#LBCJulyChallenge for Day 31: July Wrap-Up I only finished one book this month, and that's The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. It took me almost 20 days to finish this (and most of the time I can't read because of house chores and other stuff 😄) The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the first Victor Hugo and French classic that I've ever read and I have so many feelings while reading this book, but I have an interesting reading experience and I'm so glad that I read this classic. - If you read this book, you'd notice that Hugo really intended for Notre Dame cathedral and Paris itself to be the main characters of this novel, just the way he wrote about these places, its people, and the unique pacing of the story. I love how he personified Notre Dame and Paris, how passionate he was about the glory and grandeur of his beloved Paris. - One of the things that stood out to me is the chapters about Notre Dame cathedral, and where he wrote about architecture and printing press. These chapters, for me, are interesting, compelling and thought-provoking. - The plot for me is OK, the story has a slow pacing in almost half of the book, but it picked up in the latter parts of the book. - Claude Frollo and Phoebus can go to hell. - The ending is so tragic. After reading the whole novel, I now know why they considered this Gothic Fiction. The themes and ambiance are DARK. I'm currently reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I'm now into the half of the book (Part II) and so far I'm loving this. Part I has a slow pacing for me, that's why it took me a longer time to read this novel 😄 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0nHcB5HW5f/?igshid=13xps93nle4ok