Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan May 5, 2022
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Do you like to revisit old friends in new ways? That’s sort of what we are doing in reading today’s reviewed title, but it could also be what you do when you read Julia Quinn’s The Duke and I so that you an discuss it with us at Virtual Book Club on Friday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. CST. So what you’ve already watched the show? One of us has, and one of us hasn’t, the same as today’s review. Sign up here to let us know you’re coming, and let us know if you’ve already seen Bridgerton Season 1 while you’re at it!
Oh dear readers, just like nothing ruins my Friday faster than realizing it’s only Wednesday, nothing ruins my romance reading experience faster than realizing I’m actually reading a family saga. However, when your reading buddy finishes and shares that this is not in fact a romance and you’re only at 56%, a great story, an interesting cast of characters, and amazing dialogue can redeem a book. Yes darlings, I, again, started a book knowing little to nothing about it. I knew that I really enjoyed Kevin Kwan’s Sex and Vanity and that people I adore in IRL with overlapping reading taste raved about Crazy Rich Asians, and….that’s about it. Is the whole trilogy (yes, three total) a romance? I have no idea, but I doubt it, and I’m not reading the marketing copy to spoil the experience, because I will be picking up books two and three sooner rather than later.
Here’s the thing about Crazy Rich Asians, it’s a soap opera, in book form, focused around super rich Asians from Singapore. I loved the lush descriptions of Singapore, including the focus on real estate and development. The picturesque fashion scenes had me interested in the Met Gala pictures from the red carpet (although I must admit, I didn’t understand most of what I saw). I also love an ensemble cast, and the marketing copy does NOT represent that well. While we do get Rachel and Nick’s story as she meets his (super rich) family and realizes just how unprepared she is with her (middle class) upbringing, we also get some of the stories of Astrid, Eleanor, Eddie, and more. Not all the characters are well developed, but with two books yet to come, I have hope, and honestly, was so interested in how things were going for all of them, that I was sad not to be able to immediately binge the rest of the trilogy (see also, the things we do for you!).
I want to say more about Crazy Rich Asians, but also I don’t. The story is so over the top because the characters are, but it really works. It’s not of the “hold my beer” vein, but there’s so much competition it’s ridiculous, and feels like it could be real. I’m giving it four stars and am excited to read the rest of the story. I’m already here for whatever else Kwan wants to write for us, and most definitely want to watch the movie, one day.
What’s a book that was not what you expected, but you really enjoyed nonetheless?
~ Nikki
You know what I love doing… (not really but just roll with it here)… I love starting to read an author’s works with their latest release and then jumping back to their debut. We obviously just did this with Kevin Kwan, the Singaporean turned Texan author whose Crazy Rich Asian trilogy took over the New York Times bestseller’s list top three spots for multiple weeks in 2018. We reviewed Sex and Vanity, Kwan’s 2020 release last April, and I am so glad we made time during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month to revisit his wit and social commentary on the ridiculously rich. You can read more about Kwan’s life and writing in the link above, but I will remind you that Sex and Vanity is the first in a trilogy about the cities that Kwan adores, so obviously he has a writing habit that I don’t hate as I can prepare myself for a trilogy. (Just please stop adding more books to trilogies, ::cough:: Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Frost and Starlight ::cough::)
Darling readers, let’s begin with noting that Kevin Kwan has no more and no less than 30 notes and highlights on GoodReads for Crazy Rich Asians. It makes my heart glad to know that the majority of the book can be traced back to a person or a place or an incident in Kwan’s actual life, including Astrid. Astrid who is my favorite, not for her sense of style, her impeccable French, or her adorable son named…wait for it… Cassian, but for her kindness, her social savoir faire, and her immense real estate holdings. Really for all the things about her. She was my favorite in the movie and she’s my favorite in the book and I am so glad that her character stayed true from one to the other. (Honestly all the characters did, though there are some differing plot points from book to movie that I will NOT spoil.) The entire story is predicated on the fact that NYU tenure-track history professor Nick Young asks his Chinese American girlfriend Rachel Chu to come home to Singapore with him for the summer break because he is scheduled to be the Best Man in his best friend’s wedding. Rachel knows nothing about his family as the Youngs are extremely private, mostly because they are exceedingly rich and do not talk about money. Rachel starts to understand that something weird is going on when they board the jet at JFK airport and they are greeted by their names and welcomed into their suite. This is the first time in the two years that they had been dating that Rachel can sense that perhaps there is something that Nick isn’t telling her about his family and so much drama and social awkwardness takes place from beginning to end of the book as Rachel navigates the viper pit of Singaporean society.
I’m not going to say more about the plot because of spoilers, but it was a big surprise that it ended the way it did and not because it was different from the movie. Had I read the book right when it was published and before the second was out I would have been jonesing for the next installment even more than I am right now! I can’t wait to sink my teeth into China Rich Girlfriend at the next possible break in my TBR, and that’s the only reason why I am also giving Crazy Rich Asians only 4 stars – because there is MORE to come.
What debut novel did you come back to while reading an author’s backlist and realize that you’re amazed at how not debut the writing feels?
~Ashley
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