The Chosen and the Beautiful
#6423.54 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2021 Reading commitment Low Nghi Vo Last reviewed 2026-08-13
Overview
A queer, Vietnamese-American-narrated fantastical retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, told from the perspective of Jordan Baker, here an adopted Vietnamese orphan raised in the Midwest, in a 1920s New York where demonic bargains, paper magic, and blood magic are ordinary, if unequally accessible, facts of life.
Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Chosen and the Beautiful (novel) Nghi Vo
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Chosen and the Beautiful | 2021 | core | 3.54 (19,576 ratings) |
Single continuous novel, registered per the single-work-by-LOTR-analogy convention -- a queer, Vietnamese-American-narrated fantastical retelling of The Great Gatsby (Jordan Baker as narrator), with magic (demonic bargains, paper magic, blood magic) woven into 1920s New York. No sequel or further work set in this world.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Chosen and the Beautiful? The Chosen and the Beautiful's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Chosen and the Beautiful finished? Complete (2021).
- How much reading does The Chosen and the Beautiful take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~260 pages).
- How is The Chosen and the Beautiful ranked? #642 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 19,576 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #642?
Ranked #642 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.54 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (19,576 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.01 behind #641, The Ballad of Perilous Graves.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 20k ratings · Ranks #642 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2022: finalist: The Chosen and the Beautiful; Per the no-cutoff Locus-poll convention; winner was A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark. Confirmed directly via sfadb.com's own 2022 Locus Awards page (the accepted primary source for Locus lineage claims), not from Wikipedia's infobox alone.
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Suggestions computed from what The Chosen and the Beautiful and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- The Melancholy of Untold History Mythic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.59
- A Scattering of Jades Historical fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.58
- The Secret Market of the Dead Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.58
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.54 across 19,576 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Chosen and the Beautiful admitted as a single-work universe accepted 2026-08-13
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-13
Rule: single-work: a genuinely one-off novel with no sequel or companion work set in this world, registered per this canon's Once and Future King/LOTR-analogy precedent.