Reviews - The Count of Monte Cristo

8.91k reviews for:

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas, Alexandre Dumas

4.32 AVERAGE

cailengm's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

nicobaileywriter's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ollylloydjones's review against another edition

5.0

Epic

bookwormoflucerne_adrijana's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hexnail's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sammichgamgee's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

This is my favorite book of all time but there are sections of this book that are a little bit of a slog. That said, the build up masterfully leads to some delicious payoffs.

danon17's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

It took me a while to overcome the structure. The way characters would reappear after 300 pages of diversion, sometimes under different names, and you would need to recall who they were 20 years ago. There are characters and plotlines that mirror others in the text, in a way that feels as though they could have been streamlined. I also don't like the formatting of the dialogue in this edition, where different characters' speaking will run on the same line. If I was rereading, I'd want to try a different edition.

But about 700 pages in - once I was reading steadily, and had got to grips with who the characters were and how they related - I realised I was really enjoying it. It's entertaining! I worried that once the plan was set in motion, it would become one note, but Dumas prods and questions the Count's actions rather than just letting them unfold. It asks big questions rather than revelling in revenge. The seeds of so many culturally-significant stories are contained in here, but Dumas's craft and skepticism means the Count has more depth than I expected. It's an epic done right, making good use of its sheer length.

I do think the ending with Haidee is a bit crap though