Beautiful Villain
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Hi Hello!
I never knew I needed a Great Gatsby retelling until I read Beautiful Villain by Rebecca Kenney. It’s romantic, ridiculous, and really good.
Quick synopsis: Daisy Finnegan is looking forward to the freedom of summer after college. But when her cousin goes missing at an exclusive house party, Daisy is all too ready to confront the mysterious host…only to discover the wealthy recluse is Jay Gatsby, her childhood sweetheart.
She could never resist him, and it isn't long before she's entangled in a web of wealth, lies, and obsession, culminating in a shocking act of violence that shatters the summer haze and threatens to drown them all.
But it isn't until Gatsby is shot through the heart―and survives―that Daisy discovers the truth of how he clawed his way up in the world: by selling the secret of immortality to the highest bidder. Now with her friends' lives at stake, her own dizzying new powers still volatile, and an unimaginable threat closing in, Daisy will have to face an impossible choice: Side with the man who claimed her body and soul? Or with the monsters who would see him lost to her forever?
Non-spoiler review:
How’d that synopsis do? Make you excited to learn more about the book? Make you roll your eyes at the sight of yet another sexy vampire story? Well friends, it made me do both.
The Great Gatsby was one of my favorite books we had to read in high school. I love both the Redford and DiCaprio versions of the movie as well. If you don’t know that story, well spoilers, but Gatsby dies at the end. In this retelling, he does die, but comes back. He is a vampire after all.
Kenney kept to the original story pretty well. She did have it set in modern times. So everyone had a smart phone and even one of Daisy’s friends was a TikTok star. This also meant Gatsby’s house was fully equipped with a VR Game Room, amongst other deliciously lavish extras.
Jay Gatsby and Daisy were childhood best friends. Daisy grew up lower middle class, and Jay grew up even lower with a mother that was never around. When Jay was with Daisy and her family, he felt at home.
Daisy’s dad then gets a way better job, a very grand salary, and that means they have to move away. Leaving Jay behind.
Jump to almost a decade later and Daisy gets an invite to a Gatsby party by her cousin, Nick. Though at the time Nick and Daisy don’t know who’s hosting this grand party. Jordan, the famous stunt girl on TikTok, invited them both.
My FAVORITE part of the whole book takes place pretty early on. When the three of them are at the party and Jordan talks about who the host is. Revealing all she knows is that he is named, Gatsby. Immediately Daisy turns to her and asks, “Gatsby? What Gatsby?” Those three little words made me smile. They were from the original book and movies. I love how the author made sure to keep a few things like that in the story.
BEWARE: Spoilers ahead:
If you don’t know the original Gatsby story, it’s basically this: Gatsby has loved Daisy for most of their lives, and he does everything in his power to make himself a man she will be proud of. He accumulates riches beyond belief, builds a house worthy of a queen, and transforms himself into the perfect gentleman. He’s very obsessive over Daisy, and in this retelling, it’s no different.
I think reading this version opened my eyes a little more to that obsession. Maybe it’s the way the author literally wrote it. She didn’t add a lot of fluff to it. But at some points it made me a tad uncomfortable. Now, I know most of you are like, “girl, how did you not see the obsession from the originals?” I did. But now, Daisy isn’t fighting it. She’s not battling with herself internally if she should stay with her husband or run off with this man she hardly knows. In this rendition, she’s embracing it. A little too quickly for my liking, but I get it. He’s rich, hot, and you have a history. He seems trustworthy. Why not?
Jumping a little further ahead, Daisy and Jay have reconnected and started their relationship. This book is a little spicy, so we got some intimate scenes. I think there was only 2 or 3 scenes in the whole book. The story was not revolving around them having sex by any means, it was just a chance to feel their connection even after all these years.
We did still have the iconic scene with Gatsby getting shot and falling into the pool. Myrtle, Tom’s new girlfriend, shot him. She accused Gatsby of killing her younger brother. He didn’t, but there was no consoling her.
Daisy thought that was the end of Gatsby, until he awakens and pulls himself out of the pool. Alive, angry, and bearing fangs.
In this universe, becoming a vampire is painful and usually kills people during the transition so only the strongest survive. But Gatsby discovered a way to make it less painful and guarantees the new vampires will survive the transition. This is how he became a billionaire, by selling this medicine to the highest bidder.
We also learn that Gatsby turned into a vampire only a couple of years ago. One of the very few times you’re going to read a vampire story where the two main characters are actually close in age. I think Jay is 24 and Daisy is 20 in this story. Unlike a lot of other ones where the vampire is 400 years old and has fallen madly in love with an 18 year old. Ha ok.
I liked the new twist on the vampire. We even get some moments when Gatsby is explaining to Daisy that they are not like the Twilight vampires, and garlic does nothing to them. It’s more, scientific. They literally grow a second heart and stomach to process the blood. They don’t age since their bodies are constantly healing themselves. They can go in the sun, but after a decade or so as a vampire they have to limit sun exposure or it makes them sick. Whenever I read or watch something with vampires, I’m always amazed at how the writers will customize their versions of the monsters.
Overall, if you go into this not expecting another great American novel, this is fun. The twists are great, the story is well written, and even all of the characters get their modern makeover. I’d read it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Stars