Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

11 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

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Abortion, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Classism, Death, Murder, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, War, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Homophobia

asiamd's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I think this book was really well written and the imagery the author used to get some of the scenes across was amazing, but I also feel like the magic aspect of the book while it was amazing and added a lot more wonder into the book it was kinda unnecessary. Idk I didn’t really vibe with this book even though it was great just not for me! I also didn’t catch a lot of the hints dropped in the book which made it kinda confusing for me especially when you add in the magic aspect. Overall I’d give it a 6/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Alcohol

Moderate: Classism and Colonisation

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

mateoj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

4.0

definitely a take on Gatsby worth reading, though it felt a little thin in terms of its own worldbuilding. I enjoyed it very much, and I'm not exactly mad at it, but I wish the fantasy world Vo created here was explored in more depth.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Colonisation, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Physical abuse

fiveredhens's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

2.75

i liked gatsby and wanted to like this but it just wasn't for me :( the writing was in the uncanny valley and none of the fun changes were used effectively imo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

orchidd's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident and Abortion

Minor: Physical abuse

leadabird's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

An exquisite retelling of Gatsby that rests neatly against the original. I fell in love with Vo’s Jordan Baker instantly, and the novel is dripping in biting, elegant prose. I will read this over & over again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Moderate: Colonisation, Kidnapping, and Murder