Crazy Rich Asians (Book Review)

Hey y’all, it feels nice to get around to these reviews. When you read so much in a week, getting the words out can feel overwhelming. Now that I’ve had some time to let the stories marinate, here are my thoughts.

Goodreads Synopsis

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.
 
On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Trigger Warnings: Prejudice, discrimination, classism

The Good

I love a lot of the social commentary in this story. There was one moment where one of the characters made a comment about “starving kids in America” that would have loved to eat the meal their child was wasting. The story does a great job of taking whatever ideas you may have about Asians, more specifically Chinese people, and turning those ideas on their head.

The plot was very spicy. This is a longer story, over 400 pages, and there’s a lot going on in it. I like how each piece intersects and comes together as a whole story. The story is intricate, with every piece having some degree of impact on other sections of the story. It’s a great use of the third person point of view.

The Not so Good

There was a section where one of the characters uses the N-word. I was listening to the audiobook so there could be a chance that I heard it wrong, but I did listen to that part twice and I’m pretty sure it was the N-word. He didn’t use it maliciously, but I do think it should have been acknowledged. No one called him out for the use of the word and that’s problematic.

Like I said before, the story is intricate and it had a lot of moving parts. That being said, there were so many characters in it so sometimes it would be hard to keep up with who was who when it came to the supporting characters.

All in All

Crazy Rich Asians has been on my radar for a while now. I totally get why this story got so much attention. Reading it has also made me realize that I don’t read enough stories from Asian authors, which is something I’m working on now. If you have any suggestions for books by Asian authors that you think I’d enjoy, feel free to comment them below.

I think I’ll be continuing on with this trilogy because I want to know what’s in store for the future of this family and Rachel.

4/5 Stars

Have you read Crazy Rich Asians?

Do you have any suggestions for books by Asian authors?

What are you currently reading?

Let me know in the comments below, let’s chat!

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