China Rich Girlfriend (Kwan) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Kevin Kwan’s brand of giddy wealth porn arrived in 2013 with Crazy Rich Asians, not a moment too soon.… China Rich Girlfriend [is] the second volume in what has been projected as a gossipy, good-humored trilogy that will follow the richest old families of Singapore, Hong Kong and a few from mainland China. They join in a single shared pursuit: watching in horror as their youngest generations squander money in ways so staggering that Western show-offs look like pikers by comparison.… Mr. Kwan has good aim with his fashion world- and ego-skewering shivs. And regardless of how reality-based these characters may be, he has his style references down cold.… [Keeps] readers surprised and inquisitive.… Snarky.… Wicked.… Funny.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


In this year's best beach reading, Jane Austen meets Singapore.… There's no timely cocktail I'd rather recommend than China Rich Girlfriend.… As frothy as the egg whites on the sort of cocktail you should drink while reading Kwan's books. But if you need to assuage your guilt about summer reading with a little intellectual patina, Kwan has you covered too; his peek into this rarified world is spiked with tart observations about old and new money, the nuances of racism and the way they all interact.… Fizzy, highly entertaining.
Washington Post


As the real China rich dig their nails into the world of the wealthy and wasteful, Kwan sharpens his with another acerbic yet affectionate examination of Asian uber-elite social mores, still largely invisible in Western popular culture.… The novel is filled with jaw-dropping accounts of opulence… and showdowns worthy of an episode of "Gossip Girl."… China Rich Girlfriend is a crazy parade through the lives of the aspirational elite. It's also a rich portrait of Asia's real obsession with consumerism and its economic rise, one whose trajectory, like Kwan's, is not yet complete.
Nicole Lee - Los Angeles Times


What happens when the young woman destined to marry Asia’s most eligible bachelor gets derailed by a shocking family secret? That’s what Kwan examines in this amusing, whirlwind novel about Rachel Chu, who discovers her long-lost father and falls headlong into a Shanghai—the fashion! the social climbing! the secrets!—wilder than her wildest dreams.
Miami Herald


Take a Jane Austen novel, combine it with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and set it in the glittering capitals of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. What have you got? This deliciously fun follow-up to Kwan's bestselling Crazy Rich Asians… a field guide to Asia's uberwealthy echelon and comic satire at its best.
People Magazine


The summer's funniest beach read. When Crazy Rich Asians hit shelves in peak beach-read season two summers ago, readers ate up its urestrained and uproarious fictional depictions of the opulent lives of Asia's super elite.… China Rich Girlfriend follow[s] the same multitentacled clan and their world-traveling, high-spending, and backstabbing antics.
Lauren Christensen - Vanity Fair


Welcome to the world of China Rich Girlfriend, which picks up a few years after the events of Kevin Kwan's frothy 2013 best-seller, Crazy Rich Asians. In accordance with the Law of Sequels, it's more over-the-top than its predecessor—which is saying something.… [E]ntertaining.… [B]uoyant.
Entertainment Weekly


The novel offers a second helping of the social-climbing, jet-setting, wildly scandalous world that propelled Kwan's first book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. With one exception—somehow it manages to outstrip the earlier work's excesses.
Women's Wear Daily


The much-anticipated sequel to Crazy Rich Asians (a great summer read in its own right), China Rich Girlfriend continues the tale of Rachel Chu and her upcoming nuptials to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia.… With the same hilarity and scandalous narrative as the first novel, China Rich Girlfriend will not disappoint both fans and newcomers to the series.
Town & Country


(Starred review) Kwan’s latest follows in the footsteps of his wildly imaginative Crazy Rich Asians.… Those who enjoy splendid writing and getting a glimpse at how the other half… lives will delight in this book.
Library Journal


Lovers of clothes, cuisine, and cars will find themselves at home in Kwan’s second smart and snarky send-up of the Chinese jet set. —Kristine Huntley
Booklist


Kwan returns with an equally good-natured, catty-as-hell sequel to his bestselling roman a clef about China's new and old money dynasties. For those not cued in, Kwan's tone is breakneck and utterly disarming—part Oscar Wilde…. Hilarious…. Over-the-top and hard to stop.
Kirkus Reviews