Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

19 reviews

jackgonzalez's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

jo_lzr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

Despite being very slow at times, it's amazing how a book this long manages to be so interesting! There are many quotes that I loved and the writing was so profound. 

Also, I can't express how happy I am that not only there was a lesbian couple but that they also got a happy ending! It was a very pleasant surprise! 
I can't give this book 5 stars because I think that Mércédés deserved better! Even though I ship her with Edmond, I get why they can't be together. I just wish that she would have gotten a better ending. Plus, Haydée and Monte Cristo's relationship was very weird. For example, that part near the end, where her love for him is described as the love for a father AND a husband (and a brother). That was weird. Though, it could also be that Haydée has daddy issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Lesbophobia

nolemdaer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I have to come to this review with shame, because this was supposed to be my Summer of Monte Cristo where I read three chapters a day and ended up being my Month of Monte Cristo where I got too sucked in, stopped pacing myself, and finished the back half of the book in about two days. But it just goes to show how fun this is to read! The introduction goes into how Monte Cristo is often considered just an "entertainment" book rather than high literature, and while I must admit that the themes of revenge and the character arcs are not meticulously plotted nor particularly more artful than a well-done action movie, that doesn't make it any less worthy of a good read. I was completely in love with the story until about a fourth of the way through, where Edmond Dantès transforms into the cold, cruel Count of Monte Cristo, where we lagged a bit and the story became darker (I definitely could have done without that tragic bandit story or all the slavery). The Rome chapters are a drag all around, but once we returned to Paris, the drama and conniving were addictive to read and the revenge - if not sweet - compelling to watch. There's a lot of energy to the writing, so I have to give Buss props for the translation.

I consumed way too much of this book at once and there's just so much in it, so I'm not even sure what else to say. This is entertainment in its purest form. Long live the Morrels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

brodi727's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book Oh my God many times I forgot I was in the real world I was so invested and I didn't even realize I had read 200 pages in one sitting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

figsofpeach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, 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

blattprinzessin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I could write a loooong review about this tome, but to keep it short: 
95% of the time you’ll have a great time following the story and characters and then Dumas drops something like the Count wanting to….. his own adoptive daughter, that he has cared for since she was a literal child. - and you don’t know what to make of it.
That left a sour taste in my mouth and prevents me from rating it 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

kmhst25's review against another edition

3.75

I bought a cheap copy of this book only to realize that it was actually an abridged version, just as I was about to start reading it. So I donated that copy and got a full-length version from the library. 

Now that I’ve read it, I rather wish I’d just stuck with the abridged one, because there’s an extremely entertaining tale in here, but it’s really bogged down by repetitiveness, objectionable (and generally completely unnecessary) comments and stories, wish fulfillment, and confusing passages that could be attributable to poor translation, poor writing, or purposeful use of contradictory language, but just aren’t explained enough to really make sense of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Kidnapping

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

seforaflorian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail