Review: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

One of the most celebrated and popular historical romances ever written.The Three Musketeers tell the story of the early adventures of the young Gascon gentleman D'Artagan and his three friends from the regiment of the King's Musketeers-Athos,Porthos and Aramis. 

Under the watchful eye of their patron M. de Treville, the four defend the honour of the regiment against the guards of the Cardinal Richelieu, and the honour of the queen against the machinations of the Cardinal himself as the power struggles of seventeenth-century France are vividly played out in the background. 

But their most dangerous encounter is with the Cardinal's spy. Milady,one of literature's most memorable female villians, and Alaxandre Dumas employs all his fast-paced narrative skills to bring this enthralling novel to a breathtakingly gripping and dramatic conclusion.

What a swashbuckling adventure! I'm pretty sure I've never used the word "swashbuckling" ever before, and I probably won't ever use it again, but seriously folks, it is totally the most appropriate word to describe this book. 

There are a number of things I loved about this book, so I'm just gonna dive right in. 

First of all, like I said, this is an excellent adventure book. Crazy swordfights! Dire enemies! Crazy scheming psycho ladies! Spies! Booze (and lots of it)! For those who claim that classic literature is "boring" and "dry"--I give you this book. I dare you--read this and then try to tell me you didn't have a good time. 

Another thing about this novel is that Alexandre Dumas quite skillfully blends adventure with mystery, romance, suspense, and even humor. The humor surprised me, actually. Who knew dead white guys could be so funny?! Seriously, though. There were definitely a handful of moments that left me laughing. 

Also, the three/four muskeeters turned out to be quite possibly some of my all-time favorite characters. From the reserved Aramis to the riotous Porthos, from dashing D'Artagnan to kickass Athos, I loved these guys. They were the world's first bromance, and they definitely set the bar high for bro love. 

I will admit that I began this book with reservations. It's a chunkster, and that has never put me off before, but I know next to nothing about French/English history and I definitely do not know an ounce of the French language. Fear not! This is not as challenging of a read as I was expecting (after I figured out how to pronounce D'Artagnan's name). It did take me like a month to read, but that was only because life kept getting in the way of my reading time (stupid life). Actually, when I would sit down to read this, I noticed the pages flying by. It's an easy book to get caught up in. 

I enjoyed The Three Musketeers immensely, and from what I hear from fans of Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo is just as good, if not better. I'll be diving into that one soon, that's for sure! 

4 / 5 Stars 

Check it out: 

Goodreads page 

Happy reading and until next time, 

Jess