the review Goodreads deleted

happy 100th birthday to the great gatsby

In the 10 (ugh) years since I joined Goodreads, I have written 2,022 reviews.

Many of them have been detestable. Some, from the reprehensible early days, contain more GIFs than actual criticism. Countless have generated the reader’s equivalent of death threats (calling me dumb). There are more unpopular opinions than popular and very many whose comment sections I have promised to never visit again, because I’m a scaredy cat.

But only one has been taken down entirely:

My review of The Great Gatsby, a book which turns 100 today.

It probably generated more discussion than anything else I’ve ever posted and for that reason is one of my favorites I’ve written. I’ve received Instagram DMs from high school students who read it in their classes. To this day I don’t know why it was taken down.

Regardless, let’s celebrate the centennial. Forgive me for the extremely 2017 language this is written in, but I’m preserving this as I wrote it. To my chagrin.

Now, for the first time since the unknown date when it was taken down, you can read my review-slash-love letter to Daisy Buchanan again.