Reviews with content warning for Racism - Sex and Vanity

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

32 reviews

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

This style just wasn’t for me. Between the pacing of the story, the overemphasis on how rich everyone is and the way the perspectives were shown, I just wasn’t hooked or interested in what happened.

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andreamargarita's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I truly enjoy Kwan's writing, I especially appreciate the chapter notes, they are always really funny and while they are not necessary and dont always add much to the story/characters, they are definitely worth reading.
I often enjoy when there are lots of characters to get to know, which this book has, however the romantic aspect of the story just seems a teensy bit unbelievable if not downright ridiculous, the main characters' relationship is basically non-existant and I am supposed to believe it(?).
I understand how George being back in Lucie's life making here reconsider her choices and future, and how that can be messy with Olivia's movie and all, but I refuse to believe that they were really in love with each other since Capri, maybe if there had been more moments back in NY were we could at least glimpse some sort of foundation for a relationship it would make more sense to me. But a handful of interactions in Italy and NY is not enough for me.

Writing/Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

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literarydumpling's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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katisreading's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I love Kevin Kwan, but what happened with this book? The dialogue was painful...the characters were horrid...but the overall plot line was still relatively enjoyable. Definitely don’t recommend the audiobook, the choppy dialogue is even worse when read aloud. Giving this 3 stars for the glimpses of the Crazy Rich Asians magic that was sprinkled throughout, even if I wish there was more of it.

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colleenf's review

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funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Anti-Asian racism is a major theme of the book, which was largely absent from the author's Crazy Rich Asians series. The book also explores antisemitism, but the Jewish and Asian characters do no find solidarity with each other and often compete for a place in a White dominated society. Some readers might think of this as antisemitic, it isn't my place to say.

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jennwheelers's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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obsessedwallflower's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

As a fan of Crazy Rich Asians, I knew I needed to read Kevin Kwan's new book as soon as possible, seen as I loved his debut series so much.

Sex and Vanity is set in two time periods. We first find ourselves in Capri, following Lucie Churchill's trip for a friend's wedding that's punctuated by a very heated encounter with George Zao. And then it's five years later, and Lucie's fancy New York life is again turned upside down by him. It sounds like everything I love. I'm sad to say, however, that I was thoroughly disappointed.

I actually really enjoyed the bits in Capri. The lavishness of the wedding, the description of the island, and the writing were all very entertaining. The characters felt a bit annoying but they still had room to grow. But by the end of the book, most of them hadn't.

I felt very conflicted with Lucie as a character. There were moments when she was brilliant and we could see that her pretentiousness was just a façade she'd been putting up all her life, due to her blue-blooded American family. But ultimately, I still feel like she was very stuck up and judgemental. At the same time that she loathed her American family for commenting on her Asiannes, she was also very racist towards her Chinese roots. And the constant racist comments and racial slurs from the characters (mostly in the New York part of the book) felt unwarranted and unnecessary when they weren't accompanied by real growth on anyone's part.

It felt like Kevin Kwan was writing this novel and, with 50 pages left, suddenly remembered that the main character needed to start accepting herself. It didn't feel natural like her mother's development did. Marian gets in contact with a woman who's very proud to be Chinese, and throughout the book starts going back to her roots. I wish Lucie's development had been as gradual and as well done.

Speaking of, Marian and Rosemary were my favourite part of this whole book (I also really liked Freddie, Lucie's brother). I loved seeing these two characters find such a true friendship later on in life, and Marian reconnecting with her Chinese side, which had been suppressed all these years due to her husband's family. That combined with Freddie's chill nature was a breath of fresh air amidst the superficial characters.

Another thing that didn't feel natural was the romance. I felt like even though these characters had great chemistry, we never really get to see their relationship develop, not even in Capri. We get a few bonding moments between them, but nothing that tells me why they are falling in love. George is too perfect, and although he was also one of my favourite characters, he never feels real because of this. And, in the second half of the book, the romance interest doesn't show up nearly enough to make their connection make sense. When they meet again after five years I wanted more interaction between them to make me truly care and root for this couple, something to make me believe they were in love and not simply infatuated with each other.

Overall, this book just felt like it had a lot of great ingredients that weren't mixed very well. The character development was harmed by the constant name-dropping and descriptions. I couldn't connect with any characters, didn't care about any of them. And seen as the plot of this book is basically non-existent because it's all about the characters' relationships to each other and to themselves, that really hindered my enjoyment of the story.

What I can't seem to wrap my head around is the fact that, in Crazy Rich Asians, there's a lot of name-dropping and descriptions of grandeur, but they were better intertwined with the story. I cared about the characters because they were fleshed out enough for me to do so. So it pains me that Kevin Kwan didn't manage to achieve this again. I know I shouldn't compare this to Crazy Rich Asians, seen as it's its own different story and all. But when an author writes such a successful and well-done series about rich people's antics, I can't help but compare it to his other book about rich people's antics.

I'm just generally very sad I didn't love this as much as I expected it to and, although I enjoyed the first half very much, it's not enough to make up for everything I didn't like about this book.

Disclaimer: even though I was sent this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I had already gotten the book for myself, so technically, it wasn't gifted.

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