A review by thesgtrekkiereads
Travails of a Trailing Spouse by Stephanie Suga Chen

3.0

Overall, a relatively light read. The characters were framed to not be boring and one-dimensional however, they were a tad cliche.

Some parts raised my eyebrows, others I rolled my eyes at the pretentiousness.

I asked my American fiance about certain aspects that made me scratch my head.. having been to Georgia quite a few times myself and given that he had lived there for a bit, the weather was kinda similar to Singapore so I didn't understand one character's fuss about needing the air-conditioning set at 18 all day long..

Another part was Sarah whining about Singlish... and there were quite a few rants about it.. now I do not advocate Singlish but it is what it is.. saying that it grates you hearing the kid speak such bad English - simple fix for the character Sarah - International or private school.. duh

Another part finding something that CS, a Kiwi chilled fella said twice which could have been interpreted as regular comments were instead implied to have racist connotations... eh?

Then, there was a paragraph that annoyed me with its pretentiousness. Only wanting to seek an American shrink as Sarah doubted that Jason and her could stand being judged by someone with a Singaporean accent.

Get over yourself honey..

The irony is that this book which kinda hits at some local cultural elements yet is published by a local publisher and found under the Singapore section.. hmmm...

Towards the end, the protagonist appreciates Singapore to a certain extent.. thanks?

Easy read with a couple of eyerolls, huhs thrown in, and some inklings of sex in the city - the expats edition rolled in one. *lol*