Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

46 reviews

anne_boleyns_book's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Abandonment

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: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Murder

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

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

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

Moderate: Slavery and Suicide attempt

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, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism

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

punchmadethegz's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is very good, and interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Blood

saroreen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

siglerbooknook's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

70% of this book is terribly confusing. There is so much happening, so many characters (many of whom have more than 2 names), and lots of similarities between several of the key players that left me very lost.

However, once the pieces started coming together it was extremely satisfying. I have always loved the movie based on the Count of Monte Cristo, but having now read the book I'm amazed by some of the deviations to extremely important details!

There are characters in the book who are dead or never existed at all in the movie and substantially change the course of events. Other characters are far more devious of their own merit than the movie lets on.

The Count himself is barely recognizable as the same character from film to page. In the book his reasoning is much more clear and the happenings are far more than petty vengeance. The Count is a master at pulling strings and uncovering information but I liked that the downfall of so many characters was their own fault in the end.

The Count of Monte Cristo is easily the longest book I've ever read, and adding to that the struggle of reading old English, I'm not sure I'll read it again, but I am pleased I have finally read it at least once and the story itself was extremely satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Abandonment