As I will be publishing my full review with The Game of Nerds, which I will be linking once it's up on the site, this is only a portion of my review.

This isn’t a love story. It is a story about love, in all its longing and yearning. It’s a story about how love can dredge a soul up from the pits of hell, despite the impossibility. It’s a story about how a man can be brought back to life through the memory of love alone. But it isn’t a love story. There is no happy ending in which Nick and Gatsby ride off into the sunset, both alive and together. But, that does not mean there is no happy ending.

There is one thing Nick is haunted by even more than the ghost of Gatsby. His heart. Or, more precisely, the question of if he even has a heart.

“‘Be a little kind to yourself, please. If you can be whoever you want, wouldn’t it be nicer to be someone you liked?’”

The ending, the final gift Gatsby gave him, was the perfect way this story could have ended. A chance to rewrite himself, to shape his own destiny. To become real in all the ways that matters to him. To give himself a heart that is truly and utterly his own. Gatsby was never going to give him his heart, but at least he gave Nick the chance to create one for himself.

So, this isn’t a love story. But, perhaps Nick can finally learn to love himself now that he has a heart of his own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just felt very lukewarm about it overall. If it was a full-length novel I would have dnf-ed probably.

Nghi Vo's writing style is simply not for me. Much too in the magical realism & fabulism realm. C&B was the exception I think just because of having the grounding in The Great Gatsby story, which I'm familiar with. Without that, her authorial voice is lost on me.

In Don’t Sleep with the Dead, Nghi Vo revisits The Great Gatsby, this time through Nick Carraway’s haunted and unreliable perspective. Now in the late 1930s, on the eve of World War II, Nick has built a quiet life of watching and pretending—pretending to be straight, pretending to forget 1922, and pretending Gatsby is truly gone. But when he sees a familiar face in the dark, he realizes the past isn’t done with him. Dead or not, Gatsby is back—or at least, something that looks like him is.

Unlike The Chosen and the Beautiful, which hinted at magic, this novella brings the supernatural to the forefront. New York is eerie, filled with ghosts, devils, and secrets, and Nick is drawn into its underbelly in search of answers. Is he chasing Gatsby out of love, guilt, or something even darker?

This is a novella about hunger—for love, for closure, for something real. Even glimpses of Jordan Baker remind Nick of the roads never taken and the people he’s lost. Vo’s prose is sharp and dreamlike, making every moment feel both beautiful and unsettling. The line between memory and magic blurs, leaving Nick (and the reader) questioning what is real.

Though short, Don’t Sleep with the Dead is a mesmerizing, eerie, and deeply emotional read. It’s a story of love, obsession, and the ghosts that refuse to stay buried. If you loved The Chosen and the Beautiful or enjoy stories where longing lingers like a ghost, this is one you won’t want to miss. #torpublishing #dontsleepwiththedead #nghivo. #thechosenandthebeautiful

I’ll admit that The Chosen and The Beautiful was not one of my favorites, especially as I’m not especially familiar with The Great Gatsby though I did read it in high school. But I couldn’t resist the chance to read Don’t Sleep with the Dead, especially because it’s a novella. This is probably the least lush of all Vo’s books I’ve read, and I think that comes to Nick being the narrator. This is dedicated to unreliable narrators, and I like how that’s something played with in this novella, the stories we tell and the stories we believe. I struggled to follow everything happening in the first two thirds, but I love the conclusion. This is a book where the open-ended ending works really well, because again we’re dealing with an unreliable narrator and a story is only done when the teller says so. Vo continues to do really interesting things with storytelling and characters, even if much of it is going over my head.

I enjoyed the premise and poetic nature of this novella, but I don't think it should be advertised as a standalone. I felt lost at times and think I would have enjoyed this story more if I had been introduced to the characters properly in the previous novella. If you've read her previous work, I think you'll love this one!

I will be checking out more of Nghi Vo's work, as I did really enjoy her writing style.

<i>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</i>

This marks my 100th book I’ve read and reviewed through NetGalley, which is exciting.

Anytime I see Nghi Vo has a new book coming out, I know that I <b>must</b> read it. I love everything she writes and in my opinion, she can do no wrong.

This is set in the universe of, and is a sort of sequel to, [book:The Chosen and the Beautiful|55169019], which I also absolutely adored. [book:The Great Gatsby|41733839] was one of my favorite required readings in high school, but I have to say… Vo’s version is better.

I love Nick and his character. He is so unique and interesting, and he was the one I really felt for the most in her first book, so I was excited to see him again and see a story told from his point of view.

I also absolutely adore how lush Vo’s prose is - every sentence is like a morsel of my favorite treat, that melts on the tongue and leaves you yearning for more.

Normally a book of this length I would get through fairly quick, but I really took my time with this one, re-reading certain lines and phrases because I liked the way they tasted.

I cannot wait to buy a copy for myself - and I am so happy I read this one.

A wonderful Gatsby retelling that builds on the themes of the original while also creating something entirely new.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an eARC of this title in exchange for my review.

Don't Sleep With The Dead by Nghi Vo is a follow up/companion novella to the historical fantasy by the author, The Chosen and the Beautiful.

Like the first book, this work is rich, poetic and immersive, with elements of magical realism, questions of identity, and ponderings of the human condition and what is left of a lost love.

This return to a queer magical Great Gatsby inspired world is sharp, dark, desperate and absolutely gorgeous.

X

Let me start this review by saying I have never read The Great Gatsby. I have also never partook in any literary conversations about The Great Gatsby. My only knowledge of The Great Gatsby comes from the movie staring Leonardo DiCaprio that I watched one time when it came out in 2013 and the Family Guy parody. That all said, I still really enjoyed this book. I'm sure there were a bunch of allusions to the original work that I missed, but the story still held on its own despite this. I didn't really understand what was going on at the start, but still found myself pulled into the story because of the writing. This is the first of Nghi Vo's books I've read and I loved the writing style. It was poetic without feeling overly flowery. I think it helped that this story was so short, so the poetic writing couldn't drag on. This was a great read and I need to read The Great Gatsby so I can fully appreciate what Vo does with the characters.

Also, turns out this book is a companion piece to The Chosen and the Beautiful, another book I have not read. I likely would have caught onto the world a lot quicker had I read that book, but I think this book works great as a stand alone.

"If you can be whoever you want, wouldn't it be nice to be someone you liked?"
This book was surprisingly bloody! Maybe that wouldn't be a surprise to someone who read The Chosen and the Beautiful, but I'm not that someone! I did not realize this was a companion novella, I just expected another lovely fantastical standalone more along the lines of The City in Glass, but that is not really what I got. It does, in some sense, feel like the natural progression of books, there were elements from this that felt inspired by The City in Glass, almost like Nghi Vo had to write that before they could write this. I found the magic in this story to be the most enticing bit. While the characters didn't do all that much to hold my attention, I will be thinking about some of the unique magical elements for a while. This was a short, sweet (melancholy) little book and I am glad to have read it, but I am not necessarily more interested in the companion novel than I was before this.

Thank you to the publisher, tordotcom, and NetGalley for a free digital copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Infinitely better than its predecessor/companion novel, Don't Sleep with the Dead follows Nick Carraway after the events of The Chosen and the Beautiful/The Great Gastby.

While I'm still on the fence on whether or not I enjoy this sort of Just Drop You In, No Hand Holding Here world building with the magic system Nghi Vo has going on in this story, I supremely loved everything else about this novella - especially the imagery. We briefly meet a woman made of wax and I will never shake that scene from my mind.

Can't wait to pick up more from Nghi Vo in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an advanced copy of "Don't Sleep with the Dead" by Nghi Vo.

I feel like I need to preface this by saying a couple things that influence my review.
This work, while is technically a standalone piece, is written in conjunction with "The Chosen and the Beautiful," which I have yet to read. Even without the context of that book, this story works stunningly on its own.
Another note, this book is based on "The Great Gatsby," which I have not read for many, many years and do not remember fondly.

With those two caveats out of the way, I can begin talking about "Don't Sleep with the Dead."
This book uses Vo's incredible prose and ability to tell a story within a story to create a work that is unlike any other. Nick Carraway is an unreliable narrator with a penchant for telling lies, sometimes about others, but mostly about himself. This book has taken a lens of bittersweet nostalgia to the glamorous world of "The Great Gatsby" to create something dark and melancholy.
This books fits so much into it, despite being so short. I feel that I will have to read it again and again to fully appreciate the details in every page. perchance once I have gone and reread "The Great Gatsby" and read "The Chosen and the Beautiful."

An unbelievable follow-up to Chosen and the Beautiful. In this companion novella we follow Nick, ten years after the events of Chosen, in his search for answers (about himself, and about a certain devilish phantom). It’s so smart, and treats the reader to prose we can chew on, long after we’ve turned the final page. I gasped, cried, and (like Nick) longed for Jordan. Nghi Vo is an essential voice in fantasy, and this retelling is one of her best.

This is another stunning story from Nghi Vo which follows the Chosen and the Beautiful, her retelling of The Great Gatsby. The time is 20 years after the events told in Chosen and the Beautiful, with Nick Carraway as the unreliable narrator of the story. Is he truly Nick Carraway or a simulacrum of the original? Does he write truly of the events that take place or not? In spite of the uncertainty, all the characters portrayed come across sympathetically, and I found myself rooting for them. Yes, there are elements of horror and other-worldliness, but all of it is grounded in real-world places and descriptions that are ever-so-clearly visualized. Honestly, I think she does a better job with the original material than even Fitzgerald did. It's an amazing story from an author who seems to be getting better with each new book that she writes. I highly recommend it.

Read as an ARC.

The author does a fantastic job at retaining the tone and style of writing lent from the original Great Gatsby text. The dark and ominous theme of this novella truly expands on the darker themes in the original work. This is another case study on the human condition, even if the main character is not truly human.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of Don't Sleep With the Dead by Nghi Vo.

Vo's writing is as gorgeous and soulful as ever in this standalone novella that follows Nick Carraway's literal and figurative descent into hell as he searches for whatever is left of the man he loves.

I highly recommend reading The Chosen and the Beautiful first, even though this technically is a standalone. It will make a huge difference in the impact of the dark and twisted journey Nick is on.

3.5, I remember really enjoying The Great Gatsby when I read it in high school, and I thought I would like this just as much. However, I was not aware of the fact that you had to read the other book 1st, which would’ve been nice to know. However, I did think this was fun, at times a little confusing, (likely due to missing some information from book one)but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you to NetGalley and tordotcom for the ARC!

This book was a great addition to the universe Vo created in The Chosen and the Beautiful. I loved the dark urban settings, and the suspenseful chase that happens throughout the book. The ending was a great payoff. My only wish is that this was a full length book (because it was so good I wanted more!)

4 stars

This is a standalone novella - billed that way and technically formed that way - but readers will enjoy this so much more after having read _The Chosen and the Beautiful_, which is an excellent book, so no fretting necessary. If you're considering reading the novella and haven't devoured the novel yet start from the top.

The novella connects readers with a couple of ol' favorites from earlier classic and Vo texts, and it's clear immediately that neither has forgotten their past. In fact, the past *haunts* them...literally.

I absolutely loved _The Chosen..._ and was thrilled to see this addendum. It's very satisfying in many ways. As a greedy reader, my sole substantial complaint is that I wanted more. Vo does have quite the track record of killer novellas, so I'm hoping we'll get exactly that in future installments.

It's always a blast to go where Vo takes us, and this quick but engaging read is no exception. I'm always looking forward to the creative heights this author will expose us to next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this novella fairly blind. I just saw that it was a standalone companion novella and took that as enough to get started. I'm honestly a little bit grateful and a little bit chagrined at said choice. This was the fantastical and sad sequel to The Great Gatsby that I didn't know was needed. Nick Carraway will always be an unreliable narrator and he did not disappoint here.

Half the time I was lost on what Nick was trying to accomplish, and the other times I was right beside him just trying to find the truth between all the excuses he tried to give. The prose was so lovely and flowing that regardless of Nick's unreliability, I was thoroughly invested.

I do think I would have been better served to have read The Chosen and the Beautiful first, if only so I might have had more information on how this world actually works in terms of magic. This is not to say that the world-building is lacking. But as far as said world-building goes, this surely does read like a sequel and we're expected to know. As far as my rating of 4 stars goes, that's the only reason it's not rated 5 stars instead. If standalone was not put into the synopsis, and I would have read The Chosen and the Beautiful prior to this, it would have been a total knockout.

That all being said, this only made me want to dive further into Nghi Vo's other books. Because if I could be blown away by a story packed into 110(ish) pages, then what can she do with more?