Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Count of Monte Cristo

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

84 reviews

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.

Content Warnings

brodi727's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

random19379's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

mousecat's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

4.0

I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I know classics are a classic for a reason but I tend to struggle with the writing style in a lot of classics, and the ones where they are following a life of someone tend to feel like they focus on the mundane stuff or events that don't feel important to the story.

Now The Count of Monte Cristo does do this as well. If it were written now I can guarantee that it would be much shorter. Everything in this book is given in a meandering way. If you are someone that can't handle the book jumping POVs, timelines and stories that eventually help build a bigger picture and pay off towards the end of the book, this may not be the read for you. There were many times that I was listening to a chapter having zero clue how we ended up here or why we needed to know this until a few or several hours later.
In saying that I thought the story was really good and it does feel nice to have those 'Ah-ha!' moments when listening. Seeing all the people and events come together almost feels like a mystery that is being unfolded in front of you. You feel like you are involved with the story.
I think those you read and enjoyed Six of Crows would really enjoy this. I felt like the books where paced and gave information to the reader in very similar ways.

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