I love Anna-Marie McLemore, but it was still surprising how much I loved this because I'm not always a fan of classics retellings. This was done so well and felt so meaningful.

I love Anna-Marie McLemore’s writing. I love The Great Gatsby. And I love queer retellings. So obviously Self-Made Boys has been extremely high on my anticipated books list this year. And it absolutely more than lived up to my expectations.

The blend of McLemore’s lyrical, dreamy yet sharp style with the glitz and glamour and underlying rot of The Great Gatsby is a perfect combination. There may not technically be any magic in this book, unlike McLemore’s usual fare, but it’s magical all the way through. Warm and wry and romantic and shimmering, Self-Made Boys gives The Great Gatsby the queer, particularly trans, lens that feels utterly inevitable, and a Latinx/white-passing angle that adds so much nuance and thoughtfulness to the themes of idealism and the American Dream and, of course, the making of oneself.

The audiobook is read by two narrators, Avi Rocqua and Kyla Garcia. Both are skillful and clear, and do a great job performing the lush prose and beautiful story.

I loved it, wholeheartedly and delightedly. Some books, you just feel so glad they exist in the world - Self-Made Boys is one of them.

Thank you to Fierce Reads and Netgalley for an ALC of this one!

Great Gatsby remix with two trans leads? Umm....yes! Written by one of my all time favorite authors, Anna-Marie McLemore? Double yes. Also includes a sapphic relationship??? YES.

I am so happy I was lucky enough to be able to listen to this in advance. I preordered this one way back before it even had a cover because I am a simp for anything McLemore writes. I was not at all disappointed with this one!

Nick and Jay are so perfect. T4T romance and discussions of race and the whole title Self-Made Boys being used for trans boys and everything everything everything about this retelling. The Great Gatsby is one of those books that I absolutely loved reading years ago but looked back on and saw all the problems with it, so it is so incredibly nice to be able to read something that takes so much of what I love from the classic and updates it in a way that is thoughtful and meaningful. McLemore's voice is beautiful and elegant as always, and I also loved the narration of the audio!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident and War

Self-Made Boys| Anna-Marie McLEMORE

Is Anna-Marie McLEMORE an Auto-Buy Author: YES

Favorite Quote: “ You leave mountains of ash behind you, and you can’t even look at them. The very people you despise make your life possible.”

Do I Recommend this Book: Yes

Things I Loved About It:
• Transgender Representation & LGBTQA+
• Realistic situations for POC
• How Whitewashing yourself was the only way to fit in
• The Real Racism POC’s Dealt with then
• The Familiar StoryLine and Tropes
• Lavender Marriages
• The Descriptions of all the parties 💜
• The Play on Words of “Self-Made Boys”
• The true happiness the Characters felt
• The Connection between Nick and J
• All the small nuances of people falling for each other
• The Knowing I would be heartbroken by the end

Thank you to the Author, The Publication House @Macmill and @Netgalley for this EAudiobook 🤎

#EARC #ReadersgunnaRead #MoodsaregunaMood #ARCS #Diversebookstagrammersread #POC #reviewer #Readingisfundamental #RemixedClassics #GreatGatsby #Trans #Latinos #1920 #Remakingyourself #Whitewashing #Queerretelling #Audiobooks #Macmillan #McLemore #Author #Gatsby #Passing

"Gatsby and I may have been nothing to men like Tom Buchanan, but men like that did not know that we were as divine as the heavens. We were boys who had created ourselves. We had formed our own bodies, our own lives, from the ribs of the girls we were once assumed to be."

I am a huge fan of The Great Gatsby so when I received this advanced audiobook I was thrilled! Like the best retellings, it has all of the smallest moments threaded into a much bigger, modern and utterly heartfelt story.

I really enjoyed how the author took the scaffolding of a classic story and crafted something wonderful around its faults. This was my first novel by Anna-Marie McLemore, and she really just made this story what we all wanted from the start.

There’s so much I could say about this book but I don’t want to spoil anything, and most of you know the basics of Gatsby… please do yourself a favor and put this on your radar! Thank you @netgalley @macmillan.audio for the advanced audio!

Read if you want:
•trans mc
•queer romance
•latinx rep
•retelling


TW: historical racism, transphobia, & historical sexism.

The audiobook narration of Self-Made Boys was simply fantastic! The voicing of these characters from Avi Roque (and Kyla Garcia) was perfectly done. They breathed so much life into this wonderful retelling.

I went back and forth with this book a little bit. There were so so many things about this book I loved, though there were still a few things I didn’t.

I have never read The Great Gatsby, but from reading this, I’m pretty sure I won’t ever choose to read it, assuming that I won’t like it much. What I DID like about this remixed retelling was how it was different from what the original seems to be. I loved Nick and his story. I loved him so much. He was so kind and sweet, coming to New York from small farm town Wisconsin. I loved the background he comes from and how he is living his truth as a boy.

Daisy made me crazy! She just made me angry at almost every turn. And the relationship and the interactions between Gatsby and Daisy compared to Gatsby and Nick confused me, though I don’t want to reveal too much in my review.

I loved the discussions about prejudices; racism and classism, and queerness in this book. All in all this felt like a 3.5 star rated book in which I am rounding up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with the chance to read and listen to Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix in return for an honest review.

Let me begin by saying that this book is fantastic! The Great Gatsby is not simply a literary masterpiece that is still taught in 11th grade, but its reimagining is a retelling with all the appropriate twists. While this may sound like a fan-fic, stick with me since this book is a real delight with great craftsmanship. This novel, like the first, is narrated from Nick's point of view, but here's the first twist: His name is Nicolàs Caraveo, and he comes from a Hispanic family. The second surprise: As a transsexual man, he is also a self-made man. Daisy, Nick's cousin, enters the picture. She has done everything she can to conceal her Hispanic origin in order to blend in with the throngs of New York's wealthy white culture. She brushes off her relationship with Nick, not wanting to be associated with her culture, as being Hispanic in 1920s New York means being a minority and a group of people perceived only as low-wage laborers. Nick is in New York trying to establish himself as a businessman, but it's difficult with all the secrets around him. Of course, Nick has a mystery next-door neighbor who throws extravagant parties: Jay Gatsby. Because of Jordan's (lesbian) and Jay's friendship. Nick discovers Jay's history and his feelings for Daisy. He also discovers that Jay is transsexual! Every few chapters, the reader is treated to a letter from Daisy to Nick, which provides structure and creates some intriguing story components. There is a lot going on in this tale, yet it reads as if you, the reader, are a part of the sumptuous party. The audiobook narrators are extremely wonderful and well cast in the roles of Nick and Daisy. The storyline generally adheres to the framework of the original novel, which I loved because I had read it in high school and taught it to juniors.

I wholeheartedly suggest this book.

Two confessions before I continue: I have never read an Anna-Marie McLemore book, and I really don't have fond memories of reading The Great Gatsby. That being said, I have heard nothing but praise for McLemore's works and I am always willing to queer up classic literature so I was very excited to dive into this.

I loved that McLemore took some of the queer undertones of the original text and made it more obviously gay. Nicolás Caraveo and Jay Gatsby are both trans and I think placing them in New York City in 1922, a time and place that was all about striving for "the American Dream" and creating yourself was super smart. I loved the way they explored gender and sexuality here, especially as Nick was coming to terms with the idea that his transness didn't need to negate his being gay. I also think McLemore does a great job of highlighting facts surrounding queer culture in the time, such as lavender marriages. I love experiencing media that shows that being queer is not a "modern phenomenon". As the book went on I was worried that given the original text that we would end up with a "bury your gays" situation; however, I was really surprised and excited by the direction that McLemore took.

This book also grapples a lot with race, both in the context of the era and as a reflection of modern times. In McLemore's reinterpretation, Daisy is Nick's white-passing cousin and she is engaged to Tom Buchanan, who as in the original text, is a bigot. As much as I loved watching Nick and Jay together, I think Daisy's arc through this book is my favorite. We see her come to terms with what it means to pass herself off as white and how that impacts not only herself but also her loved ones. And I loved that McLemore contrasted Daisy's white-passing with Jordan's, who is also a character I loved.

Overall, I thought this was a beautifully written story that tackles a lot of relevant themes despite taking place a century ago. While this is my first Anna-Marie McLemore book, it will definitely not be my last! I look forward to delving into their backlist and into some of the other Classic Remixes.

I very rarely listen to fiction audiobooks. Usually I have a hard time paying attention and completely lose the plot, but because of how INCREDIBLY produced this audiobook is, I was hooked from minute one all the way until the end.

This book is clever, well-written, and beautiful. I am a huge Gatsby fan and I have had this book on my radar for a while. I definitely went in with really high hopes and I loved it even more than I possibly could imagine. This book touches on so many themes, and twists the original cannon into something beautiful and so enjoyable for a modern audience.

Also, the audiobook is also AMAZING. Both narrators are super talented and had me at attention the whole time.

Seriously, if you like Gatsby, GET THIS BOOK. And if you listen to audiobooks, definitely listen to it on audio!

***Netgalley ARC***

(5 stars)

TW: Racism, Colorism, Homophobia, Transphobia

“The world may look at you and see a pawn but that just means they’ll never see your next move coming “

I love a good classic retelling and this is definitely one of them. While I’ve read The Great Gatsby in the past I am not very familiar with it. This was fantastic. It was a good balance of romance and intrigue, but also of social commentary. The book is diverse and full of representation

Every character is so well written and well developed. Nick is the kind of character you root for and Jay is kind of character who makes you have fun. And Daisy is one who makes you think.

“I thought of kissing him in the way I can imagine everyone must think of kissing someone who was this close and this beautiful “

^^ this was when I was sure this book was for me

This was my first Anna-Maria McLemore book and they wrote such an amazing one. I will definitely be reading more.

Thank you to netgalley and publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4926829646

I am biased and really enjoy McLemore's writing style, and absolutely adore Avi Roque's narration style. Each character has a distinct voice, and I really enjoy how into character Roque gets while reading. I listened to the audiobook and loved it.

Disclaimer - I am not a Latine person. I am a trans nonbinary person. I really appreciated and valued the inclusion, nuances, and experiences that were included in this story about a Latine trans boy. Please read reviews by Latine readers as well as trans readers!

TWs for racism, colorism, transphobia. CW for alcohol consumption.


I really enjoyed this reimagining. From my limited memory of reading The Great Gatsby in high school, this seemed to follow the main plot points of the original story, up until the 50-60% mark, where things started to get interesting and some new items were incorporated. While I was reading, I kept thinking how awesome it would be if after the mandatory reading of Great Gatsby in class, they read this as a follow up. The Great Gatsby is seen through a very [cis] straight white lens, and this book explores multiple marginalized communities within the story while following a similar plot.


Something I truly loved about this story was how much thought went into it; to show how different someone's experience would be in 1920's New York as a brown trans boy, living and interacting in mainly white and wealthy spaces. The book is through the POV of Nicolás, and we the reader get to experience his time spent in NYC after living in rural Wisconsin. McLemore managed to explain the 20's fashion, makeup, phrases, and historical impacts used in the wealthy spaces of NYC without info dumping. We learn as Nick learns or sees something new to him, and McLemore shines with their flowy/magical realism writing style.


Each character has a very distinct and unique personality, and I valued the thought that went into creating them. Daisy is no longer the Daisy we knew from the GG - she is a white passing Latina who has bleached her hair, whitened her skin, and wears binder type clothing to straighten out her curves to fit into the 20's style aesthetic. Jay Gatsby is not only this enigma pining for Daisy; he's also a trans boy who is back from the war, and trying to assimilate back into the "regular" world. Tom Buchanan is still an asshole, and manages to be worse, only by McLemore including the realities of what a guy like Tom would say and do to non-white and non-wealthy people. Can we also keep applauding McLemore for writing trans teens with loving and accepting parents? I love seeing supportive parents who want the best for their child, and also for their child to grow up happy.


Seeing how marginalized people existed and were hiding in plain site throughout history was another important aspect of this book. We saw black and brown folks at Jay's parties, also dressed to impress and enjoying their night. We saw queer couples in a speakeasy able to be in a safe space to show their partner affection. Nick learned about lavender marriages, which were common in the time period for queer folks. As usual McLemore continues to blow me away with the deep dive into the trans experience, this time in the 1920's. They manage to include so many small things and elements of the trans experience, while not preaching or info-dumping on the reader. I feel seen and wish these stories were around when I was a teen/young adult trying to navigate the world and understand myself.


Please note, this is a remix of Great Gatsby, and the ending is different than the original story. There's a bit of a mystery element to the plot as well as the relationships between the characters.


The author's note at the end of the story was also excellent and great to hear McLemore's thought process and why choices were made in the story. Would highly recommend reading their note after finishing the book.


This was a great reimagining of a classic, I am curious to see how other's feel about it - I had a great time listening to the audiobook, McLemore and Roque both did excellent.


I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The dual narrators--one for Daisy and one for Nic--was fantastic. It really let both of them shine. Listening to it instead of reading it, it felt like there were a lot of "I said" but that's more of an issue with the prose. The actual audio production was great, and I'm super glad I got to listen to it.

As someone with little to no knowledge of the story of the Great Gatsby, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this retelling.

Self-Made Boys ended up being absolutely amazing. I was captivated with this story from the beginning. To the incredible queer rep, to the diverse cast of characters, to the beautiful friendships and most of all, to the cutest romance between Nick and Jay.

The amazing narration by Avi Roque made this story come to life.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for providing me of an audio arc in exchange for a honest review.

Nicolás Caraveo, is a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota. Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white to fit in with her rich boy Tom and the demands of the East Egg fashions. Jay Gatsby is a boy with many secrets, one of which being that he is also transgender.
I'm a sucker for a Great Gatsby retelling, I love them so much and this magical piece of literature might slide into the top of my list of favorite reimaginings! The characters are complex, the narrative is heartfelt and I loved every second of it.

I’m not a classics fan so I’ve never read or watched Great Gatsby. Shocking! I know. So when I started this book I had no idea what to expect and I can’t tell you how good of a retelling is compared to it.
What I can tell you is how beautifully written this story is. It has a lot of queer (especially trans) and Latine representation, and although there’s trigger warnings for homophobia, racism, and colorism, the author did a great job protecting the reader from this subjects dealing with them in such a careful way.
The book was really fun, the characters were lovable and felt real, and I honestly didn’t want to put this one down.

It comes out on September 6th so you should consider preordering this one.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for letting me listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

This Gatsby remix was fresh and kept me hooked; it provided enough new layers to these characters to make them feel brand new while still being recognizable. Nick arrives in New York to start a new job on Wall Street, and after meeting up with his cousin-who's reinvented herself- gets set down a path towards the great Gatsby himself. Avi Roque was able to really sell the characters in their narration and the descriptions of the glitz and the excess of the 20's were wonderful. It was a fun tangle of love, identity, and discovery; you get swept up in all of it the same way Nick does.

I read The Great Gatsby in high school like a lot of other people and at the end of the unit, I had to write an essay about it. A majority of the students in my class wrote about its commentary on the American Dream or disillusionment in the 1920s. I, apparently immune to cringe, write my whole essay and gave a whole presentation on how gay Nick and Gatsby were for each other. The teacher wrote that he disagreed with how close Jay and Gatsby were together, but praised the proof I provided. I got a 90.
This long introduction is to say that when I heard Anna-Marie McLemore was writing a queer retelling of one of the few required reading materials I didn’t hate, I had to get my hands on it.
Self-Made Boys follows Nicolás Caraveo, a trans Mexican-American teen, who travels to NYC for a job and to visit his cousin, Daisy, who he owes a lot to. When he arrives, he’s surprised to see Daisy is now passing as white and is caught up in rumor with Tom and a missing pearl necklace. Nick soon meets his neighbor, the mysterious Gatsby who has been pining over Daisy. Nick soon agrees to help Gatsby and learns more about the people around him, including the fact that Jay is also trans.
As mentioned in the summary, Nick and Daisy are Mexican-American, Nick and Gatsby are trans, and just about the rest of the cast are queer in some way. The book also delves a lot into how queer and people of color survived in the 1920s and the struggles they faced trying to achieve the American Dream.
This book is really focused on Nick and Daisy’s relationship, as Nick tries to protect his cousin and help nudge her in what he thinks is the best path for her. Even when she’s not on page, the book clearly focuses on their relationship, which I loved the exploration of.
That’s not to say Gatsby is neglected, because we get plenty of scenes with him and Nick. His characterization just goes through one of the more dramatic remixes, as this Gatsby is less of a tragic, pitiful figure. McLemore instead focuses more of Jay’s optimism and that of being a “self-made boy.”
The discussion of differences leads well into where the book sort of disappointed me. It goes back to my silly little introduction where I read the original text in the context of the impossibility of the American Dream and the disillusionment with America that soldiers felt on arriving back from WWI. I went in expecting something along those lines, but McLemore doesn’t make that their thesis statement. They go more in the direction of “queer people and people of color often have to make their own paths, but they can still find happiness,” which, when I think about it in the context of a young adult book, I’m more amenable to. Really, it’s a case of expectations I put on it for no particular reason (it’s not like I heard advertisements regarding this as something that pulls apart the American Dream.)
Even though this isn’t Anna-Marie McLemore’s typical magical realism novel, their writing still shines through. Flowers are intricately described in both scent and shape and love is achingly touched upon. Several times, I wished I wasn’t reading this via audio only so I could’ve highlighted certain passages. That being said, the narration was so well done! This is my first Avi Roque audiobook and it certainly won’t be my last! Their narration was interspersed with letters read by Kyla Garcia.
I loved this book overall and rated it 4 stars! This is everything I expected from a retelling by Anna-Marie McLemore and more! If you read The Great Gatsby and thought there was a little something more to Nick and Jay than met the eye, I highly recommend this.

Full disclosure: I've started but never finished The Great Gatsby multiple times. It just hasn't clicked for me yet. So, I have no real connection to the source material other than the retellings and the movie. What drew me to this initially, was the author, Anna-Marie McLemore. Their book, Lakelore, was a really good and fantastical portrayal of struggling to come to terms with the parts of yourself you'd rather keep hidden, while simultaneously being an uplifting story of queer found family and care. I was hoping this would be the same, and I was not disappointed. If anything, the themes are even stronger in Self-Made Boys. It has some of my favorite tropes of found family and mutual pining, while exploring what the consequences of multiple types of passing. I really appreciate that McLemore touched on the character's relationships to the war, as well. That's something that has often been glossed over when people write about the roaring 20s.

I will say, the book is not subtle about some of the topics, but it's a ya novel, so it doesn't need to be. There were also points when I literally said out loud "Oh Nick, nooooo," because he was being almost unrealistically dense. However, the characters manage to be suprisingly layered, the twists made to the familiar story are well-done, and the ending is satisfying and kind. So, I can forgive a little lack of subtlety and some narrative induced foolishness.

The narrators for the audiobook really nail their characters, too. Avi Roque is a fav and they don't dissapoint here, taking on a number of characters with variety and skill, while, Kyla Garcia really nails Daisy, embuing her with a confidence that sometimes comes off as self-assured to a fault, but never totally unlikeable.

Highly recommended for any readers of ya who like a good remix of a classic, especially one that makes everything 100% gayer. If you enjoy the format, definitely listen to the audiobook.

~Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy.~

I absolutely loved this remix, I never read the original gatsby, well I tried but never got far, however I saw the newer movie and my partner knows a decent amount about the original so I went in with a fairly base/basic knowledge of the source material.

I really enjoyed the relationships between the main characters and how their friendships/relationships developed/changed/grew over the story, as well as the way the characters queerness presented and grew in the eyes of nicolás and the reader over the course of the book. I adored the ‘self made boys’ bit, and the way the trans experience was explained was relatable and beautiful. Kinda off of that; the writing in this book was really well done and beautiful in my opinion and I loved the way the pov’s were structured to enhance to the story. This was a beautiful ya book with heavy themes of embracing your culture despite what the society around you is saying and be who you are. If classics were like this growing up I can guarantee I would’ve read them all!

I will 100% be getting myself a physical copy of this book and most likely the audiobook as well, so far these remixed classics have been fantastic and I can’t wait to see what else is to come!

Additionally; Avi Roque, and Kyla Garcia narrated the audiobook, they did a fantastic job (I love Avi Roque already) and their narration added to the story so well

Graphic: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Anna Marie McLemore, I love you. Thank you for writing a book like this. When I first started reading I wasn’t sure if I had to like The Great Gatsby to like this or this would make me like The Great Gatsby and definitely the later. Thank you thank you