Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

A couple weekends ago, something came over me and instead of binging on Investigation Discovery shows, I watched chick flicks all weekend long. And it was a three day weekend, so there were lots of them. Mostly, I just watched ones I had seen a million times. I'm not one to waste time on a chick flick I might not like. But Hulu kept telling me to watch Crazy Rich Asians, and since my niece loved the movie as well and told me I should watch it, I decided that my final movie of the weekend would be Crazy Rich Asians. Halfway through the movie, I found myself purchasing the Crazy Rich Asians books. I decided before I left this phase completely and the books ended up in the next HPB sell back, I should read them. It was cute.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Rachel Chu has no idea what she is getting into when she goes to Singapore with her boyfriend of two years for his best friends wedding. Every family has a wild card, but Nicholas Young's family is a whole deck of them. Between his cousin Astrid, who is Singapore's It Girl, Eddie who is obsessed with his family's appearance and social standing, and Alistair who is dating a porn star turned soap opera star, Rachel thought she had enough to deal with. What she, or Nick, thought they would have to deal with though, was that Eleanor Young, Nick's mother, would be completely against the couple and refuse to accept Rachel. When Eleanor digs up a part of Rachel's history that even Rachel did not know about, Eleanor gets her wish. What she did not expect was that her son would disregard everything and do anything to win Rachel back.

Okay, so I have decided that there are champagne problems and then there is this. In case you don't know, a champagne problem would be a weak WiFi connection or finding out your archenemy is not only wearing the same out as you to a red carpet event, but wearing it better. Okay, that stuff happens, but to quote my dearly departed grandma, there are people in Africa who don't have anything so suck it up. The problems posed in Crazy Rich Asians are actually problems I never thought about and are actually quite horrible. No, they aren't starving and they have a roof over their heads. However, they also cannot go to a restaurant without wondering how it could affect their standing in the world. You cannot marry for love, you must marry for status. There are very few suitable Chinese families you can pick from, and even then, there are prenups and postnups and hidden bank accounts and properties purchased for children that they will not know about until you pass away, unless you have already sold it for a profit. Every decision you make from what you wear to who you eat lunch with to where you live affects not only you, but your entire family. Because of this, everything is meticulously planned out, not just days in advance, but weeks, months, and years.

(Source: Giphy)

There is so much in here about Chinese culture that I never knew. Of course, I have to take everything with a grain of salt because this is fiction. Kwan tells you about the clashes between old money and new money, which you can see in any culture. But you also learn about clashes between Overseas Chinese, Mainland Chinese, and American-born Chinese (ABC's). Nick's family is old money; not just his parents, but his extended family. Rachel's college best friend, Peik Lin, is new money. When you read descriptions of the houses, attire, clothes, and other status symbols between these two different groups, you get the feeling that the old money finds the new money obnoxious, while the new money thinks the old money is pretentious. In my opinion, they're both right. There is a similar standing with the Overseas and Mainland Chinese. It seems that most Mainland is new money, and therefore, more flamboyant with their status symbols. the Overseas Chinese are more old money and will pinch every penny and boast about how cheap they got their house for, although the number is still in the millions.

A lot of the plot is extravagant and unbelievable. But I also have to remind myself that this is not my world in any sense. I am not crazy rich, or Asian. While I do understand the parts of the Chinese culture that refer to respecting elders, I feel that the crazy rich aspects really blow respect out of proportion. Maybe it really does happen like that, but I will never know. The characters are incredibly interesting. Each person you are introduced to has a riveting backstory and intriguing personality, leaving you wanting to know more. The setting of the novel sounds beautiful. There are many tiny islands visited; the food sounds so delicious, your are left with your mouth watering; and the clothes are so gorgeous that I have extreme designer envy, and I haven't heard of half of the designers mentioned. This novel is Mean Girls on steroids; it even includes its own version of a Burn Book scene.

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"Rachel entered her villa, gladly returning to some peace and quiet after a draining day. None of the lights were on in the suite, but the bright silvery moonlight glimmered through the open screen doors, casting serpentine ripple along the walls. The sea was so still that the sound of the water lapping slowly against the wood stilts had a hypnotic effect. It was the perfect setting for a night swim in the ocean, something she'd never done. Rachel padded toward the bedroom for her bikini. As she passed the vanity table, she noticed that the leather satchel she'd left hanging on the chair seemed to be leaking some sort of liquid. She walked toward the bag and saw that it was completely drenched, with brownish water dripping out of the corner into a large puddle on the bedroom floor. What the hell happened? She turned on the lamp by the table and opened the front flap of her bag. She screamed, jerking backward in horror and knocking over the table lamp.

Her bag was filled with a large fish that had been badly mutilated, blood seeping out from its gills. Violently scrawled on the vanity mirror above the chair in fish blood were the words 'CATCH THIS, YOU GOLD-DIGGING CUNT.'" (P. 270)

While Rachel and Nick are the main characters, there is another story in the book the really captivated me and that I hope to learn more about in the following books. In the book (and movie) Astrid is married to Michael who owns a tech start up company. He was in the military and comes from humble beginnings. While Astrid does not care about her family's money, Michael does. This leads him to stage an affair, hoping that Astrid will not question it and just leave him. Astrid turns to her ex-fiance Charlie, to help her learn the truth and put everything back together. The chemistry between Astrid and Charlie is palpable. Instead of doing what he wants and telling Astrid to divorce Michael, he helps her repair her marriage, despite still loving her. For this, I love Charlie and instantly believe that he is too good for Astrid, and I say this as a person who loves Astrid.

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I am not a person who enjoys trashy love novels, but the characters in Crazy Rich Asians pulled me in and I needed to know if Nick win Rachel back; if Astrid and Michael can make it work; if Nick can ever forgive his mother; and a million other things. I know I will get answers in the following novels, but I am sure I will have many more questions too. Hopefully they will all be answered in the end.

Rating: 8/10
Author: Kevin Kwan
Series: Crazy Rich Asians (Book 1 of 3)
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
Dates Read: September 10-12, 2019