My initial idea for props for this photo was to attempt to use some designer stuff I have but then it occurred to me that with #CrazyRichAsians designer and designer aren’t quite on the same level so I respected myself.

#CrazyRichAsians is your typical love story – Boy meets girl, girl has no clue boy is from the richest home in all of Asia. Boy and girl fall in love then navigate and overcome obstacles of bloodline and family drama, jealous exes, old money vs new money matters etc. Typical, you know, only the entire story is steeped in wealth. Stupendous, outrageous, near exaggerated wealth. The bickering that happens even amongst the super-rich despite having everything is the funniest part of this book. It’s an easy and fun read for when you need ‘sometin lite.’ Nothing with regards to style or dialogue or language but lots of funny Cantonese and Malay slangs.

The story in the introduction chapter is the most captivating thing about #CrazyRichAsians in my opinion. Smart idea to use it as an introduction because it keeps you interested and wanting to read but the entire book is the stuff of AfMagic movies. All grandiose and robust at the beginning only to come and fall flat. There are so many characters you are trying to keep up with and wondering why they exist. The story arc, in my opinion, was a little messy. It builds up with fake suspense until nearly the last page. And when it finally unravels, you are like ok, then what? That’s how flat on your face it falls, like the typical abrupt ending of a Hollywood movie after three hours of fluff, flashback and soundtrack.

While wealth is the biggest talking point of the book, fascinating and eye-popping in the first few pages, it is also the reason for its flatness. You would think after establishing the premise that we are dealing with the richest family in Asia whose patriarch decides to buy up the London Calthorpe hotel for the simple pleasure of firing a disrespectful manager, the author would have made his point about the level of wealth, but on every single page, he insists on spoon feeding us with the details of the black Tumi suitcase, blue Armani suit, mahogany bookcase, diamond-shaped jacuzzi, naked peach Chloe, vintage Givenchy, calfskin Le Corbusier lounge chairs, Cutler and Gross sunglasses. Exhausting!!!

Whiny, headache-inducing sentences like – flower pots and colossal spirals of pink roses with dozens of whimsical gazebos festooned in striped pastel taffeta surrounding a teapot spouting a waterfall of champagne make you wonder if it really matters that much.

Sigh. My head hurts biko.

I’m still yet to decide how I feel about the reference at the bottom of each page explaining foreign words. I think I found it a little distracting.
We should leave that with non-fiction/memoir. No?

My favourite character was Astrid I think, and possibly Rachel Chu’s friend. (Don’t remember her name.)