Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

46 reviews

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“All of human wisdom is contained in these two words: ‘wait’ and ‘hope’!” 
- Edmond Dantes

When does revenge supersede what is justified? When does grief become too much to bear? What is joy without sadness? The Count of Monte Cristo masterfully connects some of the most pressing questions of life to a grand mystery, romance, and thriller all at once. Despite it being 200 years old this novel still shines as an example of dedicated, thoughtful writing. The only potential grievances I could have on The Count of Monte Cristo are its portrayal of god and its moderate sexism and racism. However, considering the time period in which the novel was written such micro aggressions come with the package. Still, the novel is progressive in its own way as it questions the importance of wealth when one does not have love, and chastises those who seek wealth with an utter disregard to their compatriots and guardians. The Count of Monte Cristo is both easy enough to be comprehended by the masses and deep enough to provide a philosophical exercise for the masses and as such is one of the pinnacles of literary excellence (in my opinion of course).

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adventurous inspiring slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was one of the first books I took up after I began reading/ listening actively once again. It took me several months to complete this reading.

The characters and story line were introduced to me in my childhood and mostly forgotten. It was so contrasting when the re-read caused me to replace that feeling of vengeance and retribution, I associated with the protagonist, with that of humanity and justice.

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I... really loved this to be honest. There are obviously some things that have not aged well since the 1860s, but as a sweeping adventure and mystery novel it really delivered for me. Even though there's a Lot covered in a lot of detail, arriving at the end, I feel incredibly satisfied with how much you experience with the characters.

Just some spoiler-y things I liked/didn't like/was surprised by etc: 
  • weirdly surprised that Edmond only starts to feel remorse when Edward de Villefort is murdered
  • definitely surprised that there's a (imo) lesbian couple!
  • I was sad that Edmond and Mercedes don't end up back together tbh, but I was very glad that I correctly predicted that she would be the only one after all the years in prison to recognize him
  • didn't love that Edmond got together with Haydee who he said was like a daughter and was also his literal slave, woof
  • it took so long for Valentine to actually come back that I was worried she Wouldn't come back and they had just forgotten about her, but I'm glad she and Maximillian ended up happy as well
  • I really loved how slowly certain people/plot points were explained, even though I just made the last point lol. I like being able to guess and being kept in the dark a little bit.

Yeah I kind of want a physical copy of this now!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings