Nick Carraway moves in next door to the wealthy Gatsby. Nick hears about the famous Gatsby from his cousin Daisy and her husband. Gatsby is known for throwing lavish parties, but no one can recall anything about the actual man, despite attending his parties. Soon, Nick gets swept up in two affairs that Daisy and her husband Tom are having with other people. Not everything is what it seems in the life of the Great Gatsby.

This is a great adaptation of this classic literary novel. The water colour illustrations suited the literary plot which dances around Nick, even though he is the narrator. His position of the unreliable narrator was demonstrated in the images when he would say one thing but the characters did something else. This shows that he can’t be believed.

The way the words were placed on the story were also part of the narrative. Some of the sentences were written on buildings or roads, rather than set aside in speech bubbles. Sometimes they were even curved if the characters were moving a lot in the images. The speech bubbles for women, such as Daisy, were more curvy with waves around the edges, which demonstrated the lighter tone and musical way they spoke. I liked the way this literary novel was adapted into a graphic novel using unconventional techniques.

This graphic novel is a great accompaniment to the novel!

Thank you Candlewick Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a wonderful time reading this graphic novel. The words showed up in all kinds of places at times, and that took a bit of getting used to. Yet overall I had a great time reading this book after so many years. Fans of this book may want to check this graphic novel out.

As with any graphic novel adaptation of a beloved book, I was a bit hesitant at first, but Woodman-Maynard has created a wonderful tribute to The Great Gatsby, even including a lot of the original text. She was able to highlight many of the themes of the original novel like class and wealth, Nick’s role as an unreliable narrator, gender roles, and different character’s relationships to their past.

The watercolor illustrations were beautifully done in a way that enhanced the novel and set it convincingly in the 1920s. The author’s note at the end of the book speaks to this in a fascinating way. The art of the characters was perhaps my favorite of it all. Daisy and Jordan are thin and wraith-like as fashion illustrations of the 1920s tended to depict women—Daisy’s character so much so even her speech bubbles reflect it, Nick is small and unassuming and Tom Buchannan, in contrast, is large and brutish, even his speech bubbles demand to be heard with their blockishness and sharp edges.

I’ve read the original novel so many times that I feel unqualified to attest to how good of an introduction this graphic novel would be to the story, but as a Gatsby fan it was a lovely tribute that more than did justice to the source material.

The water color illustrations are sumptuously beautiful and the color choices expertly anchor the reader in the location and mood of each setting. The adaptation choices are smart and keep the soul of the novel in tact. A wonderful addition to the Gatsby expressions.

I taught Gatsby to 11th graders for years, and some kids loved it but many were thrown off by the imagery and figurative language. This graphic novel would be an excellent teaching tool to reach those struggling readers.

I love that the artist uses a creative approach to the story in that not every panel is a literal depiction of scenes from the book. The imagery she utilizes reinforces the themes of the original work in a way that is both refreshing and beautiful.

The art is great, but, like....it would have worked better as an illustrated novel with some gorgeous inserts, not this sort of wonky abridged version that is not so comprehensible without knowing the Fitzgerald text pretty well.

I read The Great Gatsby for the first time early in 2020 and loved it. This graphic novel adaptation is beautiful! The water colour images suit the time period of the story and this adaptation well represents the original story. This book is a perfect edition for those who love to collect multiple copies of books.

This was a beautifully illustrated addition to a great classic. I would definitely recommend this to readers who have never read the classic novel, or to a younger patron, to get them interested in classic literature.

The illustrations were beautiful and the novel quite addictive. This is a one-sitting read ! I recommend to people who do not have time, or simply do not want to read the original.
A really good graphic novel !

While I will definitely consider purchasing this graphic novel adaptation for my high school readers, I found this format to actually detract from the original. While I wouldn't recommend this version to those who enjoy literature and classics as a replacement, especially fans of the original, I do think this will be great for reluctant readers and others who might find the original too daunting.

The illustrations were fine, but I just didn't like the writing, which was also my main issue with the source material.

The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and adapted and illustrated by K. Woodman-Maynard is my 204th book of 2020 and 65th of the school year. Thank you to #Netgalley and @candlewickpress for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital arc. This book will be published on January 5, 2021. All opinions are my own.

I read The Great Gatsby for the first time in the summer of 2012. I had just graduated with my M.A.T. and been hired in my first teaching job. The Great Gatsby was one of the books I was expected to teach to my juniors and seniors. I ended up falling in love with novel and, to this day though I now teach middle school, it is one of my favorite texts to teach and discuss. One of my favorite things about the novel is its beautiful imagery and use of metaphor and symbolism. Woodman-Maynard's adaptation is sumptuously illustrated and vividly depicts Fitzgerald's powerful imagery. I love the use of color to not only differentiate between locations but evoke and communicate emotions. The adaptation is faithful to the original, engaging, and beautifully captures the energy of the 1920s.

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The Great Gatsby is getting lots of graphic novel love lately; Fred Forham's vision was a 2020 CYBILS graphic novel nominee. K. Woodman-Maynard's envisioning of the Fitzgerald classic is much more surreal, with dreamlike watercolors and narration blended into the background: Nick's words wander around rugs and through lightbulbs, run over sidewalks, and curl into cigarette smoke. The story of Jazz Age love and murder feels like a series of beautiful watercolors, but a large chunk of the story is missing, making this hard to follow for readers who haven't read the original story. In her author's note, Woodman-Maynard even states that she was excited by the metaphors in the story, and it was not her intent to be "an exact literal interpretation of the novel". As a surrealistic exploration and companion to the original, Woodman-Maynard's book certainly provides a compelling look. Get a look at a chapter excerpt here, thanks to publisher Candlewick.

Obviously the book itself was great and I enjoyed the graphics a lot but I felt the color felt a little too upbeat for this book. I would've liked something with more neutrals.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is one of my favorite classics of all-time and I have been wanting a graphic novel version of it for years. The illustrations were stunning and I felt that they fit pretty well with the story.

My only complaint would be that the story did not hit me as hard as it did in Fitzgerald's original but I kind of figured that would happen when I started. There is just something about his writing that brings so much to this story.

Woodman-Maynard did a great job of adapting this book into the visual medium. I really enjoyed how she placed Nick's narration in the foreground of a lot of the illustrations. We get it on buildings and various other background images. It really was one of the most beautiful graphic novels I have read. I recommend reading Woodman-Maynard's author's note at the end of the book. It was interesting to read about her initial interest in adapting the classic and also why she chose to do it the way she did.

I will definitely be picking up my own copy of the book. It will be a great addition to my collection of Gatsby books.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book*

This graphic novel adaptation of The Great Gatsby will bring this story to students who otherwise would not read the original, and is interesting even for those who have read the original.

I enjoy graphic novel versions of classic books. It is a great way to introduce people to the story, encouraging them to read the prose version after they have finshed the graphic version. This graphic version does just that. I hadn't read the Great Gatsby before and I feel this version does an excellent job of conveying the essence of the original story. The artwork has a dream like whimsical feel to it and this conveys the mystery behind the life of Gatsby. I wasn't too keen on the colouring because I felt it could have been brighter with more colours. Having said this I still think it is a great book and definitely worth buying a physical copy.

Copy provided by publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Great Gatsby is perhaps one of the greatest of American novels. It is one that is often read in high school but there is something to be said about rereading this book as an adult.

This graphic version of the novel can be enjoyed both by those new to TGG and by those who are revisiting the novel. The essence of the story is here. The illustrations are clever and definitely complement and enhance the storyline. I liked that the text was creatively placed on the pages to best go with the drawings and add additional meaning.

Following the end of the novel, there is a good note by the author. It talks about how he came to work on the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Below are some thoughts from the last time I read this book for a class.

Chances are that you read The Great Gatsby when you were in high school. If some time has passed since your first reading of the novel, I urge you to read it again. I had read TGG when I was in college and had not thought about it too much since, except to recall that the paper I wrote on it got me my first A from a tough professor. Well, this was the last novel that we read in my summer Currents in the Modern Novel class and it was a stunner.

Start with the title…was Jay Gatsby great? Is the title genuine or meant to be ironic? Lots of discussion on this in class. What makes someone great? Is it their accomplishments? Is it who someone is inherently? What does it mean to have money? Does it make a difference as to whether it is “old” or “new?” Is it okay to “carelessly” take the things that one wants in life? What does it mean to be a “careless” driver? How do we organize our lives around dreams? What does it mean as these play out? Are dreams illusions?

There was also lots of discussion about capitalism in class. Is the novel an indictment of the capitalist system? Some critics say yes while others say Fitzgerald did not intend that. Your opinion?

I was more moved by Jay Gatsby after I finished the novel this time. Will you be? spend time with Jay, Nick (is he an unreliable narrator?), Daisy, Tom and Jordan and then let me know.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a new retelling of the greatest book of the American Literature, the author made changes following her point of view of The Great Gatsby and depending on her judgements about what is right to leave and what should not be read by her readers because it's not correct. So, why not also omit or change Tom's discours about intermarriage between black and white which shows that he is a racist. Anyway, for me, it didn't live up to the original but it was readable. The art style was something else because I totally enjoyed looking at everything, the Jazz age style and the colors that help depict each character's personality were pretty nice. I think that Wilson and Tom were well portrayed. I would love to discover the author's art style on something different in her future books.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Great Gatsby was one of my favorite books I read in high school, and it remains decently high on my favorites list. I always loved the metaphors and elegant descriptions in Fitzgerald's writing.

All together I enjoyed this graphic novel adaptation. The art wasn't my favorite initially, but I liked it by the end. The use of color however is great, and I think the colors chosen for each page do a really good job of setting the mood. I also really like the parts that have text within the artwork itself. The original work is often one talked about as being a great example of visually descriptive language, and I think the style of the artwork lends itself to those sometimes over-the-top metaphorical descriptions.

I think this is a great adaptation and I would recommend it to those that enjoy the original text and for readers that haven't as well.