A review by meshuganush
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was a very fun read! The beginning took me by surprise as it was fun and jovial and very easily poked fun at itself. The second half of the book was much more serious, which took me a little bit to acclimate to. I really appreciated how the characters are not all good or all evil they are complex beings, and while by the end I struggled to fully support our heroes I appreciated that nuance.

I don't know if this counts entirely as a spoiler but I felt that the cardinal while a political opponent wasn't really the villain. Honestly he seemed a significantly better ruler than the king, and while the musketeers were royalists none of them seemed to fond of the king. For me I think the true villain was milady. She was so gloriously crafted, with cunning and intelligence. I loved that we got a window into her thoughts and while I concur that she was guilty of 98% of the crimes laid at her feet (and probably many more) I dont think she quite deserved what she got.

The writing and/or the translation is beautifully done. Dumas has such a beautiful knack for description. It often felt like poetry.