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864 ratings
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A Most Anticipated in 2021 Pick for Oprah Magazine | USA Today | Buzzfeed | Greatist | BookPage | PopSugar | Bustle | The Nerd Daily | Goodreads | Literary Hub | Ms. Magazine | Library Journal | Culturess | Book Riot | Parade Magazine | Kirkus | The Week | Book Bub | OverDrive | The Portalist | Publishers Weekly
A Best of Summer Pick for TIME Magazine | CNN | NBC News | CBS News | Book Riot | The Daily Beast | Lambda Literary | The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Goodreads | Bustle | Veranda Magazine | The Week | Bookish | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Den of Geek | LGBTQ Reads | Pittsburgh City Paper | Bookstr | Tatler HK
A Best Fantasy Novel from the Last 10 Years for Book Riot
A Best of 2021 Pick for NPR
“A vibrant and queer reinvention of F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age classic. . . . I was captivated from the first sentence.”―NPR
"Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today."―Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen
“A sumptuous, decadent read.”―The New York Times
“Vo has crafted a retelling that, in many ways, surpasses the original.”―Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.
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.
Nghi Vo’s debut novel, The Chosen and the Beautiful, reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
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ISBN-10
125082012X
ISBN-13
978-1250820129
Print length
288 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Tor Books
Publication date
March 28, 2022
Dimensions
5.3 x 0.82 x 8.27 inches
Item weight
2.31 pounds
ASIN :
B0CP9LVYP8
File size :
982 KB
Text-to-speech :
Enabled
Screen reader :
Supported
Enhanced typesetting :
Enabled
Word wise :
Not Enabled
“Deserves to be read alongside the book that inspired it. Vo’s prose is beautifully supple, and the novel shines when she reads “Gatsby” against the grain... A sumptuous, decadent read.”―The New York Times
"Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today."―Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen
“A luminous shift in perspective for a classic, this retelling will never let you look at Gatsby the same way.”―TIME Magazine
“I love it with the passion of a thousand burning hearts... Vo’s audacious amendments shift the register of “The Great Gatsby,” creating a story that galvanizes Fitzgerald’s classic and leaves a new one vibrating alongside... from the old bones of an American classic, Vo has conjured up something magically alive.”―The Washington Post
“This is a wholly enthralling vision of the American Dream as observed and experienced by one suspended in a liminal place ― accepted, but not really a part of the whole; apart, but not quite separate. Vo gives us a dreamy, sharply-drawn glamour; a vibrant, penetrating exploration of character. The Chosen and the Beautiful is exactly enough ― but why not indulge with a reread?”―NPR
“Vo has crafted a retelling that, in many ways, surpasses the original, adding logic and depth to characters’ motivations while still―uncannily―unspooling the familiar story. Astonishingly crafted, with luscious prose and appeal for both fans of the original and those who always felt The Great Gatsby missed the mark.”―Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Extraordinary. . . Vo’s immersive prose never ceases to captivate. The Gatsby-related details and hints of magic will keep readers spellbound from start to finish." ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
"An utterly captivating series of speakeasies, back-seat trysts, parties both grand and intimate and romances both magical and mundane. . . . Vo is a remarkable writer whose talent for reviving Fitzgerald’s style of prose is reminiscent of Susanna Clarke channeling Jane Austen in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. But it is Vo’s additions to Gatsby’s original plot that truly shine. . . . [She] has transformed The Great Gatsby utterly." ―BookPage, starred review
"The Chosen and the Beautiful finds Jordan fighting for her place in this Gatsby-adjacent world as an outsider, a plight that Vo illuminates in heartbreaking specificity."―TIME Magazine
"What if The Great Gatsby except sexy star golfer Jordan Baker is a queer Vietnamese adoptee? And there's magic? You have our attention."―USA Today
“Enter Nghi Vo's lyrical, fever-dream spin, in which golf-playing heartbreaker Jordan Baker is a queer Vietnamese adoptee with a penchant for magic." ―Oprah Daily
“The story has Gatsby's kaleidoscopic extravagance, with Jordan playing the lead role. Beautifully written and magical, The Chosen and the Beautiful is destined to become a classic.”―Ms. Magazine
"Soaked in gin and dark magic, The Chosen and the Beautiful is one of 2021’s must-read novels."―Bustle
“Vo's resuscitation of Gatsby suggests comparisons with Jean Rhys's celebrated Wide Sargasso Sea. . . [both] brilliantly elevate less-central characters, adding depth and gravitas to women underdeveloped, overlooked. . . . Vo creates an extraordinary multi-layered literary experience that both enriches and eclipses the overexposed original." ―Shelf Awareness
"Nghi Vo has written us the adaptation of The Great Gatsby that we deserve: a sparkling novel of excess and over-indulgence told from Jordan Baker’s point of view."―Book Riot
"Turns Fitzgerald’s American classic on its head to present a world recognizable in outline, but brought to new life in imaginative detail. The Chosen and the Beautiful is magical, quite literally. In this Jazz Age New York, ghosts haunt mansion corridors, flappers drink special elixirs that make them float, and members of the elite have obtained their fame and fortune by selling their souls to demons."―The Daily Beast
"One of the buzziest fantasy releases of the month is an alternate universe adaptation of The Great Gatsby, keeping the dazzle of the 1920s while adding the challenges of being a queer Vietnamese adoptee. Plus, ghosts both metaphorical and perhaps literal."―Den of Geek
“Beloved for her “Singing Hills Cycle” novellas, Vo goes ambitiously full-length with her tale of queer Vietnamese adoptee Jordan Baker, who uses magic to get what she wants in a 1920s Gatsby-like framework." ―Library Journal
“Vo remains an excellent stylist. . . Recommended for readers of Vo's previous shorter work or readers of historical fantasy in general." ―Booklist
"A dazzling reckoning with the fragile and beguiling fantasies we conjure to make sense of the past. It is also a (re)vision of The Great Gatsby, a mesmerizing, fearless unravelling of a text at the heart of the American literary canon."―Ancillary Review of Books
“The Chosen and the Beautiful is the perfect reinvention of the classic summer reading list standby.”―The Week
“Vo’s prose is lush and extraordinarily detailed, and so reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s writing but somehow even more atmospheric and lyrical." ―The Nerd Daily
“Nghi Vo's stellar transformation of The Great Gatsby recasts the 'careless' Jordan Baker as a woman of depth and sharpness, a socialite forced to live in the margins of others’ lives. In Vo’s telling, the glitter of Gatsby’s parties conceals a sinister struggle―one where the players must survive on charms both literal and figurative, and the line between the invented and the real is endlessly blurred. Like Jordan’s own paper creations, The Chosen and the Beautiful captivates with its artistry and its power.” ―Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni
“The Chosen and the Beautiful is gorgeous and gripping, shining with language that shows us all the facets and dangers of yearning. Nghi Vo subverts and expands the possibilities of an American story, and magic is in the marrow of every sentence. I'm in awe of this book's expansive imagination and its exploration of what it means to discover desire, make your own myths, and define your belonging." ―K-Ming Chang, author of Bestiary and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree
“Luxurious, thrilling, and sexy, Nghi Vo's debut novel dives into the world of The Great Gatsby and wears it like a second skin. A shapeshifter of a book that had me hypnotized from the first pages, The Chosen and the Beautiful brings new intensity to a story you thought you knew.” ―Adrienne Celt, author of Invitation to a Bonfire
"Exquisite, incandescent, and queer AF! The Great Gatsby is great precisely because of the stories it's not telling. . . . Now, Nghi Vo has brought the subtext to the surface, and given us the Gatsby we deserve and the Jordan we need as we enter a new era of horrific inequality and impending cataclysm."―Sam J. Miller, author of Blackfish City
“Decadent. Visual. Imaginative. Genius. Not enough words to praise this page-turning novel of sorcery, infernal compacts, and enchanted elixirs, in an altogether different 1920s New York. Nghi Vo snips apart, then magically weaves together a familiar story in a wholly original and decidedly unfamiliar way. Redo all the classics. And do them like this!” ―P. Djèlí Clark, winner of the Alex, Locus, and Nebula Awards and author of Ring Shout
“A sumptuous novel that tangles with race, magic, sexuality, and class. Nghi Vo creates a world that drips with champagne and magic, where outsider’s views are the only ones that matter, and it's impossible to be sure who is or is not other. It’s bold to play in the realm of The Great Gatsby and Vo’s acerbic Jordan Baker is the perfect woman to do it.” ―Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation
“This book is Gatsby the way it should have been written–dark, dazzling, and fantastical. Of course Jordan Baker should have been the main character. Of course everyone should have been messing with magic. Vo has created a perfect response to Fitzgerald in tone, voice, and theme.” ―R. F. Kuang, winner of the Astounding Award and author of The Poppy War
“The Chosen and the Beautiful is a subversive, sexy, atmospheric, sweltering, gin-soaked, Hell-haunted vision of Gatsby's New York, with prose that will pull you under. I loved it.” ―Alix E. Harrow, winner of the Hugo Award and author of Starling House
“Crisp as paper and delirious as a fever dream, this is a redrawn Gatsby daubed in gold leaf and lip rouge and blood. Nghi Vo gives a freshly imagined Jordan Baker her due, while infusing her glittering New York with a bottomless magical menace that feels both excitingly new and cosmically true to Fitzgerald’s original.” ―Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood
“Nghi Vo’s perfectly honed prose embodies the intoxicating, knife-sharp dazzle of cruel wealth and hollow people. This book is as sharp and strange as the taste of a licked silver spoon―it’s breathtaking.”―Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun
“I adore this Jordan and her shimmering rage, the way it laces all her party glamour. It adds a queer vitality to this story that really resonates with me, her flamboyance being so rageful. The prose is like a bite of caramel that rips out your teeth. It's seething, creamy. It has a bloody taste.” ―Hannah Abigail Clarke, bestselling author of The Scapegracers
“Vo’s writing is flawless and a type all its own. The writing itself made The Chosen and the Beautiful untypical of fae stories; even though there are commonalities and genre conventions present in the novel, Vo blends them with the world, history, and characters in a way that just feels natural.”―Lightspeed
“Sensual, evocative, decadent language intensifies the glamour and ruin of the twenties, the poetic prose testifying to Vo’s masterful command of language.”―Strange Horizons
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Nghi Vo
NGHI VO is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and The Empress of Salt and Fortune, a Locus and Ignyte Award finalist and the winner of the Crawford Award and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.
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Customer reviews
4 out of 5
864 global ratings
Kasey's Book Hoard
5
Decadent and tragic
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2023
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Today's read: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Genre: literary fiction, retelling, LGBTQ+ friendly
Essentially, at its most basic concept, this novel is Fanfic of Th Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is Gatsby told by Jordan Baker. However, in this version, Jordan is Vietnamese (brought over by her missionary adoptive mother). The other difference is magic. This world, thick with the decadence and figurative magic of the wealthy of the 1920s, also layers in an undercurrent of the demonic, about as illegal as alcohol. This is an era when you could, quite literally sell your soul. And maybe Gatsby did.
This is a world of contrasts, just as in Fitzgerald's work. But in Vo's creation, we are perhaps even more aware of the precipice on which our characters stand. Not only is death and dissolution coming for Gatsby, but it is coming for them all. The tensions of being queer and foreign are added to the story as, in the background, the legislature is voting to push out the foreigners (and the demonic) and their degrading influence, just as alcohol and queerness ate also being criminalized.
This book is beautiful, decadent, and tragic. Everything and more than you could want from the Jazz Age.
"She said things, they lit up gold in the air, and then they fell to nothing like so much cigarette ash."
"At Gatsby's, the clock stood at just 5 shy of midnight the moment you arrived. Crossing from the main road through the gates of his world, chill swirled around you, the stars came out and the moon rose up out of the Sound. It was as round as a golden coin, and so close you could bite it. I had never seen a moon like that before period. It was no Mercury dime New York moon, but a harvest moon brought all the way from the wheatfields of North Dakota to shine with sweet benevolence down on the chosen and the beautifu Everything was dripping with money and magic to the point where no one questioned the light that flooded the house..."
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2 people found this helpful
Kindle Customer
5
Mysterious, strange, confusing...
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2023
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Eventually I realized there was a lot of magic underneath the plain reality of the wealth and thoughtless party that the post-WWI roaring twenties.
The characters are multiple layers and developed slowly among smoke and dreams. I read straight thru, it is amazing!
Kylie
5
Dreamy, sexy, and a wonderful reimaging
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
F. Scott Fitzgerald whomst!!! Nghi Vo owns this story now. The Chosen and the Beautiful is a masterpiece of a retelling/reworking. Slinky and sensual, surprising and sharp, Jordan Baker (a character who, in the original falls into the background) takes hold of the narrative and challenges Gatsby, Daisy, Nick, and Tom in turn while expanding the experience of New York in the 20s.
The aspect of this novel I was most concerned about—the addition of magic—turned out to be marvelous. The magic spins its own dreamy, heady quality over this book without taking away the characters agency or affecting the central plot in any distasteful way. It's a subtle thing, but delightful. I particularly enjoyed the way that Jordan's magic began to connect her to her heritage and sketch out a future for her beyond the confines of the novel.
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6 people found this helpful
A. Phelan
5
A moody, elegant Gatsby retelling
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2022
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I read Gatsby for the first time this year because I'd had it lying around from some library sale or another and I wanted to read the source material before reading this book. Having loved some of her other works, I was sure I'd love this too, and I wasn't wrong. I thought I'd find the magic to be jarring compared to the original (I'm a pretty literal reader and don't read fan fic), but I really enjoyed it.
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2 people found this helpful
Bibliophilic Lab Rat
4
3.5/5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book has left me feeling conflicted and weird. The moment I started it, it felt like reading The Great Gatsby but overtly queer and with magic and demonic powers. It also almost feels like a waking dream, the way the writing flows and the way Jordan is as a narrator. This is probably a great example of unreliable and unlikeable narrator. I don’t even really know what to say about this book, other than it was compulsively readable even as it has left me feeling out of sorts. Like, I think I enjoyed The Chosen and the Beautiful, but also I can’t tell if I did enjoy it. I’d definitely still recommend this book, but it’s a weird one and I can’t quite tell if it’s a good weird or not.
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20 people found this helpful
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