Review: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m struggling with this review. I read this one during a really busy time in my life and I’m concerned that accounts for my not loving it as much as I expected. I kept hearing so many great things but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. In the end, it all came together for me but it was slightly painful getting there at times. I almost put it down a few times but I kept coming back. I’m glad that I did. It is a fun read – kind of a glitzy soap opera sort of novel. The characters were really interesting and the story was also intriguing. The idea is that an American travels to Singapore with her boyfriend to meet his family and attend a wedding. However, she has no idea that he’s from one of Singapore’s most celebrated and wealthy families. And hijinks ensue … I ultimately struggled with the ‘over the top’-ness of the novel. It was so much coming at me … over and over and over again. And the meanness of some of the characters was just irritating to me. The political pulls and pushes were intriguing but I found them to all be too much sometimes. How much money can these people spend, how much expensive clothes and jewelry can they buy … it’s SO MUCH. It was enjoyable and it picked up for me at the end. I was surprised by the final ¼ of the book which was nice. It’s definitely a satire but at times it just felt like it was TOO MUCH for me. I’m eager to see the movie that’s being made – perhaps it will translate better on the big screen. I am going to give the second book a try to see if perhaps the busyness of life when I started the book maybe impacted my overall feelings. I definitely liked it enough to give the 2nd a shot. The reviews on this one are stellar. Almost all of my bookish friends loved it so I do recommend it … my final feelings on it may be an outlier!