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A review by em_reads_books
Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
3.0
This absolutely scratches the itch for a trashy, gossipy, fluffy read about rich people behaving badly while actually being more than that. It's full of the fun kind of booze and sex and luxury, and the bad kind of all those things, but even then the narration is too witty and conversational not to enjoy.
I love the sense of place, how you get thrown into the local language and geography as if you've always lived there and Jazzy's just catching you up on things you already knew - if I had one big complaint about Crazy Rich Asians it was how often it stopped to explain what was what as if the reader couldn't figure it out themselves. Reading Jazzy's narration is like being at a noisy bar with a friend who's warm and fun but won't let you get a word in - especially not if you're about to offer advice about what looks like a bad decision.
I had some small issues with this story here and there but the big thing was how abrupt the ending felt, like Jazzy was reacting to a few bad situations and a couple tender moments rather than really growing and changing. When this story was subtle it worked beautifully, and it told some harsh truths about class and sexism and finding one's place in a world that gives one very limited choices. But when it was heavy-handed, it really clunked.
I love the sense of place, how you get thrown into the local language and geography as if you've always lived there and Jazzy's just catching you up on things you already knew - if I had one big complaint about Crazy Rich Asians it was how often it stopped to explain what was what as if the reader couldn't figure it out themselves. Reading Jazzy's narration is like being at a noisy bar with a friend who's warm and fun but won't let you get a word in - especially not if you're about to offer advice about what looks like a bad decision.
I had some small issues with this story here and there but the big thing was how abrupt the ending felt, like Jazzy was reacting to a few bad situations and a couple tender moments rather than really growing and changing. When this story was subtle it worked beautifully, and it told some harsh truths about class and sexism and finding one's place in a world that gives one very limited choices. But when it was heavy-handed, it really clunked.