Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Chosen and the Beautiful

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

24 reviews

sful40's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I would say that it portrays the messiness of relationships well and a decent portrayal of self-acceptance/ self-hatred. There were many times throughout the book the Jordan reminds us that she is Vietnamese but she is also like her white counterparts with how she was raised. I wished the book touched on more about her struggle with it.

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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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lolajh's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.75

Wow. What a rollercoaster. Such a promising lead up,

I loooooved Jordan in the original, and was really rooting for an eventual romance between her and Daisy in this 😫 It fr would have been so perfect for Daisy to realise at the very end she didn’t care for Tom or Gatsby and instead Jordan had been there waiting for her the whole time. They kissed and had such a homoerotic relationship already it would have been perfect

but a much weaker middle

Nick and Jordan’s relationship made me so mad it was so toxic and jordan didn’t even really like him

and end

WHAT THE FUCK EVEN HAPPENED

, especially regarding the magical realism fantasy bits that I really feel didn’t properly meld with the rest of the book. A lot of things were really disappointing, especially regarding the likability of Jordan as a main character when she was one of the only redeeming qualities I could find about the original. Jordan seemed quite manipulative and fake a lot of the time, and none of this was really explained.

A perfect explanation for her choosing to stay with Nick all that time while she internally complained about him would be that she was FUCKING IN LOVE WITH DAISY yet she never (properly) admitted that and instead just gaslighted Daisy at the end when they were so close to actually addressing their relationship. Even if they just remained friends, I would’ve loved to see them have a happy ending together, even if Jordan had to go with her and Tom. I feel like the fight between them over Gatsby running over that girl was weird and Daisy was just obviously traumatised like everyone else was by seeing a dead body, especially when Daisy actually saw Gatsby kill them and then went through him dying as well.

I loved Daisy, honestly wishing all the best for her and was rooting for her the whole time. Her character is just so real, I loved her in the original as well and think she was written well in this. Just the direction this book went and different weird elements like the fantasy stuff and a hint of incest???? Where jordan got jealous of Daisy flirting with Nick (Daisy and Nick are cousins????) Weird plot point, but anyway. I shouldn’t have gone into this hoping for certain things

like a sapphic romance

because the author never promised that and that isn’t fair. Was still disappointed anyway, but oh well!!

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alizirrah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Gorgeously evocative - vicious and incisive and subversive in the best possible ways. Each sentence felt so precise and surprising, like no word was wasted or out of place. I loved how everyone was casually queer and messily all in each other's business.

So why did it take me over 2 months to read this fairly short novel? I could not tell you. Possibly it was because it often took a lot of concentration to follow and parse each sentence's meaning, and when I tend to read before bed, this would lead to me nodding off after only reading a few pages. There were a few times that the story suddenly slipped into a flashback and I wasn't sure what time the scene took place, and other times I *thought* we had flashed back but then that scene actually had been current.

But it is an absolutely gorgeous book overall. The magical elements were fascinating and very memorable. I found this parallel universe 1920's U.S. very compelling.

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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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eharms3's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

Better than the Great Gatsby (I didn’t love that one). Interesting spin on it. Wish there were more magic, but I guess I can see why the author left it subtle. Beautifully written.

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marleywrites's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.5

I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Great Gatsby story, so I’m not sure what drew me to try this novel. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I appreciated the queer representation and that different people of color were in the book.

I was often left hoping for more of Jordan’s story, and was instead getting Daisy’s, which I didn’t care for much but again, what else could I expect in a retelling? I thought Jordan was well written, a complex and intelligent character. I wish we had spent more time with her backstory. I felt she was often too forgiving of Daisy, but I suppose that’s the point- everyone loves Daisy.

Things I liked about the novel include the queer representation, the way they were all interconnected (read: sleeping with) to each other, and the description of the parties & outfits, and the magic.

I wish we could see more of Jordan on the cover. I wish I could have seen her in her outfit choices. I loved reading about them.

Overall, I rated this book a 3.5/5. I wish the relationship with Kai had been more explored, and I wish I had gotten a better description of the magic Jordan and others can reform. It felt like an area that could have been expanded upon. The book was a bit slow, but the vibes were great so it was alright. I listened to this story on audiobook and it kept me engaged.

I felt like the ending took me by surprise. I felt like it undid Jordan’s character arc. I didn’t see it coming it felt confusing as she’d just harped on Daisy for murdering the woman. I’m just confused by it I think…?

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