A review by augustrogue
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Gorgeously evocative - vicious and incisive and subversive in the best possible ways. Each sentence felt so precise and surprising, like no word was wasted or out of place. I loved how everyone was casually queer and messily all in each other's business.

So why did it take me over 2 months to read this fairly short novel? I could not tell you. Possibly it was because it often took a lot of concentration to follow and parse each sentence's meaning, and when I tend to read before bed, this would lead to me nodding off after only reading a few pages. There were a few times that the story suddenly slipped into a flashback and I wasn't sure what time the scene took place, and other times I *thought* we had flashed back but then that scene actually had been current.

But it is an absolutely gorgeous book overall. The magical elements were fascinating and very memorable. I found this parallel universe 1920's U.S. very compelling.
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