The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, and I really enjoyed this retelling of the story from a different point of view and with additional elements. Fitzgerald is also a favorite of mine, and while I wouldn’t say that this version of his story is necessarily better, it is beautifully written. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Effervescent and transportive, The Chosen and The Beautiful felt like the most vivid dream to me that I never wanted to end. Needless to say, I had to pinch myself when I was approved for an ARC. A queer Great Gatsby retelling with an adopted, Asian Jordan Baker? YES please!! Readers who have read the original Great Gatsby will recognize plot points, but you don’t need to have read it to enjoy The Chosen and the Beautiful. Personally, I enjoyed this magical retelling more than the original!

There is never a dull moment in a world filled with ghosts, demons, and paper magic. Jordan sees clearly through the illusions and enchanted elixirs, but is still swept along for the ride. The magic system was intriguing, yet I would have liked to see Jordan explore it a little more. Jordan has to deal with subtle and overt racism as an Asian woman adopted into a white family. I loved the LGBTQ rep and it’s hard to believe this is a debut novel!

Vo has a way of delivering a sentence that will stop you in your tracks to marvel at the perfect eloquence of it. The magical atmosphere utterly surrounds and envelops the reader; I never wanted to put this book down. The emotions and dreams of the characters shine brightly throughout. I particularly enjoyed how Gatsby is portrayed with cunning and deception. Read The Chosen and The Beautiful if you want to be completely swept away to a glamorous, decadent, and queer re-imagining of The Great Gatsby. The Chosen and The Beautiful releases June 1, 2021. Thank you so much to Nghi Vo, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on the publication date and I will publish it on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble etc.

We will have a surge of Gatsby novels coming our way since Great Gatsby is now owned by public! I was curious to see what other perspective other authors are going to bring other than usual suspects (from Nick's perspective or Tom's) as my beloved Great Gatsby is one of the most discussed and dissected book of all times. And this one delivers a new one for sure: enter Daisy's friend who was brought from Vietnam and raised as an American girl who represents LGBTQA community! This was the type of PoV I was hoping to get

Jordan was Daisy's childhood friend from KY. Unlike most the other immigrant kids, she was adopted by a wealthy white lady that loved and cherished her like her own. Jordan did not really have to experience any hardships coming with immigrant title. There were people looking at her and making comments here and there but she was Jordan Baker. She was there when Daisy-Jay love story began. She was there when Daisy was losing her mind the day before her wedding after hearing that Jay was alive and well. She was there when Daisy fell in love again. She was there when Daisy decided to leave everything behind and go with Jay.

Jordan had one more ability (other than being there for Daisy always all the time) that she herself could hardly explain. She could bring anything to life out of simple blank paper. This ability ended up being associated with her worst nightmares! If you are into Great Gatsby, let the party begin for you...

(A full, more coherent, and more grammatically correct review of The Chosen and the Beautiful will soon be up on my blog, Sophie and Their Stories!)

“Having gay time now?” I asked, breaking the silence with a smile.

Oh, Jordan. Dearest, darling Jordan. Yes. Yes, I am.

This book was absolutely marvelous, and Nghi Vo proves once again why she is my new favorite writer. The chosen and the beautiful’s breathtaking style and atmospheric adventure is completely unmatched. I found myself *shook* by the novel’s stunning, connected language. This book reminded me how beautiful words could be.

Perhaps it is hyperbole to say that this book shocked me to my very spirit — whittled me down until my bones were made of paper — displaced me just as seashells are displaced by the ocean — filled me with an awe so dark and dutiful that it was as though all the lights in the deep city of New York flickered off, exposing all the spinning stars. But there’s truth in hyperbole. There’s truth in the expanded forms of dishonesty.

I’m a Gatsby stan. What can I say? The original work is short (which I appreciate, myself being not a substantial person in size), though its messages were easily muzzled by time (and the author’s own mixed emotions towards the opulent). This, however, is everything that its source material could not achieve. It knew exactly what it was, and stuck the landing.

This novel burns inside my mind. The Great Gatsby exists so that the chosen and the beautiful could be written. Literature exists so that Nghi Vo can bend it.

I think I am going to cry.

I was provided an e-arc via NetGalley.

Let me start by saying I am a sucker for a tragic love story and The Great Gatsby is one of my favorites. When I saw there was a retelling with magical elements and a diverse point-of-view, I had a really good feeling about it.

From page one, I fell into Vo’s writing and was completely swept away and transported to the 1920s. The Chosen and the Beautiful is a close retelling of The Great Gatsby, but it adds so much to the original story. In this version, we follow the point-of-view of a queer, Asian American and what it was like for her growing up in Louisville and life as a New York socialite in the early 1920s. One of my favorite things about this retelling is the added magical elements. Gatsby’s parties always seemed like a dash of magic was involved, but now we get to experience a world in which magic does exist. It’s subtle but spellbinding.

This story unfolds as you read it and may leave you a little unsure of what exactly is going on, but it comes through in the end. I thought the ending reveal was beautiful and it pulled on my heartstrings. The story is beautifully pieced together and keeps you wanting more. It is filled with intrigue, unique magic, mysterious speakeasies, lush atmospheric writing, complicated characters with complicated relationships, and it’s just absolutely captivating.

I could not put this story down and wanted to reread it as soon as I finished it. I think Vo gave us the diverse and magical Gatsby retelling we needed. I think both fans of The Great Gatsby and those unfamiliar with the classic will find many things to love about this retelling.

I want to preface this review by saying that this is a beautiful book, but it wasn't for me. This book is perfect for fans of The Great Gatsby and written in a style that fits with the opulent story. I appreciated the twists of fantasy Vo inserted, but I did find myself confused more often than I was grasping everything.

Thank you fir the arc, I’m happy books like this are getting published. However the writing was clunky (maybe that will be cleaned up before publication) and left me feeling like I was reading through a fog. The magic didn’t seem to be addictive and felt out of place.
I really wanted to like this, but it wasn’t quite there for me.
2.5 stars ⭐️

I'm not sure how I feel about a work of art scaffolded upon another work of art. For certain, the writing is beautiful. The story is slow at at times, dragging toward a conclusion we already know. Overall, this relationships between the characters were less compelling than Jordan's relationship with herself. A very well written book, but not without flaws.

This book was so beautifully written. It was full of descriptions of a life I could never live, each atmosphere expanded upon until you felt like you were there yourself. It was beautiful and shiny, and it reminded me so much of the Great Gatsby. Which is perfect, because The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo is supposed to be a reinvention and reimagined version of the Great Gatsby, told through the perspective of Jordan Baker as an Asian adopted child. And I’m being honest, I think she outdid Fitzgerald himself. She’s added fantasy elements to the story, and made Jordan queer and so wonderfully also sown in these details of queer culture during the 20’s and how being Vietnamese affects her.

It wasn’t necessarily my thing, though. I’ve never been one to prefer the world and atmosphere of a book to the characters itself, which is a little what this book did. The story is a little slow for my taste, and personally, I didn’t connect well enough to Jordan Baker. She was beautifully written, and I certainly enjoyed learning about her, but I love a book so much more when I can grasp on to a character, main or otherwise so that I’m pulled through the story in their arms.

However, if you prefer the world of the socialites, elegant and chic retelling of the golden 1920’s, then this would most definitely be for you. The prose feels like glitter, or like jewelry. It’s so lyrical and well written, and it feels like opening up a chest of treasures, queer stories and stolen secrets. And magic!! Oh my goodness the wonderful details of magic in there!! The story also expands a lot on her friendship with Daisy, which I just adored. Gatsby feels so different, but it’s also barely changed at all!

I don’t know how she manages to stay true to the book, and yet make it more ethereal than it was to begin with.

This book is supposed to be Nghi Vo’s debut, and what a wonderful debut it is. Any fan of Great Gatsby would love this, I’m sure. And I know that I’ll leave this story forever remembering Jordan Baker as East Asian and queer from now on, so perfect her portrayal of this character was. This book comes out June 1st 2021, and I hope you all read it!! It’s breathtakingly gorgeous, and I’m so glad I for to read this.

This was an interesting read that gave me conflicting feelings. On one hand, it's definitely the queer Gatsby retelling that we were all craving for (yay, almost all characters are bi/pan) since THE GREAT GATSBY entered public domain in January this year. However, I am not sure it is done in a way that necessarily add much new and satisfying things on top of the old Gatsby tale.

Things I like about this book:

0. EVERYONE IS BI/PAN. EVERYONE IS IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER. THOSE CHARACTERS YOU THOUGHT WERE QUEER AND IN LOVE? THEY ARE HERE!!! THOSE THAT WERE IN LOVE IN CANNON? THEY ALSO STILL ARE HERE!!

1. I loved how this retelling of Gatsby is told from an Vietnamese adoptee Jordan's perspective. In the original story she was just a white and frivolous girl whom is portrayed as dishonest. However, this book told from her perspective depicted how Asian women were exotified in history.

Her backstory was an interesting exploration of the White Savior narrative as the story begs the question if she was truly adopted or abducted by her missionary adopted parent.

Also, the Manchester Act passed around that time that had a similar purpose as the Chinese Exclusion Act was utilized very well as how it affected Jordan in her life despite her being an adoptee who is very disconnected from her Asian heritage.

2. I love the writing. This author has the amazing ability for metaphor and imagery. The writing was so vivid and lavish I feel like it fits the background of the Roaring Twenties. It's just so beautiful yet subtle at conveying the atmosphere and character motivations. I will definitely read more of the author's works in the future.

3. I love the magic realistic elements and how it connects the identity of being POC in this book. Only POC or POC related characters have magic in this book, relating to their otherness. Characters who have magic but choose to conceal their magic are the ones who try to fits the upper class white society of America. Characters who celebrates their magic are the ones who embrace their identity and heritage.

What I didn't like about this book:

1. I don't really like how meandering this book has been. I feel like there's not a lot that was happening. It was boring for the most part, maybe due to the nature it being a Gatsby retelling. However I feel like a lot of elements (especially the magical realism element) is underutilized and underdeveloped. Also the more interesting threads are left unexplored. This dragged down my enjoyment a fair amount.

2. The plot twist at the end??? I don't really understand why it's there and it seemingly came out of nowhere. It doesn't really add anything to the story. I am still buffled by it. Jordan's action was also left quite unexplained and confusing.

3. Character dynamics. I LOVE that everyone is in loved with each other, but I still feel like a lot of very promising charged dynamics were kind of underused or wasted. Yes I mean Nick and Gatsby. I'm so sad we got very little of them in a book that's a queer Great Gatsby retelling.

Anyway, overall this was a bit of an okay read. I finished it and didn't feel like it was a waste of my time, still it didn't meet my expectations. I will definitely pick up more of this author's book just for her beautiful writing.

The Greater Gatsby

Magical retelling of The Great Gatsby from the point of view of queer Asian-American Jordan Baker.
It's as great as that sounds.

Good grief, this is excellent. I've always loved <i>The Great Gatsby</i> but when you make it queer and you tell it through the eyes of adopted Asian Jordan Baker, coasting on the fringe of the soulless elite until closeness with Daisy Buchanan brings her into the inner circle, turns out I love it even more. There's a supernatural element that I hadn't expected and I wasn't so keen on in the beginning, but considering the thoughts that I was having about the characters while reading, her Nick and her Gatsby in particular, and the revelations about them that unfold, Vo absolutely pulls off the demonic aspect she introduces. Best of all is her writing style, which is dreamy yet precise - how is that possible? I have no idea but here I am, reveling in the sumptuous with not a word out of place.

Nghi Vo's 'The Chosen and the Beautiful' has taken the story of The Great Gatsby and transformed it into something all the more magical, heartbreaking and terrifying. Following Jordan Baker, the story expands upon Fitzgerald's world in a way that leans into literal fantasy, weaving a New York and a story that is familiar and unfamiliar all at once. The effect is absolutely stunning. Jordan's own story is given new shape too, having her move through the world as a queer, Vietnamese woman in a world that is incredibly white. Jordan constantly floats between spectator and participant, through spaces constantly navigating where she fits in and where she is simply just a guest. I absolutely loved following her evolving relationship with Nick and the bonds they shared. Vo has breathed new life into this story in a really special way and through beautiful prose, creating magic not unlike the magic Jordan and her paper and scissors create throughout the story. This is a book I expect to return to again and again, drawn back into that 1922 summer that barrels towards catastrophe for the chosen and the beautiful of this story.

This reimagining of The Great Gatsby is the magical, dark, queer story I’ve always wanted. Vo writes about the 20s as a romantic time, but one tinged with darkness in the most delicious way. The magic in this story kept sneaking up on me, and I was delighted every time. Though the plot of Gatsby weaves through this book (and therefore you know what’s coming before it does), Vo still manages to make the story feel fresh and unexpected. Highly recommend.

Nghi Vo's debut novel is a beautifully enchanting story, although ultimately there were a few pieces that gave me pause.

Vo's talented writing weaved in a fantastic retelling of The Great Gatsby - I reread The Great Gatsby recently and it was nice that it was in my mind while reading The Chosen and the Beautiful. As a bisexual Asian American, I absolutely loved reading about queer Asian American MC Jordan Baker, and learning more about her life as she grows up in 1920s East Coast America with wealth and privilege. Jordan's queerness was very organic and I so loved that piece of this and appreciated the slight polygamy rep. Vo's clever historical additions added to a setting I could picture well. I also loved the magical/fantastical enchantments sprinkled throughout; it was perfectly mysterious and Jordan's paper cutting was one of my favorite elements in this. I also want to add that this cover is perfect for this and is exactly how I imagined Jordan throughout the novel.

What gives me pause: I am not Indigenous, nor Black, so I cannot at all speak to this beyond my own uncomfortability, however I was disappointed at the portrayal of Blackness and Indigenousness. Both these pieces felt like a very small afterthought and tacked on. Again though, I cannot speak to this identity this was a very small piece to the story overall.

4 stars, a wonderful reimagining of a classic novel

As both a fan of the original Great Gatsby and a fan of up and coming novelist, Nghi Vo, I was eager for this book and please do say that it does not disappoint. Told from Jordan Baker's POV, this novel sets out to do for Daisy Buchanan and Jordan what the original did for Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby and it very much succeeds.

The two big changes are that Jordan is a Vietnamese orphan adopted by the Baker family and that magic is real in this world and both Jordan and Gatsby have it. Simple as these changes are, they open up the classic book in some fascinating ways as Jordan obviously has many more opinions on Tom Buchanan's racism than her original white counterpart did and the magic, while used sparingly, leads to some absolutely marvelous scenes including a personal favorite where Daisy viciously kills a vacuous doppelganger of herself that has been made out of paper and false dreams who was to exist for one night to be the beautiful and obedient wife that Daisy feels trapped into performing as. Where else are you going to find a story where something so intimately revealing and also incisively commenting on the original novel's approach to female characterization? On the writing end, Fitzgerald was one of the all time great prose stylists and Vo isn't quite up to that level but she's no slouch either. Her capacity for mimicking Fitzgerald's style is quite good to the point that for the most part the seams are only visible if you're actively looking for them or are a Fitzgerald fan. I imagine very few people will walk away from this book anything less than impressed by Vo's writing.

My two worries about the book are this: 1) that it hews so close to the original Gatsby that it might be difficult to follow for anyone who hasn't read or reread that book recently and 2) that in sticking so close to the pacing of the original but shifting the story to be more magical, Vo has accidentally created some pacing problems because the old pacing doesn't quite gel with the new darker and more urgent plotting caused by the introduction of magic. I consider these far from book ruining problems but I can easily see other people being frustrated by them.

But those issues aside, the book is both enjoyable and an impressive work of criticism. As both a fantasy fan and a Great Gatsby fan, I believe Vo has woven both together successfully and put her mark on the American classic in a way that helps it to feel even more relevant by drawing out elements that had always been in the original but confronting them head on rather than leaving them as subtext.

The Chosen and the Beautiful is a stunning, atmospheric retelling of The Great Gatsby, and in many ways Nghi Vo tells it far better than F Scott Fitzgerald did.

Those who have read The Great Gatsby will be familiar with the characters however this time our protagonist is Jordan Baker and she is a queer Vietnamese orphan with magical paper-cutting powers. Jordan was so much more interesting than Nick Carraway. She had a very dark and understated sense of humour which I loved.

In addition to race, class, and perception, The Chosen and the Beautiful explores what it meant to be a Vietnamese woman in the 1920s, particularly in the sense of being treated like a novelty or doll, rather than as a person.

There were a few parts that I struggled with. As beautiful as the magical elements were, they did sometimes feel a little out of place. Jordan is obviously very in love with Daisy and this occupies a lot of her thoughts which became a little tedious at times.

I think fans of The Great Gatsby will enjoy The Chosen and The Beautiful and appreciate how the new elements are woven into the heart of the original.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book!

An unexpected smash hit of a read. The author deconstructs The Great Gatsby tale and reinvents it for a 21st century audience. I think my students are going to love this!!

One of the things I've always loved about <i>The Great Gatsby</i> is that it is the one piece of classic literature that I've consistently enjoyed throughout my life, and with it, I can see how my opinions have changed and matured over the years. As a teenager, I was annoyed that Jordan Baker added extra (assigned) words to a clearly tragic yet beautiful pining love story (high school Me definitely thought a toxic relationship was a good one, but that's another story). In my early 20s, I labelled Jordan Baker as a selfish gossip, thinking that her presence on the outskirts of the main story made her distant, cold, and unlikable. Now that I'm damn near 30, I realize that Jordan was just a bad bitch living her best life, staying out of other people's business (but of course being entertained by it), and was only forced because Nick was an incompetent goof.

This is where The Chosen and the Beautiful comes in. This was the Jordan-focused retelling that I NEEDED, and it couldn't have come at a better time in my own self-development. Jordan in this retelling lived up to the hype -- she was Asian, queer, and had a magical ability -- but ultimately, it was the story that let me down. Jordan's paper magic felt misplaced and undeveloped (though it could leave room for a sequel?), the dramatic build of Gatsby as darker and antagonistic really fell flat for me, and the "twist" towards the end just didn't really seem necessary or relevant. I know that Vo was confined to a plot that wasn't her own, but I definitely found myself craving more drama, demons, and magic than what was presented so matter-of-factly.

At the end of the day, of course, I enjoyed getting an extra layer to these characters I already know so well and loved the opportunity of seeing the same events through another characters eyes, so it was ultimately worth it.

This is a brilliant retelling of The Great Gatsby that keeps all the core themes of the original-- wealth and class disparity, the hollowness of wealth during the 1920's-- and updates them while somehow also creating a world that is very true to the 1920's, and includes the marginalized people the original (and the time period) excluded-- queer people, Asian Americans, immigrants. I can already see people dismissing it when they hear "queer, Asian American, Great Gatsby retelling with magic" as some kind of attempt to make the original more cool and diverse for no reason, but that's ABSOLUTELY not what's happening here. It's a twist on the original that stays true to the story while expanding it beyond any scope the original could have dreamed of. It's a truly amazing book.