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

Did not finish book. Stopped at 65%.

I just couldn't get into it. I have never read The Great Gatsby as I have absolutely no interest in it. But, I picked this up because the premise sounded so lush and vibrant. Sadly, it did not measure to what it was promised. The main character feels so detached from the story, as we kept following Daisy and Gatsby, two characters I cannot care for. Nick is another character that is so one-dimensional as well. I love magical realism as a genre and I love historical fiction, so not being able to finish this book feels like a disappointment. I echo so many of the reviewers here to say that I genuinely do wish the writer would have stuck to exploring the magical realism of the world - separate from Gatsby himself. I am still interested to read any books by this author because I can see the potential in their writing!