A steamy paranormal retelling of The Great Gatsby

Beautiful Villain is the first book in Rebecca Kenney's Gilded Monsters series of modern day retellings with a paranormal twist. Here we have The Great Gatsby retold with vampires.
I was so curious about this paranormal retelling & was quickly taken in by the vampire aspect. We see all the characters and lots from the original plot as well with some clever changes that suited the paranormal aspect well. This definitely has more action, chemistry and steam than the original. I also enjoyed that Daisy was a badass in her own way here.

The audiobook was well narrated by Ruby Cherise and I definitely enjoyed listening. Thank you to Netgalley for the gifted audio.

Seven years have passed since Jay and Daisey last saw each other. Both have changed, but one more than the other. Jay is selling vampirism as a preventative health cure. Can you love someone from a young age and through life's changes?

In what world, this is actually a retelling of "The Great Gatsby". Fitzgerald would be higher disappointed and I will share his feelings.

I'm a classic reader, the great Gatsby is definitely not my favorite classic but yet I have a space for it somewhere in my brain (not my heart because I hated almost every character in the book). I get it why it is a classic.

Now the question is — has the author really read the great Gatsby or just the synopsis of it because this book is no where near retelling of it. That's the huge problem I had with this book. It's spicy, with smut quite often on the pages. To be honest it is rather sad and even embarrassing to can this a retelling of a classic.

I will rather say it's a twilight fanfic, the names are from great Gatsby but they behave like they would in a twilight world. They are immature, with definitely dull and boring dialogues. Daisy is annoying and Jay is I don't know, three obsession he had with Daisy was quite unhealthy which was similar to great Gatsby. These characters, they do not behave like they are adults. They behave more like teenagers with raging sexual libido. The character development is non existent. Overall the idea just felt meh.

The audiobook narration is quite enjoyable and it made me finish the book otherwise this was a definite DNF for me.

It wasn't badly written but I will say it was false advertising. The way it describes the plot, I dived in with totally different expectations just to get opposite stuff. I did enjoy some bits and pieces but that is all the good things I can say for it.

Thank you dreamscape and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Book rating : 2 stars
Audiobook rating : 3 stars

I have read the book in physical form.
Loved the audio book.
Good pace and very unique voice.
The story is also one of my favorites

No. No no no. I'm so sorry, Dreamscape, but what were you thinking? Beautiful Villain was so uncomfortable it actually kept me up last night with secondhand embarrassment.

Insipid. Twilight. Fanfic.

Confused by the assertion that it's a "retelling of The Great Gatsby". This book gives me the impression that our Becca has not, in fact, read Fitzgerald's original work. (The 2013 film doesn't count, babe.) I've reviewed some incredible stuff published by Dreamscape; unfortunately, Beautiful Villain was anything but.

Somewhere in the beyond, Zelda Fitzgerald is raucously laughing.

The Great Gatsby with vampires? Seeing that was all it took to make me pick this book up! And what a fun read it was! Daisy had some cool compulsion speech thing that was a fun twist as well. Really enjoyed this one!

I'm glad it's not a standalone, though, because I have so many questions...

I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley,

Daisy Finnegan is home after graduating from college. Although, she isn't sure what's next. When her cousin Nick gets an invitation to an exclusive and lavish party, she takes him up on the offer. When she finds the host, she discovers that the host of the party is Jay Gatsby, a her childhood sweetheart that she misses dearly. But soon Daisy discovers that Jay isn't the same boy she knew. After being shot in the heart, he survives. When Daisy learns the truth of his immortality, she has to decide if she can make a life with him or if the safety that she knows is more important.

I'm gonna start out by saying I have neither read The Great Gatsby or watched the movie. So take what I'm saying with as much salt as you'd like. I found the characterization of Daisy really bland. As our main character who's voice and POV we follow throughout the novel, I was looking for someone a little more exciting, I don't think it has anything to do with the narrator, who was wonderful and brought a different voice to each character. The level of cringe I also felt at some of the moments in the book was also heavy. The intimacy wasn't part of it. I'm pretty used to it by now, but the places where Jay said something along the lines of "you should have waited for me" just kill me. It felt really weird to then have a huge feminist take on bits of the end that I will not spoil. However, it just left a sour taste.

I will say if you like the source material that this book is based off of, you might like this better than I did. I just felt that the entire thing felt flat and not very memorable. The best parts of the book had to do with the way that vampirism worked, even if it did cater more towards elite society, but it is based on The Great Gatsby, so I'll take it.

3.75 stars

Great Gatsby with vampires. Since I technically can't give anything other than a full star review on here so I rounded this up to a four. I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I thought this was a pretty good and interesting retelling except for the spiciness. I am not a person who enjoys heavy spice and this had a pretty good amount so that is why I didn't give it a full four stars.

Around 3-4 hours into the ALC of Beautiful Villain, I was enjoying it so much that I went and preordered the physical copy with the pretty green sprayed edges 🥰

This is my very first Gatsby retelling and I was not disappointed! Adding the vampire and siren twist to it was so unique!

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quantity of spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Quality of spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
**There were 6 spicy scenes - 1 of which was in the bonus scene that was technically not part of the same story, but a 20s style Jay and Daisy spicy scene.**

Daisy and Jay were childhood best friends. Both of their families didn’t have much money, until Daisy’s father was offered an excellent job and they moved away.. leaving behind poor Jay to his alcoholic mother.

Flash forward several years, Daisy has graduated college and she’s taking the summer off because she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. An old friend from high school invites her to this extravagant party and all she knows about the host is that his name is “Gatsby”. Well, who else has the last name Gatsby? None other than Jay! Could it be the same man??

Jay has made a name for himself; he’s now incredibly wealthy and throws these crazy parties for the town every weekend. But there is a reason for these parties.. one Daisy is dying to find out 😉

I loved the story as a whole, my only dislike was Daisy’s immaturity. I’m not sure if it was the way her character was portrayed in the narration or if it was the way it was written, but she seemed more like a character in high school versus having just graduated college.

Something I loved about Daisy was her siren-like abilities. I was so happy she got to explore it more during the story & we got to learn about her history!

I’d recommend this book and am looking forward to Rebecca’s Dorian Gray retelling!

This story has an interesting take on vampires that covers a vast amount of dark topics. The main character is dealing with trauma after getting out of an abusive relationship and is trying to navigate her feelings when she meets back up with her childhood friend. Things get a little crazy after that.

This was a great twist on The Great Gatsby. I loved the mystical components! I wasn't a fan of the way the characters talked sometimes, it felt odd to me. But the story and the plot!! This was a fast paced and entertaining read! The narrators did an amazing job!

5 Stars

DAAAAAAYYYUUMMMMMM THIS BOOK IS IT.

If you ever wanted a modernized Gatsby retelling that tackles all of the toxic moments of the original and flips them on their head and throws in an actual health dose of a true romance…look no further.

Not only is this a delicious vampire retelling with other supernatural beings, AND DONE IN SUCH A GOOD WAY, but it is so steamy and done with such earned tension and never gratuitous for no reason.

This book was such a surprise in such an amazing way. And the audio? EXCEPTIONAL! The narrator was incredible and it included the bonus chapter and playlist for the book. Highly recommend.

For the amount of this book I could tolerate before I just couldn't force myself to go on, every time the protagonist opened her mouth, I found my brain screaming with the voice of Charlie Day, "Oh my god! I don't care!"

Contemporary Great Gatsby fanfiction for (and probably by) people who have to ask after every book recommendation, "Is there spice?"

If you're l looking for a sassy yet utterly bland protagonist and Wattpad-level prose, you can pick this one up, I guess.

Wow just wow! This book was not at all what I expected. I didn’t read the summary before starting this book I am just a huge fan of this author. As always she didn’t disappoint. I love that jay kept his personality from when they were kids. The chaos of how everything unfolded was amazing the fact that it wasn’t just jay who was special and daisy isn’t just some damsel. I love the she acknowledges the bad choices she makes and tries her hardest not to jump in and make similar choices and she thinks everything through. I also love her parents in this rather than the original parents of gatsby.

I was so excited to dive into a modern day Paranormal Gatsby retelling, but I was left feeling a bit ‘meh’. This is an adult novel but I just kept thinking the dialogue and way of thinking was a bit immature. They talked, thought, and acted like teens? The parents seemed too involved and we talked about sleezy Tom way too much for my liking. I didn’t really believe the romance between Daisy and Gatsby. I wanted to so badly. But like I said above, everything just felt a bit meh to me. This was ok.

I love Rebecca's Wicked Darlings series, so when I saw this come up on NetGalley, it was an immediate request. The Great Gatsby is such an icon, and I couldn't wait to see her retelling. But now, after having finished reading it, I'm left a bit underwhelmed.
The plot was very choppy. One minute, there was action and movement and happenings. Then the next, everything was stagnant. The lulls were filled with disjointed dialogue, rushed sexual encounters, or side characters that popped in and out for no reason. There were also multiple plot lines; some were drawn out and some ended rather quickly with another subplot immediately filling its place. The story could have done with some structuring to be more cohesive throughout.
Daisy was fine as a FMC. She definitely grew throughout the story. While she didn't get her act together, I do feel like she's more on the right track. I dislike how she went from pitying herself over her ex to moving in with another guy a few months later almost as if her entire self worth depended on a man's approval. But maybe she'll find her calling in the sequel.
Jay's character was kind of a mess. I never saw the alphamale side of him. Just the lovesick puppy he really was. I needed him to go feral over Daisy, at least once, but he never did. He never "saved" her either; Jordan and Nick did. I feel like he tried so hard to be the "perfect guy" that he instead became a caricature of a real man.
The love story seemed... lacking. It felt very immature, as if they were still in their high school days. And I didn't really feel their connection. I think the story may have benefitted from having Jay's POV, at least for a handful of chapters, making his character, feelings, and motivations more fleshed out. Instead we were just repeatedly told he did everything for Daisy.
I also believe some mystery with twists would have made the story more enjoyable. The immortality plot line would have been a great twist if done properly (and not mentioned in the blurb). As well as the big bad. But everything was handed to Daisy and Jay on silver platters, which took some of the intrigue out of it.
I did like how Jay explained their way of turning vampires was more scientific than biological. And he was (mostly) turning those with the greatest need, such as doctors, nurses, emergency services, terminally ill, etc. He wasn't just turning people for the hell of it. I know Daisy claims he's "playing God" in that regard, but I actually think it makes more sense than changing anyone and everyone.
One of my favorite parts was the primal play scene. Give me alllll the primal sex scenes!

The narrator did a fantastic job bringing Daisy to life! I do wish we could've gotten some Jay chapters with Jay's voice as well.

While this book didn't WOW me as much as I had hoped, I did like it enough to read the next book.

3.5/5 stars rounded up.

Ate down!
This was so enjoyable. Rebecca Kenney always has the most unique ideas. The perfect amount of the film and something new

The Great Gatsby but with a vampire twist! Jay and Daisy are childhood friends who haven’t seen each other in years. Daisy is in college and just got out of a controlling/abusive relationship. She comes across Jay, who she grew up with, and they instantly kick it off like no time has passed! Daisy, however, does have a lot of questions regarding Jay and wants to know what is different about him. Jay keeps telling her that he will explain everything in time but doesn’t want to rush anything.

The connection between these two characters is everything! They have a bond and love for each other that will always be protected by them. This book kept me engaged and wanting to read more. I didn’t want to put it down! The trickle of spice was good! Wasn’t too much but was just enough!! I enjoyed all of it!

let me start by saying that the narrator did a beautiful job of bringing this story to life. The premise of this book had me really excited to dive into Gatsby but make it vampiric. Unfortunately the execution fell a little flat for me. Or maybe I just love the classic so much i couldn't get passed that. I did enjoy the characters and thought they were well flushed out. And I thought the science explanation for the vampires was afresh take and really had my brain thinking about the possibilities. Over all i think that this book is going to be a huge hit for a lot of people. I really just couldn't get passed the tesla.

#BeautifulVillain:⁣
⁣
Thank you @sourcebookscasa @librofm @dreamscape_media for my gifted copies!⁣
⁣
“This isn’t a fairy tale. The beast doesn’t turn into a prince through the power of love—it’s the other way around. I always preferred the beast anyway.”⁣
⁣
Vampires are back baby! (To be fair, I don’t think they ever left, but just in case you felt they did leave, they’re back) ⁣
⁣
If you’re unaware of Rebecca F Kenney’s work, it’s usually saucy and fun reimagined stories. I like them because they’re not the same retelling x 1000000. Gatsby isn’t my favorite FSG book, so I didn’t know how I would feel about a retelling. Well, I loved it. It was a fun twist with the touch of vampires and Jay wasn’t totally insufferable!⁣
⁣
Audio was definitely where it’s at. Ruby Cherise read The Sacred Stones series and I loved their narration. It was just as great for Villains. ⁣
⁣
So if we’re gonna hit key points: Jay isn’t insufferable to me, Daisy is a stronger FMC, vampires are cool especially when they have a moral system on not just sucking everyone dry, the spice is there but it’s not Georgia in July heat, just like Georgia in April after the last frost, audio is amazing.⁣
⁣
Out now! ⁣
⁣
I’m out of creative questions, so please ask me one and I’ll answer 💚