Reviews with content warning for War - The Chosen and the Beautiful

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The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

31 reviews

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read, and really enjoyed, Vo's novella The Empress of Salt and Fortune a few years ago. Since then, she's published a few full length novels and I have been meaning to pick them up. This wasn't the one I thought I'd read first, as I never really did get the Gatsby hype. But I found it at a used bookstore and figured, why not?

Well, I went on vacation and ended up *many* book reviews behind, so, a blurb borrowed from Goodreads to save time: "Immigrant. Socialite. Magician. Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She's also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her. But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how."

Alright, like I said, this is a retelling of The Great Gatsby and I was never fully sold on the original, so I wasn't sure how I'd respond to this reimagining. It turns out: really well. I super enjoyed my time with this novel. It had all the glittering excess and self-absorption and "unreachability" of the first, but the dark undertones carried a hint of something more evil, with demons and bargains and magic, that added a little something that I loved. Plus, this version did less justifying and glorifying of some ugly character traits than what I remember of the original. They were all still there, but acknowledged for what they were in a way I appreciated and allowed me to buy more deeply into the story being told.

So, back to the undertones of magic and darkness, because those vibes were absolutely the highlight of the book for me. First, when I am in the mood for it, or when it hits right, I simply love a *vibes* read. (See, An Education in Malice.) In this case, Vo nails that aspect. The writing is simply magical, the setting and ambience in particular, but in general the mystery and mysticality are tangible. This is reinforced by the fact that the edges between actual magic and "feels like magic" are so blurred as to leave the reader feeling like they’re floating between reality and imagination. The fact that Jordan is an immigrant, and thus in "a little of both worlds, but not fully of either" herself, unique in the set she runs in, only adds to that feeling. For when things are a bit more openly described/referenced, I was totally in for the variety of magics that made their way into these pages. Of course, primarily, the paper cutting/manipulation that was, by heritage, Jordan's personal method. But also mentioned, “some infernal, some subterranean French, some American swamp medicine” and more. The way these were used to hide and enhance a variety of debaucheries (as far as the law and social understanding goes), was fantastic. And then there was the "magic" that is referred to as a sort of farce, the "show" that is the socialite excesses of the time in actuality. *chef's kiss* The line of demonic powers and the classic "demons of high society" is also flirted with, and the play back and forth is subtle and clever in delivery and, again, creates a reading experience that is superbly atmospheric. At some point, Vo uses the phrases "the wages of sin" and, for me, that phrase encapsulates much of this novel.

Contributing to the nebulous vibes of the book was also how oblique so much of it was. The money, sex, magic, ghosts, drunkenness, love, abortion, etc. is implicit and evasive, yet it’s all so very clearly there. Also, on theme historically and thematically: speakeasies!! Yes, please. Related: while it’s almost all closed door, I appreciated the casual way Jordan owns and acts on her sexuality and bisexuality without shame or guilt. Again: yes, please. Across the book, there is just so much subtext in everything: in the descriptions, the dialogue, sometimes even the plot development. (To that end, my one small complaint is that I thinkkkk I know what happened in the ending, with Nick in particular, but I'm not totally confident I understood it right.)

This retelling was absolutely sparkling. It takes everything that is glorified in the original and shines a light into the dark recesses and calls out what is actually a deep ugliness (ignored, pretended it wasn't there, by all those living above it) beneath the surface gleam and glitter - a reinvention and mirage that is brought tumbling down by Gatsby's inevitable ending - while still managing to maintain the plot development and sense of the wonder from the original. What a literary accomplishment.

“What Gatsby’s parties were was easy. It felt as if every wish you had while within his domain might be granted, and the only rule was that you must be beautiful and witty and bright.”

“You weren’t meant to look at people the way that Lieutenant Gatsby looked at Daisy Fay. You couldn't peel your skin back and show them how your heart had gone up in flames, how nothing that had come before mattered and nothing that came afterward mattered as long as you had what you wanted.”

“Sometimes, the only excuse for doing something stupid is knowing that you are doing it and being willing to accept the consequences.”

“Because that’s what the world is about. People being nice to you. [...] It's better than a world where they're cruel and you stay anyway.”

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tinyjude's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really wanted to love this. Unfortunately I feel it fell short to my expectations, perhaps because I was acquainted with the author's other works and I didn't realise this was the first one published. I felt like Nghi Vo wanted to dwell on several topics but barely grazed over them in the end, much in the Great Gatsby itself. The writing style and characterization is very similar so props to Vo for that, because still they felt like Original Characters. The good thing mainly is that we follow Jordan's pov, whereas in the original she was a secondary character, and this book takes the queer subtext and just screams at you QUEER QUEER QUEER in almost every page subtlety and loudly, simultaneously.

Despite that, Jordan's heritage and how the political landscape of the time will affect her are barely addressed by. Her paper cutting magic and the magic realism aspects could have been used more prominently and the queerness of, especially Nick and Jordan, could have been explored in more detail. It felt as if still we only got them as a couple who were each fascinated by Daisy and Jay, rather than madly in love with them. I get it was supposed to feel confusing but I think it didn't translate that well into the text.

The interpretation about the souls was interesting, thou.

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fishoutofwater's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Disclaimer: I have not read The Great Gatsby. That being said I really loved the imagery and the way Ngji Vo described the integration of magic in this historical context. It created such a beautiful atmosphere.
I took away 1 star because I do wish there was more background of the magic, more explanation of the limits of it and what it can and cannot do. However, I can also understand that leaving it a bit of a mystery might add more whimsical feeling to the book, but I guess I just didn't appreciate it.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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writewithapendragon's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is short but it took me a longer time to read than I expected. Vo’s prose is beautifully poetic, each word carefully chosen. I want to go back and annotate, I enjoyed the language so much. Gatsby itself is so over-done that I wasn’t expecting this to be so unique and captivating, but it is a truly singular work.

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katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lzad's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Vo's prose is as lovely as ever, and the magical realism elements are interesting, but the added magic and focus on Jordan are really the only major divergences from Gatsby -- overall, the story felt heavily reliant on the reader already being familiar with Gatsby (which I say as someone who is Very Normal about Gatsby), and I don't know that it really offers any more nuanced or thorough a glance at most of the characters, including Jordan. Could have definitely been a lot more fleshed out and more of a genuine retelling than effectively a companion novel, just feels a bit disjointed and shallow.

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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