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Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1)

by Kevin Kwan (Goodreads Author)

3.69 · Rating Details · 52,700 Ratings · 6,337 Reviews

Crazy Rich Asians is the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.
When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfrien ...more

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published June 11th 2013 by Doubleday (first published 2013)

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Lists with This Book

The Official Filthy Rich Handbook by Christopher Tennant

Madness Under the Royal Palms by Laurence Leamer

Books about the rich, jet-set, leisure class

30 books — 37 voters

Summer 2013 Reading

200 books — 108 voters

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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30)

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Apr 15, 2013 Christine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: chinese, reviewed, malaysia-singapore, chick-lit

I am Asian, I lived in Singapore, and I am not crazy rich - but I certainly heard of enough people on that tiny island who are. Ten years ago, I remember being addicted to a blog (now defunct) called "pinkshoefetish" where one Daphne Teo of Singapore documented every single materialistic extravaganza in her life - endless Tod's bags, Chanel, the luxurious apartment she (or her parents) rented when she was at Purdue (no stinky student dorms for her), her endless jet-setting to the most expensive I am Asian, I lived in Singapore, and I am not crazy rich - but I certainly heard of enough people on that tiny island who are. Ten years ago, I remember being addicted to a blog (now defunct) called "pinkshoefetish" where one Daphne Teo of Singapore documented every single materialistic extravaganza in her life - endless Tod's bags, Chanel, the luxurious apartment she (or her parents) rented when she was at Purdue (no stinky student dorms for her), her endless jet-setting to the most expensive hotels and restaurants in New York, London, Paris, etc. At that time, I wasn't even sure I could afford to go to college, so Daphne's blog was pure escapism (if not a source of resentment). I don't remember what her parents did to afford that lifestyle, but anyway, my point is - the crazy rich Asians of East and Southeast Asia do exist, and man do they live large. When I saw that a Singaporean had written a novel about them, and that it was in the hands of a major NYC publishing house, I couldn't wait to read it, to see what had caught the attention of these editors, so much that they were willing to take on a book about Asians, set in Singapore.

I got an ARC of the book from eBay and devoured it in two days. And, perhaps I am biased because of who I am and my (slight) exposure to that world, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. It satirizes the crazy rich Asian universe, but even with the exaggerations, my college friend, who is part of the Hong Kong version of the Wealthy Asian Club, would recognize so many aspects depicted in the novel - the lightning speed at which gossip travels, the focus on bloodlines and marriage, the clash between old money and new, and - most important I think - the tension between mainland Chinese and overseas Chinese, a phenomenon that is very real, very common, very much discussed in Asia, but pretty much unheard of in the West. When Singaporean Chinese "blue blood" Nick takes his American Chinese girlfriend Rachel home, his family is concerned that, yes, she might be a gold-digger, but their suspicions are heightened by the fact that she was - to their horror - born in mainland China, to a single mother (more strikes against her!). I laughed when I read that, because I was brought up in Asia where those prejudices are part and parcel of everyday life, but an American reader might find it offensive and racist - which it is, but in a "Chinese" sort of way that is not so much about hatred. The book shows how those prejudices are challenged as mainland Chinese grow richer and more influential, and the author sympathetically portrays both sides.

As for the actual storyline - it's a roller coaster ride that might be hard to keep up with at the beginning because of how many characters are introduced (and I always had my finger on the family tree Kwan provides in the book). I found it ridiculous that Nick and Rachel could have dated for years without her finding out about his background, but this is chick lit and so I willingly suspended disbelief and just let myself get carried along into the world of chili crab and nasi lemak. Kwan's writing is clear and breezy and skips along very well, and in the end I was left feeling like Rachel must have when she was plunked into this whirlwind world - amazed, dizzyfied, enlightened.

And it makes me want to go back to Singapore.

A great summer read!

(Oh - the gold and pink hardcover release is cute, but I love how the galley cover plays with the Hermès box design. Clever!) ...more

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Nov 02, 2013 Lauren rated it liked it

I have no closure.

I’m not quite sure what that ending was, but it’s really only an ending by dint of the fact there are no more pages.

I was enjoying this book. I could overlook the dull main characters, the hints of family drama and maneuvering that never went anywhere, the randomly dropped storylines … all of that, I could forgive because, hey, at the end of the day, Crazy Rich Asians is mindless fluff and thinking is contraindicated when reading mindless fluff. This mindless fluff, set among t ...more

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Aug 04, 2013 Christi Cassel rated it it was ok

From http://iknowwhatyoushouldread.wordpre...

Lest you be confused, this is not a book about crazy [comma] rich Asians. This is a book about crazy rich Asians. As in, stupidly, stupidly wealthy gazillionaire Asians. I had read an excerpt in Vogue, and it seemed like it might be good, fun summer reading, filled with fashion and snobbery and such. I am a lover and regular devourer of US Weekly, who loathes the fact that I do not come from a ton of old money, so this seemed right up my alley.

When I From http://iknowwhatyoushouldread.wordpre...

Lest you be confused, this is not a book about crazy [comma] rich Asians. This is a book about crazy rich Asians. As in, stupidly, stupidly wealthy gazillionaire Asians. I had read an excerpt in Vogue, and it seemed like it might be good, fun summer reading, filled with fashion and snobbery and such. I am a lover and regular devourer of US Weekly, who loathes the fact that I do not come from a ton of old money, so this seemed right up my alley.

When I got the e-book, however, I knew immediately that I’d been swindled. Before I had even begun reading, the book had two strikes against it:

Strike 1: it starts with a family tree, and
Strike 2: it has endnotes.

I just can’t get excited about a book that begins with a family tree. Now, before you get all up in arms and point out all the delightful and amazing books that begin with a family tree, I will admit that this is not a hard-and-fast rule. But my general opinion is that a book’s cast of characters should not be so convoluted that it requires a visual aid (one of the reasons I am content to stick with the television version of Game of Thrones, thank you very much). Plus, when you’re reading an e-book, it’s a huge hassle to have to refer back to the family tree. So, I audibly groaned when I discovered that this book has one. It’s a book about rich people. How complicated can it be? But the Crazy Rich Asians family tree is kind of catty and fun, so I decided to keep an open mind.

The endnotes aren’t a deal-breaker here, either. Normally, I hate them because they break up the flow of my reading. Also, they make me feel like I’m back in law school. And, too often, they’re used for cutesy purposes, which is nearly impossible to do well. That said, e-books make them slightly more tolerable, because you can just click on the endnote and it magically appears (constant page flipping in a “real” book is just too much). And these endnotes in particular aren’t bad, because they are in large part: 1) translations of Hokkein and Malay words and phrases and 2) descriptions of Singaporean foods. I’m a foreign languages nerd and a lover of delicious foods, so I didn’t hate the endnotes.

But all of that doesn’t matter. Because, family tree and endnotes aside, I still didn’t like the book. Here are three more strikes against it:

Strike 3: It’s too damn long (over 400 pages). The book is about a couple (Rachel and Nick) who are both profs at NYU and have been together for two years. Nick is going home to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding and asks Rachel to come with him. Despite the fact that they’ve been together for two years, Rachel knows nothing about Nick’s background and family and friends (it comes as a complete surprise to her that his family is crazy rich). Shocking excess and extravagance ensue. And (not even remotely a spoiler, because the book is so ridiculously predicatable) Nick’s mother and grandmother try to break Nick and Rachel up. WHY DOES THIS NECESSITATE 400 PAGES? It doesn’t.

Strike 4: People have described this as an amazing, hilarious satire. Basically, the book tries to make fun of crazy rich Asians, by showing that they’re snobby and elitist and old-fashioned. Well, I’m sorry, but my grandmother was not a crazy rich Asian (she was just a plain-old crazy Asian), and she was every bit as snobby, elitist, and old-fashioned as the grandmother in this book. The author manages to paint a picture of the fashion and houses and such that is completely over-the-top, but his characters are flat, flat, flat. They just weren’t well developed enough to make you give a shit.

Strike 5: The plot is boring and predictable.

Rating: 2/5 ...more

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Aug 24, 2013 Katie rated it did not like it

I think another Goodreads reviewer said it best: "Shallow characters don't mean shallowly written characters."

And in the case of this book, the author didn't pick up on that memo. Shallow characters can be delightfully, wickedly compelling when they're written well. I mean, look at Anthony and Gloria in Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and Damned", or Becky Sharp in "Vanity Fair" or heck, even Blair Waldorf in the "Gossip Girl" series if you're looking at more "chick-lit" examples. But the characters ...more

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Jun 09, 2017 Madeline rated it liked it

After being briefly obsessed with the Gossip Girl book series in high school, and then the show a few years later (and then abandoning it once Georgina reappeared with Dan's baby god that show was trash and I loved it), this seemed like the next logical step. Crazy Rich Asians is Kevin Kwan trying his hand at the ever-popular genre that can best be summed up as "hey look, rich people!" The fact that the rich people featured here are all based in Singapore, rather than America or Europe, gave the ...more

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Jul 09, 2013 John rated it it was amazing

Ouch! Moved to Singapore from the USA 30 years ago, met a Singapore Girl and drank the Kool Aid. Singapore is somewhere between Nirvana and Utopia, civil society, great education system and FOOD to die for. Sadly, this roman a clef hits close to home and raises the curtain on the behavior of ultra rich Ferrari driving jet setters. But it's hilariously funny and contains a wealth of Hokkien swear words to enrich your vocabulary. When I asked the tai tai for translations I almost got my face slapp ...more

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Apr 07, 2015 Book Riot Community added it

When Rachel Chu agrees to go on holiday to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick, she imagines that this will just be a fun summer, a chance to meet his family and see Singapore, before returning to the simple life they live in New York. But Rachel has no idea that Nick is Nick Young (of the Youngs, one of Singapore’s most established and wealthiest families). Rachel is thrown into a storm of gossip, money, interfering relatives, family secrets, and some seriously mean girls. The bonds of their lov ...more

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May 25, 2013 Louise rated it it was ok

Shelves: unfinished

They are crazy and they are rich. That is pretty much all I got out of it. 10% in and I can't stand to read any more of this vapid book. Somehow it was not the guilty pleasure I was looking for. Returning it back to the library.

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Jul 26, 2013 Djrmel rated it it was ok

Interesting and fun setting, described by an author who obviously knows his subject. That's the end of my positives. In fact, some of the negatives are in the positives. If I'm using the word "describes" in a review of a novel, the author has done something wrong. I should be a part of the world he's put his story in, I shouldn't be conscious of the fact that he's telling a story. Also, the authors knowledge of his subject is made clear when he starts putting his personal experiences in the chap ...more

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Jun 04, 2016 Kelly rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, examined-lives, 21st-century, coming-soon-to-a-blog-near-you

The review below covers the first two books in this series. There's not really any spoilers, its more an overall general impression, so you should be fine. But just FYI.

Review originally appeared on my blog, Shoulda Coulda Woulda Books.

***

I've run into some great writers lately, which means I've been reading fewer of them. No sooner do I discover them than I tear through as much of their catalog as I can, immediately. Maybe it's just that I'm getting pickier and it's harder to find books that f The review below covers the first two books in this series. There's not really any spoilers, its more an overall general impression, so you should be fine. But just FYI.

Review originally appeared on my blog, Shoulda Coulda Woulda Books.

***

I've run into some great writers lately, which means I've been reading fewer of them. No sooner do I discover them than I tear through as much of their catalog as I can, immediately. Maybe it's just that I'm getting pickier and it's harder to find books that fully engage me without turning on my critical brain and tearing it apart- but when I do, it's like striking gold. Kevin Kwan's first two Crazy Rich Asians books fell into this shiny category. I pretty much inhaled them whole over the course of a week in a series of positions on various soft surfaces, losing hours happily to them, just like I wanted. So I forgive a lot, but not everything.

The story is a typical fish-out-of-water Cinderella tale, with Rachel Chu starring as our bewildered fish. Her boyfriend, fellow professor Nicholas Young, invites her to spend the summer in Singapore getting to know his family- without telling her anything at all about them. Like the fact that they are, indeed, crazy rich. And even more so, that they are part of what has come to be considered the hereditary upper-classes of the country, the sort with money so old that nobody is supposed to even remember where it came from. And so, of course, he is a secret prince of this society, with many a fair maiden on the catch for him! And there's court intrigue and to spare as we spend more and more time there. It becomes clear to Rachel that she is seen as a dirty, interloping Cinderella who will prevent the brilliant marriage his family considers is Nicholas' by right....!! The second book makes it even more complex- without spoiling you on anything, trust me, SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED.

If it all sounds super melodramatic and movie-of-the-week-y, and exactly the plot you've read a thousand million times, you are correct. It is. But the novelty for many readers (readers who are non-residents of these countries anyway) will be the book's ability to open a window onto an aspirational culture that many of them have no hope of ever participating in (unlike the ones set in your typical Anglo diaspora countries, where many more English speakers can imagine themselves into it), or perhaps one that readers did not even pause to realize actually existed. Indeed, the book reads like half story, half explainer for the uninitiated into South Asian high society. There are footnotes! (When's the last time you read a brand-name filled Cinderella story with footnotes? Never. Never would probably be the answer.)

And at first the world is completely fascinating. I love discovering how worlds operate, and if you have that similiar weakness, you'll really like a lot of this book. The most interesting part to me was seeing how privilege operates in countries with a history of colonization: what happens now that there is money and the privilege of actually controlling it yourself? (Well, they repeat the patterns of their colonizers, is some of the super interesting answer. The way they conceptualize class has been imbibed from the English like a disease, the same way you'd find similar ideas about old money in certain New York and Philadelphia families.) The other interesting thing to explore is, of course, not only that the people this book focuses on have money. They have INSANE amounts of money. They have more money than God. All the gods. There is so much money that spending a million dollars is like going out and buying an ice cream, something wives do on a whim and go "oops!" if they don't like whatever it was they spent it on, and throw it in the basement for a servant to maybe or maybe not find years later. There is so much money that characters refer to people as having "400 million dollars AT MOST!" and pity them like they are second class peasants. There is an absolutely AMAZING scene where a bunch of girls try to talk a friend out of marrying a guy she really likes (who is ONLY an executive, making nearly a million dollars a year) by listing all the expenses, with incredibly accurate math, of maintaining her current lifestyle until she break, realizing she will become exiled from everyone she knows. Oh man, I loved that scene so much.

But the crazy richness does get sort of mind-numbing after awhile. Particularly if you tear through both books together, like I did. While there's some eye-popping pleasure watching a group of ladies lay waste to every luxury house in Paris, and it's absolutely incredible Kwan's ability to know exactly which brand is right for which moment, it became too much for me. It was so in your face it was hard not to be knocked out of the fascinating anthropological exploration into just seeing lists of brand names and fancy places and endless descriptions of wealth until it became less fascinating than absolutely nauseating. It's hard not to start doing calculations in your head about how many world problems could be solved with this kind of money and start wishing for some sort of revolutionary subplot where at least one of the daughters or sons of these people would go rogue and burn it all down- Rachel and Nicholas and their pious, middle class morality don't really cut it at all for me. (Look, I liked Madame Bovary, okay? I'm not that person.) I really don't think this was totally intentional. I think Kwan just sometimes got really carried away with it all and could sometimes get lazy and spend pages describing money and luxury objects instead of advancing plot or developing his characters. I mean, granted, dude, you have a great world to play in- I get wanting to glory in it- but maybe not until I can't remember what last happened to your character because its buried under a pile of Prada and 18th century teacups, you know?

What kept me reading were the characters. Oh no, not the main characters though, which is super disappointing. Not Rachel and Nicholas- they were boring as hell, sorry guys. Perfectly fine, probably more moral than anyone around them in a conventional sense, but meh. Instead of feeling like my lifeline to sanity and my stand-ins and guides to the OMGWHUTness of this, they seems like a waste of space. My favorite by far was Astrid. Her conflict with her husband and her family was farrrr more interesting and mature than anything those two have going, as well as her outlook on life and all the people around her. And that held true even when I spent more time with her, which isn't always the case with initially mysterious characters. Kwan I think realized that a lot of people felt the same way, because we get a lot more of her in the second book (and I'm praying, even more in the third book, due out next year). Collette in the second book was also great, as was Charlie- I can't tell you more about them because spoilers, but rest assured you will be delighted with them and what they represent. And there were other characters I liked and we didn't see nearly enough of, like Nick's father, Collette's father, spoiler characters that I can't name because you have to read the first book, damn, but they are great! Basically, I liked all the people who had to actually live in this world and navigate it in their own way, trying to maintain some personal integrity in the circumstances, who weren't eaten alive by money, even if they were totally defined by it, if that makes sense. These characters are all super-aware of what their world is, and some of them are still struggling with it, some have made their peace, but all of them don't hide from the truths they live every day. It's far more interesting to watch that than all the outside, tsk-tsking disapproval you like, and everyone else is just dollar signs incarnate. I hesitate to praise Kwan totally for these characters because sometimes I felt like I liked these people just because they were the only ones he spent any time with (other than Rachel or Nicholas, who totally fail as main characters), before going back to talking about money some more. But some of it, at least, was skill for sure. His skill at rendering the minor characters proved that at least.

(I think Kwan should try his hand with old-fashioned farce in the future, by the way. His handling of ridiculous characters and their great one-liners suggests he would be great at it.)

Like I mentioned, there's a third book coming out. I'm really hoping that he'll veer away from the formula of the first two books- picking an Asian country to plant his boring main characters in and explaining how their class system works, interspersed with orgies of money- and really reward his readers by looking harder at the worlds he's already created and spending more time thinking about the best characters he's already shown, and showing more about how their world shapes them. I somehow doubt it- this is a book of its genre, and man people like a good formula, and like a formula with a twist even more. But there's enough good in here for me to wish that the author and publishers would allow this story to develop, rather than swimming in place. You've already got a lot of critics' ears with this series. Why not use it to show what you can do by playing with the conventions, rather than just playing anthropological tour guide?

We'll see. I still recommend these in the end. But maybe space them out and maybe tone down whatever expectations you have after reading the reviews by about... oh 20%. It's pretty good, but simmer down just a little bit about it. ...more

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Nov 01, 2014 Sue (Hollywood News Source) rated it really liked it

Shelves: diverse-books, characters-of-color, authors-of-color, non-western-setting, non-white-pairings

Second read: May 26, 2017
I love it much better.

First read: September 24, 2015

This book speaks for its title. Its about an affluent Singaporean Chinese family. It is the chronicles of their lavish life.

Crazy Rich Asians is outrageously fun and it gives you a close glimpse about their food obsessed culture, keeping the bloodline and legacy pure, old money and new money - classicism. This book also discussed the racial tension between Mainland Chinese and Overseas Chinese. If you’re looking for a ...more

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Nov 15, 2016 Britany rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, bookriot

Welcome to the world of Asia's elite! Flashy cars, yachts, private jets, and anything you would want to wear straight from the runway. Have a problem with a business? No problem- they just buy the business out from under the rude folk.

Alamack! I listened to this one on audio and the narrator was excellent- I fell right into the elitist circles of Asia's royal families. I chuckled right along with these characters and had to pick my jaw up from the floor over the real estate market in Singapore- ...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Gemma rated it liked it · review of another edition

It's hard to sum up how I feel about this book because I found it very long and packed with experiences, so that my attitude towards the beginning of the book changed by its end.

~The story follows Nick Young and Rachel Chu as they decide to travel to Singapore for a summer holiday together, with Nick's parallel intention of introducing Rachel to his family. Little does she know that her naturally good-looking, charming, history professor of a boyfriend actually hails from a long established and It's hard to sum up how I feel about this book because I found it very long and packed with experiences, so that my attitude towards the beginning of the book changed by its end.

~The story follows Nick Young and Rachel Chu as they decide to travel to Singapore for a summer holiday together, with Nick's parallel intention of introducing Rachel to his family. Little does she know that her naturally good-looking, charming, history professor of a boyfriend actually hails from a long established and indescribably wealthy family. Through undetected contacts beginning in New York and traveling through the grapevine to friends and family in Singapore, word gets out that Nick Young is bringing back an ABC (American Born Chinese) girl. Nick's family--and in particular his mother--immediately prepare themselves to defend the family honour against this presumed gold-digger.

Interspersed between Nick and Rachel's journey to and through Singapore are various glimpses into the lives of the rich and famous Singapore and Chinese elite and just how their wealth and status motivated, manipulated, and--in some cases--tormented their lives.~

My first impression of the book was that it was very (almost too) long for its subject, and that it was overly excessive in the designer and celebrity name-dropping; it felt almost like an attempt to prove that China & Singapore outdid the West in terms of its wealthy elite. I also didn't know how to interpret the footnotes, which I found distracting. While I appreciated the explanations and translations, I wasn't sure at times whether the author was keeping to dry wit of the story, or commenting from personal experience.

As I continued through the story, however, I found myself eagerly turning pages to uncover what would happen to these characters that I'd started to befriend. That's a great strength of the book: its characters and rich atmosphere. I liked the way in which the author dipped into different perspectives, giving the reader insight into the real experiences--motivates, worries, values laid bare--of the various characters. Towards the end of the story, I felt that I really knew and sympathized with Rachel, and that I wanted to befriend Astrid.

Through colorful descriptions, you get a sense of the vibrancy of the flavours and luxury of the world into which Nick introduces Rachel. The frequent use of cultural phrases and slang (note to readers: there are several instances of strong language and crudities throughout), together with humorously depicted scenes of Singaporean and Chinese family mannerisms, also help in painting the scene. By the end of it all, I'm left open-mouthed at the reality that yes, there really must be crazy, rich Asians out.

A final thing that bothers me a bit, though, is the book's ending (NOT giving a spoiler, don't worry!). Basically, the story culminates into an EVENT and you're reeling, thinking--did that just happen?? The story picks itself back up again with what's meant to be a hopeful conclusion; however, I found that the EVENT was so serious (if this were real life, it would be a serious issue) that it couldn't be realistically or satisfactorily resolved in the way it was. So I was left a little deflated, wondering yet also dreading what would happen to the characters that I'd befriended.

I'd definitely recommend this book for an entertaining and culturally enlightening read. ...more

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Sep 08, 2013 Lesley rated it it was ok

I was all set to give this book 5 stars. It won't win the Pulitzer. But I enjoyed how refreshingly honest, unapologetic and in your face it was. It's like your friendly neighborhood Overseas Chinese Pocket Reference Guide.

But then I read the ending. TOTALLY LACKING IN CONVICTION. OMG.

And I bumped off one more star because Rachel Chu (shudder) is seriously the most boring character ever. I would have liked her more if she had a bit more sass. She's sooo... blah. So positive, so optimistic, so ide ...more

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Jul 10, 2013 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2013

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Rachel Chu has NOOOOOO idea what she’s getting into when she agrees to accompany her boyfriend Nick to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. As professors struggling to make tenure in New York City, Rachel and Nick live a very modest lifestyle. Little does Rachel know that Nick’s upbringing was ANYTHING but simple. After stepping off the plane, Rachel finds herself tossed into a whirlwind of palace-like homes, private jets and haute ...more

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Jan 29, 2017 Ren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: had-translated, 3-and-half-stars, family-theme, humor, chicklit, crazy-character, own-trade-paperback, good-translation-cover, own-and-read, asian-author, bbi-read-and-review

3,5 stars

Review di blog, bisa click banner di bawah:

Gue selalu ingat saat maen game Summoners War, dan tiap ada yang bisa summon natural born 5 aka monster super langka yang bikin banyak orang salty (alias iri), termasuk gue, pasti akan ada yang ngomong:
"this dude must be crazy rich"
"this dude must be those asian rich kid"
"this dude must be those rich chinese kid"

Gue heran dong...hubungan crazy rich ma asian apaan sih? Dalam pemahaman gue yang dangkal ini, kayaknya kami asian ini orangnya bias ...more

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Jul 24, 2013 emily rated it did not like it

Shockingly, shockingly bad.

It falls immediately into the brand-names-as-character-development pit and never manages to claw its way out. There are jillions of characters about whom I know nothing other than their favorite designers. Maybe that's Mr. Kwan's actual purpose, but while I know this is meant to be a satire of consumption, I have a feeling he thought he was going for discernible characters, at least.

(Also. Did anyone else think that both Nick and Rachel -- as well as their friends -- s ...more

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Jun 20, 2013 Emi Bevacqua rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, asian-american, asia

I love it when a book about Asians written by an Asian is popular, but I wish this Asian had written better. Crazy Rich Asians is just a simple, mindless read along the lines of The Devil Wears Prada, and I kept wishing it had the power of Bret Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero or Jay McInerney's Bright Lights Big City... This felt to me like the author took a formulaic foundation and just tried plugging in crazy rich Asian parts and pieces, instead of forging something new and artistic.

The name-dr ...more

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Dec 14, 2015 Mizuki rated it really liked it

Pre-review:

So far I've read into the first 140+ pages of this book, the writing is humorous and the author's references on social and cultural practices/customs and languages of the Chinese/South East Asian communities are mostly accurate. However, I can't wholeheartedly enjoy the book when the story and the characters are more on the over-the-top melodrama side.

Plus, all of the description about the luxurious lifestyle and the comforts those rich people can enjoy are *really* getting into my n ...more

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May 06, 2014 Jeann (Happy Indulgence) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Hilariously opulent and over the top, Crazy Rich Asians takes a closer look inside Asia's elite. The heirs of Singaporean fortunes try and outdo each other, snagging next season's fashions off the runway and throwing their money around on private jets and the most delectable food - it's absolutely absurd and entertaining. From the rich New York professor who wants to propose to his humble girlfriend, to the cashed up and fashion conscious wife of a tech entrepreneur, to a meddling mother and a p ...more

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Oct 21, 2015 Lisa See rated it it was amazing

I so loved this. The humor. The insight.

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Jun 16, 2014 rachel rated it it was ok

Shelves: asian, 2014

Crazy Rich Asians -- Crazy, Rich Asians also works -- is like a Singaporean Austen novel, I guess, but with nastier people, worse writing, a surprising number of allusions to buttsex, brand names every other sentence, and serious(ly incongrous) footnoted Facts About Asia. Let's face it: no one reads books like this to be surprised by original plotting or to learn something about the world. Except for how some people eat desserts made of bird's nest and have palaces with shark aquarium floors and ...more

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Jul 20, 2013 Jaidee rated it did not like it

Shelves: under-two-stars-books

1 star (actually half a star but I gave it a bonus half star for a couple of reasons)

-Writing-just awful-
-Storyline-started off fair and ended up ridiculous
-Dialogue-some of the worst I've ever read
-Characters- these are some of the most boring, empty-headed, vile and entitled people ever written about

Why the extra bonus half-star?

Surprisingly the writer had some talent in writing interesting and lush descriptions of exotic locales, architecture, fashion, cuisine and luxury goods. Believe it or ...more

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Jun 29, 2013 Lena rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Okay, so this novel may not be what one would refer to as high art, but if you're in the mood for an engrossing, escapist beach read, you'll be hard pressed to do better.

Rachel Chu is an immigrant Chinese-American professor who is invited by her Singaporean-Chinese boyfriend, Nick, to spend the summer in Asia. They'll start at Nick's best friend's wedding in Singapore before heading off to travel around the region.

What Nick neglects to tell Rachel is that his family is one of the oldest and rich ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Sofia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: asia

Ayah, what a fun read, lah!
It's always fun to read about the rich behaving badly and it's even more fun to read about the rich getting into a heated argument about which hawker center serves the best chili crab.
The plot is very much rom-com (with an accent on the "com"), which isn't the primary genre I flock to but when was the last time you read a story set in Singapore? For me it was a great walk down memory lane but any armchair traveler will be glad they strapped on their seating belts for t ...more

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Jun 13, 2015 Antonomasia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: decade-2010s, 2016, south-east-asia, el

Gloriously good trash. I had a wonderful time with this book and am delighted there's a sequel.
Nearly free of the cliches of chicklit that irritate me (bar one mention of Pride & Prejudice / Darcy / Colin Firth - and academics who rarely talk like academics, but I only noticed that a couple of times as I was enjoying myself so much). Too often pop fiction disappoints; you wanted a light, fun read and instead spend more time scowling at threadbare tropes and incessantly clunky writing than a ...more

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Jul 14, 2013 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-reads

This was a very entertaining book. Living in Hong Kong, I absolutely loved the footnotes describing cantonese and malay foul language (haha), as well as the outrageous characters. The book definitely pokes fun of the extremely wealthy class in Asia, but I also thought the author does make an attempt to also paint a picture of Singaporean history and the people with a bit of humanity at times. For example, I think that he really painted the Young family as one steeped in history while at the same ...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Roxane added it

Fun and dishy. So over the top it becomes nauseating in the way of such books. It's just too much. A parodic parody.

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Mar 31, 2013 Miri rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, poc-protagonist, made-me-rant, poc-authors

I honestly don't know what the point of this book was. Is it supposed to be satire? Is it sincere? Are we really supposed to be interested in a book that tells us the cost of every ridiculous purchase and goes barely a page without mentioning a designer brand name (or five)? There's so little plot—Rachel and Nicholas go to Singapore for a wedding, everyone is rich, the end—and even less character development for the approximately eight thousand who are introduced. Even Rachel, the "normal" one w ...more

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Nov 17, 2015 Malia rated it liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, women-s-fiction

Reading "Crazy Rich Asians" really felt like guilty treat. It's a book that reminds me of one of those super artificially colored ice pops I might have liked as a child. It's a little lurid, obviously unhealthy, but it still tastes pretty satisfying in the moment. But when you're done, and your mouth is an unnatural blue you feel a bit strange in the tummy.
The first half of this book was funny and strange, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, starting the second half, whe ...more

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About Kevin Kwan

Kevin Kwan is the author of "Crazy Rich Asians," the international bestseller now being adapted as a major motion picture. The sequel, "China Rich Girlfriend," will be released on June 16, 2015. Born and raised in Singapore, Kwan has called Manhattan home for the past two decades but still craves pineapple tarts and a decent plate of Hokkien mee.

Please visit Kevin at:

www.kevinkwanbooks.com
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Crazy Rich Asians (3 books)

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“Eleanor had a long-held theory about men. She truly believed that for most men, all that talk of “being in love” or “finding the right one” was absolute nonsense. Marriage was purely a matter of timing, and whenever a man was finally done sowing his wild oats and ready to settle down, whichever girl happened to be there at the time would be the right one.” — 20 likes

“Remember, every treasure comes with a price.” — 19 likes

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