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carpenterbeeoli's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
waxwings's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
angryginger's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dqrklightning's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
zlad13's review
fast-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
noirverse's review against another edition
3.0
I'm starting to feel a bit like Goldilocks when it comes to Gatsby retellings. To start with the good: I loved the diversity in this one and there were some great turns of phrase in the book. So what didn't work for me?
In a lot of ways, the problems I had with this book are almost the opposite side of the coin to the issues I had with The Chosen and the Beautiful. Where Chosen used several scenes from the original while following what happens in them in the original to the letter, this book only uses them as the faintest touchstone before quickly propelling itself into a whole new plot. This should've been a good thing, but for the word count of the book, it really felt like we were constantly rushing from scene to scene with barely any time to breathe. I wanted more time with the new concepts the story introduced.
I also felt like the characters' ages were really stretching my suspension of disbelief. This is a YA novel which is the point of aging them down, and I knew that going in, but at the same time, I thought we lost something by making the characters so young and barely old enough to have any regrets about life at all. And, frankly, it was a little awkward the way the story tried to make the character similar enough to the original versions when they were so young. They were also all significantly much better people than in the original, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it seemed to make things overly straightforward to me. Nicolás being so clueless about what was actually going on around him to the point he needed to have everything explained to him (particularly with what was going on with Gatsby) instead of naturally arriving at the realization on his own also felt a little weird.
So why the three-star rating? Because I did think this is a book that will work well for teenagers which is really all that matters for a YA novel and there were enough moments in the story that shined that I couldn't bring myself to give it two stars (It gets major props from me for making both Nicolás and Gatsby trans). It's just not the retelling of my heart.
In a lot of ways, the problems I had with this book are almost the opposite side of the coin to the issues I had with The Chosen and the Beautiful. Where Chosen used several scenes from the original while following what happens in them in the original to the letter, this book only uses them as the faintest touchstone before quickly propelling itself into a whole new plot. This should've been a good thing, but for the word count of the book, it really felt like we were constantly rushing from scene to scene with barely any time to breathe. I wanted more time with the new concepts the story introduced.
I also felt like the characters' ages were really stretching my suspension of disbelief. This is a YA novel which is the point of aging them down, and I knew that going in, but at the same time, I thought we lost something by making the characters so young and barely old enough to have any regrets about life at all. And, frankly, it was a little awkward the way the story tried to make the character similar enough to the original versions when they were so young. They were also all significantly much better people than in the original, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it seemed to make things overly straightforward to me. Nicolás being so clueless about what was actually going on around him to the point he needed to have everything explained to him (particularly with what was going on with Gatsby) instead of naturally arriving at the realization on his own also felt a little weird.
So why the three-star rating? Because I did think this is a book that will work well for teenagers which is really all that matters for a YA novel and there were enough moments in the story that shined that I couldn't bring myself to give it two stars (It gets major props from me for making both Nicolás and Gatsby trans). It's just not the retelling of my heart.
paperbrownies's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
self-made boys
(remixed classics #5)
by anne marie mcLemore
~format: ebook
~about: lgbtqiap+, ya, historical, retelling, great gatsby queer reimagining, “American dream and its myths about self-made men”, be gay do crime, eat the rich, reclamation of one’s roots, sexuality and gender identity, beautiful prose, mutual pining, magical and absolutely dream like!!
~ m|m, w|w
~ rep: mexican-american transgender male character, transgender gay love interest, laina lesbian, sapphic love interest, other queer and brown characters
(remixed classics #5)
by anne marie mcLemore
~format: ebook
~about: lgbtqiap+, ya, historical, retelling, great gatsby queer reimagining, “American dream and its myths about self-made men”, be gay do crime, eat the rich, reclamation of one’s roots, sexuality and gender identity, beautiful prose, mutual pining, magical and absolutely dream like!!
~ m|m, w|w
~ rep: mexican-american transgender male character, transgender gay love interest, laina lesbian, sapphic love interest, other queer and brown characters