The Chosen and the Beautiful

Starred review from January 18, 2021
Vo’s extraordinary full-length debut (after the novella When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain) draws readers into a fantastical reimagining of the world of The Great Gatsby. In Vo’s version, magic is as regular as Jay Gatsby’s soirees, prohibition bans covered demon blood as well as alcohol, and star golfer Jordan Baker can turn cut paper into enchantments. Jorden and Daisy Fay became friends when they were children. Now, Daisy is settled with Tom Buchanan while Jordan navigates New York City’s social scene as an accepted outsider, kept at arm’s length for her Vietnamese heritage. When Daisy sets Jordan up with her cousin, Nick Carraway, Jordan takes little notice of him until Jay Gatsby sets his eyes on Nick as well. The unnerving Gatsby asks Jordan to put in a good word for him with Nick, Daisy’s reeling from Gatsby’s reemergence in her life, and Jordan is developing unwelcome romantic affections of her own. Vo balances the increasingly entangled lives of Jordan and her friends with flashbacks to Jordan and Daisy’s childhood and teen years. The plot unravels tantalizingly slowly, and Vo’s immersive prose never ceases to captivate. The Gatsby-related details and hints of magic will keep readers spellbound from start to finish. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.

April 15, 2021
Vo's (The Empress of Salt and Fortune, 2020) first full-length novel retells The Great Gatsby from the point of view of Jordan Baker, the supposedly jaded and hollow tennis pro on the sidelines of Fitzgerald's original novel. In Vo's version of the story, not only is 1920s New York full of magicians, ""demoniac"" wine, and infernal crime bosses, but Baker is now a Vietnamese orphan adopted into the wealthy Baker family in Louisville who takes lovers of every gender as she drifts through the social scene. The novel follows all of the beats of the original, the major difference being refocusing the story around Jordan's love of her relative freedom existing in the shadow worlds of the Jazz Age rather than Nick Carraway's detached and vaguely disapproving Midwestern outsider perspective. Vo remains an excellent stylist and her magically infused alternate history and her version of Baker are both interesting enough that at times readers may wish the narrative wasn't constrained by Fitzgerald's original plotting and characters. Recommended for fans of Vo's previous shorter work, or for readers of historical fantasy in general.

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Starred review from July 1, 2021

DEBUT Jordan Baker is an example of 1920s privilege: she has money, an education, a talent for golf, and easy entry into the most glamorous parties of the decade. Yet in a world that prizes everything Jordan has, she's also scrutinized, for being a queer Vietnamese immigrant adopted as a child. The glittering world that Jordan inhabits is full of magical undertones: drinking demon's blood; infernal deals; secret desires. Jordan is drawn into relationships with Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan, who have ties to the mysterious, extravagant Jay Gatsby. Meanwhile, Jordan's own magic--bringing paper to life; seeing ghosts--will lead her on a journey of revelation and realization. The characters' emotional arcs are profound, the settings lavish and styled; Vo's prose not only conveys the excess but strips it away throughout the story. VERDICT Vo's first full-length novel weaves the plot of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby into a vivid tapestry of layered commentary on gender, race, and sexuality, set in a magical Jazz Age New York.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

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Starred review from June 1, 2021
Jordan Baker recounts the story of Daisy Buchanan and her ill-fated relationship with Jay Gatsby. Jordan, born in Vietnam, was adopted by the Bakers as a child, launching her into a world of old money and magic different from her own. Generally regarded as a curiosity, Jordan has made the best of her situation, kissing boys and girls and overindulging on imported bottles of demoniac, taking care not to dwell for too long on the things that make her different. After the deaths of her guardians, Jordan moves to New York City, where she reunites with her friend Daisy; meets Daisy's cousin Nick Carraway, newly returned from the war; and learns that Jay Gatsby, whom she and Daisy knew in Louisville, is Nick's neighbor. But Gatsby is different: lacking in something and single-mindedly focused on winning Daisy back. Between magic-filled parties at Gatsby's house and whispers of dark bargains, Jordan watches the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby unravel over the course of the summer, at the same time struggling with her own relationship to Daisy and eventually coming to question her place in their society. 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. With magic creeping in around the edges, this is a unique, well-developed, and haunting Gatsby retelling.

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