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Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore
12 reviews
m_cant_read's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I hated the original The Great Gatsby. When I was reading it for school, I jokingly picked up this book to show my friend. After reading the summary, I set it down and laughed about it. Now, most of a year later, I've gone and actually read it. I strongly regret that choice.
I say this with full offense, I was incredibly shocked to find that the author was actually Mexican-American and queer. The book reads as I should've expected, it has a clear modern perspective that interferes with the writing, which wouldn't be a large issue if it wasn't just corny. The book made Nick stupid in all senses other than mathematically, and incredibly unlikable (for this, Fitzgerald would be proud). The author clearly looked into some aspects of the time period, but they failed horrendously at making the book feel like it was actually meant to take place in the 20s. In saying this, I may come off as sounding worse than I intend to, but the problem doesn't start from Nick or anyone else being Latino, trans, or gay. In fact, I think we need more historical fiction surrounding people fitting each of these identities. Instead, the inherent cringe of this book comes from the author's inability to set themself in any place other than the modern day for even a single page. Being loudly queer and "woke" isn't a problem for a book unless it directly conflicts with the story that's being told. Being a book that is meant to be a reimagining of a story of the 20s and choosing to go against every part of the period will make a book bad, no matter how you do it. Aside from the failure to actually comply with any piece of history, the author also fails to comply with the basic rules of writing fiction. The characters are one-dimensional and have nondistinctive writing; characters like these aren't exactly a problem if a story is simply a goofy romance, but the author intended for this book to still hold some of the complexities found within the original novel. Instead of succeeding at making the cast interesting, they just feel like 'Mary Sue's that have too much going on. The plot is muddy and none of the storylines felt as if they were completed cleanly. I imagine the author either got bored after a certain point or was rushed as at some point or another, the book began racing to an end without a satisfying buildup to that point. I also could not understand the point of all the characters being teenagers. I won't dive into that as it's just a stupid choice, but it should be noted that I think that was one of the dumbest things within this book. The decision to unmarry Tom and Daisy was also one I heavily questioned, and I still cannot see the point of it. Maybe it was so Gatsby could chase Daisy in a way that would still allow for the only romantic tension in the book to be Nick's idiocy, but it feels like there could've been other ways to handle it. In this, the most basic points of TGG are present, however, it's done in a way that doesn't make the book read as a remix. Instead, this read as a fanfiction, which works for AO3, but any book actually published to an audience deserves something even a tinge better. In the worst way, this feels like "woke-ified" Dirty Laundry for the nonexistent fandom of The Great Gatsby. The ending was unfun, to say the least, with its originality almost calling back to children's media with its "teamwork makes the dream work" affect.
Despite the fact that the people around me had a genuine concern for my well-being based on my facial expressions while I read this, there were some pieces of this book that I liked. For example, when Jordan first appears, she is described as having the posture of a ballerina rather than the somewhat perverse imagery used in the original. For that alone, I'm giving this book a better rating than I believe this book truly deserves.
Take my reading with a grain of salt as I might just be a bitch.
I say this with full offense, I was incredibly shocked to find that the author was actually Mexican-American and queer. The book reads as I should've expected, it has a clear modern perspective that interferes with the writing, which wouldn't be a large issue if it wasn't just corny. The book made Nick stupid in all senses other than mathematically, and incredibly unlikable (for this, Fitzgerald would be proud). The author clearly looked into some aspects of the time period, but they failed horrendously at making the book feel like it was actually meant to take place in the 20s. In saying this, I may come off as sounding worse than I intend to, but the problem doesn't start from Nick or anyone else being Latino, trans, or gay. In fact, I think we need more historical fiction surrounding people fitting each of these identities. Instead, the inherent cringe of this book comes from the author's inability to set themself in any place other than the modern day for even a single page. Being loudly queer and "woke" isn't a problem for a book unless it directly conflicts with the story that's being told. Being a book that is meant to be a reimagining of a story of the 20s and choosing to go against every part of the period will make a book bad, no matter how you do it. Aside from the failure to actually comply with any piece of history, the author also fails to comply with the basic rules of writing fiction. The characters are one-dimensional and have nondistinctive writing; characters like these aren't exactly a problem if a story is simply a goofy romance, but the author intended for this book to still hold some of the complexities found within the original novel. Instead of succeeding at making the cast interesting, they just feel like 'Mary Sue's that have too much going on. The plot is muddy and none of the storylines felt as if they were completed cleanly. I imagine the author either got bored after a certain point or was rushed as at some point or another, the book began racing to an end without a satisfying buildup to that point. I also could not understand the point of all the characters being teenagers. I won't dive into that as it's just a stupid choice, but it should be noted that I think that was one of the dumbest things within this book. The decision to unmarry Tom and Daisy was also one I heavily questioned, and I still cannot see the point of it. Maybe it was so Gatsby could chase Daisy in a way that would still allow for the only romantic tension in the book to be Nick's idiocy, but it feels like there could've been other ways to handle it. In this, the most basic points of TGG are present, however, it's done in a way that doesn't make the book read as a remix. Instead, this read as a fanfiction, which works for AO3, but any book actually published to an audience deserves something even a tinge better. In the worst way, this feels like "woke-ified" Dirty Laundry for the nonexistent fandom of The Great Gatsby. The ending was unfun, to say the least, with its originality almost calling back to children's media with its "teamwork makes the dream work" affect.
Despite the fact that the people around me had a genuine concern for my well-being based on my facial expressions while I read this, there were some pieces of this book that I liked. For example, when Jordan first appears, she is described as having the posture of a ballerina rather than the somewhat perverse imagery used in the original. For that alone, I'm giving this book a better rating than I believe this book truly deserves.
Take my reading with a grain of salt as I might just be a bitch.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and War
taliaalongi's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
mirandyli's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was a cute retelling of the Great Gatsby with queer and trans main characters. Sort of slow at times and not as good as the other books in this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Classism
sarah_shelf's review
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: War
From the content warnings in the book: "Racism, colorism, transphobia, queerphobia, sexism" in the 1920s & "talk of soldier experiences during and after WWI"rory_john14's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Grief, Car accident, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
dannothedino's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Blood
Minor: Drug use, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
20sidedbi's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Classism
tyler_hmac's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Classism
aspie97's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: War
ericaberica5126's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love how this book used the original as a basis but added it's own spin. My favorite instance of this was Nick's name. Because he is Mexican-American his last name is Caraveo. However his (racist) boss calls him Caraway.
The way that the author made the characters fit to the original but also not was amazing! I highly recommend this to anyone who thought that the original novel should've ended with Nick and Jay ending up together!
The way that the author made the characters fit to the original but also not was amazing! I highly recommend this to anyone who thought that the original novel should've ended with Nick and Jay ending up together!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism