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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book, but I kind of wish that anyone had told Andrea “33 is not that old.” I understand culturally her family felt she was past her prime, but anyone else in the book could’ve called her out on it.
3.5 stars
The Last Tang Standing is marketed as a cross between [b:Crazy Rich Asians|16085481|Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)|Kevin Kwan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364852559l/16085481._SY75_.jpg|21571970] and [b:Bridget Jones's Diary|227443|Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones, #1)|Helen Fielding|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558869586l/227443._SY75_.jpg|3185154] - although I've not read the latter, I've watched the movies and I think the comparisons with both is pretty apt. Much like Crazy Rich Asians, the book is set in Singapore and the main character, Andrea Tang, has to deal with her overbearing mother who is insistent on her marrying someone, anyone at the "ripe old" age of thirty-three to avoid being the last single Tang of her generation. And like Bridget Jones's Diary, Andrea gets into some pretty embarrassing but hilarious situations.
Unlike Crazy Rich Asians, however, Andrea's life is a lot less luxurious than the Youngs as Andrea is fighting for a coveted promotion to partner at her law firm. The only obstacle that seems to stand in her way is a recent Singapore transplant, Suresh Aditparan, who has recently moved to Singapore after spending most of his professional career in London. However, Andrea's singledom may prove to be an advantage over Suresh, due to his impending nuptials and, likely, fewer work hours in lieu of his wedding-planning. Despite Andrea's rational brain telling her to one-up Suresh, Andrea can't help but to find him likeable and soon enough, develops an attraction to him. Meanwhile, Andrea also chances across Eric Deng, a much older wealthy entrepreneur who seems to represent everything that Andrea's family could want for her - family-oriented, attractive, wealthy enough to do whatever he wishes and utterly devoted to making Andrea happy.
Overall, I think that the book really was quite a lot of fun as Andrea goes through quite a lot of madcap adventures in both her love-life and her professional life. Furthermore, I also thought that both love interests were compatible with Andrea in their own ways and I liked that there wasn't an outright villain involved, which would really cheapen the love triangle. However, I was a little uncomfortable with how Suresh and Andrea's relationship developed.
Regardless, if you enjoy Crazy Rich Asians and Bridget Jones's Diary, it's probably a safe bet that you'll find this book to be an enjoyable, fun read too.
The Last Tang Standing is marketed as a cross between [b:Crazy Rich Asians|16085481|Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)|Kevin Kwan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364852559l/16085481._SY75_.jpg|21571970] and [b:Bridget Jones's Diary|227443|Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones, #1)|Helen Fielding|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558869586l/227443._SY75_.jpg|3185154] - although I've not read the latter, I've watched the movies and I think the comparisons with both is pretty apt. Much like Crazy Rich Asians, the book is set in Singapore and the main character, Andrea Tang, has to deal with her overbearing mother who is insistent on her marrying someone, anyone at the "ripe old" age of thirty-three to avoid being the last single Tang of her generation. And like Bridget Jones's Diary, Andrea gets into some pretty embarrassing but hilarious situations.
Spoiler
For example, how she was so thoroughly hoodwinked by a younger man she meets from online dating.Unlike Crazy Rich Asians, however, Andrea's life is a lot less luxurious than the Youngs as Andrea is fighting for a coveted promotion to partner at her law firm. The only obstacle that seems to stand in her way is a recent Singapore transplant, Suresh Aditparan, who has recently moved to Singapore after spending most of his professional career in London. However, Andrea's singledom may prove to be an advantage over Suresh, due to his impending nuptials and, likely, fewer work hours in lieu of his wedding-planning. Despite Andrea's rational brain telling her to one-up Suresh, Andrea can't help but to find him likeable and soon enough, develops an attraction to him. Meanwhile, Andrea also chances across Eric Deng, a much older wealthy entrepreneur who seems to represent everything that Andrea's family could want for her - family-oriented, attractive, wealthy enough to do whatever he wishes and utterly devoted to making Andrea happy.
Overall, I think that the book really was quite a lot of fun as Andrea goes through quite a lot of madcap adventures in both her love-life and her professional life. Furthermore, I also thought that both love interests were compatible with Andrea in their own ways and I liked that there wasn't an outright villain involved, which would really cheapen the love triangle. However, I was a little uncomfortable with how Suresh and Andrea's relationship developed.
Spoiler
I'm not really a fan of how Andrea and Suresh got involved with each other before he'd broken things off with his fiancee. And remember what I said about no outright villainy? That's not the case with Suresh's fiancee because she was definitely presented as a total shrew who'd never supported Suresh's graphic novels, who'd cheated on Suresh, who'd intimidated Andrea and who'd wielded power over Suresh's professional life in the law firm too. I'm not sure if this was in an attempt to make Andrea and Suresh's relationship more palatable, in comparison? But it still struck me as pretty weak of Suresh not to break things off with her despite all the problems they were having.Regardless, if you enjoy Crazy Rich Asians and Bridget Jones's Diary, it's probably a safe bet that you'll find this book to be an enjoyable, fun read too.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Andrea Tang, at thirty-three is single attorney on the fast track to a partnership at her law firm and all the women in family is can see is a spinster with no husband and no kids. As a Chinese-Malaysian woman, she knows she has a duty to her family to be married and have kids, but that wasn’t how she saw her life unfolding. But now that she’s reached thirty-three, she is about to become the last Tang of her generation to be unmarried. It is not an easy burden to carry and the matriarchs of the family let her know it is unacceptable.
The author gets a little preachy as she tries to educate gwailou (western foreigners) about filial duty to one’s family and loses sight of her story. Ho’s main character is flighty, immature, superficial, and it’s hard to imagine how she made it to the partnership rung of the firm’s success ladder. Yes, there are moments of humor, but that can’t save the lack of development of the characters, especially the one who is supposed to carry the book. The author fails to use Singapore, where this all takes place, as a character. Sure, she gives us street names, but that is the extent of her description of her home city. Ho tries to get away from having to show her readers much about Andrea by giving us her journal entries that occur throughout the day – there’s no emotion in those entries.
If you are looking for a book with little depth and lackluster character development, this book is for you. If you want more, this book doesn’t deserve to be on your to-be-read list.
My thanks to Putnam and Edelweiss for an eARC.
The author gets a little preachy as she tries to educate gwailou (western foreigners) about filial duty to one’s family and loses sight of her story. Ho’s main character is flighty, immature, superficial, and it’s hard to imagine how she made it to the partnership rung of the firm’s success ladder. Yes, there are moments of humor, but that can’t save the lack of development of the characters, especially the one who is supposed to carry the book. The author fails to use Singapore, where this all takes place, as a character. Sure, she gives us street names, but that is the extent of her description of her home city. Ho tries to get away from having to show her readers much about Andrea by giving us her journal entries that occur throughout the day – there’s no emotion in those entries.
If you are looking for a book with little depth and lackluster character development, this book is for you. If you want more, this book doesn’t deserve to be on your to-be-read list.
My thanks to Putnam and Edelweiss for an eARC.
Even less self-aware protagonist than usual, which was sometimes painful.
I am DELIGHTED. I cheered, I cringed, I whooped, I made sounds in real life reading this. I cheered This book is a delicious sundae of charm and pitch-perfect humour and I want to eat it up with a spoon. I started this without reading the synopsis and in hindsight I'm not sure how I feel about the "Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones" tl;dr, because it really doesn't do justice to how lovely and warm and just hugely entertaining this is. I want Andrea to be my BFF and I want to get drunk with Linda and read the newest TLTS update. The whole book is just pure condensed fun and the audiobook narrator is excellent, and I'm honestly kinda sad it's over but I wouldn't have it any other way. Five sparkly stars with a side of emergency whiskey :)
This book was so much fun to read! A true rom com. It had me chuckling all the time. Despite having not read Bridget Jones' Diary, I imagine that it is a similar one to that. Flirty, self-depricating, sarcastic, work drama... I can't wait to read Lauren Ho's next book.
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Meet Andrea Tang, a 30-something woman who has a good job, but seems to miss something in life. This was a fun story and I really enjoyed it!
Slow start (1-2 stars), and I even considered just dropping the book at times, but as soon as the second part started my rating went up and up. Until I hit 5 stars! It was definitely a journey, but one I am happy I took and I am delighted that I kept reading despite the very slow start.
It reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones only then set in Asia with an Asian protagonist and love interests. Since I love Asia and I love Bridget Jones I was just very happy. It is a great combo!
There is plenty of romance as well. There is even a love-triangle-ish, but I am not sure if I fully count it. Yes, our MC and S like each other.. but S is engaged/has a pregnant fiance, so is out of bounds, I am not sure if I would count it fully. It was quite simple to see who she would end up with and I was definitely hoping it would happen. That person just fitted perfect with her. And yes, it felt a bit wrong to ship them, but I sometimes just couldn’t resist. I loved reading about Eric, though I wasn’t 100% sure about him, how entitled he acted was just rubbing me wrong, and come on, doing that just mere months/weeks into a relationship is just a no-no from me. But he had his good sides and he seemed to truly care about Andrea. And then there is Suresh, I had such a big laugh about the banter and power moves between Andrea and him. LORD, these two. The vibes between them were just perfect. I have to say I was at first worried that Suresh would become an annoying rival but he turned out to be one of my favourite characters in the book. I loved reading about his webcomics and his actual plans.
I love reading about her job (her rantings and power moves and more), though my heart broke with how much she worked. It just was not even borderline unhealthy, it was beyond unhealthy. No healthy eating, working until the wee hours of the night, not being able to change clothes or go home, nights of working. Nope. But I still admired Andrea that she was doing all she did. I know I would probably have died after a month of doing that job. As soon as we found out what she really wanted to do I was rooting for her to make the chance instead of staying here. Where they clearly didn’t appreciate her fully. Mong was an OK character though I was unsure about him at times.
Next to jobs and romance, we also have cultural, plenty of designer bags, we learn about Singapore, at least a bit, there is friendship. I loved seeing Andrea’s friends and while I was on the fence about Linda at times she still seemed like a good person and I loved that she was there for Andrea and that Andrea was there for her (though I was totally on Andrea’s side during one part of the story).
Then we also have cultural/familial expectations. Her mom is constantly trying to push Andrea to get a husband, make kids, and go go go. Not to mention had remarks about other things. Then there is Andrea’s sister who loves a man who is Muslim. Nearer to the end I was glad to see that she changed a bit more, though… it is sad that she had to go through THAT to have that happen.
The story got better and better and we see Andrea grow immensely in the story. Though I truly hope that she can quit with drinking alcohol, since that was also what grew along with all the stress and decisions Andrea was thinking about.
I had a laugh that she bought mineral water when she was going to Europe because people there drank from taps SHOCK. I live in the Netherlands and I can tell you that our tapwater is supersafe and good to drink. No weird tastes, just water. And that is how it is in many other countries as well. I found it just weird that a lawyer who travels apparently quite a bit doesn’t know that.
The ending was just great! I really liked it though I would have loved to see an epilogue.
I could probably talk more about this story, but this review already turned out longer than I expected, so I will just say that I would recommend this book to all in need for something fun and well-written. You may have to push a bit to get through the first part, but believe me it gets better after that!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Slow start (1-2 stars), and I even considered just dropping the book at times, but as soon as the second part started my rating went up and up. Until I hit 5 stars! It was definitely a journey, but one I am happy I took and I am delighted that I kept reading despite the very slow start.
It reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones only then set in Asia with an Asian protagonist and love interests. Since I love Asia and I love Bridget Jones I was just very happy. It is a great combo!
There is plenty of romance as well. There is even a love-triangle-ish, but I am not sure if I fully count it. Yes, our MC and S like each other.. but S is engaged/has a pregnant fiance, so is out of bounds, I am not sure if I would count it fully. It was quite simple to see who she would end up with and I was definitely hoping it would happen. That person just fitted perfect with her. And yes, it felt a bit wrong to ship them, but I sometimes just couldn’t resist. I loved reading about Eric, though I wasn’t 100% sure about him, how entitled he acted was just rubbing me wrong, and come on, doing that just mere months/weeks into a relationship is just a no-no from me. But he had his good sides and he seemed to truly care about Andrea. And then there is Suresh, I had such a big laugh about the banter and power moves between Andrea and him. LORD, these two. The vibes between them were just perfect. I have to say I was at first worried that Suresh would become an annoying rival but he turned out to be one of my favourite characters in the book. I loved reading about his webcomics and his actual plans.
I love reading about her job (her rantings and power moves and more), though my heart broke with how much she worked. It just was not even borderline unhealthy, it was beyond unhealthy. No healthy eating, working until the wee hours of the night, not being able to change clothes or go home, nights of working. Nope. But I still admired Andrea that she was doing all she did. I know I would probably have died after a month of doing that job. As soon as we found out what she really wanted to do I was rooting for her to make the chance instead of staying here. Where they clearly didn’t appreciate her fully. Mong was an OK character though I was unsure about him at times.
Next to jobs and romance, we also have cultural, plenty of designer bags, we learn about Singapore, at least a bit, there is friendship. I loved seeing Andrea’s friends and while I was on the fence about Linda at times she still seemed like a good person and I loved that she was there for Andrea and that Andrea was there for her (though I was totally on Andrea’s side during one part of the story).
Then we also have cultural/familial expectations. Her mom is constantly trying to push Andrea to get a husband, make kids, and go go go. Not to mention had remarks about other things. Then there is Andrea’s sister who loves a man who is Muslim. Nearer to the end I was glad to see that she changed a bit more, though… it is sad that she had to go through THAT to have that happen.
The story got better and better and we see Andrea grow immensely in the story. Though I truly hope that she can quit with drinking alcohol, since that was also what grew along with all the stress and decisions Andrea was thinking about.
I had a laugh that she bought mineral water when she was going to Europe because people there drank from taps SHOCK. I live in the Netherlands and I can tell you that our tapwater is supersafe and good to drink. No weird tastes, just water. And that is how it is in many other countries as well. I found it just weird that a lawyer who travels apparently quite a bit doesn’t know that.
The ending was just great! I really liked it though I would have loved to see an epilogue.
I could probably talk more about this story, but this review already turned out longer than I expected, so I will just say that I would recommend this book to all in need for something fun and well-written. You may have to push a bit to get through the first part, but believe me it gets better after that!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/