How Does 'The Chosen And The Beautiful' Reinterpret 'The Great Gatsby'?

The protagonist of 'The Chosen and the Beautiful' is Jordan Baker, a reimagined version of the iconic character from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby'. Nghi Vo’s novel gives her a vibrant new life—she’s a Vietnamese immigrant and a queer socialite navigating the opulent, treacherous world of 1920s high society. Jordan’s sharp wit and outsider perspective make her the perfect lens to dissect the era’s glamour and decay. Unlike Fitzgerald’s original, this Jordan wields literal magic, her paper-cutting artistry bending reality in eerie, lyrical ways. Her journey isn’t just about lavish parties; it’s a haunting exploration of identity, power, and the price of belonging. Vo layers her with contradictions—charming yet ruthless, adored but never truly accepted. The novel’s prose mirrors Jordan’s duality: lush yet cutting, like champagne laced with broken glass. By centering her, Vo transforms a familiar tale into something fresh and fiercely original, where the real magic isn’t just in the illusions but in surviving a world that wants you as decoration, not as a person.

The Chosen and the Beautiful' weaves magic into its Jazz Age tapestry with a haunting subtlety. The protagonist, Jordan, navigates a world where spells are whispered over cocktails and enchantments linger in the smoke of Gatsby’s parties. Her paper-cutting art isn’t just craft—it’s sorcery, shaping reality with each delicate slice. The novel reimagines alchemy as social alchemy: turning immigrant grit into gold, or desperation into dangerous allure. Magic here is deeply tied to identity and otherness. Jordan’s Vietnamese heritage grants her a unique, almost predatory magic, contrasting with the hollow parlor tricks of the white elite. The book explores how magic can be both weapon and wound—used to charm or to cut, much like the era’s razor-sharp social divides. Even love spells carry a bitter aftertaste, mirroring the novel’s themes of obsession and betrayal. The magic feels less like sparkle and more like stained glass: beautiful, fractured, and edged with blood.

'The Chosen and the Beautiful' absolutely reimagines 'The Great Gatsby' through an LGBTQ+ lens, but it's so much more than a simple retelling. Nghi Vo crafts Jordan Baker as a queer, Vietnamese adoptee navigating the excesses and exclusions of 1920s high society. The magic here isn't just metaphorical—actual sorcery swirls through champagne flutes, and Jordan's outsider perspective exposes the glittering rot beneath Gatsby’s parties. Vo preserves Fitzgerald’s themes of obsession and illusion while injecting fresh, subversive vitality. The novel doesn’t just queer the original; it dissects its racial and sexual tensions with razor-sharp prose. Jordan’s bisexuality and her adoptive parents’ racism add layers Fitzgerald never explored. The magic feels organic—paper birds that come alive, drinks that reveal truths—mirroring the era’s surreal decadence. It’s a love letter and a critique, rewriting Gatsby’s world with marginalized voices at the center. The result is lush, haunting, and defiantly original.

Nghi Vo's 'The Chosen and the Beautiful' is steeped in the roaring decadence of the 1920s, but it’s the shadows beneath the glitter that shape its soul. The novel mirrors the era’s racial and sexual tensions—Jordan Baker, a queer Vietnamese adoptee, navigates a world where her wealth can’t fully shield her from prejudice. Prohibition’s hypocrisy lurks in every champagne flute, while the occult revival among elites reflects their desperation to cling to power. The Great War’s trauma lingers in hollow-eyed veterans and Gatsby’s fabricated optimism, a veneer over societal rot. The book also digs into immigration anxieties, with characters like Jordan embodying America’s contradictions: desired for exoticism but never truly accepted. The jazz age’s cultural theft is palpable—black musicians entertain white parties while being barred from the same rooms. Vo twists Fitzgerald’s original into a sharper critique, where magic isn’t escapism but a metaphor for marginalized survival. The historical weight isn’t just backdrop; it’s the blood in the champagne.

'The Chosen and the Beautiful' reimagines 'The Great Gatsby' through a fantastical lens, blending Jazz Age decadence with supernatural elements. The protagonist, Jordan Baker, isn’t just a socialite—she’s a queer, Vietnamese adoptee with literal magic, able to animate paper creations and see through illusions. The novel introduces demons casually attending parties, ghostly bargains, and a hellish underbelly beneath Gatsby’s glittering world. Magic here isn’t whimsical; it’s woven into societal power structures, exposing how privilege and exclusion operate even in supernatural realms. What makes it fantasy isn’t just the presence of magic, but how it twists Fitzgerald’s original themes. The green light becomes a cursed artifact; Daisy’s voice carries hypnotic power. The fantasy elements amplify the novel’s critique of American excess, making the metaphorical literal. It’s less about dragons and more about the monstrousness of the elite, reframing classic literature as something eerily, vividly enchanted.

In 'Chosen by the Dragon Kings', the protagonist isn't just randomly picked—it's a brutal, survival-of-the-fittest scenario. The Dragon Kings don't care about destiny or prophecies; they want someone who can endure their trials. The protagonist gets dragged into a hidden realm after surviving a freak storm, which turns out to be the Kings' first test. From there, it's a series of lethal challenges: fighting spirit beasts, solving ancient riddles, and resisting soul-crushingly powerful dragon aura. The final test? Drinking dragon blood without dying. Most candidates explode into gore, but the protagonist's unique hybrid lineage lets them adapt. The Kings respect sheer tenacity more than anything, and that's why they choose them.

In 'Harry Potter', it's always been a big point of discussion whether Neville could have been the 'Chosen One'. And the answer is, yes, he could have been. The prophecy was all about a boy born at the end of July, whose parents challenged Voldemort three times. This could have been either Harry or Neville. However, it was Voldemort who made the choice. By attacking Harry, he inadvertently marked him as his equal. So, despite Neville's immense bravery and crucial role, Harry remained the 'Chosen One'.

The protagonist of 'Chosen by the Moon' is a werewolf named Elias Blackwood, a former human turned alpha after a brutal attack left him cursed. What makes him stand out isn’t just his raw strength or glowing amber eyes—it’s his moral conflict. He leads the Silver Fang pack but rejects their violent traditions, trying to unite werewolves and humans instead of hunting them. His character arc revolves around balancing his beast’s instincts with his human compassion, especially when he falls for a human doctor who discovers his secret. The moon’s magic gives him enhanced speed and regeneration, but his real power is his ability to inspire loyalty in both species.