The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas was an intimidating Classic to face. As my first classic of the year, I decided to go all in with this monstrosity. I felt very timid turning to the first of nearly 1100 pages. The nautical terminology and the heavily used French words slowed me down and I had no idea how I was going to keep up. However, once I really got into the story, I couldn't put this down.

This was a BBC (Badassery Book Club) read for Alice and I. I think we started our plan as a 3 month read, dropped it to two, and then settled on six weeks. I might have finished in 16 days. For my safety, I wouldn't say where she is at other than the fact that she is keeping to planned reading nicely. I have lots to catch up on in the interim anyway!

Alexandre Dumas

I went into Count blind as I had never seen the movie or knew anything about the plot. I really enjoyed the story that way because I had no idea what was coming next. The first time I noticed one of Dantes' costumes, all the pieces started coming together beautifully. I cannot wait to read more of his stuff. 

What this a long book? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to others? I've already recommended it to two people. Would I read it again? Undoubtedly. My Good Reads rating is five stars out of five. This was an epic adventure that ticked all of the boxes for me. There was love (mad/passionate, unrequited) and loss, devotion and betrayal, self discovery, regret, revenge, redemption, and by the end, hope.