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erin_oriordan_is_reading_again's review against another edition
4.0
What I liked about this book: In Sara Benincasa's young adult retelling of 'The Great Gatsby,' Nick Carraway's stand-in is Naomi Rye, the Chicago-bred daughter of an upwardly mobile cupcake magnate who now summers in the Hamptons. (Rye - caraway seed - get it?) Her Gatsby is her mother's mysterious next-door neighbor, Jacinta Trimalchio, rarely seen in public but famous in the fashion world for her high-end style blog.
Jacinta's Daisy Buchanan is aspiring supermodel/congressperson's daughter Delilah Fairweather. Delilah and Jacinta were friends in primary school, then drifted apart, only to reunite in a flower-filled room in Jacinta's mansion.
They become a couple even though Delilah has a boyfriend. The Tom Buchanan of this story is Teddy Barrington, who was a child sitcom star. Teddy's Myrtle Wilson is a waitress named Misti, and Misti's George is a bartender named Giovanni.
Having some of the characters in this American classic be gender-swapped was a refreshing twist on an old favorite. Nice touch: Naomi spends an afternoon reading 'Save Me the Waltz.' Benincasa doesn't mention the author's name, but the "old novel" happens to be the only extant work by Zelda Fitzgerald.
What could have been improved about this book: F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing in 'The Great Gatsby' is so literary it's almost poetic. Fitzgerald's wistful, thematic prose has here been replaced with nuts-and-bolts storytelling that's not quite as much fun. Benincasa's narration in the voice of Naomi is rough in some places, inelegant in others, and downright clunky in some spots. Places where the narrator seemed much older than her supposedly 16 years, where she said things only us grown-ups would say, took me out of the story.
Not great: As narrator, Naomi refers to boys and girls as gay and to girls as lesbian. She seems to think Delilah's relationship with Jacinta makes Delilah a lesbian, but obviously that isn't necessarily the case. She's been in a long-term relationship with Teddy for years, so Delilah seems to be bisexual/pansexual. While it's not a requirement for every person to wear his or her sexuality label on his or her sleeve, it's not acceptable to pretend as if gay/lesbian or straight are the only sexualities that exist. Say no to bi erasure, kittens.
Overall, this was a fun book because of the thrill of the familiar, beloved classic American novel, combined with a new setting and new personality traits among the characters. If you haven't read 'The Great Gatsby' but you saw the Leo movie and liked it, you'll probably think this is a pretty good book.
Jacinta's Daisy Buchanan is aspiring supermodel/congressperson's daughter Delilah Fairweather. Delilah and Jacinta were friends in primary school, then drifted apart, only to reunite in a flower-filled room in Jacinta's mansion.
They become a couple even though Delilah has a boyfriend. The Tom Buchanan of this story is Teddy Barrington, who was a child sitcom star. Teddy's Myrtle Wilson is a waitress named Misti, and Misti's George is a bartender named Giovanni.
Having some of the characters in this American classic be gender-swapped was a refreshing twist on an old favorite. Nice touch: Naomi spends an afternoon reading 'Save Me the Waltz.' Benincasa doesn't mention the author's name, but the "old novel" happens to be the only extant work by Zelda Fitzgerald.
What could have been improved about this book: F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing in 'The Great Gatsby' is so literary it's almost poetic. Fitzgerald's wistful, thematic prose has here been replaced with nuts-and-bolts storytelling that's not quite as much fun. Benincasa's narration in the voice of Naomi is rough in some places, inelegant in others, and downright clunky in some spots. Places where the narrator seemed much older than her supposedly 16 years, where she said things only us grown-ups would say, took me out of the story.
Not great: As narrator, Naomi refers to boys and girls as gay and to girls as lesbian. She seems to think Delilah's relationship with Jacinta makes Delilah a lesbian, but obviously that isn't necessarily the case. She's been in a long-term relationship with Teddy for years, so Delilah seems to be bisexual/pansexual. While it's not a requirement for every person to wear his or her sexuality label on his or her sleeve, it's not acceptable to pretend as if gay/lesbian or straight are the only sexualities that exist. Say no to bi erasure, kittens.
Overall, this was a fun book because of the thrill of the familiar, beloved classic American novel, combined with a new setting and new personality traits among the characters. If you haven't read 'The Great Gatsby' but you saw the Leo movie and liked it, you'll probably think this is a pretty good book.
miaricks's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book as a pre-publication giveaway.
This is a great book, and a well-done retelling of a classic. It is a timeless story, and works well in a modern setting with teens as the main characters. For those who are more conservative in their reading tastes, yes it does include homosexuality, drug use, and underage drinking. For me, I felt the story could not have been told without the drug use and underage drinking, and the homosexuality was a well-executed twist on the classic. It was a quick read that sucked me in and left me happy to read it. It also left me wanting to read the classic again.
This is a great book, and a well-done retelling of a classic. It is a timeless story, and works well in a modern setting with teens as the main characters. For those who are more conservative in their reading tastes, yes it does include homosexuality, drug use, and underage drinking. For me, I felt the story could not have been told without the drug use and underage drinking, and the homosexuality was a well-executed twist on the classic. It was a quick read that sucked me in and left me happy to read it. It also left me wanting to read the classic again.
kricketa's review against another edition
4.0
the most fun i've had reading in a while. i loved comparing all the characters to fitzgerald, and the writing made me laugh pretty hard.
mercipourleslivres's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this modern retelling of the Great Gatsby set amongst the Gossip Girls and selfie-whores of our generation. Making the main characters female gave a fresh perspective, and the alternate take on the ending was evocative of our current obsession with the digital world. I'd say this novel was ambitious, but not overly so, as it manages to cover many of the current moral and ethical issues of our society.
ginnikin's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this. It followed The Great Gatsby's story pretty faithfully, but I liked Naomi's view of the privileged people surrounding her. I also liked Naomi's last action. It was a nice nod to modernity.
the_real_mosscap's review against another edition
2.0
...Eh. 2.5, though that feels generous. The book was enjoyable, but a lot of it made me side-eye the hell out of Naomi (our Nick Carraway). Naomi is a half-rich kid (by way of her mother, from whom her father is divorced) who is summering -- a verb that gives me gas pains -- in the Hamptons with a bunch of other rich kids whose problems are almost exclusively self-created. Another source of side-eye: she spends a lot of time in the second half of the book defending Jacinta (Jay Gatsby) to others, but I didn't really see where Jacinta earned that kind of loyalty.
Those looking to Great for representation (read: a teenage lesbian love story) are likely to be disappointed. Though Jay and Daisy's relationship was far from perfect (and arguably not even love at all), Jacinta and Delilah's relationship was told rather than shown, and hardly even that much. I've seen platonic friendships that enjoyed more physical affection.
It's entirely possible that I would have been much more receptive to/less annoyed with this book if I hadn't just recently read E. Lockhart's "We Were Liars," not because one overshadows the other, but because my selfish, broke ass can only sympathize with the ~problems of so many of the super-rich per summer before all reserves of walk-in-their-cushioned-shoes empathy is exhausted and I have to focus all of my emotional energy on deciding which of my overdue bills to pay.
Womp womp.
Those looking to Great for representation (read: a teenage lesbian love story) are likely to be disappointed. Though Jay and Daisy's relationship was far from perfect (and arguably not even love at all), Jacinta and Delilah's relationship was told rather than shown, and hardly even that much. I've seen platonic friendships that enjoyed more physical affection.
It's entirely possible that I would have been much more receptive to/less annoyed with this book if I hadn't just recently read E. Lockhart's "We Were Liars," not because one overshadows the other, but because my selfish, broke ass can only sympathize with the ~problems of so many of the super-rich per summer before all reserves of walk-in-their-cushioned-shoes empathy is exhausted and I have to focus all of my emotional energy on deciding which of my overdue bills to pay.
Womp womp.
epersonae's review against another edition
4.0
Fun quirky story, enjoyed it quite a bit. (Basically devoured the first quarter of the book while sitting in a coffeeshop.)
cassie_gutman's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly, by the time I found this at the library and read it, I had completely forgotten it was a retelling of The Great Gatsby. And I think it was better that way. Obviously, it's not written as classic literary fiction. It's not meant to. And I think that was where a lot of people were getting hung up with the story, was because they wanted it to be this big, revolutionary novel like the original. Come on, people. This is YA book (a really good one, at that) that is telling it's own story that similarly parallels that of Fitzgerald's book. That's pretty much it.
That said, I loved the premise of the whole thing. I loved that Naomi was a reluctant Hampton-er, and it took a lot to even get her to the house, let alone to play along with everything her mother had set up for her once there. I really wanted to know more about Jacinta, but, like Gatsby, that's the point of his character non-development. To be this big mysterious person who turns out to be just like everyone else, but I still wanted more and felt like I didn't get enough. So it was really well done that Jacinta was annoyingly mysterious and puzzling. Her relationships with Naomi and Delilah were also super interesting and totally believable. There wasn't a moment in this book that the characters felt unrealistic or out of place. And while I have never been to the Hamptons, I still saw every action as something that would happen.
And I want to talk about hate. How much I love to hate characters that are super hate-able. And there was one in here. I loved him mainly because I wanted to rip his eyeballs out.
I was also surprised by courses of events, mainly I think because I forgot the book was a retelling of Gatsby, but it was still really well done for a book's plot, and I enjoyed the way the plot took the reader, in all sorts of different and interesting directions. And then once I realized, I saw the end coming, which made it that much better/horrifying and I found myself not wanting to turn the pages because I knew what was going to happen, but I couldn't stop myself.
Read When: Honestly, this is an excellent pool-side read, and I would go grab it before the summer is over. Now is prime time.
That said, I loved the premise of the whole thing. I loved that Naomi was a reluctant Hampton-er, and it took a lot to even get her to the house, let alone to play along with everything her mother had set up for her once there. I really wanted to know more about Jacinta, but, like Gatsby, that's the point of his character non-development. To be this big mysterious person who turns out to be just like everyone else, but I still wanted more and felt like I didn't get enough. So it was really well done that Jacinta was annoyingly mysterious and puzzling. Her relationships with Naomi and Delilah were also super interesting and totally believable. There wasn't a moment in this book that the characters felt unrealistic or out of place. And while I have never been to the Hamptons, I still saw every action as something that would happen.
And I want to talk about hate. How much I love to hate characters that are super hate-able. And there was one in here. I loved him mainly because I wanted to rip his eyeballs out.
I was also surprised by courses of events, mainly I think because I forgot the book was a retelling of Gatsby, but it was still really well done for a book's plot, and I enjoyed the way the plot took the reader, in all sorts of different and interesting directions. And then once I realized, I saw the end coming, which made it that much better/horrifying and I found myself not wanting to turn the pages because I knew what was going to happen, but I couldn't stop myself.
Read When: Honestly, this is an excellent pool-side read, and I would go grab it before the summer is over. Now is prime time.
siobhan27's review against another edition
5.0
I want to preface this review by saying that I have NOT read The Great Gatsby and therefore I went into this book blind as to what to expect. That being said, I believe that my naivete towards to original story allowed me to enjoy this book that much more.
Naomi Rye, our narrator was a great character to introduce us to her world. I say that because she herself is an outsider and therefore sees things that other characters may not. What I loved most about Naomi's character was her growth throughout the book. She gets introduced to us as a city girl from Chicago who comes to visit her mother in the Hamptons. She hates everything about that life and what it represents, but we see her get influences by other through the story, and she really changes when she meets Jacinta, and I honestly believe that Jacinta's character changes the outlook of the entire story, and I loved that one character could shape so many others.
Even though I have not read or seen any of the movies of The Great Gatsby, I did realize that Great kept certain themes of the original, such as deception, obsessive love and grandeur from the original source. I loved that these themes were still present but put through a modern lens for a new generation to read. The things I think that surprised me the most were the things that I loved the most. The LGBT elements were a great surprise to me and I loved that even though they were subtle, they impacted every character in some way. It was these relationships that shaped the entire story.
Great was a surprise love for me, I was not expecting to love it as much as I did because I was not familiar with the inspiration, but honestly I think my naivete to the original was what pushed this book over the edge for me. I did not know what to expect and I loved that.
Naomi Rye, our narrator was a great character to introduce us to her world. I say that because she herself is an outsider and therefore sees things that other characters may not. What I loved most about Naomi's character was her growth throughout the book. She gets introduced to us as a city girl from Chicago who comes to visit her mother in the Hamptons. She hates everything about that life and what it represents, but we see her get influences by other through the story, and she really changes when she meets Jacinta, and I honestly believe that Jacinta's character changes the outlook of the entire story, and I loved that one character could shape so many others.
Even though I have not read or seen any of the movies of The Great Gatsby, I did realize that Great kept certain themes of the original, such as deception, obsessive love and grandeur from the original source. I loved that these themes were still present but put through a modern lens for a new generation to read. The things I think that surprised me the most were the things that I loved the most. The LGBT elements were a great surprise to me and I loved that even though they were subtle, they impacted every character in some way. It was these relationships that shaped the entire story.
Great was a surprise love for me, I was not expecting to love it as much as I did because I was not familiar with the inspiration, but honestly I think my naivete to the original was what pushed this book over the edge for me. I did not know what to expect and I loved that.
gatzby's review against another edition
5.0
I loved The Great Gatsby, and I loved this book! By the end of it I was on the edge of my seat (even though I already had a notion as to what was going to happen thanks to Gatsby). The only thing I didn't like was how we don't find out how Jacinta died or why she was naked ?? And I didn't like how they didn't have Delilah in the story at all after Misti's death ,