I’ve been wanting to get into Nghi Vo’s works, and a few friends recommended The Chosen and the Beautiful as they knew I liked The Great Gatsby. I read Vo’s retelling in one sitting, on a very long train ride.

 In a world with casual magic, Jordan Baker is the adopted, Vietnamese heir to a white family’s fortune. She parties with the best of them, and NYC is her current playground. She pointedly ignores problems like her lack of marriage/job prospects, her friend’s intimate partner violence, and the paper-cutting magic simmering in her veins. In fact, her hot girl summer’s going great until Gatsby rolls into town. Inevitably, she sucked into the drama of him, Daisy, Nick et al.

The Chosen and the Beautiful more or less follows the same plot beats as the original book. To its determinant, I think—big chunks were painful waiting for the canon to start. Tom’s character is flattened to be almost comically horrible. I suppose his exaggerated terribleness makes Daisy’s final decision all the more heart-wrenchingly cruel. Jordan’s disinterest in magic frustrates me, especially since her abilities present an easy solution to so many problems. However, this quibble has the tang of a personality clash. Jordan’s just being Jordan. Being bored of the lush glitz and vast glamor is Vo writing her true to form.

What gaps Vo does fill are filled well. Jordan Baker’s interiority is fully explored and fleshed out. Fitzgerald’s novel doesn’t discuss race, and Vo brings the topic to the fore. The queerness is explicit and delightful. I think some of the best scenes were Jordan and Daisy’s childhood, which only received a few sentences in Fitzgerald’s work. I wanted more of these spaces, and more new spaces. I’d love a sequel.

Underneath the low fantasy, The Chosen and the Beautiful has the feel of a brilliant Jordan Baker character study. Vo absolutely nails her.