Review – The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 266 pages
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: June 1, 2021
ASIN : B08HKX42VT
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this ebook from the library.
Story (3/5): I will start this review by saying two things; I love Vo’s Singing Hill Cycle books and I never enjoyed “The Great Gatsby ” when I read it originally (although that was a long, long time ago). Honestly, if I had known this was a retelling of “The Great Gatsby” going in, I probably would have skipped it. I didn’t realize that until later though. This is the wandering retelling from Jordan Baker’s POV of the events surrounding her friends Daisy and Gatsby and the history that moves them all.
While written in an amazing and lyrical style, this story wanders. It jumps back and forth between past and present, especially in the beginning, and this gives the story a dream-like quality. I had trouble remembering where I was in time and it is not always made clear in the story. Additionally, the way demon magic is woven into the story is intriguing but feels incomplete. The reader is never told how things really work with the magic, we just see confusing glimpses of it here and there.
Characters (3/5): All of the characters in here are soooo selfish, which is one of the things I hated about the original book. This adds the influence of demon blood into the mix, but I still didn’t like anyone in this book. They were all shallow and grasping, something that (again) turned me off from the original story. Vo does an excellent job of conveying this careless, decadent lifestyle but I still didn’t enjoy it.
Setting (4/5): This is set in New York and the surrounding countryside in the 1920’s. It’s an interesting era and an interesting time. The descriptions of Gatsby’s estate are truly beautiful. I enjoyed Vo’s portrayal of this era and she does an awesome job of making the reader feel the energy and confusion of the time.
Writing Style (3/5): I struggle a bit with talking about the writing style here. I love Vo’s writing style; it’s beautiful and lyrical with amazing imagery. She also does a great job of making complex characters. However, in this book the plot wanders and the constant (un-noted) jumps in time were confusing and hard to follow. While I applaud the effort to weave demonic magic into this story, those parts also come across as confusing and unfinished. I was left with a lot of questions about where the magic came from, why did people use it, etc, etc. It just felt really incomplete.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay and very beautifully written. I was not a fan of the original “Great Gatsby” and I did enjoy this book more than the original. Vo does an excellent job giving that story a beautiful facelift and incorporating hints of magic. However, everything I hated about the original story is here too; unlikable characters, lack of a solid plot, etc. In addition to that the flow of the story is confusing and the magic doesn’t really make sense. I could have skipped this one and been okay. However, I really do enjoy Vo’s writing style overall and will look forward to other fantasy books by her.
