Crazy Rich Asians

This really isn't my usual thing, but I was like hey, let's mix things up.

Rachel is a college professor of economy in New York, with her also-a-professor boyfriend, Nick. Stuff is good. Nick is a lovely guy. Except, he is also the heir of a billionaire big deal family in Singapore. Well, technically they have connections in China, Hong Kong and all over that corner of the word. He has a million cousins and Aunties and everyone who matters there is connected to him, in one way or another.
And they are NOT happy some no name woman from America is dating the most eligible guy from their circles.
So when Nick decides to take Rachel home for his best friend's wedding, shit hits the fan big time.

This book is satire. I've seen many people take it too seriously, talking about Asian representation and how this is offensive, “problematic” and stuff. If you have half a brain, you will notice that the whole thing is just so over the top, the author surely did not mean to say this is realistic and how real life people act, totally unironically. Now, I get it, some rich people can get over the top. But also, this is comedy. People need to RELAX.
Saying that, there are also unrealistic things I enjoyed much less than the hilarious banter and freakout sessions over ridiculous stuff. While Rachel and Nick are sweet... sometimes the way certain characters interacted felt super weird. Rachel gets bullied, which she takes with no issue at all, until she freaks the fuck out. No build up. Just pleasant to ballistic. Why? In a book so thick, you HAD the space to develop her beyond the most superficial expressions. Same with the nice people in the book, like Astrid or Sophie. The moment they meet Rachel, it's like BBF central. Why?
They also go from serious topics to “UWU, let's grab a drink” at the very end. Weird. Just tonally... what the hell?

What I really enjoyed was the fact we were expected to think these people are nuts. It's not Sex and The City, where people act like pampered assholes, but you are meant to wish the best for them. No no, this one is juicy and drama-filled in the fun way. You know that even the nicer characters (like Araminta or Astrid) act ridiculous.
Now Astrid, one of the more prominent characters is painted in a sympathetic way, but then she also realises her mistakes. You are not meant to feel she is normal and infallible.

I will be brutally honest. Half the time I had no idea about the EXACT nature of the things they talk about in this one. Sure, I knew some of the designers and fancy stuff. But as a person who never experienced being rich... I just filled in the rest. Still a fun experience.
Another thing with extensive mentions is the food. Is Kevin Kwan a foodie? Because man, he made me hungry multiple times, even though I am not even familiar with a lot of the foods he described. I had to stop 30 pages from the end to grab a plate of creamy shrimp and mushroom pasta, because this was the book equivalent of a Ghibli movie with piles of amazing food everywhere.

All in all, this is fun for people who like some juicy drama for fun. I think I will be reading the rest of the series eventually