, is close with his mother, who understands him better than anyone. We get nothing about their mom from the previous two books other than she was mostly apathetic towards them. The story itself rests in Adrian coming to terms with the loss of his mother.

We also get another strong female character, Louisa, who has her own personality and character outside of her romantic relationship with Adrian.

We meet the older siblings in their thirties, and they have the same personalities softened (or hardened) by experiences outside of the scope of the novels.

Adrian also goes on a voyage rife with fantasy, like his siblings before him.

This book is largely about familial relationships and grief, about finding love and acceptance in curious places, written in Lee’s quintessential style.

Gosh I love this series. There could be ten more books coming and I would read all of them

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Mackenzi Lee did a phenomenal job of diversifying a genre that usually lacks representation. The historical fiction/fantasy adventure story is usually very neurotypical, white, and straight. This book had everything I could have asked for.

This was a wonderful end to the series. Adrian Montague was only a baby in the first Montague sibling book, but now he is grown. He is the sole heir to his father's estate, an up-and-coming political writer, and is engaged to an activist who inspires him. Despite all of this Adrian is battling debilitating anxiety. When his mother unexpectedly dies, Adrian is concerned that people will find out he has the same mental illness she struggled with for years.

When a keepsake of his mothers comes into Adrian's possession he is thrust into the past and finds himself face-to-face with an older brother he never knew even existed. Together they embark on an epic quest to unravel family secrets.

While each book in this series is full of adventure, its true strength lies in character development and evolution. The third installment is no exception. Adrian is a character that deals with cripling mental illness. This representation was fantastic and so accurate, his racing thoughts and fears were described in a way that a person without these illnesses could understand how they consumed his mind.

A note in general about the whole series: I loved how each book took on a topic that is extremely relevant in today's society (LGBTQ+, woman's rights, and mental illness) and put them in a historical context.

Author Mackenzi Lee excels at creating diverse characters in what should be an inhospitable (and somewhat anachronistic world). As in the first two books in this trilogy, I really enjoyed her character development, her world building, and her tone. Adrian's story is probably my least favorite of the three (and Monty's my favorite) but this may just be because sometimes his struggle with anxiety was so difficult to read. As a high school librarian, I appreciate how Lee's books allow students to read about issues that are important to them in a historical setting instead of always pairing real issues with realistic fiction. Definitely recommend the entire trilogy for school libraries.

<i>"Perhaps she was haunted. Perhaps we all are, our souls crumbling houses where unquiet spirits walk the halls. Some of us have manors with rooms and rooms for them to wander and pace, while others crowd a single hallway. Some fear the demons, and some learn to live with them.
Perhaps the ghosts are what we come for."

"...<s>mentally unfit hysterical melancholic</s>
God, I hate every word there is for it. Can we not simply be people, each of us with cogs in our brains that turn slightly differently, and some that need oiling and alignment and upkeep more than others?"</i>

TL;DR: A hauntingly accurate and vivid portrayal of what it means to have anxiety, wrapped up in the Regency-Romp-Pirate-Peril that Mackenzi Lee does so well -- and a bittersweet ending to the Montague Siblings series.

Vibes: Catcher in the Rye, but make it anxiety + Pirates of the Caribbean + Sex Education (the Netflix show)*
IDK why -- probably because we just finished binging it -- but I kept envisioning the characters from the show as Lee's characters: Eric/Ncuti Gatwa as George, Maeve as Felicity, Aimee as Johanna, etc.

Genre: True YA/NA Regency Romp / Pirate Adventure Bildungsroman
*NA because even though Adrian is...19?...his struggle isn't uniquely adolescent. Also, if you love Pirates of the Caribbean, you'll love this.
*Third -- and final -- in a series.

Romance Meter: 🖤 ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
One of the things I loved was that the crux of the conflict doesn't hinge on whether Adrian is able to be loved / worthy of love. He's engaged to Lou(isa), who loves him and accepts him, and tries to help him work through his anxieties as best as she can. The conflict isn't whether Lou will leave him, but whether Adrian will believe that he's worthy of love himself, that he's not broken.

Character MVP: Monty. Forever and always sassy-damaged-just-want-to-reach-through-the-page-and-give-him-a-hug Monty.

Verdict: 5 stars, and if I could give it more I would.

Mackenzi Lee is another Auto-Buy author for me, and I deeply, deeply stan her. I mentioned this in my review of [book:The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy|37880094], but listening to her Instagram Lives about her process of writing these books just enriches them (and really makes her voice come through the writing).

This book is different than the other two Montague Siblings books, yes, but to be fair, those were each different from each other. Monty's story was about self-loathing and accepting his queer identity and making his own way in the world; Felicity's was about navigating the world as a woman and all the injustices and inequalities we face; and Adrian's was about processing his anxiety and understanding that he's not broken. I know that each of these stories was deeply personal to Mackenzi Lee and helped her navigate pieces of her own identity, and I think that's what makes these stories sing with authenticity.

For me, the best part of this book was the way Lee captured Adrian's anxiety -- and the way that it made me feel seen. For so long, I thought that my own anxiety -- before I even had a word to describe it -- was something "wrong" with me. I could very easily see that the way my mind worked, the way I fought with the irrational scenarios my brain threw at me, was different from most of the people around me. And until I understood that it was anxiety, and it was actually more common than I initially believed, it was incredibly lonely. And you can start to feel like there is something broken about you -- because things that are so difficult for you come so easily to other people, so it must be you that's wrong -- even when there's not. There is an indescribable power in seeing your struggles reflected in the media you consume -- #representationmatters -- and a sort of relief that comes from knowing that other people understand.

Mackenzi Lee does make it very clear in her Author's Note that she's not trying to "depict a universal portrayal" of anxiety, and that Adrian's experiences are very much influenced by her own. And while my anxiety is not as debilitating as Adrian's, I saw so much of my own experiences reflected in the book: the long, run-on sentences as Adrian's brain rambles through it's thoughts; the way he doubts the people around him when they tell him he's enough; his ability to leap to the Worst Possible Outcome in a single bound; the utter exhaustion that comes from fighting your own brain, from knowing that a situation is unlikely and still having to talk your brain down into trying to understand that it won't happen; craving the stability of routine and hating when someone says something like "when you have a minute, let's talk," because you assume the worst.

There's not as much of a gallivanting romp around the world as in the previous 2 books, as the conflict and plot are largely internal, focused on Adrian's journey. But all of the old favorites are there -- George, all grown up; Johanna with her pack of slobbering dogs named after the Six Wives of Henry VIII like some sort of pre-modern-version-of-<i>Six</i>; and even Sim with her own challenges.

Some of my favorite chapters were when all 3 Montague siblings were together -- Chapters 24 & 25 -- and Lee lets the snark and acerbic barbs fly fast and furious, balanced with just the right amount of heart.

I did see some reviewers mention that the characters all felt the same age, and I might disagree. I think in a sense it's part of Monty's character that he's a bit emotionally stunted, still crippled by his trauma as he hasn't been able to fully process and revolve it. But while Monty does come across as flippant and petulant -- which, TBH, is just his character -- he didn't read as 19, and neither did Felicity. Again, yes, they're a bit stunted by everything they've been through, but they definitely grew since we last saw them.

I'm sad that there won't be any more chapters in this saga, but I love these books and will recommend them to any- and everyone. And at least we ended with one more jab at Richard Peele. 😊

Mackenzi Lee is an auto-read author for me at this point. The latest installment in the Montague Sibling series, was such a joy to read! I truly missed these characters and loved getting to see glimpses of past favorites as they are older. It was so interesting to read from the youngest brother's perspective and I am so grateful that Lee decided to tell their story.

The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, a Montague Siblings Novel by Mackenzi Lee; Katherine Tegen Books, 567 pages ($18.99) Ages 14 and up.

...

Mackenzi Lee brings her Montague Siblings historical trilogy to a smashing conclusion in this smart, thrilling, swashbuckling, globe-spanning adventure featuring 19-year-old Adrian Montague navigating crippling anxiety in a vividly depicted 18th century world.

Adrian, who believes himself to be an only child, is tall, handsome and rich and preparing to take his father's seat in the House of Lords where his father expects he will oppose reform measures backed by radical Whigs. Adrian secretly suffers from debilitating anxiety, a condition that has gotten worse since the unexpected recent death of his mother, who also suffered mental illness.

Unbeknownst to his father, Adrian is writing inflammatory pamphlets under the name John Everyman and circulating them with the help of his fiancee Louisa. But when Adrian comes into possession of a broken spyglass that belonged to his mother, he becomes obsessed with mysteries of his mother's past, the spyglass and its connection to a legendary ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman.

In his desperate quest for answers, he meets a brother he never knew he had, allies with dangerous pirates and defies death more than once all while battling excruciating panic attacks that leave him gasping for breath.

His obsession with the ghost ship, a ship no one else can see, nearly kills him.

"Whatever thread I was certain tied me to this impossible ship snaps. It's like waking from a dream to find I have walked in my sleep and entered someone else's house. The cold strikes me first, then the fear and the sudden realization that I had to be pulled back from throwing myself into the ocean at the behest of a spirit that is not my own, calling to me from inside my own heart."

The author, who battles anxiety disorder, describes Adrian's thought process that spirals into panic:

"Since I was young, my father has told me I'm too thin, my appetite overly affected by my moods. After my mother died, I almost stopped entirely, gripped with a fear that whatever I ate would make me sick and I too would meet a sudden end like she had. That fear would quickly tumble into its most refined form, panic, and that panic would have me gagging up anything I tried to swallow, terrified of death by pheasant or porridge of lukewarm tea."

Lee vividly evokes this 18th century world, whether it be a grubby tavern serving up the nastiest imaginable pie, a pirate ship or the canals of Amsterdam. The personal battles her characters are facing - homophobia, racism, mental illness, grief - resonate across the centuries.

I don't care how many books Lee creates for this series I will read them all!! This one was unputdownable and I read it in a a day! I love these characters and these just keep getting better!

This book was such a fun return to the world of this series. It ties together some of the loose ends for the family with a satisfying ending, while leaving room for future books. I always appreciate Mackenzi Lee's sense of humor and the little bits of wackiness sprinkled through the book.

I love this entire series and I was thrilled when I found out there was going to be a third book about a third sibling. I will still argue that Monty's book is the best, but this was definitely enjoyable, adventurous, and engaging. Follow Adrian and Monty around the globe and you won't be disappointed!

This was not as strong as the first two books, but was still adorable. I liked very much the realistic depiction of mental illness and what that would have looked like hundreds of years ago... sort of. Lee clearly felt drawn to tell this story and it's a fitting adventure to round out the trio of Montague family members. Everything wraps up neatly in the end, but it's quite the ride along the way!

This was a satisfying resolution to the Montague siblings series. Adrian is a delightful new main character and Monty and Felicity's development is interesting to view through the lens of another. I enjoyed this book.

I thought it was....fine? Not as good as the other books in the trilogy but I did appreciate the depictions of mental illness.

This series is so much fun! I was thrilled to read the third installment and get a chance to see Monty and Percy living happily ever after, and to get to see the siblings all interact once again.

This book was way too long, and the pacing was forcefully drawn out. It was great to see the original characters again, but I didn't feel like this book showed up anything new about them. The author could have just done a novella for the wedding and left it at that. Also, the main character's anxiety was their only personality point. It was very tedious to read, no rest for the reader.

4.5 stars. I very much enjoyed this conclusion to this series.

I liked this more than Felicity's book and felt like Lee wrote Adrian's character way better than Felicity. Felicity felt like a side character forced into her own novel without knowing what to do with her. On the other hand, Adrian's writing felt more comfortable and like Lee knew what to do with him. Adrian's struggle with extreme anxiety was felt throughout the book. It almost was too hard to read at points because you felt like you were also experiencing the same anxiety. The writing in the whole book was very well done despite this reflection of anxiety in the reader. Lee's handling of the characters' mental health was well done, especially for that time and place. The diverse cast in sexualities and race is always nice to see, and it felt unforced. I loved Adrian's growing relationship with his siblings and his wonderful romance with his fiance. His easy acceptance of the quirks of his siblings made my heart warm.

It was also nice to revisit the 2 older Montagues and see where they ended up. They are still their messy selves but did come together as adults when they needed to. The plot felt similar to the previous ones with a grand adventure going all over Europe and some of Africa with just the hint of magic (is there magic, is it science, who knows!) Unlike the second book. This one did not seem to linger on the journey too much, and instead, the journey felt like the book's point. I also enjoyed the ending and epilogue a lot and felt like it ended on an excellent note, and it pleased me to see characters I like being happy.

Overall, this is a great last book in the series that could give you second-hand anxiety but left on a satisfying and pleasing note.

This is a delightful conclusion to the story of the Montague siblings with a rollicking historical adventure tale. It presents an outstanding picture of what it feels like to struggle with anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. The novel has a great cast of very diverse characters -- some that are reader favorites as well as others that are entirely new. While this and the books in this series are classified as Young Adult, the beautiful writing, great historical settings and thoughtfully complicated characters make them extremely enjoyable for adults as well.

I listened to this book on audiobook and was absolutely blown away. Lee managed to write a hilarious, heartbreaking historical fantasy about family reunion and mental health, without falling into stereotypes.
I'd loved previous books in this series, but this one might be my new favorite. This might be the most accurate, to my own experience, of anxiety that I have ever read. Adrian is such a lovable character. WOWOWOWOW

This one hit a liiiittle close to home for me, and I felt incredibly seen by Adrian's mental health struggles. I don't know how I've related to each Montague sibling more than the last. A fitting conclusion to the series.