China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians, #2) (2024)

Another fun, soapy trifle of a novel. I wish these books had just a bit more ambition. Mostly it's extravagant descriptions of extravagant wealth with a glimmer of plot loosely holding everything together. The absurdity of Crazy Rich Asians is dialed way up for this second book in the series. It's just beyond. But again, lots and lots of fun.

I know the average outfit in your wardrobe costs more than a semester of tuition at Princeton, but it makes you look like a community college during summertime: NO CLASS.

And they are ready to get married, expect one thing... she wants her dad to walk her down the aisle.

Rachel's mother escaped an abusive marriage and never looked back, except to mourn the father (her rescuer, not the horrible husband).

All Rachel truly wants is to meet her real father and have him walk her down the aisle...and Nick's meddlesome mother has finally decided to help rather than hinder.

“What do you mean, 'boundaries?' You came out of my vagin*. What kind of boundaries do we have?”

Rachel's father's wife is absolutely horrified a hot mess. insanely famous and is completely ready to sweep her sorta-sister-in-law off her feet.

“I don’t understand. How can a credit card ever be rejected? It’s not like it’s a kidney!” Colette laughed.

Her husband has, for the first time, made a respectable amount of money...and she is learning just how far money can turn a person...

People are messy. Life gets messy. Things are not always going to work out perfectly just because you want them to.

It was everything I expected and more.

The sequel brought it to the table - I had such a fun time leaping back into this world.

I thought the whole Rachel's father-is-a-millionaire was a bit of a stretch but once I made that leap, the rest fell into place.

The over-the-topness of Colette and her crew, and Kitty's craziness made this book amazingly dishy and just the right amount of catty.

I also loved the seriousness of Astrid's storyline this round. It was sobering and yet made the book so much more real.

All in all - loved it, recommended it and above all, fabulous.

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Though I prefer the first book, this was still a solid continuation of the series.

Did you think that Crazy Rich Asians was over the top with the extravagant displays of wealth? Well, buckle on in! The constant description of palatial homes and couture clothes got to be exhausting after the ninth shopping trip. (I know it's necessary for the satire, but my point still stands.)

I enjoyed how Kevin Kwan expanded upon the scope of his first novel, showing us the wild lives of Hong Kong and Shanghai's elite. Unfortunately, this also came with so many new POVs and storylines to follow that rarely intersected. Rachel and Nick didn't seem like the main characters of their own story.

I will say that the last 100 pages almost made up for the relatively boring first 3/4 of the novel. I actually started this three times before I finally got into it. However, nearing the end, the stakes were raised and these storylines more or less came together. There were mysteries! Drama! Intrigue! Romance! My favorite things. Except it came together a bit too quickly in comparison to the rest of this drawn out book. (I'm still 100% picking up the next book, because I am very invested in the lives of Rachel, Nick, and Astrid. Also, I need to check up on Kitty Pong.)

If you enjoyed the first book, I'd definitely recommend picking this up! Despite my criticisms, I had quite a lot of fun galavanting around the world in this novel.

Also, was I the only one bothered that Carlton KILLED someone, and we were expected to feel for him simply because he felt guilt over it and turned out to be a good brother? Hopefully he does something to redeem himself in the third book.

3.5 Stars. Definitely not as good as book one, but it was still worth the read. Review to come!

Reading this, I can't help feel anything but disappointed. In Crazy Rich Asians, there was equal parts drama, gossip and brand name-droppings, but China Rich Girlfriend is just absolutely tabloid material.

Some SPOILERS of course...

For starters, Kevin Kwan turns his two main characters, Rachel and Nick, into two-dimensional beings who just exist in the book to give us a better-than-gossip-column eyes into the lives of China's Fu Er Dai (children of billionaires), and Guan Er Dai (children of politicians). There was so much he could have done with the China setting: politics at play not just in upper society but Communist Party politics and how it affects the lives of China's upper crust, or address the tension between the Overseas Chinese and Mainlanders, or if he wants to be really superficial, what it means to be Weibo/Wechat famous vs just Instagram blogger famous. He even had the typical stepmother/bastard daughter plot to work on! But instead he gives us Paris Hilton style tabloid stuff. Yawn. Boring. I skipped through most of their story. It's bland story-wise unless you're in it for the brands.

And then there's the two other subplots, Astrid's marriage, and Kitty Pong's transformation, which were definitely more interesting story-wise, but which he also failed to fully develop. Astrid's trying to overcome the monster, and Kitty's rebirth plot! The bad thing is Kevin Kwan setup the stage for their troubles and conflicts, but never really dives deep on their low moments and their eventual transformation! All of these happens behind the screens and that's what makes the book sooooo lacking.

Kitty represents a lot of things: upstart gold-digging starlet, mainlander trying to fit in with the Straits Chinese who have a lot of protocols she's not aware of. I'd love to know how she eventually gets accepted by society given her... "undignified" background. There's Corinna, but that didn't really end up in anything.

And Astrid's love story with Charlie. Like I mean come on! After all that drama, we just suddenly read that they're now finally together. Where's the retribution for Michael? That takedown would have been so awesome to read about!

So yes, this book is disappointing. If you want to read about tabloid stuff, it is very entertaining. But if you care about plotlines, then prepare to feel the lack of it.

Please tell me there is a third book! I need closure!!!

This is the second book in the series. It discusses the most important event in the lives of the two main characters.

Rachel and Nicholas are going to get married.

When marriage is going to happen, the author brings a sudden twist in the story and takes us to the roots of Rachel’s family. Rachel finds out many interesting new facts about herself and her family. Will Rachel and Nicholas marry? Who actually is Rachel and what is the relevance of her family tree? The author will reveal all this information in this novel.

What I learned from this book
1) How far is the upper class living away from reality?
The author tries to show us the way the upper class lives in these books. He also shows how some people live far away from reality and behave when they unexpectedly have to face reality.

“I don’t understand. How can a credit card ever be rejected? It’s not like it’s a kidney!”

2) What is Nouveau riche?
If you are someone from the upper class, you might have heard this term a lot in your life. It is the term used in a derogatory way to mention people who recently acquired wealth. It is difficult for some people who have been rich for generations to accept these newcomers to the social elite. So they will call these new millionaires by the above term to say that they have only wealth and no class and social acceptance.

“With those boots and earrings you were wearing the other night—the guys thought you were a high-class who**”

3) Why is it said that never judge a person by the designer labels they use?
Some people value others based on the designer labels they use. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with using branded items. But if we reach a stage where branded items start defining us instead of our personality defining us, then it is a dangerous situation. We can see multiple such situations in this novel.

“Shanghai and Beijing society would come to accept her, especially if she carries a different handbag.”

My favourite three lines from this book

“I tell you, this is what’s wrong with the world. People lying about everything.”

“Behind every fortune lies a great crime.”

“The larger the diamonds, the older the wife, the more the mistress.”

What could have been better?
The problem with this book is what we see in all the sequels. After the novelty factor and newness of the concept faded away after the huge success of the first book, the author struggles to keep up with the expectations of the readers. The wafer-thin plot makes the situation more complicated. The discovery of the roots of Rachel’s family appears too filmy and artificial.

Rating
2.5/5
Of all the three books in this series, this is my least favorite one. Even if we feel there are many cringe-worthy situations in it, there are still some entertaining parts like humorous conversations, interesting scandals, supercar crashes, backstabbing, and gossiping in it that will make at least some readers happy.

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China Rich Girlfriend should have been 100 pages long.

No lie, this is basically a short story that has almost 300 pages of filler.
NONSENSE FILLER.
For example, no one can enter a room without Kwan describing in agonizing detail everything about what they are wearing. And not just a normal description of their clothes, oh no. The color and texture of the fabric, where the fabric was bought by the designer, where the designer grew up, and what the designer's nana fed them for breakfast when they were 3! And speaking of what they ate?
Ohmyf*ckinggod. With as much and as often as they ate?
In real life, these characters would be unable to leave their homes without the help of firefighters and a crane. Every day, all day long, it seems as though they are stuffing their faces with the most delicious {insert random food here} before jetting off on a plane to shovel MORE food into their mouths. Hand on a Bible, I gained 5 lbs just listening to what they ate! Possibly the only other times I've read more about cuisine was when I opened a mother. f*cking. cookbook.

Now, there were several interesting stories happening among the characters - really! Although, I found the poisoning thing at the end to be unbelievably ridiculous and completely out of the blue. But the problem is that you have to wade through an assload of bullsh*t to get to any of the actual plots.
It's as though Robin Leach decided to write a book.

Come on, I can't be the only one who remembers that pompous show, can I? It was complete grandma p*rn.
A closet that rotates & a gold plated toilet?! And every blue-haired lady across the nation with a television would cream their pants.
Ugh.

I'm genuinely interested in seeing how it all pans out in the third installment, but if I weren't using an audiobook, I would have DNF'd this thing just due to how incredibly tedious it was to slog through. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to scan this nonsense with my eyeballs, because it's hard enough to listen to the narrator drone on and on and on and on with all the footnotes about different places to eat, who's ancestor bought what property, the value of rare gemstones & art, and what famous seamstress sewed crystalized caviar onto a vintage 1920's dress.
I'm not a strong person and Kwan almost broke me this time around.
I am going to finish this trilogy out, though.

Recommended if you like to read about art, cars, watches, jewelry, real estate, couture, banking, purses, tea, hotels, and of course, food. ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

A very special kind of something else is what half the characters are. Life-style bizarro?! Is that some kind of lit stream?
IS that Kitty on the cover?

Q:
I know the average outfit in your wardrobe costs more than a semester of tuition at Princeton, but it makes you look like a community college during summertime: NO CLASS. (c)
Q:
People are messy. Life gets messy. Things are not always going to work out perfectly just because you want them to. (c)
Q:
In short, she was a special consultant for social climbers. (с)
Q:
“How annoying. You’re right—one hundred and ninety-five million is just silly. Let Kitty Pong have it if she wants it that badly,” Astrid said. She fished a stack of super-saver coupons out of her purse and presented them to the cashier. (c)
Q:
“Why didn’t you tell me about the conversation in the first place?”
“Because I knew you were going to be unreasonable about it.”
“You are a moron! An absolute moron!” Eleanor screeched.
“See, I knew you were going to be unreasonable.” (с)
Q:
“I see you are still reluctant to see her side of things.”
“I’m not reluctant at all. I can’t even begin to see her side of things. I don’t know why my grandmother can’t be happy for me, why she cannot trust me to make a decision about who I want to spend the rest of my life with.” (c)
Q:
Your true spiritual affiliations do not concern me—it does not matter to me if you are Taoist, Daoist, Buddhist, or worship Meryl Streep—but it is absolutely essential that you become a regular praying, tithing, communion-taking, hands-in-the–air-waving, Bible-study-fellowship-attending member of this church. (с)
Q:
Your chief handicap to social success will always be the fact that you did not attend the right kindergarten with any of the right crowd. This eliminates you from participating in seventy percent of the conversations that occur during dinner parties at the best houses. You do not know the gossip that goes back to these people’s childhoods. And this is the secret: They are all still completely obsessed with what happened when they were five. Who was fat or thin? Who wet her pants during choir practice? (c)
Q:
in order to distinguish yourself in the remaining meager five percent conversational window, you must either have one hell of a good stock tip or learn to become a scintillating conversationalist. Beauty fades, but wit will keep you on the invitation lists to all the most exclusive parties. To that end, you will embark on a reading program that I have designed specifically for you. You will also attend one cultural event per week. (c)
Q:
None of our goals will be effective if people are under the impression that your husband is somehow incapacitated, in a coma, or has become your sex slave in a dungeon. (That is the latest rumor going around.) (c)
Q:
I shall do an assessment when you have completed these books to see whether you are ready to attempt some light Proust. (c)
Q:
He realized that she wasn’t intentionally trying to sound pretentious—she was just perfectly blunt. (c)
Q:
Stick to the innovation side, because you’re never going to manage on the finance side. You need to make sure management is always stocked with the biggest motherf*cking assholes—only hire Harvard or Wharton MBAs—and then get out of the way. Because you’re too damn honest—you’re just not a good enough liar. (с)
Q:
They just put up with her “dragon phases,” as they called it. She was born in the year of the dragon, and that was always the excuse they had for her behavior. (c)
Q:
“I assure you, Mother, I haven’t done any parading,” (c)
Q:
And do they all need to have that much stubble? I can’t imagine what it would be like kissing them.”
“Actually, that would be kinda hot—watching you and that cute Polytechnique grad make out! What was his name? Loïc?” Rachel cracked.
“Thanks, but I’d prefer Claryssa or Chlamydia or whatever that friend of Colette’s name was.”
“Haha—Chlamydia is exactly what you’ll get if you kiss her! (c)
Q:
You confuse them—you look Chinese, but they don’t get your body language. You don’t behave like a typical wife, so they don’t even realize we’re together.”
“Okay, from now on I’ll be sure to drape myself over you and gaze adoringly into your face at all times. You’re my one and only gaofushuai … (c)
Q:
and the bracelets are Lalaounis—”
“Actually, they’re not,” Astrid interrupted.
“Oh. Who did them?”
“They’re Etruscan.”
“I know, but who designed them?”
“I have no idea. They were made in 650 BC.”
…
“Okay then, most important, tell me which genius designed your fabulous dress. It’s Josep Font, isn’t it?”
“Oh, this? I bought it today at Zara.”
For the rest of her life, Roxanne would never forget the look on Colette’s face. (c)
Q:
I was half afraid she was going to end up asking what brand of underwear I had on. (c)
Q:
Then John Major appeared and asked me to stand next to him while he serenaded me—”
“The former prime minister of Britain serenaded you?” Nick cut in, utterly bewildered.
“I’m sorry, I mean John Legend.”
“I’m so relieved,” Mehmet remarked drily to Astrid. (c)

The engaged to be married outliers of super rich global society who dared to get real jobs and live 'small', our main protagonists Rachel and Nick find themselves in the East, as Rachel hopes to meet her dad (oh yes!); in addition someone in the group has a startlingly rich girlfriend, did I say rich, I meant 'China rich'! Astrid has problems of her own at home and away; and Kitty Pong's seemingly desperate attempts at getting recognition by the ultra class are proving a tad transparent and vulgar!

There's a bit of Crazy Rich Asians style humour around the ultra rich, but this book sees some evolution as it is very much more character driven with compelling stories that kept me far more interested than the first book. The comedy was used much more sparingly, which also worked better for me. I also like how Kwan puts forth the ascendance of the mainland Chinese at the ultra rich table and how it is perceived especially by the old families. All in all a good, and despite my sombre review a fun read 7 out of 12, Three Star bash :)

2023 read

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan is a 2015 Doubleday publication.

Another outstanding installment in this wildly entertaining series!

As the story opens, a couple of years have passed since our initial introduction to these “Crazy Rich Asians”.

Nick and Rachel are on the cusp of getting married, but Eleanor is still meddling and Rachel is still hoping to locate her long, lost father.

Astrid’s husband's company has seen unprecedented success, putting him on equal footing with his wife, but the success, power, and money have brought out an unpleasant side of his personality.

The story also prominently features Rachel’s father, his wife, and their son, Carlton, who is recovering from a near fatal car accident.

I was totally, and quite pleasantly, surprised by how much I enjoyed ‘Crazy Rich Asians”. I couldn’t wait to dive in to this second installment, but my excitement was slightly muted when I noticed several readers saying this one wasn’t as good as the first book. I had a slightly ‘let down’ feeling, but was determined to keep an open mind.

Curiously, I found this book to be every bit as enjoyable as the first- maybe even more so. There was one part, in particular, where I literally guffawed. In fact, every time I think about it, I get cracked up all over again.

This series is a guilty pleasure, a Fashionista’s dream, full of snippy dialogue, backstabbing, manipulations and snobbery. But, it’s also a family drama/saga, packed with cultural duties and expectations, generational conflicts, alliances, love stories, and friendships.

Again, there is much to learn culturally, which was as fascinating as it was informative… and often very funny.

I’m super excited about reading ‘Rich People Problems’, which I already have queued up and ready to go. Stay tuned!

4 stars

(So I know this review will seem like I'm ripping the book apart, and yes I think these books lack a lot, but I recognize that they have value! I would still recommend them, and despite what this review seems like, I do actually enjoy them and will be reading the 3rd book. It's just easier for me to put a finger on the things I disliked, while the things I liked were more ambiguous.)

Sometimes when reading I found myself being fed up with all the rich people problems, but then a few minutes later I'd be living for the drama. These books are addicting and that's about all I can say. I don't think Kwan is particularly skilled as a writer. He is still using slurs (the "c" word toward Chinese people, the "r" word, comparing neatness to OCD). Neither the plot or the characters are well developed in my opinion.

It would be great as a character driven novel if any of the characters had a personality. Rachel and Nick specifically are so bland. They get along with everyone no matter the circ*mstances, while trying to hold moral superiority over them for being "not like the others." Rachel is nearly murdered and didn't react whatsoever. She did have one fierce moment at the end, but just like in book 1, these two "main characters" don't really shine until the end. They are more observers than active participants in the story.

I did feel more connected with Astrid. Michael seemed to have a complete character change from book 1 just to drive Astrid's plot forward. Bernard was also completely changed due to completely wacky event (but I did lol!). The novel starts off with a large focus on Kitty and then we don't see her again until the last chapters. The narration jumps from one character's internal dialogue to the next's in the same paragraph. It just feels all over the place and perhaps I would enjoy this more if it had first person narration.

As for what little plot there is, it felt contrived to me. Like he knew nothing was happening so hey, let's throw in a random murder attempt that doesn't really make sense! Kitty's social climbing was what the book opened with and was pretty much dropped for the entire middle of the book, making a quick reappearance at the end. The drama between Eleanor, Nick, and Rachel started off heavy and then Eleanor was quickly written out. Things just bounced all over the place.

Content: Besides the slurs mentioned above, there are a couple of romances that feel abusive or at least manipulative. There are a few thoughts of cheating.

Audiobook: Great narration. But there were a ton of footnotes that frequently interrupted the narration.

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So I actually really enjoyed CRAZY RICH ASIANS, but seeing as how this is my month of disappointing sequels, my expectations weren't too high for CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND. Consistency may be key, and yet so many authors fail when it comes to penning that follow-up to a successful first book. Not so here! While I was a little apprehensive at the beginning of CHINA RICH, I ultimately ended up devouring the book with the same amount of enthusiasm as I did the first. Rachel and Nicky are such a great couple and after the wicked cliffhanger of the first book, I needed closure about what was going to happen with their marriage, as well as with Nicky's relationship to his mother.

CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND takes off where CRAZY RICH ended. Rachel and Nicky are finally going to get married, in secret, after the shenanigans that Nicky's mother Eleanor pulled (if you read the first book in the series, you'll totally understand why). My fear was that now that the main tension of the first book was resolved, there wouldn't be any more delicious drama, but I was wrong because now there's a new drama to replace the old: Rachel's father. Remember how Rachel not knowing who her father was was a huge deal-breaker for the Young family? And remember Kerry's teary story about her own upbringing? Well, now we know who Rachel's dad is and, more importantly, who he became - and trust me when I say it's shocking.

Also, she has a brother. *gasp*

In addition to this new drama, there are new characters: Carlon, Rachel's brother; Colette, said brother's crazy-rich society girlfriend; and Corinna, lifestyle makeover artist to the rich and famous. Kitty Pong also makes an appearance, but now she's desperately (and with mixed, but mostly failed success) trying to remake her image. I really liked the Pretty Woman trajectory of her narrative ARC. I liked her character in the first book, so it was kind of hilarious seeing her waltz into the narrative again and break one social more after another in her attempt to be one of the "in" crowd.

CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND is a different story than CRAZY RICH ASIANS, which I think might be why some people are ambivalent about it. CRAZY RICH is a much more traditional "us vs. them" romance story in which the underdog heroine snags the dreamy prince, despite the fact that everyone and their grandmas are against them getting together. CHINA RICH is more like those bloated glitter-trash doorstop novels that were so popular in the 80s (a favorite of the late Jackie Collins). Think lifestyles of the rich and famous. Yes, there's still romance, but in this book the focus is more on the drama between all the different families as they seek wealth, power, and acceptance. It's an incredibly fun series, and even though it may be vapid, I think it's important to note that representation is important in all forms of books, not just high literature: trashy books with people of color are just as important as rep in literary fiction, if not more so. After all, this is pure escapism.

3.5 stars

I’m really enjoying this series. It’s fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is over the top entertaining.

In China Rich Girlfriend, we follow Nick and Rachel two years after the events of Crazy Rich Asians. Nick is estranged from his family, and on the brink of marrying Rachel while still helping her in the search for her long lost father. A chance encounter between Nick’s mother and a Chinese playboy soon thrusts Rachel back into the lives of the Chinese ultra rich, and the opportunity to become embroiled in the scandals and dramas that surround these often strange and eccentric individuals.

Although this starts out by centering on Nick and Rachel, the story soon diverges to include Rachel’s extended family and friends in China. As such, we don’t see much of Nicks family, who I fell so in love with in the previous novel. In addition, the story is based almost entirely in mainland China. The introduction of so many colourful characters, after I had just got to know all of the ones in the first novel, did get a little confusing at times and I missed all of Nick’s aunties and uncles and their eccentricities. However, Carlton and Kitty Pong in particular brought enough intrigue and angst to the story to keep me entertained. Yes, some of the story is completely unrealistic and self indulgent, but I knew going into the story that it would be like this, and it’s one of the things I love about it.

In particular, I loved the slow developing relationship between Astrid, the one relative of Nick’s we do follow, Charlie and Astrid’s deteriorating marriage to Michael. Touched upon in the first book, we get an intimate look into their marriage and the rather obvious failings into a relationship that cannot be saved by throwing money at it. I think Astrid is my favourite character. She tries so desperately to mold her life around what her husband wants - sometimes at the cost of loosing a part of herself in the process, when to the outside world she comes across as effortlessly chic. She’s clearly not the right person for Michael, who has developed into a mean spirited and bitter money making businessman. He’s the perfect example of what money can do to an individual when they haven’t been taught to respect it or aren’t so casually use to having billions at their disposal.

The conclusion really ramped up the tension too, and took a plot twist I wasn’t expecting but became completely wrapped up in. I actually wish that there’d been a bit more direction and structure earlier on in the novel to take more advantage of the ending. This felt much more of an exploratory novel, introducing China to the reader much in the same way that Singapore and Hong Kong is shown to use in the first book.

That said, I can’t wait for the next book, if only to get reacquainted with Ah Ma.

Less enjoyable than the first, with not much of a plot, characters that serve as clothes hangers and pretty much the whole book being a tour of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Modern China. There's a (desperate) attempt to inject some mystery at the end but it's hardly enough to save a plodding read. Only saving grace was a note written by an image consultant to a Chinese-born woman trying to hobnob with Hong Kong's elite.

★★★★½
I think I liked this one better than the first and you've gotta admit that's rare for sequels. Laugh-out-loud funny, educational in an urban dictionary kind of way, tons of drama, romance, and even a little bit of suspense/mystery this time around. It was amazing!

My favorite quote:
“People are messy. Life gets messy. Things are not always going to work out perfectly just because you want them to.”

4.5 stars rounded up

Just as fun as the first book! The perfect vacation read. It reads super quick, because you just eat it up.

What we get in China Rich Girlfriend:

1. More Rachel & Nick: #relationshipgoals they are the new Anna Faris & Chris Pratt since they are no longer together (who else is still sad about that?!)
2. Who is Rachel’s dad? And, the rest of her new family?
3. Kitty Pong: the hilarity continues and it’s glorious
4. Astrid and Michael. Astrid and Charlie. Whose team is Astrid on…you will have to read to find out.
5. Our favorite crazy characters – and a whole slew of new ones – and the drama continues

I can’t wait to read Book #3: Rich People Problems

Have you read the CRA series? Seen the movie yet?! It was SO good, right?!

To read my reviews visit: www.saturdaynitereader.com

I enjoy this soap opera-esq series. Great summer reading.

The adventures among some of the wealthiest people on Earth continue. These people consider wealthy to start over a billion dollars and if you only have a few million dollars you are just on your way to being wealthy. People do some crazy things with money like owning a private 747 jet and putting a koi pond on the plane among other luxuries.

Rachel and Nick get married and his mother starts a whole lot of other drama to try and make up with Rachel. She finds her biological father and he is now a big politician. He wants to meet her, but his wife is afraid it will ruin her career. Step-mother won't even meet with Rachel.

So this story is about Rachel meeting her step-brother and all his crazy rich friends. Rachel is actually poisoned by some crazy situations.

We also see a story line that doesn't seem to really need to be in the story, a sub/sub plot about a woman who is wealthy and an actress who wants to fit in with the high-society women in Hong Kong. We see the lengths people go to to be accepted.

Lastly, we see Astrid and her husband Michael and their struggling relationship from last time. I like this story and I could have used more of this storyline. The end left me wanting to know so much more. Now I need the next book.

This could easily be made into a real soap opera and it would be very entertaining. It would take quite a budget to make though. I hear they are making this book into the 2nd movie and I'm excited to see it. These books are fascinating.

Me: How could this story get any crazier and over-the-top than the first one?
Kevin Kwan: Hold my imported Tiger beer.

The review below is a general review of both of the first two books. Shouldn't really be any spoilers, but just so you know. Review originally appeared on my blog, Shoulda Coulda Woulda Books.

Time on to-read: A year or more for the first book, second wasn't on it until I read the first.

Reason for not picking up: Straight up perversity. The hype annoyed me. It seemed like a standard-issue chick-lit that happened to be set in Asia. And while I like many novels typically dismissed as "chick lit", usually they are dismissed as such and looked down on. Why was it suddenly super cool and intellectual to like this one, out of all of them? I rebel against your special child, critics!

Reason for finally picking up: ....okay. Fine. I need this kind of book right now- if it's really going to engage me, then I've got to try it. I will end my temper tantrum about it. FOR NOW.

Verdict: Sure, I enjoyed it. Fine. You win. (But I kind of still don't get the breathless hype.)

***

I've run into some great writers lately, which means I've been reading fewer of them. No sooner do I discover them than I tear through as much of their catalog as I can, immediately. Maybe it's just that I'm getting pickier, and it's harder to find books that fully engage me without turning on my critical brain and tearing it apart- but when I do, it's like striking gold. Kevin Kwan's first two Crazy Rich Asians books fell into this category. I pretty much inhaled them whole over the course of a week in a series of positions on various soft surfaces, losing hours happily to them, just like I wanted.

The story is a typical fish-out-of-water Cinderella tale, with Rachel Chu starring as our bewildered fish. Her boyfriend, fellow professor Nicholas Young, invites her to spend the summer in Singapore getting to know his family- without telling her anything at all about them. Like the fact that they are, indeed, crazy rich. And even more so, that they are part of what has come to be considered the hereditary upper-classes of the country, the sort with money so old that nobody is supposed to even remember where it came from. And so, of course, it turns out that he is a secret prince of this society, with many a fair maiden on the catch for him! And there's court intrigue and to spare as we spend more and more time there, and it becomes clear to Rachel that she is seen as a dirty, interloping Cinderella who will prevent the brilliant marriage his family considers is Nicholas' by right....!! The second book makes it even more complex- without spoiling you on anything, trust me, SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED.

If it all sounds super melodramatic and movie-of-the-week-y, and exactly the plot you've read a thousand million times, you are correct. It is. But the novelty for many Western readers will be the book's ability to open a window onto an aspirational culture that many of them have no hope of ever participating in, or perhaps one that readers did not even pause to realize actually existed. Indeed, the book reads like half story, half explainer for the uninitiated into South Asian high society. There are footnotes! (When's the last time you read a brand-name filled Cinderella story with footnotes? Never. Never would probably be the answer.)

And at first, the world is completely fascinating, for sure. I love discovering how different worlds operate, and if you have that similar weakness, you'll really like this part of the book too. The most interesting part to me was seeing how privilege operates in countries with a history of colonization: what happens now that there is money and the privilege of actually controlling it yourself? (Well, they repeat the patterns of their colonizers, is some of the super interesting answer. The way they conceptualize class has been imbibed from the English like a disease, the same way you'd find similar ideas about old money in certain New York and Philadelphia families.) The other interesting thing to explore is, of course, not only that the people this book focuses on have money. They have INSANE amounts of money. They have more money than God. All the gods. There is so much money that spending a million dollars is like going out and buying an ice cream, something wives do on a whim and go "oops!" if they don't like whatever it was they spent it on, and throw it in the basem*nt for a servant to maybe or maybe not find years later. There is so much money that characters refer to people as having "400 million dollars AT MOST!" and pity them like they are second class peasants. There is an absolutely AMAZING scene where a bunch of girls try to talk a friend out of marrying a guy she really likes (who is ONLY an executive, making nearly a million dollars a year) by listing all the expenses, with incredibly accurate math, of maintaining her permanent lifestyle until she breaks down, realizing she will become exiled from everyone she knows. Oh man, I loved that scene so much. And there is the eye-popping pleasure of watching some of the shopping sprees that they go on, imagining being able to buy a Vermeer without blinking an eye.

But it does get sort of mind-numbing after awhile, is the thing. Particularly if you tear through both books together, like I did. While there's some eye-popping pleasure watching a group of ladies lay waste to every luxury house in Paris, and it's absolutely incredible Kwan's ability to know exactly which brand is right for which moment, it became too much for me. It was so in your face it was hard not to be knocked out of the fascinating anthropological exploration into just seeing lists of brand names and fancy places and endless descriptions of wealth until it became less fascinating than absolutely nauseating. It's hard not to start doing calculations in your head about how many world problems could be solved with this kind of money and start wishing for some sort of revolutionary subplot where at least one of the daughters or sons of these people would go rogue and burn it all down- Rachel and Nicholas and their pious, middle class morality don't really cut it at all for me. (Look, I liked Madame Bovary, okay? I'm not that person.) I really don't think this was totally intentional. I think Kwan just sometimes got really carried away with it all and could sometimes get lazy and spend pages describing money and luxury objects instead of advancing plot or developing his characters. I mean, granted, dude, you have a great world to play in- I get wanting to glory in it- but maybe not until I can't remember what last happened to your character because its buried under a pile of Prada and 18th century teacups, you know?

What kept me reading were the characters. Oh no, not the main characters though, which is super disappointing. Not Rachel and Nicholas- they were boring as hell, sorry guys. They're Nice People, probably more moral than anyone around them in a conventional sense. Whatever. But instead of feeling like my lifeline to sanity and my stand-ins and guides to the OMGWHUTness of this, as they should have, they were mostly chess pieces to follow into the more interesting conversations. My favorite by far and away was Astrid. Her conflict with her husband and her family was farrrr more interesting and mature than anything those two have going. And that held true even when I spent more time with her, which isn't always the case with initially mysterious characters. Kwan I think realized that a lot of people felt the same way, because we get a lot more of her in the second book (and I'm praying, even more in the third book, due out next year). Collette in the second book was also great, as was Charlie- I can't tell you more about them because spoilers, but rest assured you will be delighted with them and what they represent. And there were other characters I liked and we didn't see nearly enough of, like Nick's father, Collette's father...and spoiler characters I can't name because you have to read the first book, damn! But there are more! Basically, I liked all the people who had to actually live in this world and navigate it in their own way, trying to maintain some personal integrity in the circ*mstances, who weren't eaten alive by money, even if they were totally defined by it, if that makes sense. These characters are all super-aware of what their world is, and some of them are still struggling with it, some have made their peace, but all of them don't hide from the truths they live every day. It's far more interesting to watch that than all the outside, tsk-tsking disapproval you like, and everyone else is just dollar signs incarnate. I hesitate to praise Kwan totally for these characters because sometimes I thought I liked these people because they were the only ones he spent any time with (other than Rachel or Nicholas, who, as mentioned, totally fail as main characters), before going back to talking about money some more. But some of it, at least, was skill for sure. The excellent job he did with rendering the minor characters proved that at least.

(I think Kwan should try his hand with old-fashioned farce in the future, by the way. His handling of ridiculous characters and their great one-liners suggests he would be great at it.)

Like I mentioned, there's a third book coming out. I'm really hoping that he'll veer away from the formula of the first two books- picking an Asian country to plant his boring main characters in and explaining how their class system works, interspersed with orgies of money- and really reward his readers by looking harder at the worlds he's already created and spending more time thinking about the best characters he's already shown, and showing how they make decisions and get on with their lives when it gets even more complicated. I somehow doubt it- this is a book of its genre for sure, and man people like a good formula, and like a formula with a twist even more, and these books have a pretty good twist. But there's enough good in here for me to wish that the author and publishers will allow this story to develop, rather than swimming in place. You've already got a lot of critics' ears with this series. Why not use it to show what you can do by playing with the conventions?

We'll see. I still recommend these in the end. But maybe space them out, and maybe tone down whatever expectations you have after reading the reviews by about... oh 20%. It's still pretty good, but simmer down just a little bit about it.

I think it's important to go into this book not expecting Rachel & Nick to be the focus of the story. In actuality, though they were central to book #1, there were still a lot of other plots and characters' storylines that Kwan focuses on and expands in book #2. I think the movie adaptation of CRA definitely does a good job of synthesizing and concentrating on Rachel and Nick, but the books, though events-wise are similar, have a wider lens.

This book, and the series as a whole, is much more satirical and soap opera-esque than the film. So it's not really fair to compare them, as they both do their own things, but do it really well. I enjoyed the various new characters we meet in this installment and was genuinely surprised and pleased by various turns of events.

I will be picking book #3 immediately. And I'm a bit sad, honestly, at the prospect of this series being over. He has a writing style and eye for characters that is satisfying and addictive. I could read a dozen books about these characters and their petty dramas.

Mini review:

Spoilers ahead!

Trigger warning: Poisoning, mention of car accident, mention of death and critical injuries, PTSD, cheating, child abuse, drugs, abusive marriages, and invading privacy via technology.

Thoroughly enjoyed this sequel! Rachel and Nick in China was a blast to read about. The food, the culture and the clothes were vividly described!

I enjoyed the backstory regarding Rachel’s father. Her brother Carlton was so sweet. I understood Shaoyen’s conflict with accepting Rachel. However it was surprising the 180 when she actually meets Rachel.

Colette and Eleanor’s antics were amusing! This series would be nothing without such antics. Eleanor grew on me a bit more. I didn’t particularly like Colette after her arc. Wondering what’ll happen in Rich People Problem’s regarding her character.

Kitty’s character arc was beautifully done! And surprised me the most. She really grew as a character. And actually got smarter with how she presented herself.

I enjoyed that Astrid actually tried saving her marriage. Even if it didn’t work out in the end. I’m not sure how to feel about her and Charlie’s relationship. Again let’s see how this plays out in the conclusion.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this installment! Highly recommend.

3.75 Stars

Eleanor has a bank account in London which she is hiding from everyone including her friends. Rachel and Nick got engaged and were planning to get married next week. Shaoyen (Mrs. Bao) and Carlton (Rachel’s stepmom and half brother) moved to Singapore for Carlton’s physiotherapy and Eleanor was helping them as she wanted to know more about the family. Carlton was a carbon copy of Rachel, which was the main reason Eleanor was so interested in knowing about them.

Charlie (Astrid’s ex boyfriend) helped Micheal with his business secretively in order to save Astrid’s marriage. The sudden push in the business made Micheal rich with each passing day. Eleanor finally got to know the reality about Carlton and Rachel’s connection. Though Nick was not talking to his mother, she crashed his wedding and helped in finding Rachel’s father, Mr. Bao. Rachel and Nick went to China for their honeymoon on her father’s invitation.

Mrs. Bao was not okay with Rachel being invited to the house hence Mr. Bao made excuses in order to avoid Rachel and Nick. Astrid met Isabel (Charlie’s wife) and told her about the trip they took which infuriated her. Carlton told Rachel in Paris why the Boas were ignoring her but later on Mrs. Bao also accepted her when she got to know her better. Rachel was poisoned by Collette’s assistant but survived. Collette secretively liked Carlton but after that incident Carlton broke up with her.

Charlie had long ago divorced Isabel but they were still together because of their daughters. Astrid and Micheal had a fight due to which she moved out of the house.

P.S. I found this one with more substance and twists than the first one. But my personal favourite is the first one, as it sets the tempo for others to follow very smoothly.

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Despite my initial cautious skepticism, I was won over by Crazy Rich Asians – especially author Kevin Kwan’s footnotes about specific aspects of Singaporean life – and I fell hard for last summer’s delightful movie adaptation.

So when I saw a shiny new paperback copy of the book’s sequel at my local library, I pounced on it. Okay, okay. It’s not great literature, but it’s fun, breezy, escapist entertainment, with lots of interesting tidbits about Asian high society I had no access to before.

As with the first book, there are lavish descriptions of expensive things. One character has an entire room full of Hermes bags. Another displays his collection of vintage cars in his home. (I think there’s also an elevator for cars so guests won’t have to step out of their pricey vehicles to visit friends.)

That’s just the superficial stuff. What Kwan is really good at is creating interesting conflicts among his characters. You see, turns out these fashionable, rich people are anxious, worrying about the same things you and I worry about.

The book spends some time with CRA’s main couple, the grounded American-born Chinese economist Rachel Chu, and her fiancé-then-husband Nick Young, heir to a Singaporean fortune. And one of the most engaging plotlines involves Nick’s glamorous cousin, Astrid, who helped save her husband Michael’s tech company at the end of the first book; now Michael’s wealthy, and it’s all gone to his head. Astrid’s ex Charlie (also stuck in a bad marriage) is there to provide emotional support for her… will they ever reunite?

But there are other key players this time out, including: Rachel’s birth father, who turns out (quelle surprise!) to be a billionaire himself; his wife, who thinks news of a bastard child will ruin his political prospects; Rachel’s half-brother, who looks just like her; and the half-brother’s sorta girlfriend, a wealthy heiress and social media influencer; oh, and Kitty Pong, a minor player in the first book (she was the gauche soap opera star/possible p*rn actress), is now married to Nick’s obnoxious friend, Bernard Tai, and is trying to work her way up the social ladder.

Speaking of soap operas, look for a poisoning and one hilariously botched plastic surgery job to pop up in the book, too.

Will I remember the book in a year or two? Probably not. But I’ll definitely watch the movie, which is being made right now. And I’ll read the final book in the trilogy. Once again, Kwan’s footnotes in the book add their own meta-textual enjoyment.

Like food, not everything you read has to be nutritious. Sometimes you want something sweet and decadent, knowing it would be impossible to eat this way every day. China Rich Girlfriend fits the bill.

“I’m so glad I can always count on you to have some sort of ulterior motive that involves money.”
…
“Your long jet-black hair is one of your best features, but the high ponytails and dramatic updos you currently favor convey a look of aggression. When you enter a room, the ladies immediately think, ‘This woman is either going to steal my husband, my baby, or my yoga mat.’”

Reading my summary, one would get the sense that China Rich Girlfriend has a somewhat normal A, B, and C storyline structure. It does not. The story meanders in unexpected, often rather pointless, ways. Astrid is a better character here than in Crazy Rich Asians, having more Charlie Wu is good, and I didn’t mind the surprisingly large focus on Kitty. But we spend an awful lot of time with Carlton’s girlfriend Colette, her parents, her assistant, and her other suitor, Richie. There’s a poisoning late in the novel that feels completely out of place. But what’s most puzzling is what’s missing from the story: Nick’s grandmother is not in this novel at all, and his mother Eleanor is barely in it. Eddie and Fiona make only brief appearances, and cousin Oliver is barely present as well.

China Rich Girlfriend certainly covers the same theme of conspicuous consumption shown in Crazy Rich Asians. But by shifting the focus from Singapore to China, the book is able to address some new topics, including the explosion of private wealth and its effects, the way Western companies market in China, and the ongoing impact of China’s one child policy on their society.

Even though the movie is definitely better, I enjoyed reading Crazy Rich Asians, and looked forward to this sequel. And I’ll still read the final book in the trilogy, which seems to bring the focus back to Rachel and the Young family. But my expectations are a little lower after China Rich Girlfriend, which was ultimately a bit disappointing.

Buddy read with Kathy.

i was expecting this book to be just as good as the first of the trilogy and wasn’t disappointed! more scandals, another wedding, outrageously expensive buys, romance, and a character i love finally standing up for herself. one more book to go and i’m hoping for a few pieces to finally come together.

rachel and nick are finally (mostly) accepted by their families and spend their time living together again. a huge opportunity for rachel leads them back to china, where good and bad happens. but yet again the author manages to keep everything upbeat! more side characters are introduced that you’ll most likely dislike, although i do have a soft spot for carlton. i’m eager to read the final book in this outrageously funny, scandalous trilogy!

*trigger warning for death and poisoning but keep in mind the author keeps everything as lighthearted as possible*

4 stars, didn’t like it quite as much as the first one but still super solid.

The sparkle and gleeful playfulness of the first book has congealed into an overlong, over plotted and orgiastic mess of consumer idiocy in this second installment in the saga of Rachel Chu and Nick Young, Astrid Leong and others.

Kwan should have stuck to the central Singaporean setting and his central characters rather than introducing a whole raft of new figures (too puppet-like to call characters) and multiplying his storylines. The saddest thing is that in nearly 400 pages he still doesn't resolve the central question: will Nick's grandmother forgive his choice of bride and reinstate him as heir? I think we will be forced to plow through an additional volume to learn the answer to these and other not-so-compelling bits of information.

Really, I hate it when a series falls this far, this fast. Still, I read it open-mouthed at the proliferation of brand names I've never actually heard of before and the over-the-top reportage of egregious consumption. Best on an airplane or on a beach.

Esto ha sido mejor de lo esperado!!!
A medida que la historia comienza, han pasado un par de años desde nuestra introducción inicial a estos "Locos, Ricos y Asiáticos".

En China Rich Girlfriend, seguimos a Nick y Rachel dos años después de los eventos de Crazy Rich Asia . Nick está separado de su familia, y está a punto de casarse con Rachel mientras la sigue ayudando en la búsqueda de su padre perdido de hace mucho tiempo. Un encuentro casual entre la madre de Nick y un playboy chino pronto devuelve a Rachel a las vidas de los ultra ricos chinos, y la oportunidad de enredarse en los escándalos y dramas que rodean a estos individuos a menudo extraños y excéntricos.

Aunque esto comienza centrándose en Nick y Rachel, la historia pronto difiere para incluir a la familia y amigos de Rachel en China. Como tal, no vemos mucho a la familia Nick, de quien me enamoré tanto en la novela anterior. Además, la historia se basa casi en su totalidad en China continental. La introducción de tantos personajes coloridos, pero después de que acabar de conocer a todos los de la primera novela, hacia que a veces me confundía un poco y extrañaba a todas las tías y tíos de Nick y sus excentricidades.

No voy a contar más de esta historia porque seria quitarle la magia y la excentricidad a esta trilogía, pero sin duda cada suceso fue espectacular como en la primera parte.

Sabía cuando estaba en la página 100 que este libro era increíble. Era tan increíble como la primera parte de esta trilogía, pero siendo honesta no fue mejor del todo. Había más personas y detalles y nuestros personajes favoritos, pero también todas esas cosas que no esperaba que sucedieran.

Esta serie es un placer culpable, el sueño de un fashionista, lleno de diálogos, puñaladas, manipulaciones y esnobismo. Pero, también es un drama/saga familiar, lleno de deberes y expectativas culturales, conflictos generacionales, alianzas, historias de amor y amistades.

Nuevamente, hay mucho que aprender culturalmente, que fue tan fascinante como informativo... y, a menudo, muy divertido.

Gracias a Dios que hay una tercera parte porque la necesito en mi vida (ya la he empezado). Hay tanto para poner en una película que realmente espero que haya una secuela (espero pronto haya noticias de esto). Va a ser maravillosa. Estoy súper emocionada por leer y saber que habrá en 'Rich People Problems'.

A fun and adventurous sequel.