Review: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo is responsible only to the Count of Monte Cristo. I do as I please, and believe me, what I do is always well done.

So says the Count of Monte Cristo, formerly known as Edmond Dantes, now unrecognizable from the handsome, vivacious, carefree young man the world knew him as. Wrongly accused of a crime by two men jealous of his position in life and kept imprisoned by another man desperate to hide his family's own crimes, Dantes spends 14 years in prison, emerging after a daring escape to claim a hidden treasure, and then spends another 10 exacting his vengeance on those who robbed him of his life.

I'm determined to add more classic literature to my diet and this book frequently pops up on many "best of" and "favorite" lists. This was my first time reading The Count of Monte Cristo, and I chose the Signet Classics edition. I've been told I probably missed a lot of the story by reading the abridged edition, but I had a hard enough time getting through 500 pages, so there's no way I could read 1000. Yes, I am admitting that this beloved classic did not send me.

Dumas excels at painting vivid scenery for his story: from a sleepy seaside fishing village to the Isle of Monte Cristo to the Carnival of Rome to the mansions of Paris. He injects such passion and feeling into his narrative, yet I did not find the same conviction in his depiction of the Count. Dumas spends much more time examining the thoughts and feelings of the Count's enemies rather than those of the Count himself, and I felt isolated from him and could not develop a real connection with him.

Another area in which Dumas excels is in narrowing down profound ideas into beautifully explained little nuggets of wisdom throughout. A couple of my favorite examples:

To the happy and prosperous man, prayer is but a meaningless jumble of words until grief comes to explain to the unfortunate wretch the sublime language which is our means of communication with God.

Everything appears possible to the condemned man, to whom a miracle becomes an everyday occurrence when it is a question of saving his life.

And this one, just because I liked it:

Morrel was thirty-one years of age and was urged on by love; Barrois was sixty and parched with heat. On arriving at the house, Morrel was not even out of breath, for love lends wings; but Barrois had not been in love for many long years and was bathed in perspiration.

The Count spends a very long time setting up his enemies for revenge in very round-about methods, focusing more on his enemies' children to bring about heartache and suffering for them, but in the process he comes to realize that exacting vengeance on the innocent causes him more pain than pleasure and he comes to experience true regret and a desire to form a new outlook on life.

Ultimately, and despite its literary merits, it was a chore for me to make it to the end of this one. The story features a multitude of characters, so many that at times I was confused and had a hard time keeping track of who the story was following, I wasn't able to fall in love with the hero, and the plot was way too melodramatic and convoluted for my taste. So all of that adds up to:

Rating:  2.5 Stars out of 5
"It was just OK"

*This review will also be posted on Royal Reviews.

Review: Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

From the Back Cover:

They strip her naked, of everything—undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen—still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . .



The story begins with Louisa on her way to take up residence as a companion to a friend of the family, but when her carriage stops she's actually at a hospital for the insane where she is forcibly committed. The narrative jumps back and forth in time between Louisa's committment and episodes of her prior life that may or may not have led to her being in the situation she's in. I think it starts out a little choppy with the switching back and forth, but eventually it finds a rythm and the story becomes very suspenseful as Louisa tries to find out who was responsible for having her committed and why as the conditions in the asylum take a toll on her mental and physical health. However, all of that suspense amounted to what turned out to be a big letdown for me. I thought the "big reveal" was really no big deal and I thought the answers to the big questions were awfully flimsy and I was pretty frustrated that I'd invested the time in this book for such an unimaginative and uninspiring ending.

This book has nice period detail and provides a good glimpse into the various conditions of a nineteenth century insane asylum and the treatment of women in general, but I think this book suffered in its attempt to depict:  1. the struggle women faced in the field of medicine, 2. the deplorable conditions in asylums, and 3. Louisa's "unconventional romance" all at the same time, and I felt like this book couldn't decide what type of book it wanted to be. Ultimately, this was not the book for me.

Rating:  2 Stars out of 5


*Please note: This review references an advance digital copy received from the publisher, and therefore the final published copy may differ. Though I received this book from the publisher, these are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I was not compensated in any other way for reviewing this book.

Review: The Chief by Monica McCarty

From the Back Cover:

AN ELITE FIGHTING FORCE UNLIKE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN . . .

Scouring the darkest corners of the Highlands and Western Isles, Robert the Bruce handpicks ten warriors to help him in his quest to free Scotland from English rule. They are the best of the best, chosen for their superior skills in each discipline of warfare. And to lead his secret Highland Guard, Bruce chooses the greatest warrior of all.

The ultimate Highland warlord and a swordsman without equal, Tor MacLeod has no intention of being drawn into Scotland’s war against the English. Dedicated to his clan, the fiercely independent chief answers to no one—especially not to his alluring new bride, bartered to him in a bid to secure his command of the deadliest fighting force the world has ever seen. The treacherous chit who made her way to Tor’s bed may have won his hand, but she will never claim his heart.

Although her husband’s reputation is as fierce as his manner, Christina Fraser believes that something softer hides beneath his brutal shell. But the only warmth she feels is in their bed, in glorious moments of white-hot desire that disappear with the dawn. When Christina’s reckless bid to win her husband’s love goes awry and thrusts them into danger on the eve of war, Tor will face his ultimate battle: to save his wife and to open his heart—before it’s too late.


William Wallace is dead.
Not a bad way to start a novel and the scene that follows with Robert Bruce lays out the political scene in 1305 Scotland fairly well and sets up a potentially good story. But that story suffers in the execution. It's not actually badly written, although it probably could have been 100 pages shorter. The main problems are a heroine that is too wimpy, a hero that is too thick-headed, cliched characterizations, and too much time spent on "pirate" military training. Hot sex scenes, though. But with so many romance novels and so little time, I probably won't read another by this author.

Rating: 2 Stars out of 5