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A review by chamomiledaydreams
Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
3.0
I was a little nervous to start this audiobook, since it's been several months since I last listened to a novel. I've been on a bit of a nonfiction kick, and for some reason, I got it into my head that I would have trouble keeping up with fictional plots rather than non-fictional stories and analyzes. Luckily, my fears were unfounded, because I had a wonderful time listening to "Women of Good Fortune," and I don't think there's as much of a difference between fiction and non-fiction audiobooks as I feared, in terms of being able to hold my attention.
This book was compared to "Crazy Rich Asians," but honestly, I liked it much more. I listened to "Crazy Rich Asians" back in college, and I remember being bored by the elaborate descriptions of wealth that didn't mean much to me. (Perhaps I wasn't as good as paying attention to audiobooks back then, as well.) But "Women of Good Fortune" doesn't lean into that excess as heavily. Or rather, I grew more attached to the characters than I ever did in "Crazy Rich Asians," and the physical descriptions only entertained me. (Again, this may be due to my tastes changing than the books being drastically different. One isn't better than the other; I just enjoyed one more.)
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
One of my favorite details in this book is how it casually includes an asexual character, which I think is perfect in a novel whose protagonist doesn't want to get married. I almost thought that I misheard the phrase "ace student" at first, thinking that it must apply to Mei's grades and not her sexuality. And while it's true that Mei is only a supporting character, I love the way she is characterized, from her badass driving skills to her love of anime. When she said that she wanted to drop out of college so she would have time to watch all 1,000 episodes of "One Piece," I was like, "That's a great thing for an ace character to say," since "One Piece" is a story that involves very little romance, and the protagonist is described as only being interested in the romance of the sea or something along those lines.
My other favorite detail about this book is how Lulu never changes her mind about marrying Harv. I was fully expecting this to be a story where Lulu ditches the heist at the last minute because she's fallen in love with Harv and has to convince him that her feelings are real despite the harm she planned to do to his family. The fact that she and Harv never waver in their lack of attraction to one another is deeply affirming. When someone tells you that they aren't attracted to someone or that they don't want to get married, you should believe them. Sophie Wan deftly avoids promoting the harmful messages that you just need to wear a person down until eventually they like you.
It's OK that the two other protagonists get love stories, in my opinion, because it isn't portrayed as universally desirable: Both Lulu and Mei never show any romantic interest and are encouraged to find happiness and fulfillment in other ways.
Overall, this book is a fun time, and I hope that it gets adapted into a movie that's as popular as "Crazy Rich Asians" and that it remains faithful to the novel by including a marriage-less ending for Lulu and an explicitly asexual Mei.
This book was compared to "Crazy Rich Asians," but honestly, I liked it much more. I listened to "Crazy Rich Asians" back in college, and I remember being bored by the elaborate descriptions of wealth that didn't mean much to me. (Perhaps I wasn't as good as paying attention to audiobooks back then, as well.) But "Women of Good Fortune" doesn't lean into that excess as heavily. Or rather, I grew more attached to the characters than I ever did in "Crazy Rich Asians," and the physical descriptions only entertained me. (Again, this may be due to my tastes changing than the books being drastically different. One isn't better than the other; I just enjoyed one more.)
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
One of my favorite details in this book is how it casually includes an asexual character, which I think is perfect in a novel whose protagonist doesn't want to get married. I almost thought that I misheard the phrase "ace student" at first, thinking that it must apply to Mei's grades and not her sexuality. And while it's true that Mei is only a supporting character, I love the way she is characterized, from her badass driving skills to her love of anime. When she said that she wanted to drop out of college so she would have time to watch all 1,000 episodes of "One Piece," I was like, "That's a great thing for an ace character to say," since "One Piece" is a story that involves very little romance, and the protagonist is described as only being interested in the romance of the sea or something along those lines.
My other favorite detail about this book is how Lulu never changes her mind about marrying Harv. I was fully expecting this to be a story where Lulu ditches the heist at the last minute because she's fallen in love with Harv and has to convince him that her feelings are real despite the harm she planned to do to his family. The fact that she and Harv never waver in their lack of attraction to one another is deeply affirming. When someone tells you that they aren't attracted to someone or that they don't want to get married, you should believe them. Sophie Wan deftly avoids promoting the harmful messages that you just need to wear a person down until eventually they like you.
It's OK that the two other protagonists get love stories, in my opinion, because it isn't portrayed as universally desirable: Both Lulu and Mei never show any romantic interest and are encouraged to find happiness and fulfillment in other ways.
Overall, this book is a fun time, and I hope that it gets adapted into a movie that's as popular as "Crazy Rich Asians" and that it remains faithful to the novel by including a marriage-less ending for Lulu and an explicitly asexual Mei.