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Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)

Kevin Kwan

Start date: April 5, 2022

Finish date: April 28, 2022

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Classism - Group Read
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What Members Thought

Mar 23, 2018 Ammar rated it it was ok

And there are 2 more books in this series and it’s going to be made into a mini-series

It’s so not worth the paper it’s printed on. It’s so cheesy and campy and reads like a list of brand names and designers.

It had a promising beginning but it flatlined.

I’d call this book Crazy, Rich Asians. A crazy the bold and the beautiful sort of novel. Soap Opera galore.

22 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2021 Radwa rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, adult, humor, e-books, romance, 2021-favorites

English Review below.

تتمحور هذه القصة عن الأثرياء الآسيوين، عن قصة حب "ريتشيل" و"نيك" وهما أستاذان جامعيان آسيويان في "نيويورك"، ومضت على علاقتهما سنتان، قبل أن يعرض نيك على ريتشيل أن ترافقه إلى وطنه في سنغافورة لحضور زفاف صديقه المقرب ولتقابل عائلته لأول مرة. ما لا تعرفه "ريتشيل" هو أن "نيك" وعائلته من أثرى أثرياء آسيا وربما العالم. نقابل أيضا عائلة نيك الكبيرة من والديه وعماته وأعمامه وأولادهم وأصدقائه وعائلاتهم وكل الدراما في حياتهم والتي أغلبها تتمحور حول المال.
إنه عالم مليء بـ"مشاكل الأثريا English Review below.

تتمحور هذه القصة عن الأثرياء الآسيوين، عن قصة حب "ريتشيل" و"نيك" وهما أستاذان جامعيان آسيويان في "نيويورك"، ومضت على علاقتهما سنتان، قبل أن يعرض نيك على ريتشيل أن ترافقه إلى وطنه في سنغافورة لحضور زفاف صديقه المقرب ولتقابل عائلته لأول مرة. ما لا تعرفه "ريتشيل" هو أن "نيك" وعائلته من أثرى أثرياء آسيا وربما العالم. نقابل أيضا عائلة نيك الكبيرة من والديه وعماته وأعمامه وأولادهم وأصدقائه وعائلاتهم وكل الدراما في حياتهم والتي أغلبها تتمحور حول المال.
إنه عالم مليء بـ"مشاكل الأثرياء" التي لا نرتبط بها على الإطلاق. الكتاب مضحك ومبالغ في الوصف واحتجت إلى بعض الوقت للتأقلم على الأسماء الكثيرة جدا، حتى وجدتني قادرة على تذكر أهم الأسماء على الأقل. ووجدتني مهتمة بدراما وقصص بقية أفراد العائلة، ليست قصة نيك وريتشيل فقط. أسلوب الكتابة سلس ويتبع أسلوب الانتقال في وجهات النظر السريع من باراجراف إلى آخر، لنرى كيف يستوعب ويتعامل أشخاص مختلفون مع نفس الموقف، وكانت حركة مثيرة للاهتمام.
الكتاب ملائم جدا فعلا ليتم تحويله إلى فيلم، وقبل القراءة، كنت أنوي قراءة الجزء الأول فقط، لكن به طابع إدمان نوعا ما، جعلني مهتمة بما فيه الكفاية لأكمل السلسلة وأقرأ الكتاب الثاني والثالث وأشاهد الفيلم.

If the families in some of the beloved Korean dramas were bigger and crazier and richer, this is them. At the heart of this story, there's the love story of Nick and Rachel, two Asian professors in New York, who have been dating for two years, when Nick invites Rachel to his home in Singapore to attend a wedding and meet his family for the first time. But Rachel doesn't know that he and his very extended family are crazy rich.

We also meet the numerous family members of parents, aunts and uncles, countless cousins and their families and all their drama, mainly revolving around money. It's a world filled with "rich people problems". It's hilarious, overly extravagant, and it took me some time to get used to the million names, till I got a grasp on the most important ones at least, and I found myself really interested in all of the dramas of these family members, not just the story of Nick and Rachel. The perspective shifts a lot from one paragraph to another to show how several characters are interpreting the same scene which was an interesting choice, but proved very effective in later chapters.

I can clearly see how perfect it was for an adaptation, to show all the glamorous lives these people live. I wasn't even sure before reading if I'd the rest of the series, but now I'm really intrigued enough to read the 2nd and 3rd books. Also, I can't wait to watch the film. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2020 Cam rated it it was ok

I’m at a 2.5 with this book... it felt like half of it could have been thrown out because it became repetitive.
Rachael and Nick are in love. Nick is the best man at his friend wedding back home in China. This as an opportunity to introduce Rachael to his parents and also ask for her hand in marriage. Racheal learns a different side to Nick. Nick is not only a professor but is to inherit millions of the family money. The lifestyle of the rich and famous that she is thrown into is a lot for Rache ...more

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Jul 17, 2018 Summer rated it did not like it

Shelves: series-dnf, book-club, kindle, 2018

Oh my god, this fucking book. This is definitely the worst book I’ve read this year. In fact, I hated pretty much every moment and every page and if I had a paper copy, I’d Angela-Bassett-in-Waiting-to-Exhale the shit out of this thing.

So there are a few things to object to here. (view spoiler) Oh my god, this fucking book. This is definitely the worst book I’ve read this year. In fact, I hated pretty much every moment and every page and if I had a paper copy, I’d Angela-Bassett-in-Waiting-to-Exhale the shit out of this thing.

So there are a few things to object to here. (view spoiler)[First, whatever the author’s goal was, he failed to achieve it. If he was trying to write a satire, he spent too much time trying to make his characters likeable and give us a happy ending, which really took all the bite out of what could have been a very sharp novel. If he wasn’t trying to write a satire, then he severely miscalculated and assumed that reading a book about horrible people would somehow magically transform into a pleasant experience. That’s not how it works. For three, the plot was paper thin, there were far more characters than there needed to be, and the POV and time jumping was difficult to follow.

But the bit that bothers me most is treatment of women. Let me shout this out for the folks in the back like Kevin Kwan, who apparently haven’t heard this enough yet: NO MEANS NO. If someone says, “I’m breaking up with you,” take them at their word. If someone says, “I don’t want to see you again,” take them at their word. If someone says, “Leave me alone,” take them at their word. “No” is not an invitation to a negotiation, it’s not romantic to follow someone around and harass them under the guise of winning them back, and it’s infuriatingly disrespectful to assume you know more about what someone wants than the person themselves.

And! If you’re going to ignore all of that and try to sell the toxic idea that someone will love you if you just wear them down enough, then for the love of all that’s holy don’t undercut your own point. If you write about Couple A, wherein John listens when Jane tells him to leave her alone, and play that up as the right thing to do and true love’s noble sacrifice (when really, I’d just say John is being a minimally decent person), then you can’t turn around and play up Couple B, wherein Max hounds Sasha until she gives in and then tell us that’s the way it should be done. That just highlights how much of an asshole Max is, how incredibly immature he is, and how much better off Sasha was without him. And if the best note your grand love story can end on is one of resigned acceptance because one partner was badgered until she gave in, well...take another run at that draft, homie, because that does not a good story make. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Feb 14, 2019 Judy Lindow rated it liked it · review of another edition

Interesting read! Sort of a Baz Luhrmann party in Singapore. I had no idea. No idea that there was a difference between mainland China's wealth (bourgeoisie, money made in the last 2-3 decades) and old wealth that left the country before the soviet regime - but of course this makes sense. I didn't know about the extravagance of Singapore, and what it meant to be ABC. Although I'd heard someone refer themselves as a bananna, the rest of the slang in the book was fun - however, probably more fun f ...more

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Aug 20, 2018 Amanda rated it really liked it

I found the number of characters hard to follow sometimes but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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Sep 20, 2015 Misha is currently reading it

Mar 28, 2016 Samantha A marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Feb 11, 2017 Sue marked it as to-read

Shelves: zc-challenge-atw-perpetual, romance, asia, humor, fiction, zl-crpl-cd-new-read, zc-challenge-atw24, zz-tbr-shortlist, zl-crpl-print-2, z1-to-read-2013