I was *obsessed* with The Count of Monte Cristo film that released in the early 2000s (helloooo young Henry Cavill), so when I saw this is a gender swapped retelling of that story, I knew it had to check it out! I quite enjoyed this spin on the original story, and while it stuck closely to the original story in terms of direction of the story, it still felt like something new and fresh.

I love a good revenge plot and this one does some good work to get there! I would have liked to see the world building fleshed out so more—it felt as though some of the broader elements of the world were barely brushed over. However, some of the closer world building was done well! I especially enjoyed the way the merchant classes are portrayed, especially the ruthlessness of the different characters and factions. That said, Cayo is a complete cinnamon roll, you can’t convince me otherwise.

Now, I did get two of the characters mixed up for like half the book, because I was listening to the audiobook and their names sound very similar (oops