Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

2 reviews

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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emotional medium-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? No

2.75

Review:
It is difficult to review this book because I think someone’s enjoyment of it will rely heavily on how they approach a feminist reimagining of The Great Gatsby. Personally, I found it impossible to throw off the weight of Fitzgerald’s novel while reading Beautiful Little Fools, and I was constantly comparing the two, wondering whether I could imagine Fitzgerald’s characters acting this way. Since the characters in The Great Gatsby are all some shade of shallow and terrible, they do not lend themselves to sympathetic retellings that flesh out their characters. At some points, I felt that Beautiful Little Fools did a really good job at adapting the women’s stories, and at others I felt Canton made some truly bizarre decisions that made a mockery of The Great Gatsby.
For example, I really liked the idea that Daisy used her affair with Gatsby to get back at Tom rather than out of any lingering affection for Gatsby. I also liked the book's initial depiction of Gatsby as an obsessive man who carelessly wields his power to get what he wants: a "nice guy" whose exuberant, slightly threatening charming intensity bends people to his will. However, as the book went on, Gatsby became more of a caricature of your everyday "powerful male villain," which I felt flattened his character considerably.
 
Putting aside the legacy of The Great Gatsby hanging over this novel, I thought that the writing was pretty good, and the plot reimagining was impressively creative. My only criticisms are that the detective chapters were unnecessary, and that the feminism was a bit basic and on-the-nose at times. 
 
 
The Run-Down: 
You will probably like Beautiful Little Fools if:
·      You have not read The Great Gatsby or you didn't like the The Great Gatsby
·      You are open to a reimagining of The Great Gatsby that frames the original book’s events in radically different terms
 
You might not like Beautiful Little Fools if:
·      You struggle to let retellings of classic stories stand on their own

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serenas_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75


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