Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

The Count of Monte Cristo is a brilliant, dark tale of retribution, and the price of vengeance on all parties involved.

This story has all the intense drama and tragedy I am familiar with from other of Dumas’ works. Edmond Dantes, falsely imprisoned on the very day of his engagement, is abandoned in the bowels of Chateau d’If, forgotten for years until he manages escape. Through those long years, Dantes had plenty of time to dwell upon vengeance. I cannot even imagine how terrifying it must be to be locked away without trial, abandoned & forgotten.

A hidden fortune allows Dantes to crate the identity the Count of Monte Cristo. Deftly inserting himself amongst high society, he begins to weave the threads of his deviously masterful revenge. One by one, the lives of his oppressors begin crumbling around them. Sadly, Dantes gets a doubly harsh blow at finding his one-time fiancee married to one of the men responsible for his imprisonment.

Despite enjoying Dumas’ other works, this was my first experience with The Count of Monte Cristo. Like those other works, this actual novel is rather long, so I was impressed with how it translated to the manga version. By necessity, many things were simplified. I don’t feel much, if anything, was lost from the story though. A section at the end of the book discusses the artists’ choices in what to focus on and how, in order to pack the greatest amount of story into the manga version.

*** Dos mere to Penguin/ Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!