Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

13 reviews

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

katierobertsonshaddix's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug use, Physical abuse, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Murder, Death, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse

lolajh's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Vomit

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Car accident, and Abortion

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, Death of parent, and Death

lou_mac's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Do you love the world of the Great Gatsby but find Nick and insufferable narrator?
Did you wonder quite how Gatsby was throwing these parties?
And what of the roaring 20s beyond the selfishness of Daisy and Tom's world? 
Then this book is for you.

Jordan Baker takes the role as narrator, and in this telling she is Vietnamese, queer and able to tell us about the magic in the world. I loved seeing the story from a fresh perspective, and getting some world building beyond parties and affairs. If the Great Gatsby is about the American dream, then the chosen and the beautiful unpacks who you have to be to have access to the opportunity. 

The magic of this book for the most part felt like coded "living alternatively" messages, and I could have done with a little more background of certain elements of it -but at no point did I feel it didn't make sense. And I loved that this book didn't make Daisy too sympathetic, but did give me something more to like about Nick. 

I'll definitely read this book again, and I think it is one where I'll get something different on a re-read, which is always a delight.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Racism

atamano's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Homophobia, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content

entityj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Gun violence, Murder, War, Car accident, Death, and Deportation

auudrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Sexual content

Minor: Physical abuse, Abortion, Drug use, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

hngisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, Car accident, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Violence, and War

abominablesnowaro's review against another edition

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

Points for diversity and queer characters. Some points off for connecting them to demons and doubling down on the antisemitism from The Great Gatsby (but only in a brief mention). Overall weird, but pretty good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Infidelity, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Biphobia, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Antisemitism and Physical abuse