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A review by carolynf
Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
4.0
Even though many of the interactions in this book, plus the behavior of the main character, are very misogynistic, throughout the story a lot of questions are raised about gender roles and double standards. I saw this book repeatedly compared to Jane Austen's Emma, but I didn't really see that. I picked it up primarily because it is written in Singlish, Singapore English, and that dialect turned out to be a lot of fun.
The main character Jazzy, is 26 and has been clubbing almost every night for the past ten years. She and her posse accomplish this by looking sexy and being good company for their male "friends" who buy them thousands of dollars of drinks each night. They don't necessarily sleep with these guys - their goal is to find a rich white husband who will buy them the high end name brands that are essential for their self-esteem. If sleeping with a guy gets them closer to that goal, then they will. If not, then they won't. Love has very little to do with it.
Jazzy is going through a bit of a crisis because her friend, Sher, had the most potential for landing a rich white husband and (in Jazzy's opinion) screwed it up. This has caused her amp up her own marriage hunting plan. Plus her boss at work is hinting that she is getting to be too old to remain his personal assistant. Jazzy is a believable but frustrating character because she seems so competent and world-wise in some ways, but she can also be petty and childish and very naive about where she really stands with people. She knows she can't sustain her way of life indefinitely and yet can't figure out what to do instead, until the end of the book when everything comes to a head.
The main character Jazzy, is 26 and has been clubbing almost every night for the past ten years. She and her posse accomplish this by looking sexy and being good company for their male "friends" who buy them thousands of dollars of drinks each night. They don't necessarily sleep with these guys - their goal is to find a rich white husband who will buy them the high end name brands that are essential for their self-esteem. If sleeping with a guy gets them closer to that goal, then they will. If not, then they won't. Love has very little to do with it.
Jazzy is going through a bit of a crisis because her friend, Sher, had the most potential for landing a rich white husband and (in Jazzy's opinion) screwed it up. This has caused her amp up her own marriage hunting plan. Plus her boss at work is hinting that she is getting to be too old to remain his personal assistant. Jazzy is a believable but frustrating character because she seems so competent and world-wise in some ways, but she can also be petty and childish and very naive about where she really stands with people. She knows she can't sustain her way of life indefinitely and yet can't figure out what to do instead, until the end of the book when everything comes to a head.