Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks UK for the advance reader copy,

I found that I kept checking how long I had left with this book and I don’t think that’s a good sign.
I found the concept of this story intriguing especially including a well known story as The Great Gatsby, but I don’t know if the author has read the book because the basics were missing.

I also wonder if the characters were written younger and then aged up to include more sexual content- but the dialogue still felt immature especially for characters who were finished university.

I imagine some people will enjoy this story but there was a lot of wafting ideas which never seemed to get tied up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

The Great Gatsby is my favorite book of all time, so I was so excited to get approved for this ARC. Unfortunately, it disappointed me on almost every single account.

First off, this book about young people is written by someone who clearly has no idea what young people do. Very weird choice to have Jordan be a TikTokker parkour person, is that even still a thing? That was popular in like 2014. Also Nick gets an Evite from Gatsby??? An Evite? What year is this? I'm 25 and I know that nobody uses Evites. I'm not sure 21 year olds even know what that is. Daisy actually uses the phrase "adulting". Why does this 22 year old talk like a 35 year old milennial?

This book reads like someone wrote a vampire urban fantasy then realized that Gatsby is now in public domain and wanted to make more money. The vampire lore is so weird and takes a massive left turn from any connection to the source material. There is a world in which a Gatsby retelling using vampires could be fascinating but this is not it.

There is no understanding of anything from the original book. Beyond the names, even the major details of the book are incorrectly referenced. Gatsby's car is described as red. It's literally so famously yellow. Myrtle's husband is now her brother who <spoiler> dies instead. </spoiler>. Fine I can deal with that. <spoiler> But George's death is not even Daisy's fault. The point is that Myrtle's death IS Daisy's fault and she lets Gatsby take the blame anyway and goes on with her life because THEY WERE CARELESS PEOPLE TOM AND DAISY THEY SMASHED UP THINGS AND CREATURES AND THEN RETREATED INTO THEIR VAST CARELESSNESS OR THEIR MONEY OR WHATEVER KEPT THEM TOGETHER </spoiler>,

But Tom and Daisy aren't even together in this book. Tom is barely a character. And Gatsby literally says "we can't repeat the past, can we?". Sorry??? That's the whole point of his character. That's the essence of who Jay Gatsby is. He wants to repeat the past. He wants this perfect version of his life complete with the perfect girl and the perfect house, and he can't fathom that it's not gonna turn out that way. He can't be this self aware!!! WTF?? Also, they sub in "buddy" for "old sport" like, are you serious?

With a retelling, you have to elevate or comment or expand or twist the story in some way, otherwise I'm just reading a high schooler's crap summary because they barely skimmed the book.

The Great Gatsby is not a love story. I kept waiting for Daisy to realize that Jay is in love with the idea of her and not her, but in this version, their love is perfect and it's not creepy cause they're so in love. He's not supposed to get Daisy because he doesn't GET Daisy. I swear, this author saw the DiCaprio Gatsby movie and said "What if Gatsby was perfect and Daisy was perfect and Tom wasn't there and Nick wasn't there and also I just followed a few major story beats but ignored every part of the characters?" She's taken out the core of who they are and yet transformed them into nothing. I mean, Nick's only character trait is "gay",

This book has literally nothing to do with Gatsby. If you changed the names, most people would not connect this to Gatsby at all. There wasn't even a green light!!!

I Hated this.

If you want a Gatsby vibe, pick up A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood. It's a lovely Gatsby-esque story with new characters and similar themes without pretending to be a perfect retelling.

Stay far away from this book. I wish I could give it no stars.

A fun version of The Great Gatsby with some elements of supernatural and mystery thrown in to spice things up. A few parts were a little harder to great through but still a solid read with good writing.

Interesting fantasy twist of The Great Gatsby. I don't know much about the original but this felt like a good plot that kept me reading to the end!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the stories in this book. Loved every single second reading it.

Rating: 4/5 stars

General Thoughts:
As someone whose all-time favourite novel is The Great Gatsby, I was curious about Beautiful Villain. A modern-day reimagining with a supernatural twist could have gone very wrong, but I didn't need to worry. After reading it, I can say that this book is a nice homage to Fitzgerald's (and likely his wife Zelda's) work, infused with some spice and vampirism. Some readers didn't like any of the characters, but in my opinion that is a true reflection of the original characters - in the original none of them were sympathetic, except possibly Daisy.

Summary:
Home for the summer after another tough semester at college, Daisy struggles to move past a painful breakup with her cheating ex, Tom. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she attends a lavish party at a mysterious mansion and is reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Jay Gatsby. However, Jay is not only the wealthy, enigmatic figure of her memories—he’s also a vampire.

Final Thoughts:
Beautiful Villain is an entertaining supernatural retelling of The Great Gatsby. It’s about love, loss, and the supernatural that nicely blends the familiar with fantasy.

A really unusual tale on the classic tale The Great Gatsby that will have you on the edge of your seat at every turn.

4 star
3 spicy
Gatsby Retelling
Paranormal Romance

Daisy Finnegan has recently broken up with her cheating boyfriend and is encouraged by her parents to go and enjoy her freedom and to do something different out of her comfort zone instead of been so strict with herself. Which leads her to attend a party at a mansion, where she discovers it is hosted by her childhood friend and the one who got away, Jay Gatsby.
The attraction is still there and she spends more time with him, in his world of extravagant wealth and secrets. Upon learning his secret she has to make a choice, to abandon her new life or her old life.

Overall it was enjoyable, the world was fun with a supernatural Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy chemstry was great but I felt there was a little something missing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC

I was hooked onto this book, I was so intrigued as to how it was all going to play out. It was a gripping story, I loved how the Vampire aspect was in the book, seemed a bit different to what Vampire books are lately. I liked the main characters and their relationship, the spice was good too.

Think Gatsby with fantasy thrown in and that's this book!
It was a fun read, although I think it is more for a younger adult than myself, it was an easy enough read for a weekend in bed unwell, or more positively as a holiday read. I found I could easily pick it up and put it down again without worrying I would lose the thread of what was going on.
Some areas felt rushed, but it wasn't so frequent that it spoilt the story for me. It is one that I would recommend to someone who is getting into retellings of classics.

I have never read a gatsby retelling and I really liked this. It was easy to enjoy and the writing was a breeze, I really enjoyed the fantasy element of the retelling making it more entrancing and exciting even though Gatsy at its core is pure thrill.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but it was a nice quick and easy read. The concept was fun and I actually really liked the explanation of the vampires - it made it a little more scientific which is something I haven't really seen before. It was pretty fast paced and there was definitely some enjoyment in knowing more than the narrator at times.

For me, the writing was a bit cringey in places - some of the dialogue felt very YA which was uncomfortable in a book very clearly aimed at adults. I do feel like the ending was very rushed and convenient - not to mention some absolutely abysmal parenting happening there that is completely brushed over. But overall, it was a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.