Reviews

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

bobaandcaffeine's review

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

ambergamgee's review

3.0

2 1/2 rounded up. I probably should have abandoned it, but it was for a book club. I thought it would be a revisioning or retelling of The Great Gatsby, but it’s the same story from a different perspective. With A LOT more words. One of the things the Great Gatsby has going for it is that it’s fairy concise with its words and short. This one was too much. Especially with all the times Jordan was sleeping with strangers. Honestly I don’t need a full paragraph or two for each person when it’s a character well never see it again and it’s happening every third page. I’m probably exaggerating but it felt like way too much. I get it, Jordan bangs anyone and everyone to avoid being alone. I found myself wanting more about Jordan’s athletic career. She’s a successful tennis player? We literally never see it. It’s mentioned maybe twice. There was way more story potential there I think.
I did like the magic realism and paper cutting. That was the only good part, and it was good enough for 2.5 stars.

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Vo delivers excellent poetic prose with striking renditions of classic characters very successfully

e_oneita's review

5.0

The Chosen and the Beautiful is a perfect complement to The Great Gatsby. The fantastical elements thread seamlessly into the existing, surreal landscape of Fitzgerald's world, and the acerbic Jordan Baker's POV is brilliant for unpicking the stupid, selfish actions of the characters, which can seem so incomprehensible when told by the undoubtedly biased Nick, in the original.

This is a quick, lush read, and is recommended for anyone wanting to dip again- or for the first time- into the heady, heavy hedonism of the Jazz Age.

ketsy95's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

I think were I rating the prose alone this would be a 4/5. But there's just so much that did not work for me particularly. 

blkbltchic's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.75

This is my current favorite book. The prose in it is beautiful and vivid. Being a sort of spin-off/fantastical adaptation of the Great Gatsby I wonder if those that either had not read or are unfamiliar with the story would be lost. Otherwise it was a fun exploration. I personally like when magic is treated as incredibly mundane and sporadically like it was in this book. I saw some complaints about it not being explained on how it works and the answer is simply that our pov character doesn't really know either. It's something that is there and can be used. Comparable to cell phones, most people use them everyday yet have no idea of the inner workings. Anyway, I loved it.

elliotvanz's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

timinbc's review

3.0

I have liked Vo's novellas a lot; this, not so much.

Retelling a story is fine, if it's a story the reader liked in the original. Gatsby is not one of those for me. Inserting a new character and PoV is fine, and smoothly done.

Unfortunately, the cast given doesn't really contain anyone likable. We're just waiting for it all to spiral out of control, and that's a sub-genre I've never cared for.

SO let's add some magic. I'll admit it's very slickly slid into the reader's brain, and more than once I said to myself, "WAIT a minute," and went back three pages. And yes, that person IS that thing! Alas, I have never liked paper-magic stories; again, that's not the author's fault. But I was also left with the idea that we ended up with bits and scraps of magic from all sorts of very different lines of magic. For me, they didn't mix well.

And of course, "Dammit, when are you going to tell us who Walter Finley is?"
And what's with the pro golfer who drinks like a fish and parties hearty? I guess there were some in those days.

This author still has several credits in my rating bank, and I'll give a first-novel point, too. I'll look for the next one.

mayhem9683's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

ashley_heuser's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked the premise of this book: magical realism meets Great Gatsby by also including historical events and legislation and analyzing how characters would think and feel about it. Vo successfully executes on the ideas that she lays out and gives readers a wonderful experience. This book, however, is not for me. Although I understand that The Great Gatsby is not meant to have likable characters so it makes sense that the characters in this novel would not be likable either, I struggle to get into books if I can't like the POV. I can definitely sympathize with Jordan, but I could not necessarily like her (but I also think that that was intentional). However, Vo's writing style is amazing. I prefer her Singing Hills Cycle series more, but this is still an impressive read.