Author: Kevin Kwan
Started: July 27, 2018
Finished: August 6, 2018
Pages: 527
Genre: Fiction
First Sentence: Nicholas Young slumped into the nearest seat in the hotel lobby, drained from the sixteen-hour flight from Singapore, the train ride from Heathrow Airport, and trudging through the rain-soaked streets.
Summary: [From BN] 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.
Thoughts: I wanted a beachy read and this book delivered. It was full of drama and scene setting that made me incredibly amped up to see the movie. I can't wait to see this book come to life.
I loved all the characters and their various motivations - even when I was meant to be angered or rooting against them. Each character felt like a real person and their intentions, for good or for ill, made sense. Everyone's varying motivations kept the story moving from drama to drama. Normally, when there is a lot high drama, I get really annoyed, but that didn't happen with this book. None of the drama felt like it was for drama's sake. The storylines intermingle so just when I thought I might get annoyed with a characters actions, we jumped to a different scene. It all just works.
While the main plot is about Nick and Rachel, there are so many intermingling family members that the main story didn't really register for a lot of the book. Yes, it was the main vein of the book, but the author jumps between so many characters that Nick and Rachel become what holds the story together more than anything else. They are the reason we are visiting this world - not the sole focal point. It's an interesting aspect of the book. And, as much as I wanted to hit Nick for hiding who he is, the author builds the story in a way that you can forgive him for being so obtuse.
The text also drips with money. It has to describe all the amazing houses and wardrobes and food scenes. Instead of feeling exclusionary, it just made the story better. This is a world I will never have access to, but it sure is fun to see how that society lives. It also made me want to eat more Asian food. I may need to hit up some new places in DC.
As a final note, I have mixed-emotions about the explanatory notes that are scattered throughout the text. As a white woman, I was glad to have some parts of Asian culture and the language explained to me right in the book simply for convenience's sake. But... I also wish they weren't necessary. I get why they were included but I think it's telling that the publisher thought they were required. Frankly, if I was lost, I should have gone to look things up on my own.
Rating: 8/10 [Terrific]
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