Crazy Rich Asians | Book Review

Hello!

So I finished my second book for the year.

I finished reading “Crazy Rich Asians” by Kevin Kwan. I started reading this book at the same time last year as “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… OMNIBUS” when I experimented with trying to read multiple books at the same time. 

Anyways…

Initially, I was struggling with reading the book probably because I wasn’t focused since I was reading two books at the same time and I was inconsistent on when I would read which didn’t help me with recalling details from both books. Also, since I already watched the movie, I was kind of anticipating the scenes I saw in the movie so I got impatient easily. But when I got into my reading mood, that’s when I really got into the story and I stopped being impatient.

So just to summarize the story, the book has different narrators but the book is mostly about Nick Young and Rachel Chu. They are a couple who has been together for about two years. Then, they agree to spend the summer together in Singapore because Nick will be the best man at his best friend’s wedding and he wanted to show Rachel around the country he grew up in and introduce her to his family. But what Rachel didn’t know (and what Nick failed to tell her) was that he came from a very wealthy family.

Initially, Rachel seemed to be doing fine but eventually, she feels overwhelmed and burdened by what was happening, what was being said behind her back, and Nick’s family and some of his old friends. So to prove his love for her and because he believed that she was the one for him, Nick wanted to propose to her. But his family, mostly his mother and grandmother, were against Nick marrying Rachel because she didn’t have the pedigree to be married into the Young family. They were also scandalized by what they found out about Rachel’s parents’ history.

So as I mentioned before, I struggled initially with reading the book because I had scenes and story pacing in mind based on the movie. So I was pleasantly surprised by the differences between the book and the movie because it didn’t feel like I was just reading what I saw in the movie. I think I prefer the book because the events seemed to make more sense and the characters had more depth. It actually made me want to buy and read the next two books because I want to know what happens next.

I was also not so okay with the shifting narrators initially because I was impatient and I felt like I only wanted and cared about Nick and Rachel’s story. But as I continued on, I realized that I liked the shifting narrators. It made the story more interesting because you get multiple perspectives on the events that were happening. I was also surprised at how much it helped me get immersed in the story because I can see where the different characters were coming from, how they think, and how they react and perceive the situations that they are in.

Aside from Nick and Rachel’s story, I also liked the story of what was going on in Astrid’s life. Astrid is one of Nick’s cousins and the one who was probably closest to him. On the outside, it seemed like she had a perfect life but in reality, she was going through a tough time. She thought her husband was cheating on her and that devastated her because she thought the man she loves was cheating and she was asking herself so many questions as to what pushed him to cheat. She was also worried also about how it would affect their son if they divorced. She also worried about what her family would think and how they would react.

I thought the author was really good at describing things. He was really good at giving an idea of how different these crazy rich Asians lived. I also liked that Asian words, expressions, and culture were incorporated so nicely.

So all in all, I would say that I enjoyed reading this book and I want to read more from its author.

That’s all for now, bye!