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A review by veraveruchka
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
2.0
I was entertained by Crazy Rich Asian. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the sequel.
China Rich Girlfriend follows Rachel Chu as she married Nicholas Young, and flew to China to visit her birth father. I expected family drama as Rachel met her father's wife and a younger brother she has never known : denial, hatred, desire for reconciliation. However, I was offered a different kind of drama entirely; a drama I unfortunately didn't care much about. Instead of having confrontation with the father's family, Rachel and Nick were swept by Carlton Bao, Rachel's brother, and Colette Bing, his influencer girlfriend, into the lifestyle of Mainland China's rich and famous. Several parties, private jets, and privileged shopping in Paris later, I still don't care about them at all.
The novel seems to exert extra effort to describe how the rich people of Mainland China and Singapore are different. The Mainland Chinese are described as gaudy, less refined than the 'aristocratic' Singaporean. They do have similarities, though (at least from how this novel depicted them), they are both shallow and measure someone's worth in terms of money and power. And this pleb is utterly tired of reading the description of them parading their wealth like some bejeweled peacocks. Too many interchangeable characters as they view the world through the same lens, and the only way to distinguish them from each other is their net worth and what ridiculous hat they wear in a private runway.
I've seen some reviews referring to this book (and other books in Crazy Rich Asian series) as a 'satire', and I wonder if the shallowness of the characters are deliberate. That the books are commentary on how the 'crazy rich' are shallow elitist that would do anything to preserve the status quo. I sincerely hope so, because I want my headache after reading this book to be meaningful.
It should be noted that I would give this book one star if not for the subplot on the life of Kitty Tai (nee Pong), a social climber soap opera actress introduced in book 1. As the story touched her past and giving this seemingly bubbleheaded character more depth, I appreciate what Kevin Kwan can do, if only he refrained from posh-brand-galore this book is so full with!
Nb. Also a character is named "Perrineum Wang" and it irritates me to no end. I demand explanation.
China Rich Girlfriend follows Rachel Chu as she married Nicholas Young, and flew to China to visit her birth father. I expected family drama as Rachel met her father's wife and a younger brother she has never known : denial, hatred, desire for reconciliation. However, I was offered a different kind of drama entirely; a drama I unfortunately didn't care much about. Instead of having confrontation with the father's family, Rachel and Nick were swept by Carlton Bao, Rachel's brother, and Colette Bing, his influencer girlfriend, into the lifestyle of Mainland China's rich and famous. Several parties, private jets, and privileged shopping in Paris later, I still don't care about them at all.
The novel seems to exert extra effort to describe how the rich people of Mainland China and Singapore are different. The Mainland Chinese are described as gaudy, less refined than the 'aristocratic' Singaporean. They do have similarities, though (at least from how this novel depicted them), they are both shallow and measure someone's worth in terms of money and power. And this pleb is utterly tired of reading the description of them parading their wealth like some bejeweled peacocks. Too many interchangeable characters as they view the world through the same lens, and the only way to distinguish them from each other is their net worth and what ridiculous hat they wear in a private runway.
I've seen some reviews referring to this book (and other books in Crazy Rich Asian series) as a 'satire', and I wonder if the shallowness of the characters are deliberate. That the books are commentary on how the 'crazy rich' are shallow elitist that would do anything to preserve the status quo. I sincerely hope so, because I want my headache after reading this book to be meaningful.
It should be noted that I would give this book one star if not for the subplot on the life of Kitty Tai (nee Pong), a social climber soap opera actress introduced in book 1. As the story touched her past and giving this seemingly bubbleheaded character more depth, I appreciate what Kevin Kwan can do, if only he refrained from posh-brand-galore this book is so full with!
Nb. Also a character is named "Perrineum Wang" and it irritates me to no end. I demand explanation.