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A review by whipcreamsucks
Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
3.0
I'm truly embarrassed to admit I picked this up because I thought it was an alternate cover design of Crazy Rich Asians. This is, on surface-level, undeniable chick-lit, but it actually goes much deeper. Halfway through I realise its blurb describing it as a 'modern-day Emma.' I have never read it, but if I were to trust the Google result summary of Emma, then yeah, it makes sense.
Now the review: I thought this would be something like Crazy Rich Asians. I was correct in 2/3 of these aspects. No one here is filthy Kwan-level rich, and was actually bolder than all of the aforementioned trilogy combined. his had a unique vein of relatable, ribald humour and leaves no sentimental musings about Singapore.
And another thing: I liked Jazzy. She narrates in Singlish, never missing a beat, and was very fun. She peels back the layers of the modern Singaporean society fearlessly- anything about class, race, status, and GENDER. Gender became such a big point, and it may be my favourite thing about the book. There's thinly-veiled darkness underlying this theme, probably coming into full play in that moment when Jazzy reflects on all the women she's seen while eating dinner with Roy's crowd. It's written in a simple way, but when I read it I had to put down the book for a moment and reflect on it myself.
However, I feel that this definitely isn't a book for every Singaporean, let alone everyone regardless of nationality. I feel that some readers may take offence to how some of the things are written in this book, particularly about race, seeing how badly it can be misinterpreted out of context.
(And oh joy, if I never have to see the word 'rubba' again! Oh dear.)
Now the review: I thought this would be something like Crazy Rich Asians. I was correct in 2/3 of these aspects. No one here is filthy Kwan-level rich, and was actually bolder than all of the aforementioned trilogy combined. his had a unique vein of relatable, ribald humour and leaves no sentimental musings about Singapore.
And another thing: I liked Jazzy. She narrates in Singlish, never missing a beat, and was very fun. She peels back the layers of the modern Singaporean society fearlessly- anything about class, race, status, and GENDER. Gender became such a big point, and it may be my favourite thing about the book. There's thinly-veiled darkness underlying this theme, probably coming into full play in that moment when Jazzy reflects on all the women she's seen while eating dinner with Roy's crowd. It's written in a simple way, but when I read it I had to put down the book for a moment and reflect on it myself.
However, I feel that this definitely isn't a book for every Singaporean, let alone everyone regardless of nationality. I feel that some readers may take offence to how some of the things are written in this book, particularly about race, seeing how badly it can be misinterpreted out of context.
(And oh joy, if I never have to see the word 'rubba' again! Oh dear.)