Crazy Rich Asians

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. - excerpt from book

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is the first book to the trilogy about Rachel Chu and Nicholas Young. Now these two met in New York and there they have their own life until Nicholas's best friend is getting married and Nick decided to bring Rachel to the wedding. Little did she knows that this is the biggest wedding of Asia and also meeting Nick's family for the first time. Let me tell you, when I saw this book a few years back I was not impressed with the title itself so I did not pick it up. With a movie to be out soon and having an all Asian cast and director, the hype was on and naturally I had to read to find out about the buzz.

Of course the trailer only shows you glimpses of the book which felt exciting and extravagant, but let me tell you the book is so much more detailed and I'm pretty sure it won't all be included in the movie. With 527 pages and fonts that are not too big, it's definitely one long story to be told. Rachel and Nick is the main characters but many others have stories of their own. Hence the point of views are written in everyone's that is mentioned at the start of every chapter. I find this quite fun to read but sometimes I wished there was more happening for Nick and Rachel in parallel timing. You could easily tell what personalities these characters have and there is not much growth for many of them as they are only side characters. The interactions between Rachel and everyone else is often quite intriguing because it's fun to read about how she experiences Singapore and also how others react to her presence as Nick's girlfriend.

One thing that really capture my attention from the book is the use of multiple dialects/slang that are spoken in Singapore. It truly made me feel more at home even though I only live in the neighbouring country but sometimes visit Singapore, hence being able to relate to the language is truly enjoyable. I would say that many incidents are happening at one time and there isn't enough pages to fit everyone. I'm pretty sure this could be a Singapore drama series just as easy where there are many plots the author could have expanded on. The story-line is quite smooth with many plot twists to keep you on your toes.  You'll just keep reading because you'll want to know how Rachel deals with Nick's family, how will they treat her and how is Singapore like.

I have one complain though, that everything in the book seems way way too exaggerated in terms of the wealth of these people but at the end of the day we have to remember it's all fiction, just enjoy the book as it is. With the ways things ended, the story has just begun and I'm looking forward to read about Rachel and Nick's growing relationship and the many obstacles that will soon to follow.