As an avid great gatsby fan, THIS is the retelling I’ve been looking for. The prose is gorgeous, the characters are nuanced and fleshed-out, and the world is so compelling. Bravo.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!

I finished this book in less than twenty four hours, but waited a bit to write the review because I doubt I can do the novel true justice. I wanted to sit with it, let it wash over me, keep it in my mouth like candy. It was the first time in a while I didn't feel inundated with info-dumps, but trusted as a reader. I felt as if I had the space to unpack this, that it was more than just the text on page. It was at once the original work and something else entirely.

Local Heavens is a cyberpunk retelling of The Great Gatsby, which, if you weren't aware, is my favourite classic. The bar was high for me, and Local Heavens delivers on all fronts.

The writing style has Fitzgerald's meticulous decadence, which I'm happy to sink my teeth into any day of the week. While doing this, it still retains aspects of a style outside of the original's, which I think is crucial in any retelling. Some old lines or metaphors were adjusted to suit the new setting, which I thought was a necessary addition. It definitely ran the risk of poor execution, but not in this case; it managed to hold its own very well. Jordan's interlude, while still remaining as strongly written as the rest, felt as though it had its own, clear voice outside of Nick's—and that is very difficult to accomplish. I could go on about the prose for weeks, but I'll stop. Just trust that the writing alone was enough to secure Fajardo as an author I will be reading voraciously in the future. Understanding another author's style to this extent, while maintaining clear hints of one's own, is a Herculean feat. I deeply admire it.

The worldbuilding may be confusing for some, but I rather appreciated the work I had to put in on my end to understand it—that's good, that's what I want and like, especially as a frequent sci-fi/fantasy reader. It was evident that there was thought put into not only how the world's "current" systems work, but how they got there in the first place. I would've loved more elaboration, but I understand how this can be limited by page counts and run a risk of, indeed, info-dumping. What matters was that it was interesting, and did a good job of setting up basic "laws" of the technology as well.

Above everything else, it was the characters that really blew me away. They are, at once, the same as the original work and entirely different people. Nick remains my favourite, as he's always been (I have always thought him very intriguing, and not at all who he says he is), but the changes made him not only more entertaining, but more down-to-earth. The choice of having Nick be a person of colour and how it played a role in the way he interacted with the elite was fantastic. It created another, crucial layer on top Fitzgerald's initial critique—which, alongside the added aspects of the role of technology and the effects of late-stage capitalism, really rounded out the point of the original novel and modernised it. From the moment I heard it was a cyberpunk Great Gatsby, I knew it would work. The themes, criticism, characters, and plot of the original novel graft almost perfectly into such a setting.

It'd be a poor review if I didn't mention the relationship between Nick and Gatsby. Without saying much, as it is worth the experience, I was not only deeply invested in their development, but appreciated the quiet way it built up. There was no explicitly stated tension, and not only is that perfect for their relationship, but it is how I prefer relationships to be written in general. This was done very well, especially considering how many plot points and other relationships had to be juggled. (Also a bisexual Nick has always made sense to me, I thought the same when I read the original work. I also appreciate that the scene in Chapter 2 of the original work was properly understood. Glad we all agree that's what Fitzgerald was implying.)

Local Heavens is timely, but more than that, it is aware the reader does not need to be badgered with quotables and dialogue stating the obvious. The disastrous effects of capitalism are clear even before Nick sets foot in the cyberpunk version of the Valley of Ashes. Attraction between characters brims under the surface, unsaid, for hundreds of pages before it releases. Every scene is exquisitely written. Quite frankly, this is the exact kind of book I not only want to read, but write myself. I can't stress enough how much I recommend it, if not for your own love of The Great Gatsby, but then for your enjoyment.

5⭐️

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the published from netgalley. thank you!]

i have been following the author on YouTube for ages, and it feels like a huge honour to get to read this e-Arc, so thank you. this debut novel is a queer reimagining of the great Gatsby set in New York City in 2075. excellent writing, character development and an interesting world to fall into. i will definitely be watching this author in the future