#ReadAroundTheWorld. #Singapore

Crazy Rich Asians is a satirical rom-com about the Asian rich elite by Singaporean author Kevin Kwan. When Nicholas Young decides to take his ABC (American Born Chinese) girlfriend Rachel Chu home to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding she is excited, and also puzzled that she knows so little about them. What Nick has failed to mention is that his family is ridiculously wealthy (not quite sure how this detail failed to emerge in a two year relationship) and that his mother Eleanor has no intentions of allowing him to marry this commoner. Rachel faces all the jealousy and pettiness that a group of women flying private jets and partying in paradise in Armani, Dior and Jimmy Choo’s can muster. They also uncover that she was in fact born in mainland China, and some salacious details about Rachel’s birth. Can Rachel and Nick survive all that is set against them to tear them apart?

In the meantime Nick’s cousin Astrid is dealing with her marriage to Michael falling apart, revealing the nasty underside to all this wealth. Although this book is an eye-roll a minute, with many of the characters being superficial, petty and money obsessed, I think this is Kwan’s point, and his satirical style puts this lifestyle under a microscope. There is a fierce undercurrent of class-consciousness and snobbery, between rich and poor, old money and new, and even between the Chinese abroad and those born in mainland China. Part of me wonders whether this is Kwan’s dig at the Western obsession with exoticism, in particular the suffering kind. With so many international books focused on poverty, war and hardship-trauma porn to some degree-maybe this is his portrayal of a totally different kind of life in Asia, and maybe challenges our preconceptions. If you can stomach the huge excesses of wealth and superficiality this is a fun and colourful ride. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I might have to. ( )

Crazy Rich Asians is certainly a page turner. The first few chapters are a little hard to follow because you're being introduced to an expansive cast of characters all at once. Once you get past that, the author reels you in with captivating descriptions of the outrageous lifestyle of Singapore's uber-rich, until you get gut-punched at the very end with a whole lot of drama.
The main characters were the worst part of my experience, and I blame them for how the final chapters came off as totally ridiculous. Nick is just unbelievably clueless, which blows any attractive qualities he claimed to possess out of the water. I actually stopped rooting for him early on because he was such a terrible excuse for a mature and well-educated adult, so I didn't care when his relationship with Rachel was jeopardized. And Rachel is a bland doormat until the very end when she snaps for like 2 whole minutes before going back to boring. Still, despite stupid characters and way, way too many name brand mentions, I enjoyed the experience of reading Crazy Rich Asians. Probably won't read the rest of the series - I feel like I got the point. ( )

Family

Although I already had this book, I saw the movie first, then finally got a chance to read it. I did not think it lived up to the hype, but still an enjoyable, light read. ( )

Mostly entertaining but it's far too long and the somewhat ambiguous ending knocked this down a few notches for me.

Good for brainless beach reading and fun to imagine the fabulous mansions and lifestyle described. ( )