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A review by eengland
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.25
I had really high hopes going into this, but it was a flop for me. I deeply enjoyed the queering of nearly everyone on cast, though some moments felt off - on the whole, one of the book's strengths for sure. The racial dynamics felt like a forced afterthought or add-on much of the time. The troupe of magic performers felt very one-dimensional without individual motives and agency, just there to do something for Jordan but falling pretty flat. Adding magic and demons felt like a slap in the face of the original which was all about how wealth insulates people from the consequences of their shittiness so the magic and demons was like off-loading the blame from the human actors. There were a few moments of potential gold with the new gender dynamics that came from telling The Great Gatsby story through the eyes of a woman used to dealing with jealous, possessive men objectifying women. Jordan's motives and contemporary filler scenes felt flat and perfunctory at best. So much potential, not what I was hoping for. I think it would have been much better as a GG-inspired fanfic with all new cast of characters and world than a purported straight-up GG retelling.