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tracyx11's review against another edition
3.0
DNF after a few chapters. Still giving it 3 stars only because I didn't think it was terrible, but I don't think I want to waste time reading a book I most likely won't like. I just didn't think that, even with character development, I would like the characters. And understandably, I probably wasn't meant to like them ?
andrea_reads_books's review against another edition
3.0
I have to admit, this took me a really long time to get into and and even longer time to get to grips with the "Singlish" style. When I read the first impression I thought it would be interesting and wanted to give it a go however, I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would and sadly lost a bit of interest half way through. Jazzy seemed to be quite obnoxious and quite a narrow minded person. Considering she totally disowned her best friend for marrying a man from Singapore rather than a rich white expat. I did enjoy the ending and found that she did learn to find herself through out the book. Perhaps that is why she was made to come across as so obnoxious at the beginning, so you could see the gradual change in her personality. I did find the ending to be quite rushed though and I would have liked to have known just a bit more at the end about how she went on after having this realisation. Thank you to Readers First for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
arisbookcorner's review against another edition
4.0
Jazzy is one of the most delightful characters I've ever come across; she's bossy, brazen and determined to find white expat husbands for herself and her two best friends. She manages to come across as remarkably self-assured when opining on the various ways to 'get' a man or keep them interested but there is also an undercurrent of vulnerability and feminist awakening to her character. I thought I would grow tired of how self-centered she was or so willing to disparage her race but it was really satisfying to see (read) her character arc. Additionally I appreciated the author's writing about sex, she doesn't gloss over it. Jazzy and her friends own their sexuality and the author's writing reflects that, it isn't cheesy or fluffy, it's actually surprisingly poignant at times as Jazzy feels either empowered or used in different scenarios. Or it's just fun, like when Jazzy says she has one night stands for practice. It was really upsetting to read how resigned to the concubine culture Jazzy and some of her friends were, and how prevalent it was with every man in Jazzy's life. I was slightly familiar with this from an anthropology class I took in college but I hadn't thought about KTV clubs or anything like that in awhile, it all came rushing back as I read about Jazzy's experiences. There are no grand feminist pronouncements but we do see some breakthroughs with Jazzy's behavior in certain situations as she witnesses horrifyingly lewd and exploitive situations.
Race and the lingering effects of colonialism are also navigated as Jazzy and her friends sneer at native Singaporean men and focus on accentuating their 'white' features or 'exotic Asian' features that they know white men will love. Jazzy and her friends pursue white expats (British or Australian for the most part) largely because they view them as less willing to cheat than their Asian counterparts. Furthermore Jazzy and co look down on Japanese KTV girls and Mainland Chinese girls, it's very hierarchal and is a result of classism, jealousy and prejudice. It's a lot to unpack in one book but the author does an excellent job of balancing the rollicking fun with Jazzy's quest for upward mobility. I did wish Jazzy had a tiny bit more ambition for her life outside of the marriage plot, she doggedly pursues her goal of marrying an expat that it would have been nice to see her turn that determination to something else too. And just when we think that will be the case the book ends which was annoying.
A rambunctious read with a bold narrator who is difficult to forget while also managing to be remarkably candid about the sexual exploitation of women in Singaporean society. It is also a fairly depressing read, I really don't know what the solution is for Singaporean women, should they just leave and find love elsewhere? Accept the cheating? How do you change such a patriarchal culture in a country that is renowned for being clean and law-abiding? These are just some of the questions I was still grappling with as I finished the book. Jazzy and her friends are desperate to break the cycle set by their parents and grandparents but unfortunately the author doesn't seem very optimistic about their odds. And you will walk away with Singlish stuck in your head and some recommendations of bars to try should you visit Singapore (I looked a few up to see if they were real, can confirm). My only frustration is with the ending, just as Jazzy makes a big decision, we are left to imagine how the rest of her life will play out.
I just read that this book will be made into a series online so that's exciting, I hope I'm able to find it. But it will be interesting to see how dark the show goes as opposed to the book since they're billing it as 'comedic'.
Race and the lingering effects of colonialism are also navigated as Jazzy and her friends sneer at native Singaporean men and focus on accentuating their 'white' features or 'exotic Asian' features that they know white men will love. Jazzy and her friends pursue white expats (British or Australian for the most part) largely because they view them as less willing to cheat than their Asian counterparts. Furthermore Jazzy and co look down on Japanese KTV girls and Mainland Chinese girls, it's very hierarchal and is a result of classism, jealousy and prejudice. It's a lot to unpack in one book but the author does an excellent job of balancing the rollicking fun with Jazzy's quest for upward mobility. I did wish Jazzy had a tiny bit more ambition for her life outside of the marriage plot, she doggedly pursues her goal of marrying an expat that it would have been nice to see her turn that determination to something else too. And just when we think that will be the case the book ends which was annoying.
A rambunctious read with a bold narrator who is difficult to forget while also managing to be remarkably candid about the sexual exploitation of women in Singaporean society. It is also a fairly depressing read, I really don't know what the solution is for Singaporean women, should they just leave and find love elsewhere? Accept the cheating? How do you change such a patriarchal culture in a country that is renowned for being clean and law-abiding? These are just some of the questions I was still grappling with as I finished the book. Jazzy and her friends are desperate to break the cycle set by their parents and grandparents but unfortunately the author doesn't seem very optimistic about their odds. And you will walk away with Singlish stuck in your head and some recommendations of bars to try should you visit Singapore (I looked a few up to see if they were real, can confirm). My only frustration is with the ending, just as Jazzy makes a big decision, we are left to imagine how the rest of her life will play out.
I just read that this book will be made into a series online so that's exciting, I hope I'm able to find it. But it will be interesting to see how dark the show goes as opposed to the book since they're billing it as 'comedic'.
diaryofdifference's review against another edition
3.0
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A quick Chick-Lit, written in Singlish, an English-based patois that Singaporeans speak to each other. It was interesting and unique, and given the fact that I haven’t read anything like this before, I genuinely enjoyed the writing. This is my first book from Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan.
Our main heroine in this book is Jazzy, a 27-year-old, born and living in Singapore. In her mind, she is getting old and her time to get married is running out.
But Jazzy doesn’t want to just marry anyone, especially not the Asian boys she keeps seeing in the clubs, or the ones that are so traditional and bring her mum soup in the mornings. She wants to marry an English Man, become rich, move abroad and have his babies.
To achieve this, Jazzy and her friends make a deal to start going into clubs and places and meet their perfect English men. They become Sarong Party Girls, and from chapter to chapter we read about new adventures and troubles that Jazzy gets herself into.
This book is unique in many ways, there are a lot of immoral scenes that teach us moral lessons. There is so much culture in this book and it’s nice to see how people tolerate moral levels differently in another part of the world.
I didn’t like Jazzy, and I didn’t agree with almost anything she was doing. From chapter to chapter she kept making stupid decisions, and even though she learnt a little bit in the end, she was still clueless at so many things, which I find annoying.
As much as I loved the refreshing taste of culture this book gave me, I also didn’t enjoy the main character at all, and am struggling to give it anything more than three stars.
It is an amazing book, with quality writing that I am sure represents Singaporeans well, culture a plenty and many scenes that trigger discussions. But if you are looking for your perfect character, you won’t find this is Jazzy. You won’t find it in Sarong Party Girls.
Thank you to ReadersFirst and Allen & Unwin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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A quick Chick-Lit, written in Singlish, an English-based patois that Singaporeans speak to each other. It was interesting and unique, and given the fact that I haven’t read anything like this before, I genuinely enjoyed the writing. This is my first book from Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan.
Our main heroine in this book is Jazzy, a 27-year-old, born and living in Singapore. In her mind, she is getting old and her time to get married is running out.
But Jazzy doesn’t want to just marry anyone, especially not the Asian boys she keeps seeing in the clubs, or the ones that are so traditional and bring her mum soup in the mornings. She wants to marry an English Man, become rich, move abroad and have his babies.
To achieve this, Jazzy and her friends make a deal to start going into clubs and places and meet their perfect English men. They become Sarong Party Girls, and from chapter to chapter we read about new adventures and troubles that Jazzy gets herself into.
This book is unique in many ways, there are a lot of immoral scenes that teach us moral lessons. There is so much culture in this book and it’s nice to see how people tolerate moral levels differently in another part of the world.
I didn’t like Jazzy, and I didn’t agree with almost anything she was doing. From chapter to chapter she kept making stupid decisions, and even though she learnt a little bit in the end, she was still clueless at so many things, which I find annoying.
As much as I loved the refreshing taste of culture this book gave me, I also didn’t enjoy the main character at all, and am struggling to give it anything more than three stars.
It is an amazing book, with quality writing that I am sure represents Singaporeans well, culture a plenty and many scenes that trigger discussions. But if you are looking for your perfect character, you won’t find this is Jazzy. You won’t find it in Sarong Party Girls.
Thank you to ReadersFirst and Allen & Unwin for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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teakanimo's review against another edition
lighthearted
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
annarella's review against another edition
3.0
Even if I think this is the kind of book you love or hate I couldn't connect to the characters or being involved in the plot.
I appreciated the style of writing but it's not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I appreciated the style of writing but it's not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
claudiabarclay's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sarong Party Girls is a book I picked up from a community little library. It is written in Singlish, a very cool language combining English, Mandarin, Malay, and Chinese dialects including Teochew and Hokkien. That structure makes reading a little complex from a Canadian standard English perspective, which made it slow paced for me, however I loved it and it gave the plot depth and truly gave you the feeling of being with the characters in their activities. The storyline was great, the characters were very diverse and lovable, and there was a lot of cultural insight gained! The story did not end as I thought it would, which is refreshing from a fiction book like this! I would recommend reading this for someone interested in the cover pitch.
eila's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I get it, the narrator is supposed to be insipid and shallow, but holy cow does that make for a painful read. There's zero depth, zero character development, and a whole lot of misogynistic, patriarchal norms. Had this been written by a man, it would (hopefully) not have gotten published, because it throws every single woman presented in a hugely negative light. And the story goes nowhere, slowly.
bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to be rather brief in my review on this one because it was a struggle to be engaged or stay engaged with this read. SARONG PARTY GIRLS feels initally like a light read with vapid characters, I could see quite quickly that that most of the characters were deeper than first glance but I struggled nonetheless to make connections with them.
Singapore life for the rich and entitled was like many that of the young and rich in other cities but with a different cultural landscape. These women were aiming to secure a white, western man but all did not go to plan. The tale completely immerses the reader from the first page in Singlish - a patois of the region which although was comprehensible, it was difficult to get lost in the words or story because I was constantly trying to make meaning and connections between words.
Overall, this read wasn't for me.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.
Singapore life for the rich and entitled was like many that of the young and rich in other cities but with a different cultural landscape. These women were aiming to secure a white, western man but all did not go to plan. The tale completely immerses the reader from the first page in Singlish - a patois of the region which although was comprehensible, it was difficult to get lost in the words or story because I was constantly trying to make meaning and connections between words.
Overall, this read wasn't for me.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.
peachani's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism