Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Chosen and the Beautiful

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

31 reviews

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is short but it took me a longer time to read than I expected. Vo’s prose is beautifully poetic, each word carefully chosen. I want to go back and annotate, I enjoyed the language so much. Gatsby itself is so over-done that I wasn’t expecting this to be so unique and captivating, but it is a truly singular work.

Content Warnings

lzad's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Vo's prose is as lovely as ever, and the magical realism elements are interesting, but the added magic and focus on Jordan are really the only major divergences from Gatsby -- overall, the story felt heavily reliant on the reader already being familiar with Gatsby (which I say as someone who is Very Normal about Gatsby), and I don't know that it really offers any more nuanced or thorough a glance at most of the characters, including Jordan. Could have definitely been a lot more fleshed out and more of a genuine retelling than effectively a companion novel, just feels a bit disjointed and shallow.

Content Warnings

itsheyfay's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

scifi_rat's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

kaspersbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Under the wrack and wreck of what had come before, the sky was new, and I reached for it with a yearning eager hand.”
the picture this story creates is enticing and beautiful. the writing is gorgeous, lyrical and dark.
it provided a retelling of the great gatsby that i have always wanted: queer.
focusing the retelling through the lens of a reimagined queer vietnamese adoptee jordan baker is incredibly intriguing given she does not get much of a voice in the original. though one could also say she does not truly have a voice here either given she is often treated like an exotic piece of art to be admired.
the dynamic between jordan, nick, and gatsby intrigued me the most and it left me wanting more. i never cared for the drama between daisy, gatsby, and tom in the original and the same could be said here. there were times i did dislike just how strictly it followed the original simply because i wanted more of jordan, nick, and gatsby and less of daisy and tom.
i do wish it touched a bit more into jordan’s self discovery of her heritage and the magic that connects her to it. but the book is just as whimsical and fleeting as the characters contained within it.
the book does take a whole new look into gender, race, and class during 1920s america.

Content Warnings

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

2.25

I never read the Great Gatsby and based on this, I will never read it. I think the magical realism was cool but I didn't think it was as much magic as I would've wanted. I think the setting was cool as well. But overall, this was kind of boring and I didn't care for any of the characters. I liked the one twist in it because I honestly didn't see it coming but looking back, maybe I should've because it was def hinted at. The characters annoyed me and I think a lot of the ideas were sort of half assed and just thrown in without much expansion. There were interesting moments, but the story moved on from them so quickly/easily that it felt pointless to even have them in there.

Content Warnings