Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Beautiful Little Fools

I loved seeing this story from the different women’s perspectives. It added in the little bit of murder mystery that kept you guessing which woman killed Gatsby, every time I thought I had put the puzzle pieces together, something new would get revealed. I also really enjoyed seeing all of the main plot points from the actual Great Gatsby book pop up in this story and how they fit together with this version of the narrative. All around a very enjoyable read!

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serenas_reads's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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tanjalunney's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

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hazelgirl21's review

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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kamin8882's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

"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 in The Great Gatsby.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy!! The Great Gatsby mixed with Big Little Lies, sign me up please !! Thank you so much to Netgalley, Harper Perennial and Jillian Cantor for an ARC of this amazingly brilliant book!

I have always loved The Great Gatsby, the book and the movie (especially with Leo <3) so I was super excited to read this book from the ladies POV!! Jillian Cantor did an amazing job diving us into the whole stories of Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle and her sister Catherine, while also giving us a little mystery. Who really killed Jay Gatsby? Was it George, the grieving husband? Or was it one of the many women Jay had hurt in his long and selfish journey to win Daisy back ??

What I loved the most about this book was that you got to see why and how everything ended up the way they did.... the events and feelings leading up to Jay Gatsby's murder, made everything make sense. In fact, it made me love the female characters more, unlike the original where I was left thinking the women of the story are selfish and flashy. I loved all the details Jillian Cantor added to this story to make us really understand what life was like for the leading ladies, and make them completely more relatable, vulnerable and human. Even the detective, investigating Gatsby's death just to earn a buck to spoil his lady, added such a unique spin on this amazing story. I loved it !!!

"I always thought it was us women who were the fools... but I was wrong, it's been the men all along, hasn't it?"

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leah_152's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

Loved this book! I don't read many retellings or reimaginings but this one was exceptional

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cait_reads_and_drinks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kayceeraereads's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was ecstatic when The Great Gatsby entered public domain in the last few years and could not wait to get my hands on the books that were going to come out of it. Scott’s work left so much up for interpretation and to the imagination (I can still hear my English teacher in high school asking me about that green light), and I was absolutely not disappointed. If you are not familiar with The Great Gatsby, I would certainly read the spark notes of the story, or take some time to read it before picking this one up (or reading this review, which contains spoilers for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original work).

George Wilson shot Jay Gatsby. That’s what everyone agrees happened, until Detective Frank
Charles finds a diamond hairpin at the scene. Now, the women surrounding Gatsby’s secretive life are under a microscope as the detective tries to figure out who it belongs to and what really happened on that August day in West Egg.

The Great Gatsby is turned on its head and takes on a new feminist retelling with Jillian Cantor’s Beautiful Little Fools. This version of the tale focuses on Daisy, Jordan, and Catherine (Myrtle Wilson’s sister) and makes them the main characters instead of props for the men in the story. We get to see how all of these women ended up together that summer and how it all led to the death of Jay Gatsby.

To me, this was a perfect book (and I adored the original work, despite my issues with the author). It was well paced–especially for a mystery novel, it kept me on the edge of my seat even though I knew that Gatsby would always end up dead in his pool. I applaud Cantor for fleshing out all of the characters (except for Nick, who’s head I was very glad to not be in in this version) and making them so much more complex. We get to see Daisy’s pain and what drove her to marry Tom; the reason for Jordan’s aloofness and chronic lying; the humanization of Myrtle through the eyes of her sister; and how none of the men were “good” and put what they wanted before the women. Where the original was a critique on greed and the consumption of Americans in the 1920s, Cantor’s version is a feminist take on what it was like to be a woman in the 1920s and how they were at the mercy of the men around them, unless they take their lives (and other’s deaths) in to their own hands.

This has become a new favorite for me that I plan on revisiting!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Perennial, for this ARC!

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