A review by maya_moksha
Les Miserables: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Victor Hugo

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This is an interesting but challenging read. I love how Hugo describes unusual feelings/sensations, that many of us have experienced, but have rarely seen illustrated. I also love how characters swell to the forefront than melt away only to re-emerge in a way that alters ones perception of the entire experience/motives/character. However the character development of women could have been much stronger. This critique stems from Hugo’s apparent biases of the superiority of men. 
This book has several difficult stories, with extreme graphic/sensory immersion. See content warnings below. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic