I was excited about this retelling but I couldn't get into it. Reading it was a struggle, something about the writing was odd. Seeing other reviews about the trans rep and antisemitism was also a put off. Still, I tried to continue to form my own opinion, however, once I put it down for a second I had zero desire to pick it back up again.

DNF. The prose is really awful, very little sense of place or how the characters move through it. I'm guessing the characters that go on racist and anti-Semitic screeds are meant to be some type of ironic, but since the narrator doesn't seem bothered by them, he comes off as at least complicit, if not supportive.

Also, none of the characters seemed to have any depth. You could swap everyone's dialogue and I'd have no idea.

I'll leave you with this tortured, weirdly horny depiction of the narrator's cousin: "Donovan’s face was eager and bright, like a stately fir decorated for Christmas. His eyes shone like silver ornaments. His full lips were shiny garlands, and his voice had a provocative quality that made you feel as if something extraordinary were about to happen."

The Magus and the Fool is a modern, queer Great Gatsby retelling set in Austin. The language is very flowery and incredibly descriptive, to the point that it vividly paints the setting before you. The prose is really fantastic. The dialogue is sometimes distracting, with some weird turns of phrase and a rhythm that feels slightly off.

I really loved the genderbending from the original Gatsby, with Donovan and Jacobi replacing Daisy and Gatsby, and Donovan’s domineering, unfaithful wife Fallon replacing Tom. Fallon is an interesting female character, and I really enjoyed the way she was written. This story does prominently portray a trans character, but the way that he is portrayed is sometimes uncomfortable.

The start to this was novel was on the slower side, but it really picks up midway through, at which point I could not put it down.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe this book just wasn't for me. Sometimes books deal with hard topics (such as prejudices) by making them pronounced and I don't feel comfortable reading this kind of books. From other reviews I saw, I expected to relate to this book to some degree by being queer. I didn't.

It started off well. I liked the prose and the scene the author was painting. But soon we had white supremacist characters that went unchallenged (even though the main character was uncomfortable in the situation) and misogynistic remarks that made me uncomfortable. I thought of DNFing the book at the end of chapter 2, when both chapters had the aforementioned elements. But I decided to give the book a chance and kept reading.

I DNFed the book at 50%. I didn't like how the author wrote his female characters (you can be gay without being misogynistic!) and the "coming out" scene made me uncomfortable.

I had to DNF this one. In the first chapter was already white supremacist thoughts that go unchallenged and don't seem to have a purpose in advancing the plot. Other reviews have discussed that the main character is transphobic, and as a trans reviewer, I can't deal with that mentally right now. I love the great gatsby and I am all for flawed characters, but their flaws need to do something to advance the plot or help us understand the characters.

The Magus and the Fool
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (4.5/5)
This book perfectly captures the contemplative tone of The Great Gatsby, while updating it to ponder questions related to the present time. It is a wonderful novel, full of amazing quotes. It is both timeless and timely. The characters are very well-written and fit the story incredibly. I really, really enjoyed this book.

I feel like this had the potential to be a good retelling, but didn't utilize the updated setting or the changes to the characters to bring anything new to the story. It was a decent enough book, but it did feel interchangeable with The Great Gatsby

The writing style was very forgettable, there was very little emotion in the story and in the characters. It felt very one dimensional! Although I did enjoy the plot of the story and the premise was something I have not seen before, and if done correctly, could have been very impactful.

A good take on classic but it didn't leave much impression on me. I didn't connect well, maybe it's a me thing. I'd recommend it but take this review with a grain of salt.

to be completely honest, i did not finish this book.

the great gatsby is one of my favorite books, with f. scott fitzgerald being one of my most favorite authors. when i first saw the cover of this book and read the description, i was so excited for a queer gatsby retelling.

hersh's writing is not the problem--in fact, his writing is beautiful and flowery and very fitzgerald-esque. the problem was all of the modern-day pop culture references, the social media slang, which took me by surprise and took me out of the book.

also... some of the narration just made me uncomfortable.

I think I might have shot myself in the foot with this one because I have never read (or watched) The Great Gatsby so found it difficult to really connect with the characters or the plot. I think that if I was more familiar with the original then I would have perhaps enjoyed this more.

I will say that the writing was beautiful, though the dialogue left little to be desired. 'Bye Felicia?' - Yeah, that was completely out of place and really dragged me out of the story.

Definitely an interesting take on a classic but I really struggled to find a way into it. It's well written with prose that flows nicely and the flair that you want from this kind of story. As someone who's entirely character driven when it comes to fiction though, none of the characters were well developed or captivating enough for me to connect. Felt a little style over substance but it's always great to see a queer retelling.

Everyone was excited when The Great Gatsby hit public domain. I remember seeing Tumblr posts theorizing about Nick Carraway’s queerness and now that it was free to retell, people were ready for the queer version of the story.

When I initially saw the premise of this book, I was excited to see that someone had attempted it! I wasn’t a big fan of The Great Gatsby because everyone in the story sucks, but I understood the artistry behind it and the major themes—all I very much enjoy. So, when I picked up this book, I was excited to see how Akiva Hersh would retell it.

The prose, I will say, is well done. Hersh has a beautiful way to tell the story and I really enjoyed that aspect. However, you can’t hide everything behind prose. Unfortunately, this is a direct retelling of The Great Gatsby. There are a few deviations, but some quotes are direct from the original. (I would think it was excellent if the story deviated enough from the original, but since it’s the same story, it feels a bit more like a rip off.) It’s almost as if the author sat down and wrote the story with different characters, beat by beat. When I pick up a retelling, I want deviation. I want the author to tell the story in how they would change it, how they would move characters in different ways. These characters are simply Fitzgerald’s characters dressed up and modernized.

Another thing that was hard to get around was the language these 21st century, 20-something characters used. As a 21st century 20-something, I genuinely don’t know anyone my age who talks like any of these characters. They’re either talking like affluent people in their 40’s or in gay slang. (This is coming from someone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and while I understand that older generations of LGBTQ+ people still use similar vernacular, a lot of people my age seemed to have distanced themselves due to the fact that a lot of gay slang comes from AAVE.) I understand that almost everyone in this story is rich, but most rich kids this age are in fraternities shotgunning cheap beers. You could argue that they are keeping up appearances, but in private moments where they wouldn’t have to, they still act this way.

The last thing that stood out to me was the telling versus showing. It was Carry’s birthday. He was Jacobi’s best friend. We have no solid indication or lead to believe these or understand these two. I take issue with the former because it pops up randomly in direct dialogue with nothing to lead up to it. The latter doesn’t seem believable. There wasn’t enough back and forth between the two for me to believe they were best friends.

What it all comes down to for me is the delivery, and this could’ve been well put together. Unfortunately, the lack of deviation made it feel like I was just reading The Great Gatsby again and because of that, I can’t say that this was a stellar read.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4548981052?book_show_action=false

This was a do-not-finish. I think the author is going for an ironic/comedic tone, but it very much does not come across. The first few pages read like Wes Anderson fan-fiction, and it's more incomprehensible than twee. I was unclear on what was happening, and found the narrator snide and distracting.

A modern Gatsby retelling? Sign me up. Actually don’t. Take me off the list cause this was plainly mediocre and I feel I could’ve spent my time reading something much more entertaining. Right off the bat, the writing felt overly pretentious, like it was throwing its prose at you, screaming at you “I am so deep and profound and I want to be a modern classic” That’s annoying, like I don’t want to read that. Then there’s the issue of absurd ooo culture references, like please no thank you, I did not ask to be bombarded by memes from 2015. Books just should not have pop culture references in then at this point, like it should be banned. I don’t think I’ve ever read a reference to modern culture and not physically fallen to the floor in pain. There’s other factors of this book that wasn’t like as bad but I’m stuck on the parts I didn’t like so that’s what I’m going to talk about.

I very rarely give modern retellings of classics a chance - but I was willing to give this one a go, for the reason that it offered an LGBTQ take on the The Great Gatsby, a novel which I hold very close to my heart. I really wanted to like this book.
Hersh writes well - the first few pages really did reel me in and set my hopes high with the prose resembling that of Fitzgerald’s original so closely. In order for a story to be set in our modern world I understand that some references must be made to really solidify the setting - however, with each pop culture reference (‘Bye Felicia’, Tesla, Disney World….Nordstrom…all within the first few chapters, and the list goes on) this grew excessive, and I found myself less and less immersed in the story - essentially achieving the opposite of what I suppose was intended. I truly wish that this had been dialled back, as it would come across less forced - even if we are surrounded daily by these companies, no one I have ever met speaks of them so frequently in day to day dialogue.
On the positive side, I truly did enjoy the representation shown throughout the book. I believe it could be quite a hit with those of high school age (those who study the book in high school English classes, much like I did), as a fun alternative approach alongside The Great Gatsby - and it acts as a nice gateway for a younger audience into reading classics of which the prose may seem daunting, when this presents the story in a format more familiar to (and represents identities previously excluded from) our current world.

I may be the only reviewer here who has not yet read The Great Gatsby, which is why I was surprised with every turn this book made. From the get-go, Hersh's prose is dazzling in both a sophisticated and a simplistic way, hence why this book felt like a "contemporary classic." Halfway through, however, the events got overly melodramatic for my tastes that it was almost absurd. It makes sense that this was told through Carry's perspective, because his feeling of being an outsider in a world of wealth and power contributed to the charm this book has to offer. While I did enjoy it, it's only receiving an average rating from me because it didn't exactly offer something very special or lasting. Still, this book is perfect for those who are looking for a quick literary read and for those who like modern (and queer!) retelling of classics.

Thank you NetGalley and the author, for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

the great gatsby is my favourite novel of all time and i love a retelling so this was a hit! please read this novel, its so good!!

A fantasy — or at least, not a glitter catacomb of the real world that I have ever frequented — and a page-turner. A richly detailed setting. I am delighted to see a gay transgender man character. This is a pleasant story with which to spend an evening.

I always love Gatsby content in all its forms, but the Magus and the Fool did not capture my attention like I had expected. While some of the writing feels very Fitzgerald-esque and it does pattern the original plot quite closely, some of the dialogue felt jarring or out of place. Even accounting for the impossibility that is The Great Gatsby, I often felt myself pulled out of the narrative because of the dialogue. I wish I could love this more than I did, just because I think we need 100 more queer retellings of Gatsby. However, I felt like I could never fully lose myself in the book.