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trin's review
1.0
Much in the same way I shouldn't have tried drinking the pitcher of iced tea I'd left in the fridge since before Christmas, but I did, I should not have read this book.
I'm all about transformative works; The Great Gatsby, however, is my favorite novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald left enormous shoes to fill, stylistically, and I wouldn't envy anyone the task, but I've enjoyed books by McLemore before, and I do love the idea of a trans, queer, race-bent Gatsby. So I decided to give this a chance.
The opening didn't seem bad! I wish McLemore hadn't aged everyone down to teenagers, but I imagine that was imposed by the publisher and by this being a YA series. (Though why teenagers can read the OG versions of these classics, most of which are about adults, but need the remixes to be about teens is beyond me.) Daisy and Tom are a couple but not married and they don't have a child, so adultery and bad parenting are two sins immediately off the table. Treading into watered-down territory, but okay, fine. I still liked young trans man Nick and his cousin Daisy, who's been fully supportive of his being a boy but disavows him as her relative so she can continue to pass for white. There's some good compensatory tension there! As there is with everything imbued in the double meaning of this novel's title.
But then it got real dumb.
Did The Great Gatsby, one of the most perfect and precise novels ever written, ever need a plot about a missing pearl necklace, or about Nick's work on the stock market, or about -- for fuck's sake -- Daisy and Gatsby planning Daisy a debutante ball? Why were words wasted on all of that, yet Daisy and Jordan were left to
Nick and Gatsby's relationship is also, I'd argue, more nuanced and charged and more freaking romantic in the original than in this book. Fitzgerald didn't even do it on purpose, but because his characters are, even(/especially) when mysterious, so much more complex and complicated, shading naturally fills in around them. Every single character in this book is hideously defanged. Except for Tom, now a CW show villain, everyone secretly has good intentions and is good at heart. And oh boy, when I got to the sequence where McLemore remixes Myrtle Wilson's death and the events that follow, I almost screamed and threw my iPad across the room. They've made this brutal, harrowing climax into such a pathetic nothingburger -- a joke. There's no tension, no emotion, no meaning. McLemore has rendered The Great Gatsby, a book so laden with symbolism it's foisted upon a million ungrateful high school freshman to unpack, meaningless.
This version doesn't have anything to say about America. It doesn't even have anything interesting to say about queer people in the 1920s -- about which a wealth of interesting things could be said! They're all super nice and without significant flaws, though, and if they can trick one guy like he's a bully from a 1980s movie, then everything will be peachy. SNORE.
Uncoupled from Gatsby, there's material here to make a decent queer historical, as these are essentially OCs anyway. But the association only reduces the impact of McLemore's few good ideas. I feel like the best transformative works have something to say about the original text, but aside from the usual vague Daisy apologia -- and one really good idea about Gatsby's backstory that the author later unfortunately undercut -- we're off in what's essentially coffee shop AU territory. I have never been a fan of coffee shop AUs and I don't like this one. Instead of feeling big, bold, brave, queer, it feels cowardly. If the characters are only the most pure and good versions of themselves, who've never done anything worse than pour a bad latte -- well, what's the point? What are you learning and experiencing by reading about them? Don't queer folks deserve a chance to be beautiful jazz age monsters too?
The tea had big blooms of mold in it, by the way. I had to spit it out.
I'm all about transformative works; The Great Gatsby, however, is my favorite novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald left enormous shoes to fill, stylistically, and I wouldn't envy anyone the task, but I've enjoyed books by McLemore before, and I do love the idea of a trans, queer, race-bent Gatsby. So I decided to give this a chance.
The opening didn't seem bad! I wish McLemore hadn't aged everyone down to teenagers, but I imagine that was imposed by the publisher and by this being a YA series. (Though why teenagers can read the OG versions of these classics, most of which are about adults, but need the remixes to be about teens is beyond me.) Daisy and Tom are a couple but not married and they don't have a child, so adultery and bad parenting are two sins immediately off the table. Treading into watered-down territory, but okay, fine. I still liked young trans man Nick and his cousin Daisy, who's been fully supportive of his being a boy but disavows him as her relative so she can continue to pass for white. There's some good compensatory tension there! As there is with everything imbued in the double meaning of this novel's title.
But then it got real dumb.
Did The Great Gatsby, one of the most perfect and precise novels ever written, ever need a plot about a missing pearl necklace, or about Nick's work on the stock market, or about -- for fuck's sake -- Daisy and Gatsby planning Daisy a debutante ball? Why were words wasted on all of that, yet Daisy and Jordan were left to
Spoiler
fall in love almost entirely off page? I guess in part this choice was made because McLemore wanted Nick -- one of the great observers in literature -- to be too stupid to notice it, but not only is this untrue to his character, it's boring. As a writer, you can show the reader things that a narrator misses. That is a very cool trick that you can do.Nick and Gatsby's relationship is also, I'd argue, more nuanced and charged and more freaking romantic in the original than in this book. Fitzgerald didn't even do it on purpose, but because his characters are, even(/especially) when mysterious, so much more complex and complicated, shading naturally fills in around them. Every single character in this book is hideously defanged. Except for Tom, now a CW show villain, everyone secretly has good intentions and is good at heart. And oh boy, when I got to the sequence where McLemore remixes Myrtle Wilson's death and the events that follow, I almost screamed and threw my iPad across the room. They've made this brutal, harrowing climax into such a pathetic nothingburger -- a joke. There's no tension, no emotion, no meaning. McLemore has rendered The Great Gatsby, a book so laden with symbolism it's foisted upon a million ungrateful high school freshman to unpack, meaningless.
This version doesn't have anything to say about America. It doesn't even have anything interesting to say about queer people in the 1920s -- about which a wealth of interesting things could be said! They're all super nice and without significant flaws, though, and if they can trick one guy like he's a bully from a 1980s movie, then everything will be peachy. SNORE.
Uncoupled from Gatsby, there's material here to make a decent queer historical, as these are essentially OCs anyway. But the association only reduces the impact of McLemore's few good ideas. I feel like the best transformative works have something to say about the original text, but aside from the usual vague Daisy apologia -- and one really good idea about Gatsby's backstory that the author later unfortunately undercut -- we're off in what's essentially coffee shop AU territory. I have never been a fan of coffee shop AUs and I don't like this one. Instead of feeling big, bold, brave, queer, it feels cowardly. If the characters are only the most pure and good versions of themselves, who've never done anything worse than pour a bad latte -- well, what's the point? What are you learning and experiencing by reading about them? Don't queer folks deserve a chance to be beautiful jazz age monsters too?
The tea had big blooms of mold in it, by the way. I had to spit it out.
ulrikemaria's review
0.5
picked up from library at random bc i wanted something light as a break from all the nonfiction ive been reading recently.... do not do this. i just hate books where they transplant modern ideas about queerness into a historical setting. at the end of the day i was just not the audience for this. also gatsby didn't say old sport even once???
i will be going back to my books about westminster system politics.
i will be going back to my books about westminster system politics.
daizie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
4.25
This was a super cute and fresh take on a classic. I think it could've benefitted from including more elements of the original, like Gatsby being in love with Daisy , for one! That would've helped give it some more tension and depth. The things that were giving it tension - the stuff with the lost necklace, Tom, etc. - just didn't hit very hard and I didn't care about them.
cat_lover_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
moonflower97's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
samjoc's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Racism
rookthomas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Having just come off reading the original, I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from this retelling--but it gave that an more. The writing was splendid and the characters were engaging and endearing (and at times relatably oblivious). The plot was similar enough that it didn't feel entirely removed from the world of the original, but different enough that it wasn't like rereading the classic but with a more diverse cast this time. I couldn’t put it down!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Infidelity, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexism, Murder, and Racial slurs
mirandyli's review
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was a cute retelling of the Great Gatsby with queer and trans main characters. Sort of slow at times and not as good as the other books in this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Racism, War, Classism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Lesbophobia
ezrasupremacy's review
3.0
I gave this three stars because I think it’s very cute and does well if you ignore everything you know about The Great Gatsby or preferably if you have never read it.
I genuinely don’t think I have anything to criticise about this book that doesn’t boil down to “It felt entirely removed from what’s great about the original work”.
If you treat this like it’s an AU fanfic that for some reason plays in the exact same universe (well, ish) it’s super fun and a lovely soft little story that gives you a lot of qtpoc representation.
(Also, Spoiler I guess, but I have to agree with another reviewer - making Nick predict the Great Depression was so ridiculous that it’s just funny)
I genuinely don’t think I have anything to criticise about this book that doesn’t boil down to “It felt entirely removed from what’s great about the original work”.
If you treat this like it’s an AU fanfic that for some reason plays in the exact same universe (well, ish) it’s super fun and a lovely soft little story that gives you a lot of qtpoc representation.
(Also, Spoiler I guess, but I have to agree with another reviewer - making Nick predict the Great Depression was so ridiculous that it’s just funny)
ktv's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
on the nose in some parts and thats saying a lot coming from me. but overall a fun read. reads like/has the same voice as cemetery boys by aiden thomas
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexism, Infidelity, and Racism
Moderate: War, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs