Reviews
having a bit of a fascination with literal crazy rich asians... and this is kinda the bible of it all of course. insane that people actually live like that... but, as reviews of bling empire said, something about the desperate search for identity and acceptance makes all the excess palatable, makes me empathise with these characters i could not live more different lives from. in the same vein, how can these uber-wealthy folks be so recognisably singaporean???
glad i decided to revisit this after 6(?!?) years! wish id given that secondary school project more thought... nicholas young you beautiful idiot
very charming read! i always find myself coming back to kwan's trilogy - the characters are fabulous and dynamic, the wit is always amped to a hundred, and the mere mention of cuisine never fails to leave me famished. it's too bad the adaptation couldn't catch the book's feel as much.
over 500 pages and the only character that even mentions how ridiculous dynastic wealth is, is a raging misogynist 😭
3 1/3 stars
personally love this series 😈 so dramatic and delicious!
Easy read. I don’t think it needed to be so long. There wasn’t much depth with the characters - most of it felt shallow despite the in-depth descriptions. It mainly left me hungry for Malay food :)
LOVED
unnatural dialogue and horribly forced usage of singaporean slang. i did like the luxury stuff
I think this book had so much potential, and while i didn't hate it, i think the movie portrayed this story much, much, better. The book struggled to keep me interested with the various cousins, relatives, friends, i can't remember them all! And tbh it struggled to show the emotion i wanted to feel, whereas the movie was, amazing to say the least. Also, the writing style? I found myself thinking nO onE taLkS liKe tHaT! Astrid and Michael's story was quite interesting, but the movie pulled it off much better. i mean, feminism! This also lacked Rachel's badass-ness ya know? Her reason for leaving Nick was much more selfless in the movie and proved such an amazing point, and i just loved that scene where they were playing that game while Rachel explains why she's leaving - not because of Nick's mother, but because of the future Nick deserves. I thought it was a beautiful scene, and the book didn't deliver. Next, i really enjoyed Rachel's mom's story. Not much to say on it other than wow. Lastly, i think the Nick proposing scene in the movie was the cutest, most fun ever! I was shocked to find myself loving their relationship, considering the story is just romance. Something i don't love at all? Overall, the movie was able to capture much more emotion and i loved it whereas the book? Not so much.
★★★ // quite entertaining if you read it for cultural knowledge and for the satire. a tiny bit annoying if you think too much about it, considering how shallow most of the characters are, and there's little to no plot to speak of. maybe that’s the point.
i loved reading this, this series is so fun. escapist fiction
Why isn't there a proper ending?!
Picked up this book after watching the movie adaptation, and I am far from disappointed. Kevin Kwan delves deep into the side characters' story beside the main character's without making it seem redundant and useless. Not to mention Rachel and Nick's chemistry! Nothing about them feels forced. Although their relationship is heavily criticized by external sources, his reassurance and dedication to Rachel makes it seem like nothing but a small bump in their relationship. Definitely cried tears of joy by the end of this book. A fun and delightful read for the weekend, definitely worth to pick up at your local library/bookstore.
Having seen the movie adaptation already, I went in knowing well that not everything would be the same and I wasn't expecting some deeper meaning behind the stories being told. This is a fantastic book to lose yourself in and enjoy some drama. Thumbs up for a nice fun book, which is easy to blow through in no time! Kwan certainly has a way with setting up the book, stories, and of course leaving cliffhangers that keeps you returning for more.
What an enjoyable ride!! The author does a great job of explaining places and a culture the reader might not be familiar with but the story doesn’t get bogged down with it. Can’t wait to see the movie!
Crazy Rich Asians is a fun, comedic romance that opened my eyes to a whole new world! Before anyone asks, yes, I read this book because I saw the movie and loved it. Was the movie identical to the book? No. Was it still super cute and a great adaption? Yes. So, now that we're past the point that the movie introduced me to the book, onto my book review! I found this book to be the perfect mix of romance, comedy and knowledge! I absolutely loved being introduced to a variety of Asian words and concepts in this book. There aren't many books out there (that I have read, anyways) that make me feel like I've learned so much while having a good time! The book did feel soap opera-y, but I loved every second of it! I'm at the point that I'm desperate for the sequel, and can't wait to get my hands on it! The characters were interesting and all had crazy backgrounds, the drama was high, and the family values were intriguing. I have no idea how honest/true the Asian side of the story is, but it did make me more interested in Asian cultures. I love when books can open your eyes to a world you haven't thought about looking at before, so I give lots of praise to Kevin Kwan! Books like these truly deserve attention, because not only are they well written but they pull the minorities out of the background. Even if it's not totally accurate, I'm sure at least a few more readers can appreciate the Asian culture! This book could easily be binged (if you have time to read a 500+ page book). I seriously wanted to continue reading it, but I just didn't have time! That being said, every chance I got I was instantly glued to the pages. I loved Nick and Rachel, I loved Kerry, I loved Peik Lin, I loved Astrid and I loved every little description that Kevin Kwan had woven into this tale. I seriously felt for these characters all along the way (even the "bad guys"...sometimes...). I really hope the drama between certain characters (like Astrid's story) are expanded in the next books, because they were all so interesting! There wasn't enough pages to really see all of the characters! Luckily there are at least two more books to devour to learn a little bit more about my fave characters... There are some cons about this book, but for me it wasn't to hard to fly past them. The story jumps a lot between chapters (point of view, time changes, etc.). Also, some of the characters felt very... stereotypical (that's the best word I have for them right now). Is that necessarily a bad thing? No. But many other reviewers are complaining about parts of this book. To me, I didn't really care. It didn't take away from the fun of the story. Would I recommend this book to other readers? HECK YES! If you love romance, a splash of comedy, and Asian representation, then get on it! The movie just makes this book more in the spotlight, which should help it's sales. The book is dramatic, but it's a fun and wild ride! Also, I loved the cover. It's simplistic and yet perfectly summarizes the story in a weird way. Five out of five stars!
We review the book and the film adaptation over at the Books 2 Screen Book club podcast. Very mixed feelings about the book and the film.
Must read! Made me hungry! 😍
a good 3.5. really funny read. rereading for my gender & lit class
I'm late to the party but I finally got my hands on a copy of this book. For his first novel, Kevin Kwan has written a story I can only describe as the Asian Gossip Girl - Adult series. Focusing on Nicholas Young's family and friends as they sabotage his girlfriend (Rachel Chu) is painstakingly bOrInG to the point where I - ALMOST - chucked this into the never finished pile! Nicholas (Nick's) friends, cousins, siblings, and relatives are extremely rich, especially his family, cousins, and relatives whose wealth has increasingly accumulated since Singapore's colonial days. Money is all the rich gossip about, so the characters lives revolve around who has spent what, who wore this, who didn't wear this, who attended which fashion show, and who has married or dating who, the latter focused on making sure their children marry into "respectable" families who come from "old money." Rachel Chu, a Taiwanese-American, comes from a small, modestly wealthy family hailing from Cupertino, California. She currently works as an Economics Professor at New York University, where she meets Nick, a History Professor fresh from Oxford University. After dating for two years Nick decides to introduce Rachel to his family during their time there for his friend Colin Khoo's wedding. Split into three parts Kwan introduces us to the rich, Khoo's wedding, and Nick and Rachel's fallout. Part One we meet the Youngs, Shangs, and T'siens - old money families. Overt detail is paid to their gossip, lifestyle, and conniving plan to break-up Nick and Rachel because - *exaggerated GASP* - Rachel isn't rich. Part Two is where we meet Nick's friends as he and Rachel prepare for the whirlwind activities and parties leading up to East and Southeast Asia's biggest wedding of the year between Colin and his supermodel fianceé Araminta. We also see the plans Nick's mom, her friends, and Nick's former lovers and admirers put into action upon Rachel's arrival. Part Three is the wedding and outcome of the old money families' plan. In America there is a saying: Money never buys class. This is sharply displayed as the nauseating arrogance of the rich almost made me want to stop reading. Thankfully the end of Part Two to the novel's end focused on the progression of Nick and Rachel's relationship. While some of the rich do suffer at the end, which is a little payback for the amount of hate they dole, the mean girl drama made me dislike this story. For those of you into drama and gossip this book may interest you, but for me I needed less drama and more focus into Nick and Rachel's relationship, since the blurb states this novel revolves around them; I felt like too much attention were given to other characters while Nick and (especially) Rachel are treated as if they're minor characters. Overall it was modestly bearable.
I'VE BECOME OBSESSED WITH THIS. Crazy Rich Asians is so fun, entertaining, and wild. also ANGST. i love it so much.
Another book where it becomes clear about 1/3 of the way in that the only way to get through it is to start skimming chapters and then listen to the end. I assume the movie version is better.
3 Stars This review contains minor spoilers. I spent some time in China, and while I there I saw more luxury cars than I have ever seen in one spot. Even in big U.S. cities and car shows, I have never seen that many ridiculously expensive cars. And that was mainland China and Hong Kong. I did not even make it over to Singapore where there are even more absurdly rich people. Crazy Rich Asians is set among those absurdly rich families of Singapore. The plot is straightforward. The son and heir of one of the richest families brings his girlfriend home for a society wedding. And since his girlfriend is neither from Singapore nor rich, nearly everyone in this circle of nauseously rich people set out to tear them apart. The story switches back and forth between the views of several different characters. But since the characters were all distinct it was easy to keep track of everyone. I can't say that I related to the characters since I am not crazy rich, but it was an entertaining story even if it mainly revolved around drama (not something I'm overly fond of in fiction or in real life). But it was easy to get sucked into the story and laugh at the follies of these shallow people with too much money for their own good. Women do not get the best view in this book however. As with many cultures, the story highlights the expectations of women to be obedient little women who turn a blind eye to any philandering done by their husbands. Apparently this is even more expected if said husbands are filthy rich. As the story progresses, the scorned wives represent a variety of different reactions to the philandering of their lecherous husbands, but there is still an underlying tone towards women that made me uncomfortable at times. It certainly was not as atrocious as Colm Tóibín's misguided attempts to write from the perspective of women in his book Brooklyn. But biases were evident. The prime example of this is how the main character Rachel reacts when she finds out that the man she has been in a committed relationship with for two years has neglected to even mention her existence to his family!! As far as I am concerned, if a man fails to inform his family of his girlfriend's existence for two years then the reason is one of the following: A) He is married. B) He is secretly in the Witness Protection Program and telling anyone would endanger lives. C) He is a criminal on the lamb. Notice that list did not include "D) Just did not get around to telling his family yet."? Yes, because that is not an acceptable response. To add insult to injury, Rachel is immediately shamed for doubting her boyfriend's intentions and spends most of the book making excuses for him because he is really such a nice guy who is a little absentminded. Nevermind that he drops her into an unpleasant situation with no preparation where not only do his family have no idea he was in a relationship, he also never mentioned that he belongs to one of the richest families in the world. As much as the busybodies try to sabotage their relationship, Nick sabotages it even more himself by negligently throwing her to the wolves. On the other hand, one also has to wonder about the wits of a woman who stays in a relationship for two years without ever questioning that she has had zero contact with loverboy's family. Maybe the distance can excuse never meeting, but no phone calls? Not so much as a Christmas Card? HUGE RED FLAG! Aside from that, the story was entertaining. It was nice to mix things up with a different sort of light read. I probably will read the sequel at some point but not right away. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 4 Stars Writing Style: 3 Stars Characters: 3 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars Level of Captivation: 3 Stars Originality: 3 Stars
Probably 3½ stars. Took me a look time to read this because I kinda lost interest in the middle. Very much a soap opera. Some entertaining bits. May not bother with the rest of the trilogy.