Fun and steamy Gatsby retelling that does not take itself too seriously, while still achieving a charming and heartfelt story. Plus, I love vampires. Solid and spicy paranormal romance overall.

Tysm for the ARC!

Edited- I meant to make this 5 stars, not 4! Fixed now.

"Beautiful Villain" by Rebecca Kenney introduces Daisy Finnegan, whose carefree summer takes a dark turn when her cousin disappears at an exclusive house party hosted by the mysterious Jay Gatsby, Daisy's childhood sweetheart. As Daisy becomes entangled in Gatsby's world of wealth, lies, and obsession, a shocking act of violence threatens to unravel everything. When Gatsby is shot but miraculously survives, Daisy learns the horrifying truth: he achieved his success by selling the secret of immortality. With her friends' lives in danger and her own newfound powers unstable, Daisy faces an impossible choice: stand by Gatsby, or align herself with those who seek to destroy him. Kenney's novel is a thrilling blend of romance, suspense, and supernatural intrigue that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

I'd like to thank the publisher for this NetGalley eARC to read and provide my thoughts of this book.'

Great Gatsby, but make it supernatural with Vampires (and modernity)!
The character names are the ones we've loved before, so we've got Daisy, Jay, and Nick. Jay, of course hosts gigantic parties at his estate,, but for different reasons instead of only hosting them for Daisy to possibly show up one day.

I think that having so much current slang kind of threw me off a bit (yes, I know it takes place during today), which made me feel like this book might be fore the early 20's audience. I guess I just couldn't connect with the characters, and definitely felt the age-gap between them and myself. I'm also shocked at how easy everyone was when learning about vampirism.

I found myself really enjoying the first 80% of the book, but starting to lose some interest in the last few chapters as the big climax started to wrap up.

I really have enjoyed the other books of hers that I've read in the past though, and will continue to read what she puts out.

This book was enjoyable for the most part but I felt like it was missing something. The characters weren't fleshed out very well and it felt like it had many plot holes. Half of the main characters just disappeared in the middle of the book and we never heard from them again.

I also know that this was a new age story of Gatsby, but the tiktok slang was really throwing me off and also taking me out of the story.

Overall, it wasn't a favorite of mine. I do love Rebecca's writing though. This book just didn't feel like her writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Beautiful Villain is a reimagining of Gatsby and Daisy’s story (character from The Great Gatsby) in a modern and vampiric light, with just a sprinkling of spice. A second chance romance at its heart, we watch these two childhood sweethearts cross paths again and reconnect despite the, ahem, paranormal changes to their lives. And while this had so much promise, it fell just a few inches too short of great.

Jay isn’t your classic, over the top, possessive vampire love interest. Despite being turned, he’s still the same age as Daisy? I found this slightly confusing, given typical vampire lore. And the few scientific explanations that we’re given didn’t really shed much light on things unfortunately. The way things are explained and certain phrases are stressed, it almost seems like the only benefit to vampirism is heightened reflexes and an enhanced invulnerability, not total immortality. Aside from the confusing logistics of his age and the lore, his personality felt juvenile and possessive in a childish way. Daisy on the other hand, begins our story vulnerable and healing after a bad breakup at the start of this novel, and while I understand that her connection with Jay had a deep history, I got a little whiplash with how quickly she got over her trust issues with Tom for a man that became obsessed with the idea of her over her for years with little regard for her as an actual person.

I’m all for the incredible and fantastical and even the outrageous in my stories. Don’t get me wrong. But this just lacked a believability and clarity to it. It may have helped if the characters and their friends were likable, but unfortunately you spend such little time with Jordan, Nick, and Cory that it’s impossible to form those connections. Overall this was an average read and could have benefited from more time nursing Gatsby and Daisy’s rekindling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebecca Kenney for providing an ARC of this book for me to give my honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

This it is so good! I started last night and kept reading until i was done. The book had just the right amount of supernatural, romance and spice.

I loved all the characters, especially Daisy's cousin, Nick!

Highly recoomd for vampire lovers!

Rebecca never disappoints with her re tellings. I went into this book completely blind and was not disappointed.
Daisy is coming out of a slump from breaking up with her ex after catching him with another woman. She goes to a party with friends and learns that her childhood best friend Jay Gatsby, is the extravagant host to these insane parties and has a fortune bigger than life. Daisy is thrust into his world and learns of his secret to wealth and a long life.
Thank you to Rebecca F. Kenney for sharing this story with me.

💰 best friends to strangers to lovers
💰 touch her and d!e
💰 supernatural world
💰 revenge
💰 hot spicy scenes
🌶 🌶 🌶
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Did I know I needed a vampiric Gatsby retelling in my life? Nope. Would my life have been infinitely duller had I not discovered that I did, in fact, need a vampiric Gatsby retelling written by the stunning Rebecca Kenney? Absolutely. I have been a fan of Kenney since I discovered she wrote a Jack Frost retelling, much to the delight of my inner child and her very first fictional crush--I'm talking claymation Jack Frost and I am not sorry. Her stories always seem to hit a spot for me that no one else bothers to touch, whether I know they're there or not. Beautiful Villain was no different. From the very beginning I felt connected to Daisy's character. She felt real, emotional, and I wanted to beat the mess out of Tom for ever making her feel less than and I didn't even really know her yet. Then, with each introduction of a new character, I felt life being breathed into this story. Jordan and Nick were so fun and so loyal and exactly what Daisy needed. And when we finally got to meet Gatsby? I was already gone. His character was so complex. Between his constant need to strive for perfection, his devotion to Daisy, his brilliant mind, and every other amazing, deep, protective, romantic quality about him, I would have forgiven him for ghosting me, too. I also really loved the sassy nods to Fitzgerald's original work that were sprinkled throughout the story. I've already been recommending that people check out Kenney's books, and I'm elated to add this one to the list.

Unfortunately, this just wasn't for me. I was so excited for this but was thoroughly bored. I got to 70% and just couldn't go on.

Daisy Finnegan, still reeling from losing Jay Gatsby years ago, encounters him again at a summer party, only to discover a darker, more mysterious side to him. As she gets entangled in his world of wealth, lies, and obsession, she learns of Gatsby's secret of immortality, which puts everyone at risk. With her newfound power and a looming threat, Daisy faces a tough choice between Gatsby and those who want to see him destroyed.

I always love a good childhood sweethearts story but this wasn't it. I feel like there was a bit of toxicity between Jay and Daisy. And so I didn't enjoy the romance that much and the spice as well.
The reveal of Jay being a vampire was not shocking since there were a lot of giveaways as well as Daisy. While I love the idea of supernatural abilities, I was a bit lost and confused at times. I feel like the world-building and character development would have been better.
I found out that there's going to be a second book and maybe I will check it out if I'm bored.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending Me an arc!

When I heard that Rebecca Kenney had written a book that was a Great Gatsby retelling with a dark twist and I had to read it. I was so happy to receive an eARC from NetGalley.

Unfortunately this was not one of my favorites from Rebecca. I think the storyline had potential, but I wasn’t a fan of how much modern day elements there were. To be fair I prefer the books I read to be separate from modern day, but I wish there weren’t so much slang like “slay” or talking about TikTok and YouTube.

I did feel for our FMC Daisy, but she also did make me cringe with the things she said/did. I also thought Gatsby could’ve been more swoon worthy and formal, like Gatsby is supposed to be.

I also thought it was pretty obvious what Gatsby and his friends were, and it took so long for Daisy to figure it out.

I did enjoy reading this. It was quick and fun. I think if you like modern day retellings and quick steamy stories than you’ll love this. It wasn’t bad, just not one of my favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy! This was fun. A good read for an afternoon or two with characters healing from past issues.

I love love love this author so much. She never disappoints. This book was so good there is some spice and it's sooo good. I love this friends to lovers romance. Jay is just perfect and I love daisy and her self discovery. I can't recommend this book and author enough.

Beautiful Villains was a fun retelling of The Great Gatsby with a vampiric twist! I liked that it didn't take itself too seriously and lets the reader have a good time. I could definitely tell the author loved the Leonardo Dicaprio movie, as some of the scenes felt right out of the movie. I enjoyed the movie too, so I didn't mind. There was good humor in this book and good spice, as well. It was a fun romp and I love that beloved literary characters have a chance to change their story in this one. I thought the mechanics of vampirism was really interesting in this book, too. I enjoyed it!

I’m honestly a little unsure about how I feel about this book. On one hand there were multiple times where I wanted to put this down and never pick it up again and others where I thought the call back to the Great Gatsby were either hilarious or really well thought out.

For those who don’t know, this is a modern day retelling of The Great Gatsby with a vampire twist. As someone who doesn’t really understand the great appeal of Gatsby I was intrigued to pick up this book but honestly I couldn’t get into the romance of this book, that being said it did follow a similar feeling/trend as the original story an in that I didn’t feel love, only possession and obsession.

If you are a strict lover of the original Great Gatsby I’m not sure this is the one for you, think Jordan Baker being a parkour Tik Tok influencer… On the other hand if that lil tidbit got you excited and you like a little spice with your bloodsuckers, this might just be your next favourite thing.

Regardless, it was an interesting look into a classic with a paranormal twist.

SO was this a fun smutty vampire romp? Yes. Did it rewrite the Great Gatsby? Yes, Did it rewrite the story in such a way that made it clear that the author watched the film, listened to Lana Del Ray, and completely misunderstood the point of the original literature? Also yes.
Had fun, but misunderstood the assignment.

Go into it with the expectations of some references and some smut and some confusing anatomy and have fun,

I'll admit I've never read the original tale but I love a retelling of any sorts so I couldn't say no to this, especially with a supernatural twist.

I like how Daisy gets past her breakup and toxic ex and finally finds herself but wish she could get all her thoughts out when talking to Gatsby...he's such a romantic he would've loved that stuff!
The spice scenes were brilliant as always. There aren't as many as Rebecca F Kenney's usual stories but they complimented the story well.

I did get a bit of whiplash from the drastic changes in moods especially when Daisy was deciding whether she was on board with Jay's new life or not. Also some aspects felt a little rushed and not fully tied up but that might just be me wanting too much information

Rebecca F. Kenney's 'Beautiful Villain' offers a captivating twist on 'The Great Gatsby,' blending slow burn tension with fast-paced action seamlessly. The protagonist, Daisy, navigates a journey of recovery from an abusive relationship, leading her to an extravagant and mysterious party where she meets Jay, a romantic figure with secrets of his own. Kenney masterfully incorporates paranormal elements and tropes such as bite play and childhood crushes, creating a story that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. With strong character dynamics and themes of protection and secrets, 'Beautiful Villain' is a must-read for fans of supernatural romance.

Content Warning: abuse

I never read The Great Gatsby but I did watch the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio mostly because of that Lana Del Rey song, Young and Beautiful.

Daisy is a young adult who is out of college, doesn’t have much direction, she broke up with her abusive ex-boyfriend, and just got invited to an infamous party thrown by some mysterious guy people refer to as Gatsby. The name is familiar to Daisy and wonders if it’s the same Jay Gatsby she was best friends with when she was younger, before she moved to a new town.

I thought this was a fairly quick read because I wanted to see how the vampire element would fit in the Gatsby story and I thought it did it pretty well. I like that the explanation about how vampires are created is different from the usual lore. Jay is such mysterious, wealthy young man, that it makes sense he would be a vampire.

Daisy and Jay’s attraction happens very quick and things get spicy between them almost right away. Their feelings for each other from when they were younger resurfaces but they do make an effort to get to know one another since so much has changed – especially with Jay.

I can’t say I connected to anyone in this story. Also, there is a lot of pop culture references in the book – if you aren’t into that, then just know it’s there.

My Thoughts:

I thought this one was okay. I did think it was a pretty good retelling of The Great Gatsby only from what I saw and remembered from the movie. The vampire storyline worked pretty well but I just didn’t connect to the characters. I think I wanted more drama and maybe have it be a little more darker because sometimes it felt like a young adult story just a very spicy one.

Beautiful Villain by Rebecca Kenney is an absolutely genius crossover!

I am not into vampire books outside of Anne Rice but I have to say that there are some great takes on the genre coming out and this is certainly one of them. The Great Gatsby X Vampires. Seriously, could there be a better crossover? Not only is this a fantastic crossover, it has blinding tropes, second chances, spicy spice, touch her and be unalived etc, everything you would expect from a paranormal storyline, but hoiked up into the air, twisted around urban fantasy and having a classical literary great re-written. Stunning!

There is always the risk of cliche in character development in paranormal/ urban fantasy but I did not see any of that in this book and I celebrate it to the nth degree! Daisy is so utterly relatable and it's easy to empathise with her journey and as for Jay, well, oof! I utterly despised Myrtle and Tom, and that is testament to Kenney's skill in creating characters that the reader will either relate or react to

Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley, SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca | Sourcebooks Casablanca and the author Rebecca Kenney for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own