Beautiful Little Fools is a reimagined/retelling/expansion of The Great Gatsby. Except this book follows the point of view from three women: Daisy, Jordan, and Catherine (new character added to the story). There were definitely modern changes made to the storyline, but nothing I felt negatively towards.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There were great twists along the way! I especially loved Jordan Baker (Daisy’s best friend since childhood) and could have read a book solely from her perspective. Jillian Cantor, the author, took one of the most famous fictional male characters and made this book about women and I loved that.

I have not read The Great Gatsby since high school and to be honest I probably skimmed it or didn’t fully comprehend it. So for me, this was a supper fun read! I’ve seen the old movie and of course the latest one so I was familiar with the storyline and characters.

I would be interested to hear from serious fans of The Great Gatsby on their thoughts of this book. Are they happy with the retelling/changes? I found this was much easier to read than reading the og because of the more modern writing style, I suppose.

Moral of the story: all that glitters is not gold. ✨

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This take on the classic is amazing! It gives more of a look into who the women of Gatsby were and the tangled web of their involvement with Jay Gatsby. I loved this interpretation, dare I say I like it better than the actual inspired piece? Add a murder mystery and I am ALL over it.

“I always thought it was us women who were the fools,” I whispered. “But I was wrong, it’s been the men all along, hasn’t it?”

Beautiful Little Fools is an amazing retelling of The Great Gatsby. If you’ve read Gatsby, you probably love it or hate it. I personally have always loved it, though I do see the problems with it. This larger-than-life story about flawed people during the roaring 20s has always been intriguing to me. Now we get a version from the women in the story, mainly Daisy, Jordan, and Catherine (Myrtle’s sister), though Myrtle has a chapter or two, as well.
There’s doubt cast upon how Gatsby actually died, which brings in a Detective named Frank, who investigates all of the women.

This cast a new light on Daisy and her vapid-seeming personality. Although Daisy could be cruel at times in the original novel, I always felt there was more to her beneath the surface. The title Beautiful Little Fools is based off one of her most famous lines and that line always struck me as Daisy being more self aware and less fragile than we are led to believe. This novel does a great job of bringing that point about. Daisy and the other women are living in a male-dominated world and making it in their own ways.

Jordan is a woman of her own means and this novel brings her even more into the light as a revolutionary woman for the times. I don’t want to spoil her storyline, but I had a feeling where her personal life was going to head with this one and was pleased with it.

Catherine has a freedom that the other two women do not. She’s been able to be her own person since day one, but watching Myrtle go through multiple abusive relationships is a constant source of anguish for her. Gatsby has more ties to the two of them than we see in the original novel.

Did one of these women get to Gatsby before George did? We are taken on quite the ride to get to the conclusion. Gatsby is obsessive and delusional in the original novel but he’s also painted as a generally good guy despite his faults. This novel casts him quite differently and changes up some of the scenarios. Gatsby is the most prominent villain in this version, taking those flaws already present and making him downright malicious. I think it’s a great example of how two people can spin the same story differently and I quite enjoyed it. Our author also really highlights the way the men are the fragile, dramatic ones. Daisy and Myrtle especially are portray originally as these breakable, hysterical little women when they’re really at the mercy of these men and their erratic behavior.

This is quite the read and frankly, I was eager to get back to it every time I set it down. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Perennial for the review copy!

Will update with IG and blog posts when finished.

Beautiful Little Fools is a look at The Great Gatsby from the view of the women involved, Daisy, Catherine, Myrtle, and Jordan. Quite a different perspective from Nick Caraway’s, as it begins in Daisy’s hometown, when as a teenage, she is walking with her sister to care for the homeless and Jay is just a solider preparing to go to war. As soon as I finished reading this novel, I immediately reread The Great Gatsby to truly enjoy the differences. Beautifully written with creative changes, I think this was one of my favorite books of the year.

*4.5 stars

A retelling of The Great Gatsby told by the women of that great novel. I would definitely recommend reading that book first to fully appreciate this one. Who killed Jay Gatsby? Told by 3 different women’s pov, we are sent on a journey to what happened that fateful day. Jay’s obsession with Daisy plays an important role in the outcome but all these lives are interwoven to a exploding conclusion. The author did a wonderful job with the different people/voices that I couldn’t wait to see what would happen.

The Unbearable Heat of Gatsby and the South

This novel is a clever revival of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY. For readers who have read the book, you will discover the author’s description of the 1920s, drinking and unbearable heat, an excellent adaptation. For those who have not read the original, you will enjoy a good story, the epitome of lady-like behavior and the strength of money in the deep South and the Midwest.

The original narrator was Nick Carraway. Cantor pushes us 100 years forward and we have three women narrators: Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Catherine McCoy. They come from different backgrounds but lead us to the finish line telling us about the murder of Jay Gatsby, a puzzling and sexy character in American Literature. The points of views of our narrators explain the times, the classes in the United States and a study into their own souls. The fathers of Daisy and Jordan are important; they serve as loving mentors who want the same or more for their daughters. The women love their fathers; the mothers are more trifling characters. Our narrators suffer unbearable losses which motivate them to change their lives.

Drinking is front and center; the characters seemed to move from one alcoholic scene to another. Their existence was secured by gin and tonics; they became drunk and sick but continued to drink. The men also were dependent on liquor and power.

So who killed Jay Gatsby? He was a self-made man and he loved Daisy Fay. Daisy did not wait for him and married Tom Buchanan, a boorish wealthy young man, a cheater who had so much money, he gave his wife pearls costing $350,000 as a wedding gift. Gatsby is a rags to riches story but his character changes and, hence, the readers can change their opinions of him.

My gratitude to Net Galley Harper Collins for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

** I have received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. **

I have always been drawn to Gatsby, Fitzgerald, and the Lost Generation, and I have always loved the line "I hope she'll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

A novel based on one of my favorite books, from the perspective of one of my favorite literary characters (nope, not going to tell you which one), and entitled based on one of my favorite lines. I'll admit, I approached this one with a whole lot of excitement and admittedly some hesitation.

Cantor hit it out of the park. <i>Wait, what's a baseball metaphor doing here?</i> As Jordan Baker might say, she killed it with a perfect drive 300 yard straight down the fairway. The characters that came from Fitzgerald's original novel are true to their originals, and the new characters fit in nicely with that world.

It's a fast read too, which is also fitting with the original novel.

If I had to offer one criticism, this is definitely a novel that assumes its readers have had some familiarity with the original material. This isn't a book to go in on blind.

But all in all, a thoroughly wonderful way to start 2022. Like Leo, I tip my gin-filled glass to it!

Like so many, The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite novels of all time, so I went into Beautiful Little Fools with tempered expectations. The author has brilliantly brought the characters to life in a fresh side-telling of the classic story. A page-turner from start to finish that will have you seeing the women of The Great Gatsby in a new light. Delicious, indulgent, heartbreaking, a beautiful return to the world Fitzgerald created.

“I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” – Daisy Buchanan, “The Great Gatsby”

From the opening statement of this novel, Jillian Cantor lured me. Her version of “The Great Gatsby” is told from the perspectives of the women in the story. They are alluring, desirable, passionate women with broken pasts who played an exceptionally pivotal role in Jay Gatsby’s life. But who were they? F. Scott Fitzgerald left me wondering about their lives, feelings, and thoughts. Cantor answers those questions.

“She held the gun the way a certain kind of careless man held his whiskey. It was illegal, illicit. But, nonetheless, it was hers. She would do with it as she pleased, consequences be damned.”

I was expecting a simple retelling of “The Great Gatsby” with Daisy Buchanan as the only voice throughout the novel. This is not the case. Cantor takes the story a step further. Daisy, Jordan, Catherine, and Myrtle narrate the story taking it years prior to when Daisy and Jay met in Louisville, Kentucky.

This version is positively captivating! I know Daisy is the girl that all the guys want in the story. But Jordan is my favorite character. Her story is beautiful and tragic. I cried for her.

I highly recommend reading “The Great Gatsby” prior to tackling “Beautiful Little Fools”. It will fill in a significant portion of the story. The book is not intended to be a quick read.

While I was reading this novel, I sounded very much like a southern debutante in my head. Outwardly, I was fanning myself and contemplating planting azaleas. If I had the audiobook, I’m certain I would be even more melodramatic.

“A new year dawned. Nineteen tweeny-three shimmered before me and filled me with an unexpected sort of hope.”

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Perennial, and Jillian Cantor for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! The story of who actually might have killed Jay Gatsby and the story of three women intertwined in his life. I loved getting the "backstory" to Daisy and Jordan's friendship, and how Daisy and Jay met years before West and East Egg. It helps to have read The Great Gatsby, but I think you would like it regardless. It's fun and the small mystery kept me turning pages. Highly recommend!

I received a free advanced copy of this book from the author. This is my honest review.

"Beautiful Little Fools" by Jillian Cantor is a sequel to "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and a fast paced, thriller mystery! The author takes readers on an imaginative romp through the days following Jay Gatsby’s death. All the characters are there including Daisy's cousin Nick Carraway and Daisy's selfish, philandering husband Tom Buchanan. Detective Frank Charles is asking questions of the main characters: Daisy Fay Buchanan and her best friend, the golfer, Jordan Baker. Frank questions Catherine Margaret McCoy, the sister to Myrtle Wilson who was recently killed by Jay Gatsby’s yellow Rolls-Royce car. It is a wonderful quest by the detective who’s inquisitive and prying mind winds around the clues as he searches to figure out why each woman seems to be lying. All have good reasons to be Jay Gatsby’s killer, but who and why? "Beautiful Little Fools" was intriguing and amazing! Any lover of "The Great Gatsby" will HAVE to read this book! Cheers to Jillian Cantor!

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all time. This is an inside view through the eyes of the women in that tale. It was a fantastic read, one of the best books I've read in a long time. The writing was great and the storyline didn't stray from the original tale. I could visualize each scene in my mind. What a delightful read.

I was so excited to receive this book as The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorite books, if not my favorite. I thought this book would be like the classic, but from the women’s POV. However, I felt like the story was entirely different. The characters didn’t seem the same to me, certain aspects varied so greatly that I couldn’t get behind it, and I unfortunately did not finish the book.

The cover and synopsis were great, but the amount of changes disappointed and deterred me. I wanted a book that relived The Great Gatsby, but this wasn’t it, what I expected.

There were also a lot of moments that made me uncomfortable, and I feel the adult content and forceful, unwanted advances should be disclosed before reading.

This also was presented in a manner that would encourage feminism, but some of the women’s ideals felt superficial and materialistic. Stereotypical of the norms for women.

Others may like it, but it just wasn’t for me.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor follows the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald''s The Great Gatsby. Viewing the story from the viewpoints of Daisy, Jordan and Catherine really drives home how shaped by other people these women were. Taking place at the end of World War I and the passage of the 19th Amendment, it was a time of speakeasies, organized crime and dazzling wealth for some. Seeing the small domestic struggles behind the glamor of Jay Gatsby was worth the read.

Warning: you may not connect to this book if you don't already have a predisposition towards The Great Gatsby-- or Daisy Buchanan... But what well-read woman doesn't have an odd fixation on Daisy, the OG Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who somehow has continued capturing hearts despite her wealth, childish selfishness, and minimal presence in F. Scott Fitzgerald's famed book?
I'm a sucker for reimagined classic literature, especially when we're given a marginalized character's POV, whether that be the female muse, the victim, or the "misunderstood antagonist". There's no shortage of remakes and adaptations of The Great Gatsby-- attempts at exploring Gatsby himself, at re-envisioning Nick Carraway, and at empowering Daisy, but none to great effect. Beautiful Little Fools is the latest entry in the Gatsby fanfic, and I think it's probably the most successful, as it invites us into the previously-unknown worlds of not only Daisy, but also Jordan Baker, Catherine McCoy, and her sister, Myrtle Wilson. Author Jillian Cantor weaves these women together in an entertaining and captivating way, with a murder mystery as the backdrop-- and indeed it remains the backdrop, thankfully. Cantor uses great restraint in not letting the novel venture into a detective story, or being overwhelmed by the murder. Like Gatsby itself, this is really a character piece, perhaps a domestic drama with a strong sense of its temporal and geographical settings, rather than being artificially squeezed into a thriller for the sake of sales.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor tells the Great Gatsby story through the eyes of Daisy, Jordan, Catherine and Myrtle. I wasn't sure if I would like this story. The author grabbed me into the story and I was hooked. The writing was wonderful. The characters were real. I didn't want to put the book down. I will recommend this book. Thank you for letting me review

“I always thought it was us women who were the fools,” I whispered. “But I was wrong, it’s been the men all along…” —Jillian Cantor, Beautiful Little Fools

What a tangled web! 🕸

I love when authors take a well known story and reimagine it from different points of view. In this case Cantor has taken the classic, The Great Gatzby and told it through Daisy, Jordan, & Catherine’s (Myrtle's sister) view point. The story was engrossing though at times it felt a bit rushed. I did get frustrated with some of the choices these women made, however, the choices they were given were much more limited than what women have today.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I’ve never read F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s classic and think that if you have read it then this will be even more enjoyable. 4.5 stars.

***ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you love The Great Gatsby, you’ll want to read Beautiful Little Fools! As a lover of Gatsby since high school English class, I was so intrigued by this novel telling the story from the view of the women of Gatsby. The novel follows Daisy, Jordan Baker, Myrtle and Catherine (Myrtle’s sister). I loved learning more about each of these women and their lives before the summer of The Great Gatsby, as imagined by Jillian Cantor. The novel was almost more heartbreaking reading it from the woman’s perspective, especially Daisy, as opposed to the original. This is a fantastic historical novel for all fans of The Great Gatsby!

This was hauntingly beautiful. It was so sad and desperate and hopeless, watching Daisy and Jordan and Catherine's lives crashing down around them. I couldn't look away.

The structure was brilliant, getting each of the women's perspective as their lives slowly intertwined and tangled around one another. Adding brief interjections from the detective trying to solve the case of Gatsby's murder was brilliant as well, heightening the tension as the lies mounted up.

I've always thought the Great Gatsby was a beautiful and tragic story, but getting Jay's story through Nick wasn't nearly so tragic as this. Nick's perspective was that of an outsider looking in at a gin-soaked world of parties. Daisy and Jordan and Catherine had so much more depth to them, because women, even rich women, had so much less power than the men.

I was riveted the entire time I read, drawn in to the darkly glittering world, but drawn in the most because of Daisy and Jordan and Catherine's humanity. They felt so real, so alive, so timeless.

I was bracing myself the entire time, waiting for the final crash at the end, but Jillian Cantor managed to infuse it with just a touch of hope and made me love it all the more for how unexpected it was.

This is a story I will be reading again and recommending to all my friends.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing an e-arc for review.

It's been a long time since I've read The Great Gatsby, and Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor brings it all back and such a unique and interesting way! Dare I say, even more interesting than the original? Beautiful Little Fools retells the classic story from the female perspective, centering on Daisy, Jordan and Catherine (Myrtle's sister). And the female characters are more complex, more beautiful and a lot less foolish than one would believe in reading Fitzgerald's version. The story is a mix of events leading up to Jay Gatsby's death with an investigator that can't shake the case afterward. I left with the same feelings towards the men of the book that Fitzgerald portrayed. However, the insights of the women, who Fitzgerald treated as marginal characters brought so much more to the story. A re-read of the Great Gatsby is definitely in my future with a new perspective.
Thank you, Net Galley and Harper Perennial, for the advanced copy for my review.