The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas was mine and Olivia Savannah’s second big book that we were buddy reading together (after we read War and Peace together last year) and we went for a chapter a day again. But despite this book being just as big as War and Peace, the chapters were a lot bigger and so we were able to get through it a lot quicker!
The book does start out with quite a long set up. Of course Dumas is trying to establish a connection with the characters, but because I knew the plot and concept of the book I was just impatient to get to the juicy part of the plot! But once we’d hit the inciting incident I was super super into the book and I was struggling to put it down after the one chapter each day!
I adored a character named Fiari. His attitude and his method of spreading his thoughts is just beautiful and was perfect for the situation that he was in. It was also so brilliant to see his statements be proven true after being ridiculed for them by others. The Morrell family are some of my favourites also, with the whole family being very driven by honour and ensuring they treat everyone they know well. I also enjoyed Mercedes and Albert. They really show their true strength closer to the end of the novel and it adds another dimension to their characters. And of course I found Dantes enthralling, but I like Dantes more than Cristo (which will only make sense if you’ve read it)
Dumas is masterful throughout this text at interweaving stories and characters throughout the narrative and over the timeframe for the book. Everything that’s mentioned is relevant and interlinks in the most intricate of ways. Some of which you can see coming, and some of which totally blindside you when you get to them. Things don’t just go perfectly for our protagonist either, there are setbacks and bumps along the way which cause him to alter his plans to try and continue with his revenge against those who wronged him.
On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 8, Atmosphere: 8, Writing: 7, Plot: 8, Intrigue: 7, Logic: 8, and Enjoyment: 7 giving an average of 7.57 and a 4* rating.
I can’t believe the book is done! We finally finished it! Of course thank you so so much to Olivia for reading through this with me, it was lovely to be talking to her every day again like we were most of last year! And hearing her insights and having discussions 100% added to the reading experience.
The book itself was a ride from start to end, and I really did enjoy myself. Unfortunately there is racism present in this book, with the mistreatment of a Black disabled man, as well as a positive slave narrative with scenes involving a 19 year old slave and an older man. Neither me nor Olivia had seen this discussed at all before we read the book, so please do be aware of that going in (speaking of, trigger warnings will be below).
Overall, this is a magnificent tale of revenge. Of becoming someone new and losing yourself along the way. It’s an incredibly readable book and definitely is not as daunting as it seems as a large classic. If you’ve thought about picking this up then please do delve in! And if you’ve read it already? Discuss your thoughts on it with me in the comments below!!
Highlight here for trigger warnings: confinement, suicidal thoughts, suicide, child death, death, infanticide, violence, death of parent, murder, genocide, infidelity, slavery, racism, torture, toxic relationship, trafficking, grief, colonisation, homophobia, incest, blood.
Abi of Pellinor 