Wow this was such a breeze! I haven't heard of any classics being made into manga before this one, so I was pretty delighted to find out this even exists. I do not know the original material; as in, the book, because of course I've seen the movie and the musical in theater countless times, and from what I've seen there, this manga follows the plotline pretty neatly. I loved the art, though the quality was on and off, the details weren't always there. It was just the length that is still enjoyable, and overall I had great fun reading this manga, so I'm definitely gonna read the other classics, too!

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this ebook to read and review.

I have never read this story or watched the movie. I was very impressed with it.

I had heard so many mixed reviews it was nice to form my own opinion. It wasn't my favorite but was still enjoyable.

3/5 stars. I would still recommend this book as it is a classic!

A GREAT JOB.

Congrats to the artists and writers, they did it well. The drawings are beautiful, delightful and detailed. The plot line is easy to follow, even if there are some side-characters stories. This is one of the multiple adaptations of Les Mis, and I’m glad I read it, because it’s phenomenal. I think you can get this to a teen and she/he would love this story. The art style is fabulous, every character has a great description and design. The places are accurately described and the historical accuracy is well presented. A great job, really.


I loved Les Mis (film and show), and I can find a lot of scenes that remind me of these adaptations, and I’m so happy about that. There are more things, actually, in this book: the work behind this manga was gigantic, and you can appreciate it looking and studying every little drawing.

I love retelling and re-adaptaption, so when I found this book I was super excited. I’m a huge fan of musical taken from books, and I adore reimagined classics. I’m glad I can read a lot of more stories retold, now. Thanks to Udon and to Netgalley, I appreciate their work so much. Thanks to The creators of this manga, I loved the story of Cosette and Valjean again. Thanks.

Another beautiful read, and this is my second book from Manga Classics series (and my second Manga!). I haven't read the original book. But I have watched and loved the movie very much. It's heart-touching. This is a beautiful adaptation of the story.

I have completely fallen in love with the Manga Classics.

Here again we have a wonderfully respectful adaptation of a classic novel, brought to life with beautiful and elegant drawings.

I was only sorry to see that the main hero of the tale, Jean Valjean, wasn't chosen for the cover. Instead we have cute little Cosette, but she's a rather passive heroine and doesn't really "do" much in the story. So to my mind, she gets a bit too much credit here.

I really liked the symbolism of the drawing where Jean Valjean is "born again" into God's flock with the aid of Bishop Myriel. He is depicted naked as a newborn babe, reclaimed by Goodness with Light protecting him from the Darkness of Evil that threatened to engulf him. Or at least, that's what I made of it.

The scene where a young Cosette is scared in the dark when getting water for Les Thénardiers is hauntingly beautiful. Scary with all the bats...but beautiful. It really stood out to me.

At the end of the story, Marius shows himself a bit of a self-righteous prig when he encourages Valjean to disappear from Cosette's life. And of course, Cosette could have fought this separation harder.

I would have liked Cosette and Marius to have had more scenes together, to really establish a connection, but that would probably have meant the author needed to deviate too much from the original story line.

Thank you NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for this DRC.

I think this was the perfect medium for me to experience Les Miserables for the first time.
Friends have been telling me I should read it for years. "It's a beautiful classic" they say.
Myself. I found the story a bit dry.
The beautiful drawings were what kept me turning the pages. Absolutely breathtaking!
I am excited to check out more of the Manga Classics series, especially books I have been on the fence about reading.

An acceptable manga adaptation of a classic. The art leaves a bit to be desired, and I just don't see it circulating as a result.

Basic plot:
The story is about a woman who as an illegitimate child and is condemned by the society. When she finally gets a job to support herself and the child. Meanwhile she leaves the child in the care of a family who are greedy for money and treats the child badly. Will the mother be able to see her child again? Who is Jean Valjean? Why was he convicted and what is his role in the story?

What I Liked?
A great story. I wonder why I never read it before. A very interesting plot. The illustrations are so perfect. Also the characters are so good. I will never forget them for a long long time.
I teared up many a times seeing the situation of Fantine and Cosette.
Jean Valjean was such a strong unforgettable character as well.

What I disliked?
Absolutely nothing. Everything was just spot on perfect and as usual super good like all the other manga classics.
Keep up the good job!
Looking forward to read more of them.

I've always wanted to read Les Miserables, but the actual book is far more intimidating to get into. When I discovered the manga version of the book, I was more than thrilled. The drawing style can be a bit simplistic when it comes to the designs of the secondary characters, while I have noticed that the main characters have the better designed. That might just be me. What I love about manga version of classical books is that it is fun to read, and serves as a condescend version of the story. I am considering reading Les Miserables now that I understand the story far more.

So, I know this was a movie, and a musical, I believe, but I initially had no idea what it was about or any interest in the storyline.

We start our story with Fantine searching for honest work with her illegitimate child. Unable to find work, they leave to a small town called Montfermeil in rural France. In order for them to experience a better life, Fantine pays the Thenardiers to watch her darling Cosette.

Five years earlier, 1815, in Digne, Jean Valjean is released from prison after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread and is just looking for a nice, warm place to eat and sleep. However, no one in town is buying it and won’t give him the time of day. Bishop Myriel kindly lets him in. Blaming society for not being able to find honest work, his only means of survival turned to stealing, not only for himself, but his sister’s family, as well. Bad behavior strikes again when he steels the “silver”ware from the Bishop and gets caught by soldiers, but when turned in to the Bishop, the Bishop said they were a present to make Jean “an honest man”. And who does he end up being?! None other than the Mayor Madeleine of Monfermeil!

As the years go on, the Thenardiers request more and more money from Fantine and she slowly gives away parts of her body to keep her daughter well-kept. After a misunderstanding and Fantine is sentenced to jail, Valjean asks the townsfolk if what was said is true, and Fantine is declared innocent. At this point, Valjean makes it his life goal to deliver Cosette to her mother and help in every way he can to ensure a good life. But all too soon, someone else gets in the way.

Years and years later, when Cosette is older, Marius and her secretly covet each other without the other knowing. Marius, a young man, raised by his grandparents, dreams of thanking the man who saved his father’s life in the war, a man named Thenardier. But the Thenardiers are around and always have something up their sleeves.

After reading this manga, I want to see the movie now! What is great about these mangas is that they are light, leave out pointless description, and are fast reads! I really enjoy this one and am actually excited for the next one because I hated the book in high school.

Will Cosette and Fantine be reunited? Will Valjean stick with his promise? Will Valjean ever be able to live peacefully without Jalvert always on his back? Will anything happen between Cosette and Marius?

Was not able to download this on any of my devices I tried on my kindle and iPad and also my computer....

Les Mis is a story really close to my heart because the symbolism and how tiny details at the beginning of the book come around and affect the ending completely gut me. I have yet to brave reading the actual book, but this manga combined with the movie is a great appetizer to understand the story before I attempt to conquer the brick. I think this adaptation was faithful, showed more than the movie had time to, and was still easy to understand. Since I already know the story so well, I can't judge if it would be good for a first time reader, but my favorite parts were just as impactful as I was hoping. My only complaint is that the drawing style of this sometimes felt juvenile, and for a book about the French revolution and death and prostitution, its delivery in certain areas was lacking. Nevertheless, I'm still sniffling as I write this review because I will never get over how much I adore Jean Valjean and Marius and Cosette.

Les Miserables is one of my absolute favorite classics, and I love reading different versions of it. This adaptation didn't disappoint! The art lent itself well to the story, adding drama where it needed to be. This version allows the story to be accessible to younger readers (without being traumatizing - considering the story matter, this is quite a feat!), and allows even the oldest of readers to enjoy the story even without reading the original 1,000+ page book. I'd definitely recommend it to other fans of the art style & classic literature!

This is one of the first of four illisyrated classics that Ive read, and i highly enjoyed it. The illustrations are amazing.

The manga version of Les Miserable is a generally well done adaptation. I'm a fan of the original work and its play so I'm definitely glad I got to read this.

A really great way to read the classics if the size of them intimidate you (and Les Miserables does intimidate me). The manga was very well produced and it was so much easier to read the book when much of it was drawn instead of written. The story itself is very interesting and showcases several different characters, their struggles and lives over many years.

How great to read Les Miserables and not have to invest weeks in the almost 1500 page book! Even my 12-year-old daughter wanted to read this and enjoyed it! How cool to take a classic and turn it into something that will excite a preteen enough to read it. Maybe one day her and/or I will venture into the very lengthy original, but for now we are both very happy to have read this classic in Manga form. Maybe this is not for all readers, but for those who enjoy Manga and wanted to read a classic, this is very cool and enjoyable

As the story of Les Miserables itself is not novel, most of this review is about the adaptation choice of this work.

Personally, I enjoyed this manga. It fits as an in-between medium versus reading the novel or viewing the musical and/or films. Visually gorgeous, the graphic novel style really suits the story and certainly engages the reader. I love that the format allows for some great visual emphasis such as the exaggeration of caricatures like the Thenardiers, as well as "silent" but visually sustaining moments, like longing gazes between Marius and Cosette.

That being said, the choice to go classic manga style, with the direction of panels and text going right to left in the traditional Japanese manner, perhaps makes this title (and series) a little less approachable and uncomfortable for its potential audience. I love how graphic novel interpretations of classic works can engage students who find the novels too difficult to slug through, and I would purchase this whole series for my students, if it weren't for the right to left reading. It's catering to a very specific audience with that choice.

So, while I love this work and recommend it whole-heartedly to my fellow manga-loving colleagues and friends, I don't recommend it for the average library collection unless they have a huge Japanese Manga loving crowd.

This was an excellent re-telling of the original "Les Miserables," with beautiful anime illustrations. I liked the quick-pace of the story and found that the illustrations complimented the plot nicely. For someone who has not read that many manga books, it was a good one to start with.

Book Review
Title: Les Misérables
Author: SunNeko Lee (Art), Stacy King (Goodreads Author) (English Script), Crystal S. Chan (Adaptation), Victor Hugo (Original Story)
Genre: Manga/Classic
Rating: *****
Review: Les Misérables is a book I own (both volumes) and never read but seen the movie so many times and love it so much, I sing along especially to I dreamed a dream. Having a manga version of this story I am hoping will inspire me to read the original story and the manga and movie versions will have left things out is it the nature of adaptations. The cover artwork is stunning, and we learn from the contents that the story is going to be told from multiple points of views, those of Fantine, Cosette, Marius, St. Denis and Jean Valjean.
The first person we are introduced to is Fantine who has been abandoned by her lover, so she seeks work to support herself and her daughter Cosette but is unable to find any and is forced to leave. I immediately feel sorry for Fantine especially since I have a good idea of where her story is heading. After moving to rural France Fantine meets Madame Thénardier who she feels is good person and she leaves her daughter with them and their own children for a price and promises to one day return for her darling Cosette.
We then jump backwards five years where we meet Jean Valjean who has been released from prison but can’t find any help from anyone until he stumbles upon a church desperate and he is welcomed warmly by the bishop. We learn that Jean was imprisoned after becoming a thief, but he had no choice, in that moment he decides to steal from the church and is caught by the police but rather than turning him in the bishop saves his life and gives him purpose sending him on his way with all that he needs to get by in the world. We see Jean Valjean rise in the world becoming the mayor of the town where Fantine is now living and working to pay for her daughter’s upkeep. However, when her employers learn of her daughter she is dismissed and as the Thénardiers ask for more and more money even saying Cosette is desperately ill to get it she sells everything from her hair, teeth, clothes and eventually her body until she hits rock bottom all for the sake of her daughter. Despite all this hardship Fantine is unaware that her beloved daughter is being treated no better than a slave but the better she trusted to look after her.
When Fantine is going to be sent to prison for what she has been forced to do Jean hidden as the mayor sets her free when she takes ill. All Fantine wants is her daughter and Jean tries to make it happen but the Thénardiers refused. However, when he learns an innocent man is going to be convicted as him he knows he must do the first thing but asks that he be allowed to find Cosette first and is refused. Fantine dies shortly afterwards and Jean is sent back to prison however he manages to escape again although he is relentlessly by the officer who arrested him twice before. On his travels he manages to find Cosette and eventually gets to become her parent as he promised Fantine before her death. However, the pursuit of the law forces him to flee with Cosette more than once but for short periods of time they have peace.
We then jump forward eight years where Cosette would now be a teenager and Jean is in his 50’s. We meet Marius Pontmercy whose father who saved in the battle of Waterloo fifteen years before but Mister Thénardier. We learn that Marius is a well-off man who is working against the monarchy and we know that this is the first sparks of the French Revolution. Marius is also in love with Cosette although she is living under a different name with Jean but after a con goes bad Jean is almost caught by the police again and Marius is now suspicious of Jean and wants to find out what is really going on.
Despite helping Marius find Cosette in the hopes he will love her Eponine is shocked when Marius is falling hard for Cosette and begins planning something of her own. Eventually she writes a letter to Jean telling him to clear out thinking his identity has been compromised Jean and Cosette leave for England and Marius tries to get the funds to go with her, but the revolution starts, and he feels he must honour the promises he made to the other rebels.
As the revolutions looks like it is failing many die including Eponine to save Marius the man who she loved who loved the girl who could have been her sister, but Marius’ grandfather refuses to consent to their marriage. However, Jean steps in and rights all the wrongs from his past leaving Cosette to her happiness but when Marius learns that Jean didn’t kill the officer he was accused of killing he takes Cosette to him where they reunite, and he tells her of what become of her mother shortly before he dies himself.
While this story doesn’t have a traditional happy ending it does feel happy, Cosette can finally live a life that is her own with a man she loves, and Jean is finally free in death to be reunited with Fantine. If you haven’t read a classic or don’t like classics I highly recommend the manga version of Les Mis.