A review by 5aru
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I don’t know how to describe this other than as an experience. It preserves so much of the essence of what made the original The Great Gatsby so bitter and disturbing, but explores a whole other side of America and its dreams and excesses as embodied in the 1920s. And I do think no Gatsby content I’ve consumed before has quite encapsulated that sense of pretense, of superficiality and absolute indifference the way this does.

Jordan is a fascinating character throghout, and while the inclusion of magic and the supernatural was surprising, it ended up fitting so well and being so well-woven within the context that it almost seems incredible that it wasn’t in the source material at all. While it remains a retelling, The Chosen and the Beautiful is very much its own story; it had something to say, and delivered it with a lyricism and a passion that would’ve been difficult to find anywhere but with Nghi Vo.
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