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

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

3.5

you actually need to love Gatsby to enjoy this book. as someone who was fascinated and inspired by The Great Gatsby, i really liked how closely this book resembled the original text in terms of pacing, plot, and themes. the dissimilation and destruction of Jordan’s “American Dream” is an interesting parallel to Gatsby’s, and i really loved how the author added a new layer of complexity and authenticity through her perspective as well as her backstory and heritage. Jordan was, like all the characters, a bad person. her struggle to reconcile her tumultuous upbringing, the standards and values of the world around her, and the question to defining and understanding her own identity (as a Vietnamese person and a queer woman) were interesting and unlike anything i’ve read before. i loved seeing the world — Daisy’s flightiness, Nick’s perceptiveness, Tom’s abuse, Gatsby’s ambition — through her eyes and i especially loved that she and Daisy in particular had more agency in their own stories.

as many others have stated in their reviews, i didn’t fully enjoy the magical elements. i think this was due to a lack of proper world-building at the outset. after immersing myself in one version of Gatsby so many times, i wasn’t keen on blindly accepting the, at some points, poorly explained magic systems. however, the magic was sooooo cool and i wish these systems and histories would have been fleshed out so i could have bought into them with more enthusiasm.

the writing style, the pacing, the hopeful (yearning) conclusion were all extremely reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s original work, and Vo’s unique perspective on immigration, Vietnamese culture and community, and womanhood make this work really stand out. a very interesting book that certainly won’t be for everyone but definitely holds its own in comparison to other Gatsby retellings. 
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