A review by bearystarry
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

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

4.75

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!
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