First, I want to start this review by noting that I did not read the companion novel, so I was completely lost starting this one. I'll keep this review short, but I don't think I was the right audience for this one. This book is marketed as a standalone companion novella, to an already published book. In my honest opinion, you do need to read that original book to appreciate this one, to have some familiarity with the plot. I did not, and therefore, I had no idea what was happening the entire time I was readings.

I can see why people like this author though, the writing is excellent. I enjoyed the dark, gothic, atmospheric setting, this was very well done. The prose was poetic, the queer love was well done, and the magic was unique. This book is definitely going to be loved by a select audience. I have more books by this author on my shelf that I am excited to get to.

I am a big fan of Nghi Vo, But one of the books on my shelf that I haven't gotten to yet is THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL. Even so, I wanted to try this novella to see if it really did feel like a standalone. And I'm happy to report that it did! I felt like I was meeting the characters for the first time in this universe, the only context I had being my knowledge of GREAT GATSBY. The writing was sharp and lovely as usual, and I'm so interested in learning more about the world and the magic within it. If you're a fan of Gatsby, Vo, queer stories, or great novellas, give this one a shot! I think you'll enjoy it.

This was a very interesting twist to Great Gatsby. I enjoyed this short read very much and the way the author portrayed Gatsby. Nothing ever comes back from the small intestines. How the whole world seems to be crazy and people being made of wax and paper. I would recommend this short read to anyone.

Prior to reading Don't Sleep with the Dead, I had only read Nghi Vo works set in the Singing Hills world. I am obsessed with the worldbuilding in those novellas and was excited to explore something set in a different context. Don't Sleep with the Dead did not disappoint. It retained the mystical atmosphere contrasted with a believably real setting. It is my favorite thing about the Singing Hills, the way fantasy is woven into a world that feels expansive, that has heft, like a charming melody anchored by a steady base note. Although Don't Sleep with the Dead is a completely different type of book, it retains this aspect of Vo's storytelling. Thank you to the author, narrator Greg Barnett, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the audioARC.

I enjoyed Vo's latest enough to go looking for other books and discovered this is the second book with this set of characters, although both books work as standalones. Predictably, I picked up The Chosen and the Beautiful. I was aware of the relationship to The Great Gatsby in Don't Sleep with the Dead but when it became obvious The Chosen and the Beautiful is a direct retelling, I paused my reading to revisit The Great Gatsby. And that is how I ended up reading The Great Gatsby on its 100th anniversary! Last year I read 1984 and Julia together and found I enjoyed the classic more in conversation with its updated retelling than I did by itself. The same was true here. You certainly don't have to read The Great Gatsby or The Chosen and the Beautiful to enjoy or appreciate Don't Sleep with the Dead. But the three together is a great reading experience so if you have the time and inclination, I highly recommend doing it. Books in conversation with each other is one of my favorite things and this is a fabulous discussion of class and desire.

Greg Barnett captured Nick's voice. There are already many audio versions of The Great Gatsby but I would love to hear Barnett's take. Speaking it out into the universe in hopes someone makes it happen!

This is a hell of a novella that picks up Nick Caraway actually being the main character this time around, and him dealing with the fallout of having essentially been conjured out of paper and nothingness to substitute for the actual son in the draft (and then the son died and he survived so looool), his being haunted by Gatsby, and the implication of the devillish deals that have been happening in the background now being bought to the forefront. Haunting, gorgeous, and the best kind of read. The narrator also perfectly conveys that Midwestern accent of Nick, and does an amazing job with the twists of the novella.

(3.75/5 stars)

Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo is a companion novella set nearly two decades after the events of The Chosen and the Beautiful.

This is technically a standalone, but I think it's a good idea to read TCatB first, because it would definitely provide a lot of context! Both DSwtD and TCatB are queer fantasy reimaginings of The Great Gatsby, which is celebrating its centennial this month!

Nick Carraway is our point-of-view character in this novella, while Jordan Baker (reimagined as a Vietnamese adoptee) is who we follow in TCatB. She has a cameo appearance in this work as well. Greg D. Barnett does a pretty good job with the narration; I think he absolutely nailed Nick's entire vibe. He's a self-admitted unreliable narrator, not knowing what is absolutely true about himself for reasons I won't spoil if you haven't read TCatB.

As with all writings by Vo, this has a lot of vibes and I was here for them. Her prose is beautiful, lush, and often lyrical; her dreamlike quality is one I really enjoy. While there were some points where I was a little confused about what was happening, I was absolutely along for the ride.

"There’s no such thing as forgetting. Not really."

Nick Carraway is haunted by ghosts. In this companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo’s exceptional retelling of The Great Gatsby, Nick has published his book about the events of 1922 - but not able to move on from the memories, despite his best efforts at pretending. In a mere 110 pages Vo creates such an engrossing story about longing and heartbreak, identity and searching for resolution.

I don’t think I breathed during the last few chapters.

2.5. I think this would have been marketed better as just a companion novel because the world-building is a little complex for a standalone. That said, the pacing was good, the tone was perfectly eerie, and it was toxic and queer, so I can't complain that much.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

💎DON'T SLEEP WITH THE DEAD💎 by @nghivowriting is a saucy little novella companion to THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publishers, @tordotcompub and @macmillan.audio for the e and audio-ARCs.

This was a companion novella to THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL, a retelling of the GREAT GATSBY, but make it queer! The novella gives us one last look at the Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway love story conjured up by the author. It is very gay, sentimental, ethereal, melancholy and full of magic and macabre.

It was a joy to revisit this classic world with Vo's queer twist! I am such a huge Stan for Vo and absolutely love her writing and world building. This one just came out on Tuesday and is in stores now!!

Book review: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Genre: fantasy retelling
Themes: The Great Gatsby, true nature, devils, pretending

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if the first line interests you, you are sure to enjoy the rest of the novel. A Truth that has been confirmed again here.

I read this one in tandem with the audiobook and thank goodness I had two copies of this book because I needed to read it twice to figure out what the heck was going on! The audiobook was excellent and perfect for the narrative given that Nick is a writer and tells his stories in first person. That being said I needed to also read this in written format to savour the words and absorb the oddities of this tale. Thank you to @Macmillan.Audio and Tor for giving me the chance to review both advanced copies of this book.

Paper soldier Nick Carraway has been made famous with his novel about Jay and Daisy. His keen observation of New York high society continues as Nick tries to hide parts of his true identity. He is pretending to both be straight and human - I know, not what you were expecting. Pretending to forget, until he forgets he is pretending because memories are only partly real.

This twist on The Great Gatsby is certainly unusual and creative with face swapping and devils, paper boys and burning hearts. It has a Tim Burton-esque quality will Hell intertwined with the golden sheen of NYC. And of course, Jay himself must make a reappearance. When Nick learns that someone has been watching over him, he discovers that even the dead hold sway. Confused? I wouldn’t blame you.

This is a companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful so I would really recommend reading that first. As a standalone, this was a wild and wacky queer short novel, but it reads as one long satisfying epilogue. Nick is a notably unreliable narrator so when things get weird you start to question reality. It is dark and strange, full of unrequited love and an identity crisis. There was a nice big reveal that directs the storyline, though I still can’t ascertain what is true and what is not. The writing was poetic in nature and the inclusivity is made for a modern world, but a lot of the character development and backstory is based off of the previous novel. So as a standalone I would rate it around a 3⭐️, but it hikes up to a 4⭐️ if you’ve read The Chosen and the Beautiful beforehand. After all, a story is only ever over when you say it’s over.

🎧 the audiobook is narrated by Greg D. Barnett and he makes the perfect Nick, just as I imagined him. The cadence and tone play at a man who notices everything and yet is not quite as he seems and more than a little self conscious. A smooth narration of what could be journal entries. While I needed to both listen to and read this book it was an excellent in this format.

Can I give this 10 stars?

I really loved The Chosen and the Beautiful and this one is a sequel, what's happened to Nick Carraway in the 20-some years since Gatsby's death, and it absolutely lived up to my hopes and dreams for it, and then some.

The book is dedicated to all the unreliable narrators out there, and that is just so perfect. I loved that Vo added some meta-type aspects to the story without drawing much on the original story. It was also great to get more information about Nick from himself, to find out more about his past and the fact that's he's a paper boy and what's become of his paper heart since Jordan fixed it at the end of Chosen.

I will admit, that I absolutely devoured this little book. There's just something about starting a new book where the writing is just absolutely top notch that compels me to just read read read. So, I will likely go back and read it again, maybe take a bit more time with it, really savour it the second time around.

If a book is marketed as a Great Gatsby retelling, it will be an auto-read for me. This fantasy take on the story was short but entertaining. I enjoyed the magical elements and how each character was rewritten into this tale.

Novellas are not usually my thing but this one sounded too good and I was right.

A Great Gatsby adjacent story. Lyrical and poignant writing. A story that grips you and pulls you into it and yet never feels rushed.

Knowing this is a novella that is written as a companion to a full length novel has me searching my library because more of this story and this writing is exactly what I look for in a book.

So can it be a standalone, yes. Do you need to have read the OG Great Gatsby, no. I do think some knowledge from The Chosen and the Beautiful or The Great Gatsby could make it more impactful and some of the characters better understood, but even without that knowledge, it’s an incredible story.

3.5 stars - This short novella is beautifully written and crafts an interesting 1930s New York with magic and dark deals. It’s been awhile since I read The Great Gatsby but I did enjoy the characters and interpretation of the story.

I will have to read this again after going back to read the companion novella, The Chosen and the Beautiful. This is marketed as a stand-alone but I feel like I would have understood more and the story would have had more depth if I had the context from the first book.

🎧 Narrator: Greg D. Barnett
🎧 Length: 2h 48m

The narrator does an excellent job. I really felt the emotions of the main character brought to life through the narration.

Thank you to tordotcom & Macmillan Audio for providing me with copies of this book and audiobook. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

3.5*

I really wanted to give this one a higher score and I was looking forward to entering a Golden Age, Great Gatsby type setting, btu I feel as though it didn’t quite live up to what I anticipated. I will mention, this book is a companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful, so it may make a bit more sense to those who have read the companion.

As a standalone, I was not given much information regarding what it meant to be a paper soldier. With regards to Nghi Vo’s writing, he could truly be made of paper, or he could be a writer who writes for a cause. Nevertheless, the story wanders off on its own bizarre escapade as we seem to talk to demons with people trapped in the ceiling. This is very much like a fever dream, but it has some really good angst.

If The Chosen and the Beautiful was a Greta Gatsby retelling, this story takes place after those events have occurred. Even though Jay Gatsby is “dead”, Nick encounters him in a nightclub. I don’t think this is the story for me, however, from other reviews, it does seem it would have been more impactful had I read the companion piece.

I’m really glad I decided to read The Chosen and The Beautiful first because I would’ve been a bit lost without the context of that book. The writing in this short novella is stunning and beautiful. I enjoyed seeing more to the story from The Chosen and The Beautiful and I wish we got maybe even a bit more than just this short novella. I’m a sucker for anything retelling wise and this mixed with Gatsby and magical elements had me hooked. Unfortunately, I do wish we got to see Nick fleshed out a bit more, because a full length novel with more character growth and backstory would’ve been a potential 5 star for me!

Thank you tordotcom and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies of this book and audio!

DNF at 25%

I received the ALC through NetGalley but I could not get into the story at all. Will retry later with the physical book..

I loved the haunting writing style and gothic world building. But dang it! I'm bummed this was marketed as a standalone. It definitely was not. It was a continuation of another story, with most of this book referencing back to characters, relationships, and events we current readers knew nothing about. I wish I had read the first book first.

Well, it was intriguing. I enjoyed the mysterious quality of it- the feeling of entering a speakeasy or a fever dream. But I can’t say I necessarily feel glad I read it? I think a big component was that I hadn’t realized this book was a companion novella to The Chosen & the Beautiful. I usually catch that sort of info in a blurb, but I think the lack of cohesive elements in the covers made it less obvious. I will read that other book someday and reevaluate my thoughts!

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

Nick Carraway has been living as a novelist, pretending to be human. He's gotten much better at it, if he does say so himself. But on the eve of the second World War --seventeen years after the events of the summer of 1922 -- he discovers that someone has been watching him, and they know everything. Will he discover who is watching him and regain his memories?

So it wasn't until after I read this that I learned this was a companion novel that works well as an extended epilogue, and I didn't read either of those. BUT! Viewing this from a standalone point of view, this was excellently written. I wasn't really sure what a few things that were happening were, which I assume was explained in the novels, but for the most part I was taken on a wild ride of magic and demons and monsters. I love the idea of wearing someone else and the dead coming back, and I think I can definitely see myself rereading this after I dive into the novels because there is just so much to unpack and think about for something so short. I loved how it ended and I have so many questions that don't need to be answered but I would love to have them answered nonetheless. I'm starting to find that I really am enjoying Nghi Vo's writing and will most definitely be reading more by them.