Over 500 Pages • Lacey In The Library

Is a 1,100+ page book worth the commitment?

I finally found out.

I’d loved the early-2000s movie adaptation of *The Count of Monte Cristo*, so I was curious to see whether Alexandre Dumas’s original adventure would live up to the version I already knew.

There were some slow stretches. A LOT of characters. More geographical detail than I strictly needed.

But somewhere along the way, I realized I was reading something much more interesting than a revenge story.

Come find out why I think *The Count of Monte Cristo* is worth the time, what didn’t quite work for me, and why this classic left me thinking about justice, vengeance, inequality, and who gets to decide when punishment has gone too far.

A mystery that knows it’s a mystery

There are few things more fun than a mystery that knows exactly what kind of mystery it is.

How to Write a Murder puts a group of mystery writers in an isolated monastery, gives everyone secrets and motives, and then starts killing people.

Naturally, I had a great time.

But what really made this one work for me was how Jessica Brody plays with the conventions of the genre. The characters know they’re behaving like characters in a murder mystery. The book itself keeps winking at the reader. And somehow, beneath all that cleverness, there is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of how the roles we believe we’re playing can shape who we become.

I had a blast with this one. And yes, I have thoughts about that cover, too.

Read my full review of How to Write a Murder.

The Count of Monte Cristo Book Review: Why This 1,100-Page Classic Was Worth It

How to Write a Murder Review: A Clever, Meta Mystery About Writers, Secrets, and Murder