Thank you, Tordotcom, for the ARC!

4.5 star

Don’t Sleep with the Dead is a spellbinding companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful, offering the closure the novel left open-ended.

Nghi Vo’s prose has always felt like magic—lush, lyrical, and immersive. She has a way of making even the ordinary feel enchanting, and in this novella, that talent truly shines. The story follows Nick Carraway years after The Great Gatsby, diving deeper into the strange and the supernatural. It doesn’t always make perfect sense, but that’s part of its charm—it’s eerie, atmospheric, and utterly captivating.

While this can be read as a standalone, I’d recommend starting with The Chosen and the Beautiful to fully appreciate the world Vo has crafted. If you love dreamlike storytelling with a touch of the uncanny, this one’s for you.

I love when an author writes a novella that goes along with a standalone book, especially when it contributes to the world building and lore. A companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful (a Gatsby reimagining from the perspective of Jordan), this novella takes place decades later and from the PoV of Nick-who-isn’t-truly-Nick.

What starts as a fleeting glimpse of someone long dead turns into a spiral down into the depths, as Nick tries to discover what really happened to Gatsby after he died. What follows is a sometimes surreal fever dream of a journey, with devilish deals and a woman made of wax and a covered up scandal.

I was here for this one and will gladly read any other companion novels Nghi Vo writes about this world she has borrowed and remade, infusing it with gritty magic and paranormal darkness. Thanks so much to Tor/Forge and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

i— well. if Nghi Vo knows how to do something, it’s how to write whimsically weird stories.

this reads like a closure to The Chosen and the Beautiful -- and i would recommend it for those who already read that book and want more of that world. i would have a hard time saying you can read this without reading the previous book as there would be too much context and references loss to fully grasp what's going on in the story as it drops the reader into the plot more than make an effort to introduce the characters/setting

a constant feeling i find myself in with Nghi Vo is that i love the first 50% and then get confused with the switch up in the second half (except with Siren Queen, her other novel), it's most likely a me problem.

A diabolical little companion story to The Chosen and The Beautiful. Vo picks back up Nick’s story on the verge of another World War. He has reaped what he had sown with Jay and Daisy’s story, yet he is almost consumed with hunger and wanting and obsession. It was nice to see the magic system and lore develop further a bit more. Admittedly, I felt this was lacking simply because Nick is nowhere near as star-studded as Jordan.

Despite the brief, I would not say this is a standalone and would highly encourage reading both The Chosen and the Beautiful and The Great Gatsby.

I think it was to my benefit that I didn't know that this was a companion to 'The Chosen and the Beautiful', that I've never read 'The Great Gatsby' and that I know Nghi Vo will throw me into a wild situation and the best way to enjoy is to suspend disbelief and go for the ride.
This was brutal, heartfelt, and feverish in the way that only Vo can accomplish. Even being a novella or companion to another work, I felt invested in the characters, and the absolutely delightful, rich occult aspects and historical setting were fleshed out perfectly.
This was extraordinarily angsty and horny which I didn't expect and was absolutely here for. The gay longing and accepting the ones you love, faults and all, and still maintaining autonomy once you get the answers you seek, so good.
I will be reading The Chosen and the Beautiful asap!

I love Nghi Vo's writing, and I loved The Chosen and the Beautiful, so it stands to reason that this little novella follow-up captured my heart as well. Vo's prose is beautiful and haunting, and Nick in this writing is such a wonderfully unreliable narrator. Highly recommended, but I would recommend reading The Chosen and the Beautiful first, for full effect.

I think that, in retrospect, I was more interested in the adaptive nature of The Chosen & the Beautiful than I was the world, because this sequel(ish) novella did nothing for me. It's well-written, but I bounced right off it it. Not usual for me and Nghi Vo's work.

"From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don't Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.

Nick Carraway - paper soldier and novelist - has found a life and a living watching the mad magical spectacle of New York high society in the late thirties. He's good at watching, and he's even better at pretending: pretending to be straight, pretending to be human, pretending he's forgotten the events of that summer in 1922.

On the eve of the second World War, however, Nick learns that someone's been watching him pretend and that memory goes both ways. When he sees a familiar face one very dark night, it quickly becomes clear that dead or not, damned or not, Jay Gatsby isn't done with him.

In all paper there is memory, and Nick's ghost has come home."

I love connected stories wherein you don't need to have read the previous volume. That being said, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't read The Chosen and the Beautiful.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tordotcom for the free e-arc. My opinions are being left voluntarily. When a novella book packs a punch like this one you know its a great one. This author has a talent in creating such a visual, it's like watching it play out as you read.

Recommend checking it out.

4.5/5☆

The premise of this book is what piqued my interest. I couldn’t pass up a fantasy-based Great Gatsby short story that can be read as a standalone. I felt lost at times because I didn’t have that background information from The Chosen and the Beautiful. It would have been used to understand the nature of the story and the characters as well. I would have loved to be able to connect to the magic and characters more than I did. 

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful feels a like an extended epilogue - one you didn't realize you needed, but now you can't imagine not having!

There is something wildly magic about Nghi Vo’s writing. I find myself completely engrossed - even in the mundane or monotonous scenes. I typically find slice-of-life style narratives repetitive and boring, but Nghi Vo’s ability to weave magic into everyday life is like a shot of adrenaline to my brain. I can’t stop reading, and I’m always hungry for more.

Don’t Sleep With the Dead was no exception.

I loved the exploration of paper-soldier Nick Carraway's life, the absolutely stunning prose, the magic and mythology, and the contrast of paranormal horrors to that of the everyday horrors of life.

I do think this works best as a companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful, if you choose to read as a true standalone I think you’ll be missing out! I read this directly after finishing The Chosen and the Beautiful and throughly enjoyed getting an “extended” version of the story.

My only complaint is that I could have easily enjoyed a longer version of the story. The narrative progresses fairly quickly and I just wanted a little more time to sit with this new version of Nick.

Audio Narration: 5/5 I enjoyed the narration quite a bit! The perfect voice for our older mature Nick Carraway!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Tor Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

As always, Nghi Vo's prose is exceptional. This novella transported me briefly to another world. I felt all of Nick Carraway's emotions vividly, and I also was equally confused about what was happening as invested in the story. I felt like the vibes were 1920/30's cinematic, on point!

This is technically a standalone companion to Vo's The Chosen and the Beautiful, but I would recommend reading TCATB before picking this one up for the fullest effect.

This was so perfectly twisted and dark, I couldn't put it down. Taking the age old story of Gatsby and putting a nice twist on it, but we have Nick Carraway taking us through his paper soldier existence. Not truly Nick, but not truly not Nick either. He has observed the world change before him for years, but by chance he sees a familiar face that he thought was long gone.

Unable to give up the longing and want of the last, Nick let's himself chase Gatsby once again, reaching for one moment of authenticity from the man who consumed his soul for so long. This was so, so well done. Raw, and on point to target our deepest desires as a reader, questioning what we really want and who we really are.

Don’t Sleep with the Dead is a sequel novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo which is a dark fantasy reimagining of The Great Gatsby.

I have not read that book and didn’t know this was a sequel going in. I’m a simple girl, I see a Nghi Vo book and I want to read it immediately. I’m sure that if I read the first book, I would pick up on a lot of the little details but I don’t think not reading it hampered my enjoyment of this story.

This book follows Nick over twenty years after the ending of the previous book. He is trying his best to live his life when he finds out someone is watching him.

I really enjoyed this story. I think it takes a bit to really get started but once it does, it is fantastic. I love the way Vo crafts sentences so every word feels important. This story is barely 100 pages but it feels like you get so immersed.

My only complaint is that I do wish it was a bit longer. I could read this author’s writing every day forever and never get sick of it but I do think this story could have benefitted from another 20 or so pages.

I would highly recommend this novella. Especially to fans of Vo’s other books and I plan on reading The Chosen and the Beautiful very soon.

✪✪✪: the vibes are devilish

Having read two of Vo's previous works before this one, I should have been prepared for how... batshit this story was. Batshit isn't even necessarily the word I'm looking for, but like her previous works, its not straightforward and it is NOT grounded in reality. Or at least, reality as we know it.

I did not read Vo's retelling of The Great Gatsby and I'm not sure if that hindered this reading or not, but the story is still very compelling. What haunts us and why? This story is full of nuance and subtlety, so if that is not your thing, you probably wont like this, but if you're a fan of a queer reading of gatsby and/or nick carraway, you'll devour it.

Gorgeous writing as always from Nghi Vo, but this novella felt a bit thin all around. I also don't understand the standalone marketing, I wish I had gone back to reread Chosen and the Beautiful before this one for maximum impact - as it was I spent a longer chunk of this small book than I wanted just being confused. Can't imagine someone without any context of the world from the previous book jumping into this one.

The doubly fictional Nick Carroway

Nghi Vo's Don't Sleep with the Dead is a sequel to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her brilliant retelling of The Great Gatsby. The Chosen and the Beautiful is, in my opinion, an improvement on Gatsby. (However, to evaluate that claim properly you need to understand that I have never liked Gatsby, so improving on my estimation of it is not a great feat.) The Chosen and the Beautiful was told from the point of view of Jordan Baker. Vo's version of Jordan is a far more attractive and interesting character than Jay Gatsby ever was. Also, there is magic in The Chosen and the Beautiful. Aside from the ordinary, utility kind of magic everyone knows about, characters of Southeast Asian descent (including Jordan) practice magics based on folding and cutting paper.

Don't Sleep with the Dead takes place some 22 years after the end of The Chosen and the Beautiful, in a New York City that belongs to an America on the edge of the the Second World War. The characters don't exactly know that, but they are old enough to remember World War I and they can see the threat of something equally awful on the horizon.

Don't Sleep with the Dead is about and by (i.e. in the first-person voice of) Nick Carroway. Nick is the fictional narrator of Gatsby. In The Chosen and the Beautiful and Don't Sleep with the Dead he is doubly fictional. To protect the real Nick, his family used paper magic to create a simulacrum of the young Nick. This simulacrum was sent to the war in Europe, while real Nick stayed behind safe in Canada. That, at least, was the plan. In fact, Real Nick died in a traffic accident, whereas the Paper Nick came back alive from Europe, or as nearly alive as paper can be.

Paper Nick is a writer. He has published several novels, including one that is clearly the one we know as The Great Gatsby. He is also a newspaper columnist.

The story begins when Nick hears a voice in his head that seems to be Jay Gatsby, or his ghost. Nick tracks him down.

Don't Sleep with the Dead is as brilliant as Vo always is. I did not, however, enjoy it as much as The Chosen and the Beautiful. The reason is simple: Nick is just a less interesting character than Jordan. Deep in his paper heart, Nick is a rather conventional man. Jordan shows up briefly in Don't Sleep with the Dead, although only at the far end of a telephone line. Even so she steals the show every time she appears.

What if Gatsby made deals with the devil? And what if Nick Carraway was so in love with him that 20 years after his death Nick couldn't help but try to rescue him from whatever hellish consequences he faced?

I love Nghi Vo's books, and I loved this creepy, immersive novella. I have not read [book:The Chosen and the Beautiful|55169019], Vo's dark fantasy Gatsby retelling, but I honestly didn't feel like I was lost reading this sort-of-sequel. Instead, this made me want to pick that one up.

The world building here is really cool, a 1940s NYC with demons and magic everywhere. There's a focus on memory, and how you can get so focused on fixing something that you don't question whether you should.

Pick this up for a look at Gatsby stripped down to his essential traits (ambition, envy, charisma); for a fantasy on the darker side; for a queer slant on the whole thing; for compelling writing. I loved it.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

Huge fan of Vo.

I picked this up without looking at the synopsis and was pleasantly surprised that it was a companion novella to The Chosen and The Beautiful.

I loved that world and was glad to be back in it. This is still a little mysterious and I still love the writing. Its focus is Nick after the events of the other book and he is an interesting head to be in.

Personally I’m glad I read the Chosen first and would probably recommend that.

Thanks to netgalley and tor pub for the eARC

I did not realize this was a companion novel to The Chosen and the Beautiful. While it is pitched as a standalone novella, I think I would have enjoyed it far more having read the preceding book. I was so confused throughout but still intrigued enough by the world and the magic (which are offered no explanation). I love Nghi Vo’s writing and plan to give this another chance after reading The Chosen and the Beautiful.