Scan barcode
valley's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
since i either don't know what to write ever or go on long rambles about the smallest things, i'm gonna be reviewing books here in bullet points (for both your and my own wellbeing).
also please note that my "good" and "bad" are OPINIONS and i do not claim to be right about everything. except when i talk about the raven cycle. you aren't allowed to disagree with me on those books. ever.
positives
- the style of writing. not too much waffling about random things and relatively easy to read, so i could finish it without major reading slumps.
- the pacing aka story progression. when i read pride&prejudice i was bored out of my mind, so thank god this was different.
- the message. this seems obvious, but the story itself actually did something. it really illustrated the problems of being stuck in the past and reaching for something you'll never have.
negatives
- f. scott fitzgerald. joking. (am i tho?)
- the covers. i chose this version because it was relatively demure. the original is the worst thing i could ever put in my bookshelf after those romance books which have naked real people or clothed drawn people without faces on the cover.
- the characters. i understand that some are purposefully kept flat or unlikeable, but i like having books where i'm rooting for someone and have a favourite character.
also please note that my "good" and "bad" are OPINIONS and i do not claim to be right about everything. except when i talk about the raven cycle. you aren't allowed to disagree with me on those books. ever.
positives
- the style of writing. not too much waffling about random things and relatively easy to read, so i could finish it without major reading slumps.
- the pacing aka story progression. when i read pride&prejudice i was bored out of my mind, so thank god this was different.
- the message. this seems obvious, but the story itself actually did something. it really illustrated the problems of being stuck in the past and reaching for something you'll never have.
negatives
- f. scott fitzgerald. joking. (am i tho?)
- the covers. i chose this version because it was relatively demure. the original is the worst thing i could ever put in my bookshelf after those romance books which have naked real people or clothed drawn people without faces on the cover.
- the characters. i understand that some are purposefully kept flat or unlikeable, but i like having books where i'm rooting for someone and have a favourite character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Grief, and War
martestbr's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Car accident, and Colonisation
scottwgonzalez's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Racism and Car accident
agenericmirkwoodelf's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 stars! I think that this book does a very good job embodying the mentality of its time period, and creating a meaningful social commentary! While the ideas it presents and responds to are not quite as prevalent today, they still exist. If anything, it’s an excellent glimpse into the mindsets of the era! I really enjoyed the description and dialogue- they worked together well to create vivid atmosphere and character, as well as some humor!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism and Gun violence
toast_renumeration's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Car accident
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Racism, Suicide, and War
saturn_rage's review against another edition
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This belongs to a genre I call Men In Love with Men They’ve Never Met, which also includes Heart of Darkness. Anyhow, I never had to read this in high school somehow, so here we are. And it’s really just fine. Possibly the victim of me hearing about it for decades, but it’s really just fine. It’s funny how harsh Nick is on everyone but Gatsby, but really this is just a bunch of dull masters of the universe having drama with each other. I get it, I get the misguided desires and obsessions, but this is just fine and not really for me.
I’ve been informed there’s a retelling of this from the perspective of Jordan, and she’s gay, so I may have to check that out.
I’ve been informed there’s a retelling of this from the perspective of Jordan, and she’s gay, so I may have to check that out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
bethanwx's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A damnation of the American Dream through the eyes of an unreliable, hard to pin down narrator. Nick is just as much of a mystery as Gatsby, changing his mind about people, judging yet connecting himself to some awful people, including the racist and abusive Tom.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Car accident
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
snigd_ha's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
"I hope she'll be a fool– that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart."
"I was within and without simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."
Give me a book with beautiful writing and I will gobble it up. Maybe if I hadn't watched the movie earlier and didn't know the story it would have been a five star.
Also this book is extremely racist.
"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart."
"I was within and without simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."
Give me a book with beautiful writing and I will gobble it up. Maybe if I hadn't watched the movie earlier and didn't know the story it would have been a five star.
Also this book is extremely racist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
hyperchaoschidi's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In reading The Great Gatsby, one thing becomes immediately clear--F. Scott Fitzgerald is deeply in love with his characters, particularly Daisy. His descriptions of them are lush (although occasionally he becomes too enraptured with his own internal euphoria and forgets to use some physical adjectives). As an example, here is one of his initial descriptions of Daisy:
I looked back at my cousin, who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered “Listen,” a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.
Fitzgerald's descriptions of Gatsby's parties and the general environment of being alive and young in 1920s New York are equally lush. His greatest strength as an author (at least in this book) is making you feel like you too are part of the flushed crowds poised between swirling bacchanals. The characters are also decently fleshed out, and while there isn't necessarily any real character development, you do become interested in their internal realities, even if that compulsion is largely a result of Fitzgerald's own clear interest and a desire to understand Fitzgerald himself.
The plot, however, is extremely thin and, at least to me, not particularly satisfying; I felt fortunate when I realized the book was only 156 pages in my edition. It is slow, the threads come together in a way that comes across as extremely random, and the ending felt more like an artistic attempt to capture an ephemeral feeling of Fitzgerald's rather than an actual meaningful ending befitting the book.
In sum: a great read if (1) you are into slow character analysis and want to understand why so many English teachers feel compelled to assign this book; (2) you are seeking to lose yourself in an atmosphere of revelry and 1920s America and don't really care if there is a sustained, exciting plot; or (3) you are a book purist and want to read the book before pursuing one of its various adaptations. Otherwise, I would skip it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
At various points throughout the novel the main characters espouse period-typical eugenicist rhetoric.theangelssing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Boy, what a journey! I never read this book even though I’ve heard a lot about it. I never thought the story would end like this and I’m quite shocked. Not sure if I loved this book, but it was really great to read.
Don’t hesitate to read it y’all!
Don’t hesitate to read it y’all!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcohol