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A review by noellesmagicallibrary
Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo
Don’t Sleep with the Dead is a companion novella to Nghi Vo’s Gatsby-inspired novel, The Chosen and the Beautiful.
It’s December 1939 in NYC. Nick Carraway sees Jay Gatsby walking around the city, but that’s impossible -- Gatsby is dead. He needs to know what happened to Gatsby, going as far as making a deal with a demon to get answers.
This short story is gorgeously written and deserves your full attention. I love Vo’s choice to introduce queerness and magic into The Great Gatsby.
You don’t have to read The Chosen and the Beautiful prior to reading this novella but I do recommend it. Full transparency: I thought I did read it. Turns out I was thinking of a different Gatsby-inspired novel. 😅
I didn’t know this was a world of magical realism and demons, so that made for a slightly confusing reading experience initially. I had to read the synopsis and a few reviews to figure out that these things were literal paper-soldiers and devils.
I didn’t know this was a world of magical realism and demons, so that made for a slightly confusing reading experience initially. I had to read the synopsis and a few reviews to figure out that these things were literal paper-soldiers and devils.
The Chosen and the Beautiful has been on my TBR for a while and once I read it I fully expect to go back to Don’t Sleep with the Dead -- I think it will have an even larger impact the second time.