openmypages's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful Little Fools takes us on a journey to discover more about the women of the classic story The Great Gatsby. We take a departure from the glitz and glamour and start off with Daisy at home in Louisville when she first meets a poor Jay Gatsby in the army. When they are torn apart by the war, Jay promises to find her when he is out and has built enough wealth to be worthy of her. We see how she is forced to marry Tom and the truth of their unhappy relationship and how the ultimately cross paths with Jay again. The story alternates between Daisy, her best friend Jordan who has a very modern storyline and is facing a life living the life dictated to her rather than being able to be true to herself and Catherine who is Myrtle's sister. This new reimagining holds true to the original in all the important places but expands upon the world and gives us so much more drama.
In this version of the story, we are trying to figure out just who killed George and Jay and all three of these women have motive. Interspersed throughout are chapters from a detective's point of view and we see him try to unravel the stories and half-truths he receives from the women and Nick Carraway. If you liked the detective in Anxious People, you will like the investigation and decisions made here.
These women are all quite different and provide us with wholly different perspectives of what it was like to live as a woman in the 1920's. We see what it is like to live in a gilded cage, what it is like to be a "modern" woman and the truth of how men still quite literally held the power about the destiny of the women in their lives. I generally don't do trigger warnings but there are some hard to read scenes of domestic abuse.
I thought this was a really great re-telling that will be perfect for fans of retellings like Anna K.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for a copy. All opinions above are my own.
In this version of the story, we are trying to figure out just who killed George and Jay and all three of these women have motive. Interspersed throughout are chapters from a detective's point of view and we see him try to unravel the stories and half-truths he receives from the women and Nick Carraway. If you liked the detective in Anxious People, you will like the investigation and decisions made here.
These women are all quite different and provide us with wholly different perspectives of what it was like to live as a woman in the 1920's. We see what it is like to live in a gilded cage, what it is like to be a "modern" woman and the truth of how men still quite literally held the power about the destiny of the women in their lives. I generally don't do trigger warnings but there are some hard to read scenes of domestic abuse.
I thought this was a really great re-telling that will be perfect for fans of retellings like Anna K.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for a copy. All opinions above are my own.
allegralorea's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. Just came across my copy of The Great Gatsby, and I'm tempted to re-read it after this. And I was definitely picturing Robert Redford as I read.
leslico's review against another edition
5.0
A retelling of The Great Gatsby, from the points of view of the women in the story. I adore everything about Gatsby and thought this was a fantastic and unique retelling! The full cast on the audiobook version also did an amazing job, which really added to the experience.
robinsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This was a major accomplishment (or audacious accomplishment, you make the call) of Cantor reading "between the lines" of the original Great Gatsby and filling in the missing background of what happened from both the women's (Daisy, Jordan, Catherine, Myrtle) and the detective's points-of-view. I honestly couldn't remember much about the plot of GG so did get a few plot points from an online summary which helped me in following the story of Cantor's retelling. Some may find this a little too presumptuous in how the author made up some of the stories but I enjoyed it and think readers who like a good retelling of a classic might find this a compelling story.
kim_2804's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
k_0406's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cassidee_omnilegent's review against another edition
4.0
“I always thought it was us women who were the fools,” I whispered. “But I was wrong, it’s been the men all along, hasn’t it?”
Beautiful Little Fools is an amazing retelling of The Great Gatsby. If you’ve read Gatsby, you probably love it or hate it. I personally have always loved it, though I do see the problems with it. This larger-than-life story about flawed people during the roaring 20s has always been intriguing to me. Now we get a version from the women in the story, mainly Daisy, Jordan, and Catherine (Myrtle’s sister), though Myrtle has a chapter or two, as well.
There’s doubt cast upon how Gatsby actually died, which brings in a Detective named Frank, who investigates all of the women.
This cast a new light on Daisy and her vapid-seeming personality. Although Daisy could be cruel at times in the original novel, I always felt there was more to her beneath the surface. The title Beautiful Little Fools is based off one of her most famous lines and that line always struck me as Daisy being more self aware and less fragile than we are led to believe. This novel does a great job of bringing that point about. Daisy and the other women are living in a male-dominated world and making it in their own ways.
Jordan is a woman of her own means and this novel brings her even more into the light as a revolutionary woman for the times. I don’t want to spoil her storyline, but I had a feeling where her personal life was going to head with this one and was pleased with it.
Catherine has a freedom that the other two women do not. She’s been able to be her own person since day one, but watching Myrtle go through multiple abusive relationships is a constant source of anguish for her. Gatsby has more ties to the two of them than we see in the original novel.
Did one of these women get to Gatsby before George did? We are taken on quite the ride to get to the conclusion. Gatsby is obsessive and delusional in the original novel but he’s also painted as a generally good guy despite his faults. This novel casts him quite differently and changes up some of the scenarios. Gatsby is the most prominent villain in this version, taking those flaws already present and making him downright malicious. I think it’s a great example of how two people can spin the same story differently and I quite enjoyed it. Our author also really highlights the way the men are the fragile, dramatic ones. Daisy and Myrtle especially are portray originally as these breakable, hysterical little women when they’re really at the mercy of these men and their erratic behavior.
This is quite the read and frankly, I was eager to get back to it every time I set it down. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the review copy!
Beautiful Little Fools is an amazing retelling of The Great Gatsby. If you’ve read Gatsby, you probably love it or hate it. I personally have always loved it, though I do see the problems with it. This larger-than-life story about flawed people during the roaring 20s has always been intriguing to me. Now we get a version from the women in the story, mainly Daisy, Jordan, and Catherine (Myrtle’s sister), though Myrtle has a chapter or two, as well.
There’s doubt cast upon how Gatsby actually died, which brings in a Detective named Frank, who investigates all of the women.
This cast a new light on Daisy and her vapid-seeming personality. Although Daisy could be cruel at times in the original novel, I always felt there was more to her beneath the surface. The title Beautiful Little Fools is based off one of her most famous lines and that line always struck me as Daisy being more self aware and less fragile than we are led to believe. This novel does a great job of bringing that point about. Daisy and the other women are living in a male-dominated world and making it in their own ways.
Jordan is a woman of her own means and this novel brings her even more into the light as a revolutionary woman for the times. I don’t want to spoil her storyline, but I had a feeling where her personal life was going to head with this one and was pleased with it.
Catherine has a freedom that the other two women do not. She’s been able to be her own person since day one, but watching Myrtle go through multiple abusive relationships is a constant source of anguish for her. Gatsby has more ties to the two of them than we see in the original novel.
Did one of these women get to Gatsby before George did? We are taken on quite the ride to get to the conclusion. Gatsby is obsessive and delusional in the original novel but he’s also painted as a generally good guy despite his faults. This novel casts him quite differently and changes up some of the scenarios. Gatsby is the most prominent villain in this version, taking those flaws already present and making him downright malicious. I think it’s a great example of how two people can spin the same story differently and I quite enjoyed it. Our author also really highlights the way the men are the fragile, dramatic ones. Daisy and Myrtle especially are portray originally as these breakable, hysterical little women when they’re really at the mercy of these men and their erratic behavior.
This is quite the read and frankly, I was eager to get back to it every time I set it down. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the review copy!
clskvarce's review against another edition
4.0
I always thought it was us women who were the fools," I whispered. "But I was wrong, it's been the men all along, hasn't it?"
It's been over a couple decades since I read The Great Gatsby, but I was still interested in this reimagining through the lens of the women, and I thought it was executed pretty well, overall. This novel follows the general plot of the original novel, but now, instead of hearing the story from Nick Carraway, we hear it from the perspective of each of the women, Daisy, Jordan and Catherine, who each have their own stories and relationships with Jay Gatsby. And I do have to say, through this lens, the men really are pretty despicable.
Instead of focusing on Jay Gatsby's parties, this is instead a mystery tale, turning his murder on its head. We find out in the prologue that one of the women was holding the smoking gun, but who had the best motive and means to commit the crime? Through it, we also hear from an interviewing Detective, which was a nice touch, more reminiscent of Big Little Lies, where the characters are being interviewed after the fact.
Honestly, this held my attention and interest, and I enjoyed catching some of details from the original. I'd say, old sport, that I'm giving this 3.5 stars and rounding up.
It's been over a couple decades since I read The Great Gatsby, but I was still interested in this reimagining through the lens of the women, and I thought it was executed pretty well, overall. This novel follows the general plot of the original novel, but now, instead of hearing the story from Nick Carraway, we hear it from the perspective of each of the women, Daisy, Jordan and Catherine, who each have their own stories and relationships with Jay Gatsby. And I do have to say, through this lens, the men really are pretty despicable.
Instead of focusing on Jay Gatsby's parties, this is instead a mystery tale, turning his murder on its head. We find out in the prologue that one of the women was holding the smoking gun, but who had the best motive and means to commit the crime? Through it, we also hear from an interviewing Detective, which was a nice touch, more reminiscent of Big Little Lies, where the characters are being interviewed after the fact.
Honestly, this held my attention and interest, and I enjoyed catching some of details from the original. I'd say, old sport, that I'm giving this 3.5 stars and rounding up.
koldroyd96's review against another edition
4.0
I was really excited by the prospect of this book telling such a classic story from the female point of view. Cantor did an amazing job following in line with the original story, including details and events from The Great Gatsby. However, I was a bit disappointed by the way she portrayed the characters. While I understand this is a retelling from a new perspective, I wish that all the men characters hadn’t been so despicable. While none of the characters in the original story are exactly sympathetic, Cantor makes the male characters completely revolting in her retelling. I do appreciate the talent it takes to retell a classic story like Gatsby and make it align so we’ll go the original, but I was also slightly disappointed by the choices Cantor made.