Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Count of Monte Cristo (AmazonClassics Edition) by Alexandre Dumas

52 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

It took me a little under a year to finish reading The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think is somewhat understandable, given that it’s a pretty damn long novel. It was fascinating to see Dumas’s mind at work as he spun together a complex plot that had themes ranging from vengeance to forgiveness. I know there were a fair number of details that flew over my head, and this is absolutely one of those novels which, if you’re familiar with the historical events of when this novel took place, the reading experience will be significantly richer. Unfortunately for me, this was just outside of the period I’m more familiar with, so I greatly appreciated the footnotes that were in my translated edition.

The Count of Monte Cristo was a challenging novel for me to read, in part because it was long, but mostly because there were so many moving parts, so much that I seriously considered taking notes to remind myself who certain characters were, their motives, etc. The pacing did slow a fair bit towards the middle, with Dumas taking up hundreds of pages to lay the intricate groundwork for Edmond Dantès to exact his revenge on the three men who ruined his life. I admit that there were numerous occasions when I wondered why I needed to know a particular detail—and to be frank, I think there were a lot of details that weren’t necessary but were included anyway because Dumas was likely paid by the word—but patience paid off when I reached the ending and saw how everything unfolded.

I can see why some people may not enjoy how consumed Dantès was in seeking vengeance (especially when he was introduced as a just and good-natured man), but I quite liked how Dumas contemplated the nuances of revenge through his protagonist’s merits and flaws (but I also like a good Byronic hero, so there’s that).

Would I ever revisit this novel? Honestly, I don’t know if I would, mainly because it’s so long, but I’m glad to have finally gotten around to reading a sprawling and highly regarded classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Slavery, and Racism

julianh's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

brodi727's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book Oh my God many times I forgot I was in the real world I was so invested and I didn't even realize I had read 200 pages in one sitting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Drug use, Alcohol, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Minor: Racial slurs, Incest, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

random19379's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Incest, War, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Gaslighting, Confinement, Ableism, and Classism

countdraculahimself's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

truly loved this book and took my time reading it. i will never not recommend this beautifully tragic novel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

mousecat's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child death, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I know classics are a classic for a reason but I tend to struggle with the writing style in a lot of classics, and the ones where they are following a life of someone tend to feel like they focus on the mundane stuff or events that don't feel important to the story.

Now The Count of Monte Cristo does do this as well. If it were written now I can guarantee that it would be much shorter.  Everything in this book is given in a meandering way. If you are someone that can't handle the book jumping POVs, timelines and stories that eventually help build a bigger picture and pay off towards the end of the book, this may not be the read for you. There were many times that I was listening to a chapter having zero clue how we ended up here or why we needed to know this until a few or several hours later.
In saying that I thought the story was really good and it does feel nice to have those 'Ah-ha!' moments when listening. Seeing all the people and events come together almost feels like a mystery that is being unfolded in front of you. You feel like you are involved with the story.
I think those you read and enjoyed Six of Crows would really enjoy this. I felt like the books where paced and gave information to the reader in very similar ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse and Slavery

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another book I wept while reading.  Towards the end, there were times I got chills as the long term plotting and manipulations came to fruition.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Torture, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Child death, Sexism, Stalking, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

hopepike's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Great book! It's better than other books I've had to read for school. Loved all the characters and their relationships!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Child death, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Slavery

Minor: Blood and Lesbophobia

lightoferebus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Grief, Death, Classism, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Torture, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual harassment