First and foremost, I loved the art style of this graphic novel adaptation! The Phantom of the Opera has been one of my favorite stories from the moment I saw the 1920s film version of it. After that, I went on a mission to read Gaston Leroux's original work. Varga Tomi did an excellent job of conveying Leroux's writing in a limited amount of space and that is something that I feel is incredibly difficult when dealing with a work that is so beloved. The art style was easy to follow and the text was, for the most part, easy to read. I did have some difficulty as I was reading this on my phone, but I'd say that's more of a user error than the fault of the author/artist. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this at some point in the future so I can fully enjoy it.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful rendition of a classic. The illustrations by Varga Tomi are stunning and bring to life this timeless tale. They make a sometimes confusing original story into something understandable by all. Most changes to the narrative and/or dropping of story points from the original novel by Gaston Leroux fit very well with the story Tomi is telling. He kept the narrative focus on the three leads. A must read for any Phantom of the Opera fan or a great introduction. A nice addition to the ever growing list of Phantom of the Opera adaptations.

***Netgalley ARC provided for honest review***

This graphic presentation of the Phantom story lent itself very well to the spooky and haunting setting. The art style wasn't my favorite, but I feel like it fit with the story being told. The wording was concise, the coloring was rich and foreboding, and the chapter heading pages flowed seamlessly throughout without interrupting the pace of the story. A very quick read, and one worth trying, especially for fans of the Phantom musical or novel.

The cover of this book is gorgeous and I saw the Phantom of the Opera last year and loved the story, so I was excited to read this. For me, this was a good rendition of the story; however, it is a long story, so difficult to make in to 100 pages seamlessly. I do like that there is a lot of dialogue; however, some of the story felt quite rushed with little black text boxes of storyline to speed things up, where I would have preferred a longer book without the plot boxes. I found the art inside good; but not as amazing as the front cover and I was a little upset that they didn't go with the true phantom of the opera mask and went with something scarier. But, it was a quick way to take in the story if it interests you!

Rating 2.5
The graphic novel adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera was just okay. I am a huge fan of the original story as well as the movie adaptations but for some reason this one didn't do it for me. I was blown away by the beautiful cover but the artwork inside was not my favorite. I understand they want the story to be creepy and dark which is shown in the illustrations. However, due to how certain characters and settings were drawn I couldn't get into the story. The story also seemed to be rushed and didn't come together as well as it could have. To be honest, I found all of the characters to be annoying and I did not feel bad for any of them. I was also not rooting for any of them. One thing I liked was how the author made the story their own but it just wasn't for me. 

Should you read "The Phantom of the Opera: The Graphic Novel"
?Honestly, this is not an adaptation that I would recommend. I would stick to the original story as well as the movies. 

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Honestly, I am new to this story. I've heard enough references in popular culture but never actually seen the musical or read the book so I went into this graphic novel with little expectation. The cover is what drew me to the book. If that is what the cover looks like, I really wanted to see the inside. It was arresting and intriguing.
As other reviewers have said, the story seems highly condensed and some parts are difficult to follow. However, the broad strikes of the story were there. The emotion of the characters and atmosphere of the illustrations ushered me along and filled in the gaps.
The illustrations are so cleverly done that you can feel the movement. Even the dialogue is placed so that you can hear their tone and even get a sense of the volume of the sounds. In sure this is common in graphic novels, but it felt particularly well done on this one.
There were 2 gaps that really bothered me. In the beginning, the father talks of the angel. But we don't get any explanation of how he knows about the angel. He seems to push his daughter into this bizarre relationship?
And the Persian. He comes out of nowhere. I would have liked some earlier sightings of him and perhaps a question on Raoul's mind.

This graphic novel is a good adaptation of the novel. However, I wished the backstory of Erik and the Persian was also included in this adaptation to have a better understanding of the plot and the character back story.

Illustration-wise, it was atmospheric and I love the color scheme. I also like the Erik's illustration the most as it depicts the horror of how he was described in the book.