Welcome to Litsy!

I purposefully waited to read this to give myself space from having studied Great Gatsby so many times in school.

It did not work. I'm probably forever all great gatsby-ed out. Even with the (interesting) changes offered here, I was just very bored.

The writing is absolutely beautiful, though. I will definitely check out Nghi Vo's other works.

The wind came into the house from the Sound, and it blew Daisy and me around her East Egg mansion like puffs of dandelion seeds, like foam, like a pair of young women in white dresses who had no cares to weigh them down. #easteromc #litsypets #firstlines This is the first line of my current ebook and my daughters dog Luna because she is chosen and beautiful and white like the dresses in the first line.

Day 6 - June

These are my picks for June in #12DaysofChristmas, #12Books of 2022. @Andrew65

I need someone to please read this for me and let me know what I just read. It was amazingly…something. Amazingly brilliant? Amazingly horrible? It‘s The Great Gatsby, but from Nick‘s Girlfriend‘s point of view. And she makes golems. And Jordan is a Vietnamese Mary Sue. And Gatsby is a demon. And Nick is a . . .

It‘s a hot mess, but I can‘t stop thinking about it. Can we please take Gatsby out of the public domain until we clear this up?

Have to say this one fell a little flat for me. The story was decent but didn‘t stand out to me. It might be because I went into this book not knowing it was a retelling of Great Gatsby. To me when you know that story there is not much leeway with where the story can go. The magical realism in here was interesting, I really wish they went a little more into it. The bits that you are given leave a lot up to the imagination.

Demonic deals, small acts of magic, queer characters & a Vietnamese Jordan Baker as narrator (stolen from her homeland when she was a baby) are exactly the ingredients I didn‘t know I wanted in this delicious reinvention of The Great Gatsby. Nghi Vo obviously loves the original classic, paying homage while adding her own imaginative spin. Jazz age excess with social justice undercurrents. #LGBTQ #Audiobook read by veteran performer Natalie Naudus.

Vo‘s take on the Great Gatsby reminds me of Kate Beaton‘s cartoons. 😁

—And her man? Is he behaving himself?
—Of course not, Aunt Justine. But you know the type: a new girl every time he looks about & finds his arm free.
—Well, that‘s a shame for Daisy then. She ought to keep him in better line.

I thought sometimes that my aunt forgot about how big men were, how much space & air they could take up.

(Photo: Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan)

From one historical novel with devil magic to another!

I made my September #bookspinbingo board! It took me longer than expected to get around to this 👀 in fact, I've even already read this month's #bookspin! (Tagged)

I liked this book, but it didn't live up to the hype for me; I kept comparing it mentally to its source material and puzzling over the difs rather than getting immersed in the story. Still, the conceit of a world filled with flappers and magic and ghosts and demons was interesting!

I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to read this. What I didn't know was that it was going to be the same story as the original Great Gatsby as this is a "retelling." The Chosen and the Beautiful was slow going book. At times I didn't really know what was going on. I love the representation and the cover is gorgeous. So with that said D+ or 2 ⭐⭐ stars from me.

This author writes very beautifully and I will read whatever she comes out with next. But I could not get behind this Gatsby story told from Jordan Baker‘s perspective. I think she was trying to make Jordan sound like Nick Carraway but instead of sympathizing with Gatsby, Jordan is on Daisy‘s side. There‘s too much Daisy analysis. And she makes Gatsby seem like a jerk. I love Gatsby too much so I can‘t deal with any negative portrayal. Bailed.

This is a dazzling and queer reinvention of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby where we see the tragedy unfold from Jordan Baker's perspective. Nghi Vo writes deftly with marvelous prose bringing the characters to life in these pages full of magic.