Look, it's a masterpiece. Fitzgerald's prose is genuinely beautiful, the symbolism is rich, and the themes about wealth, class, and the American Dream are still relevant. It's earned its place in the canon.

But let's be real: most teens find this a slog. The 1920s setting feels distant, the characters are all kind of awful, and the pacing is slow by modern standards. It's the book everyone's assigned in 11th grade, which means it comes with baggage—it's homework, not a beach read.

The WISE score reflects that tension. It's enriching and imaginative, but the wholesome score is low (morally bankrupt characters) and there's a readability penalty because, honestly, a lot of kids will struggle to care about Nick Carraway's observations about rich people behaving badly a century ago.

If your teen is a strong reader who likes literary fiction, they might genuinely appreciate it. If they're a reluctant reader, this will confirm their suspicion that classics are boring. Either way, it's worth discussing—just don't expect them to love it.