Self-Made Boys - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published Sept. 5, 2022 by Feiwel & Friends.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-77493-4

(1 review)

Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartbreak in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white.

Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the …

Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartbreak in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Minnesota, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white.

Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all for the benefit of impressing a girl from Jay’s past—Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender.

As Nick is pulled deeper into the glittery culture of decadence, he spends more time with Jay, aiming to help his new friend reconnect with his lost love. But Nick's feelings grow more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Jay's openness, idealism, and unfounded faith in the American Dream.

3 editions

Jack 💜 reviewed Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

Review of 'Self-Made Boys' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Oh dear. This just wasn’t for me, but like! That’s okay. I’m not the target audience here. Take this more as a personal 2.5 stars.

This is historical YA even outside of being a Great Gatsby retelling with race/gender changes I found on the whole fitting and interesting. There is just something so inherently cool about making Jay and Nick trans.

Where points get docked, unfortunately, is in the writing quality. This book suffers from the get-go by being YA that’s inevitably going to get compared to Fitzgerald, and the book never hits a point where I found myself truly engaged. The romance just constantly fell flat to me, and the messages toeing the line to Saturday Morning Special cheesiness. Which is fine! God knows we need a little queer joy right now, but at the cost of washing down morally grey characters to facsimiles of their former selves?

Making …

Oh dear. This just wasn’t for me, but like! That’s okay. I’m not the target audience here. Take this more as a personal 2.5 stars.

This is historical YA even outside of being a Great Gatsby retelling with race/gender changes I found on the whole fitting and interesting. There is just something so inherently cool about making Jay and Nick trans.

Where points get docked, unfortunately, is in the writing quality. This book suffers from the get-go by being YA that’s inevitably going to get compared to Fitzgerald, and the book never hits a point where I found myself truly engaged. The romance just constantly fell flat to me, and the messages toeing the line to Saturday Morning Special cheesiness. Which is fine! God knows we need a little queer joy right now, but at the cost of washing down morally grey characters to facsimiles of their former selves?

Making these characters Kind and Just and scrubbing them of all the flaws that made their original counterparts memorable just leaves me with an icky taste in my mouth. It’s just not Gatsby anymore. Aging them down to teens also felt off as hell, considering.

Lists

Transmasculine Books