This review originally posted at Christa's Hooked on Books 
 It's hard to know where to start when reviewing this book. Primarily because this book is epic! It is a huge story and there are so many important elements, but also because it's just so famous. Most people are familiar with the story of Dantes and his series of unfortunate events and most people recognize this as a classic (and therefore probably worth reading). In addition this is my first audio review! So I hope you'll all hang on and bear with me as I try and navigate my way through this review. 
 The Count of Monte Cristo is the most classic revenge story. It begins with a number of different people going to great lengths to get Dante out of their way. Each has their own motives, none are justifiable. For the first part of the book, it seems as though Dantes lot in life will never improve. But then his luck begins to change and he concocts one of the most intricate and intense revenge schemes the world has ever seen. For the most part I found Dante to be a sympathetic character. He's likeable and determined and his life is just so unfair. What's really interesting is the way Dumas twists that sympathy for Dante as his revenge plot carries out. You know why he's doing it, and you understand his need for revenge but as the plan unfolds the sympathy just starts to slip away. 
 Though this is an amazing adventure story it is also so much more than that. There were a lot of great themes and issues explored in this book - loneliness, revenge, humanity, what is means to be happy. There are so many levels and plot twists. There are very few books written now-a-days that manifest the same quality of storytelling Dumas pulls off. The Count of Monte Cristo gets your pulse pounding but it also pulls at your heart strings.