Renegades and Reprobates

Doing the thing from over on Booktube since I haven't been posting monthly :/ So here I am, taking stock of the reading year so far. As of today, I've read 60 books. 

1. How has your reading year been so far? I’ve read as much litfic as I have fantasy, which is unusual for me, 20 apiece. And I’ve read 8 classics! Proud of that bit. Average rating is a 3.95 overall, which is pretty good!

2. What is the best book that you’ve read so far this year? I've got three.

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1846). An absolute banger. Expertly plotted, exquisite characters, delicious drama, a total page-turner for preeettty much all 1240 pages. Edmund Dantes is one messy bench. He's basically Batman, the greatest Gary Stu of them all, and I love that for him. Revenge, righteousness, justice, loyalty, filial piety and rebellion -- Dumas packs it all in, along with a bunch of historical context. The wrongs done to Dantes are appalling, the villains reprehensible, and the vengeance he orchestrates so deeply satisfying; I'm so glad we get a (ridiculous) hero we can cheer for.
He loses half a star for drawing out Morrel's misery for 200 pages and for the random epic drug trip, and for everything involving Haydee. Eek. In a book of normal length, these flaws might be fatal, but over 1250-some pages, these bits were relatively easy to skim over. WHAT A STORY. Read this in June. 4.5 *s

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