Review: China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

Publication date: June 16th 2015
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday
Pages: 378

On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the salons of Paris, and a fiance willing to sacrifice his entire inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down the aisle. Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father. Meanwhile, Singapore's It Girl, Astrid Leong, is shocked to discover that there is a downside to having a newly minted tech billionaire husband. A romp through Asia's most exclusive clubs, auction houses, and estates, China Rich Girlfriend brings us into the elite circles of Mainland China, introducing a captivating cast of characters, and offering an inside glimpse at what it's like to be gloriously, crazily, China-rich.

Well that was a waste of time.

I felt mixed about the first book in the trilogy "Crazy Rich Asians", where I both guiltily enjoyed it and felt like it lost the plot towards the end of the book. However, I enjoyed the film a lot more than the book, and it was that that made me want to have a look at the second novel and see what happens next in this crazy world.

Ultimately? Nothing. It felt like a complete waste of time, where the majority of the plot is crammed into the first bit of the novel, and the final fifteen percent, whilst the middle is just one long protracted look at all these very rich people and the clothes they're wearing.

I really loved the sparkling wit and the relationships of the first book, but that was all entirely absent in this second trip out. I had to push myself to keep reading and finish the book, and by the end was just incredibly relieved it was over at last. I didn't like the characters, they were flat and stilted this time and without that emotional connection any desire to see what happens was crushed.

Will I go back for the final book? Probably. But I imagine it will take a long time for me to forget the sheer awfulness of this one before I gear myself up for the final instalment.