I just listened to the ALC of Self-Made Boys by AM McLemore that I got through @netgalley and I adored it!! I've been loving the Classics Remixed series that @macmillanusa is doing and this book was such a perfect addition!

Self-Made Boys is a Great Gatsby retelling but make it very queer. Our main characters Nick and Jay are trans and there's some great sapphic rep as well! This book is set in the 1920s and it does a great job of acknowledging the struggle and danger of being queer back then while still showcasing the types of safe spaces the queer community has made for themselves throughout history. I absolutely loved the characters and the found family aspect of the story. I think McLemore did a great job of honoring the source material while making this story truly unique and separate from The Great Gatsby! I was definitely tearing up by the end. I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in historical LGBTQ+ literature!

Trigger warnings for racism, transphobia, homophobia, and mention of PTSD.

I loved the Great Gatsby when I read it back in high school so I was super excited to pick this book up. Right off the bat, you have to adjust your expectations of this being a story retelling. Although the characters and setting take great inspiration from the original text, the plot is very different. Not to say that there's anything wrong with that, it was just unexpected to me. This book reads more like a fan-fiction than a retelling. I think that if you go into this book with the correct lens and expectations, it could be very enjoyable. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I wanted it to be.

This. Was. Amazing.
I've never read from Anna-Marie McLemore but I plan to change that after this experience. Narrator Avi Roque was the PERFECT choice for this Gatsby remix. This was a stunning retelling that not only features two trans main characters (Gatsby & Nick) but also doesn't do a complete disservice to the female characters of the book. I was charmed and enthralled. Between Self-Made Boys and Nigh Vo's The Chosen and the Beautiful - the Gatsby Retellings are making a true mark in the world.

Being a fan of classics and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Self-Made Boys was perfection! As a rewrite/“remix”, this was an absolutely jaw-dropping one! I loved the representation of LGBTQIA+, a variety of culture, and feminism too. The drama was spot on and the rewrite was close to the book yet unique in its own way! The character development that occurred, and the way that I could see the insecurities and trials of the characters made the book a really binge-worthy read (yes, I binged it!). I loved the way it ended and the chemistry between all the character and their romantic partners was spot on. I really liked Nicolas to be honest and Jordan was just my type of girl! Daisy’s personality really fit her and I loved how she became who she was more. Jay just my jaw drop and the first time I met him, I was so hooked onto his character. To be honest, I think this is one of the best rewrites I’ve read and F.Scott Fitzgerald would be proud!

I received an advanced audio copy of Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix through Netgalley so I could share my review with you!

I am always excited about Gatsby retellings; while I love the original story, I find I enjoy watching other authors reimagine it even more. Despite being a reimagined classic, Self-Made Boys felt intrinsically new and fresh. While it held the delightful nostalgia of a familiar story, the plot was never predictable! There was high-quality, well-incorporated queer representation from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, which made the book feel a bit like home to me. My favorite part of Self-Made Boys was something that I can say for very few other Gatsby interpretations, which is that Nick felt like a whole and individual character, rather than a lens through which the story is viewed. Typically, I find myself seeing Nick more as a window into Gatsby’s world, rather than as his own complete and unique character. Anna-Marie McLemore broke away from this hollowed-out Nick trope, forcing a brilliant young man into his place. This decision was a strong one, especially when paired with the themes of racism, colorism, and “passing” identity in the story, making this book stand out in my mind as a classic in its own right.

The narration for this book was spot-on, which has delightfully been the case for every book in the Remixed Classics series that I’ve listened to! Their narrator selections are just perfect, and Avi Roque & Kyla Garcia captured the spirit and emotions of the story wonderfully. I was familiar with Avi Roque’s voice, as I have listened to other books narrated by them, but Kyla Garcia was new to me. Though I had varying levels of familiarity with the narrators, I found Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix to be my favorite of their work so far!

My Recommendation-
If you, like me, were obsessed with The Great Gatsby back in high school, but desperately wished the homoerotic subtext had been a little less, well, subtextual, you need to grab a copy of Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix as soon as you can! I think this book is a must read for anyone who craves classic novels reimagined in beautiful and queer ways.

Avi Roque isn't my favorite audio narrator, but beyond that, I have few complaints. This book is exactly what I was hoping for when Gatsby entered the public domain - it engages with themes from the original, enriches them, and teases out subtext in a way that would have been everything to the teenage me who latched onto the potential these characters had. The end does feel indulgent, but I let myself cherish it. It felt good to be indulged.

If you had told me I would be reading and enjoying a gatsby retelling as an adult I would absolutely not believe you, but this was absolutely delightful. The updates to character and plot tackle colorism, classism and homophobia in a way that hits home for todays readers the way them at the original can’t. I fell in love with nick and gatsby before they even fell in love with each other. The plot crosses a few tee many streams toward the middle with the different reveals, but I ended the book sobbing so I can’t complain. The twists and mystery element really brought it home. This is a fantastic read whether you loved the original work or not.

AAAHHHH!!! This was amazing! I was so excited to read this and it 100% lived up to the hype.

I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby when I read it years ago, though didn’t love the ending. And this just fixed it SO well. When I initially read Gatsby, I definitely got the impression that Nick Caraway was in love with Jay Gatsby, so to see that happen in this book was great. The fact that Nick and Jay are both trans boys and pretty much everyone around them is queer, was just perfect. I also loved that Anna-Marie McLemore made Nick and Daisy Latine; reimagining these classics with queer folks and people of colour is just so good.

I loved this book so much!!!

I was lucky to be gifted an ARC of this audiobook to review. This was my first book by this author, and I couldn’t wait to see what they had in store for this remix. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite classics, and I love visiting the roaring ‘20s anytime. So I couldn’t wait to dive into a reimagining where our main character is trans.

I will start this review by saying I am a straight, white, cis reader. And while I adored seeing the diversity in this story, my review is not the one to fous one. With that being said, I am obsessed with the way the author took a classic most people know, and twisted it to make it more accessible to a modern audience. But it also doesn’t steer away from the tough subjects that are present at this time period for people of different races and sexualities.

But on top of all these very important topics, it was also a beautiful love story. It was a story about finding yourself, your true self, and embracing it. It was about finding the right people to surround yourself with. And it was about a supportive family, and what it truly means to be loved.

Overall I fell head over heels in love with this story and the writing.I was hooked almost immediately and I definitely want to check out other things by this author.

I enjoyed this remixed classic. I love the representation the characters exhibited and the magical realism. I felt that the story kind of dragged a bit thought. The original is only a little over 100 pages and this was over 300. I will recommend this book to my patrons who are interested in the classic but might be bored with the language or dated characters.

Thank you, NetGalley and Feiwel Friends Publishing, for the early ARC and an honest review.
Self Love Boys is a coming-of-age story that takes a classic and remakes it into an enjoyable novel for anyone. This book follows Nicolas Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy visiting his cousin Daisy. Daisy is living a life full of glamor, and riches and is about to get married to a wealthy man named Tom. Nick is shocked that Daisy has erased all signs of her past, including her Latina heritage, as she is now passing as white. When Nick meets the mysterious neighbor across the lake, Jay Gatsby, he is thrown into extravagant parties. Still, things soon grow complicated as Nick realizes what the American Dream truly means.

I have never been a fan of the Great Gatsby; after all, I’ve always been a sucker for happy endings. Where the unsung hero gets the girl, and the bad guy gets the punishment he deserves. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book, but the cover was gorgeous, and the concept of a remix with LGBTQ characters made me interested. I was pleased that I fell in love with this book, as the Self-Love Boys gave the characters the happy ending they deserved.

Another concept that the writer added to the book was being a person of color in the 1920s and how it affected each character. Nick deals with being transgender and a brown person in a world of wealthy white elites how. Daisy white-washed her skin and separated her from her family so that she could improve her life. It brought some real-life issues that would have happened in the ’20s that not many people talk about. Nick being transgender and not having a name for it made me feel emotional. I can’t imagine how the people back then didn’t feel suffocated by wanting to be this person but not being able to. It gave the classic the diversity it deserved to have.

I enjoy this book, from its characters to the fashion, to the love story. The original story was just used as a blueprint, as it felt like the story felt authentic and not like a copycat. I truly loved the relationship that Jay and Nick had and the love they shared. This is a book I will be re-reading again and again as maybe this Great Gatsby I can enjoy reading.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an early audiobook of Self-Made Boys!

I love everything The Great Gatsby & Self-Made Boys is officially my favorite version! Jay & Nick has my whole heart annnnnd the book just kept getting gayer as I kept reading. On top of loving the Gatsby aspects, there are also important comments on being Queer and being Brown during this time era, which adds even more to the Gatsby story. Love this one & the audiobook narrator was on-point!

A diversified retelling of a classic that holds true to the original text. Self-Made Boys touches on the issues of racism, colourism, transphobia, homophobia, and sexism so organically that they seem to be part of the story and not thrown in to update a classic. Nick, Daisy, Gatsby, and Jordan are well-developed, dynamic characters who draw emotional responses from a reader. The plot moves at an enjoyable pace from beginning to end and the rich description brings the Roaring 20’s to life. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For someone who has no idea about the great Gatsby, not having seen the movie either, this was very enjoyable and the remix of things with two trans boys as the romance was great.

The narration was easy to follow even without knowing much about the original story. It was interesting, frustrating, and sweet when it had to be.

The audiobook narrator did an excellent job and it kept me wanting to keep listening to the narration.

I really liked this remix and how everything was resolved. Give me all the queer remixes and retellings!

I am a big fan of this remix series and cannot wait to read them all! I enjoyed this audiobook and want to check out more from Anna-Marie McLemore in the future. I recommend checking it out! Thank you for the early copy!

Let it be known that I dislike The Great Gatsby. Maybe it's because my high school English teacher waxed poetic about metaphors and literary criticism in a time I could not have cared less. I was hesitant to even test this book. How different could it be from the original? The thing that made me want to read it was the inclusion of a diverse cast, something that was sorely lacking in Fitzgerald's original. I am so glad I risked reading this book. McLemore's retelling gave the characters a diversity that will resonate far more with gen Z readers.
All positive being said, I realize this story is something that was very unlikely in the time period it was set. Two trans boys from the midwest, one white and one latinx, would not have gone over well. All of Nick's fears would have most likely been realized rather quickly. The suspicion shown against Gatsby means people would have been desperate to uncover his secrets. Even Daisy and Jordan, who would have "passed" in the 1920's would have had people questioning their history.

"Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix" should definitely only be read by those who are already familiar with the premise of "The Great Gatsby." However, it shouldn't be read as side-by-side comparisons. I believe the books could've done without some of the relationships because it made it feel slightly unrealistic. With the books written in the form it is, several of the characters are mentioned in passing and barely come into play again.

I love the queerness of this story, literally every time i hear Nicolás & Jay's together i smile.
I was hoping for a few things that would happen but i have enjoyed this quite much.
The writing was elegant, and fun. My favorite would be Jay (Gatsby)
The romance between the characters were so sweet i love each chatacters.
That ending was amazing!

3.5 Stars

In this Gatsby reimagining, Anna-Marie McLemore adds new depth and levels to the self-made American Dream aspects of the original tale. I was quickly swept up into the glitz and glamour of the original Gatsby—the new money vs. the old money—but with the new twists of the trans community, queer community, and passing community folded in.

What if Daisy was Mexican-American? What if Nick was Mexican-American and trans? What if self-made applied to the characters in the novel in terms outside of just their financial status?

I was pulled in, wanting to see what tweaks and turns McLemore made to the story. Self-Made Boys: A Gatsby Remix is a reimagining worthy of reading and then reexamining.

I listened to the audiobook version and felt immersed in the story. I was impressed with the narration and the multiple character voices that were maintained throughout the book. I recommend picking up the audiobook to be dropped into 1920s NYC, East Egg, and West Egg along with the characters, their struggles, and their triumphs.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Self-Made Boys is a very now remix of a classic, The Great Gasby and I thoroughly enjoyed the changes. From the characters to the diversity it included, it was a well told story that was easy to read.

If you're like me, you've read the classic and know the gist of the story, but Anna-Marie McLemore twisted the story up to make it more relevant to a new reader, even if it is still set in the 1920's like it's predecessor. They took the story of Jay, Nick and Daisy and gave them more meat than just lavish parties. What if the main characters were trans? What if Nick and Jay fell for one another? What if Daisy was Latina and now passing as white??

After finishing the audio of this book, I was wavering around a 3.5 star.. I loved the diverse content with a familiar story. I also really liked the narrators as they were perfect for the characters they played and both were Latinx like the characters in the book. I think that's so important to get right. But then I was talking to my daughter and she is reading another classic for her English class and complaining about how boring it is. I think mixing up classics and putting a current spin for a new generation would help them love the worlds even more. With that, I upped my star to a solid 4 simply for how seamless Anna-Marie made these characters more relevant to a current world.

Overall, I Loved the queer/trans rep with Latinx characters on a story that we know. It made it more enjoyable than I thought it would. It was also cool to have the added addition of the “Lavender lifestyle” that I knew little about, but made total sense. And lastly, I enjoyed Nick and Jay more than Daisy. She frustrated me a bit as a whole. And that authors note? Loved that addition. A must read/listen. Don't skip over it!!