Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

7 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Addiction, Car accident, Colonisation, Death of parent, Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Grief, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Kidnapping, Transphobia, Homophobia, Deportation, Gun violence, Child death, Slavery, War, and Pregnancy

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Racism, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Classism, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Racism, Toxic friendship, War, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Deportation, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

nisaak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

After reading this book, I’m in love with Nghi Vo’s writing and want to read everything they’ve written. I know the original Gatsby story. Vo added magic and diversified the characters and made me see myself in it. The ending destroyed me in a good way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Addiction

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I wasn't one of the poor children caught by the Great Gatsby in high school, either in one of those long-running grudges against the concept of symbolism after too many conversations about green lights and painted eyes, or caught like a character by the glamor. It was just a book. This is a much more interesting and meaningful book, through the simple expedients of handing the camera to a more interesting person and reflecting on the world, not just the idea of the world. Also there's some demons and stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Abortion, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Animal death and War

contre_qui's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful language. If you liked Great Gatsby and you're a fan of dark fantasy/magical realism, you'll like this. This story fits so well into the vibe of Gatsby, so the magic feels completely natural to the story. It's dark, it's a little twisted, and it's so interesting. I absolutely loved it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Death, and Car accident

It has all of the same triggers as Great Gatsby, plus a few extras for the emphasis on drug and alcohol use and racism.

sunsetcity's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Sexism

evilyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content