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A review by illiteratewench
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
4.25
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo is a queer, fantasy retelling of the Great Gatsby from the perspective of a reimagined Jordan Baker. The prose is absolutely beautiful. I was already interested in reading Nghi Vo and I'm very impressed with her writing.
Jordan was adopted from Vietnam as a baby by Eliza Baker, a Christian missionary, and is raised by Eliza's parents after her death in the town of Louisville, alongside Daisy. As a retelling, this doesn't really stray far from the original story, despite some of the big changes. The fantasy element is light and we don't really get much explanation about it. Rather, it's an accepted reality of their world. As an aesthetic, I feel like it worked with the original and its themes of excess wealth and being distracted by beauty. The magical drink demoniac also worked in tandem with the prohibition. The original characters of Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby felt really preserved, despite the added queerness to some of them. I feel like Vo really understands the original novel. As a fan of The Great Gatsby myself, I found her retelling interesting with its changes but also comforting to return this story, even if in a new light.
In terms of Jordan's racial identity, I found it compelling. She's been raised knowing she's different, and I saw a lot of myself in how she grappled with growing up Asian in White America. While I couldn't relate to everything, I still felt really touched by how Vo wrote Jordan's race, she's a character who has gotten used to navigating being the Other in a white social circle, but runs when confronted with others who share her background. For example, in the scene where she first meets Daisy, Daisy asks her about Vietname. Despite Jordan not remembering anything, she starts to lie and exoticise herself to become more interesting to Daisy.
The scenes and interactions with Kai really hurt my heart and I had to put the book down at some point because of how much it was making me *feel*. As historical fiction, it felt well researched and I learnt something when it came to the Manchester Act, a fictional act in the book that plays off the real world The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Immigration Act of 1924. Vietnam is also called Tonkin by the American characters throughout the story.
Jordan was adopted from Vietnam as a baby by Eliza Baker, a Christian missionary, and is raised by Eliza's parents after her death in the town of Louisville, alongside Daisy. As a retelling, this doesn't really stray far from the original story, despite some of the big changes. The fantasy element is light and we don't really get much explanation about it. Rather, it's an accepted reality of their world. As an aesthetic, I feel like it worked with the original and its themes of excess wealth and being distracted by beauty. The magical drink demoniac also worked in tandem with the prohibition. The original characters of Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby felt really preserved, despite the added queerness to some of them. I feel like Vo really understands the original novel. As a fan of The Great Gatsby myself, I found her retelling interesting with its changes but also comforting to return this story, even if in a new light.
In terms of Jordan's racial identity, I found it compelling. She's been raised knowing she's different, and I saw a lot of myself in how she grappled with growing up Asian in White America. While I couldn't relate to everything, I still felt really touched by how Vo wrote Jordan's race, she's a character who has gotten used to navigating being the Other in a white social circle, but runs when confronted with others who share her background. For example, in the scene where she first meets Daisy, Daisy asks her about Vietname. Despite Jordan not remembering anything, she starts to lie and exoticise herself to become more interesting to Daisy.
The scenes and interactions with Kai really hurt my heart and I had to put the book down at some point because of how much it was making me *feel*. As historical fiction, it felt well researched and I learnt something when it came to the Manchester Act, a fictional act in the book that plays off the real world The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Immigration Act of 1924. Vietnam is also called Tonkin by the American characters throughout the story.
Alone I was a charming anomaly, with Kai I was a dangerous conspiracy.
Also how did this book make me like Nick as a hot boy twink? I can totally see him
We were at our best, I decided, when we were just the two of us on our own, but of course that changed once we crossed the threshold.
His large hands curled around my thighs, and there was a kind of Middle Western, old religion fervor to how he devoured me.
I also appreciated how the book critiques
What does it look like when a thousand-year hunger gets a taste of what it's craved?
The thing he had not quite grasped yet, I thought, was that as the master of such a fine place, he wasn't meant to be impressed with them himself, and of course he was.