Kevin Kwan (1) (1974–)

When Nick Young invites his girlfriend, Rachel Chu, to spend the summer with him in Asia - starting with attending the wedding of Nick's best friend and meeting Nick's family - Rachel is a tiny bit anxious. When Nick and Rachel arrive in Singapore, she discovers that her boyfriend is a member of a family that is amongst the highly exclusive population of insanely rich in all of Asia. As Rachel attempts to grapple with the realities of Nick's social circle filled with private jets, couture show more clothing, and jewelry at prices that could feed a small country, Nick's family are desperately trying to prevent the perceived catastrophe that would be Nick's ongoing relationship with a nobody. As worlds collide, it remains up in the air as to whether Nick and Rachel's relationship can survive.

The friend who recommended this book to me told me that it would appeal to the side of me that loves Jane Austen and while it's by no means a readalike for those novels, I have to admit that the book was a hit for me. The novel, while revolving around Nick and Rachel, has a broader cast of characters, all with their own subplots and who all have their own levels of snobbery and (lack of) obsession with wealth. The title is no misnomer, the novel explores the world of an elite of which I had very little knowledge, which makes it all the more fascinating. And while the descriptions of extravagance can be at times charming or nauseating, it is the characters at the heart of the novel that made it so compulsively readable. I will definitely be reading the follow-up novel sooner rather than later. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book, because although it was a huge improvement over China Rich Girlfriend, it still largely lacked the charm and intrigue of Crazy Rich Asians.

I was much more pleased with the characterization of Nick compared to the first two books. He shows a lot of personal growth over the often petulant, childish, and unnecessarily aggressive Nick of books 1 and 2. There is also no want for drama, and it definitely kept my interest in its sheer ridiculousness. In terms show more of characterization, I think Eddie made the perfect villain and I loved watching Kitty's descent into madness over Colette).

The constant questions about Su Yi's past and her will built up a huge degree of curiosity for me. Kwan does a great job of building up suspense and half of the reason I kept reading the book was wanting to know how it would conclude. I especially loved the ending, as it was the perfect blend of satisfying, surprising, and inventive. The result of Su Yi's estate was, in my opinion, very characteristic of the Su Yi we got to know over the course of the book. It blended her somewhat strict and frustrating old ways with her sense of humor and love for her family. Honestly, I liked how the characterization of Su Yi in this book gave her more depth while still honoring the stubborn and old-fashioned Ah Ma of the previous books. And the affair! What a twist!.

I almost quit the trilogy after the second book because it was so disappointing, but overall I'm glad I finished it. Rich People Problems has the charm, drama, and outlandish story-telling that I expect out of a Kevin Kwan book, and it's a good conclusion to a much-beloved story. show less

I have always had a fascination with the ultra rich, who live in a world so different from normal people that it's hard to fathom we all share the same planet. It's part of the escapist fun of any number of soap operas, in both televised and book (Sweet Valley High) form. This is certainly no different.

There are 3 branches of the same stupid rich family at the center of this novel - the Youngs, the Shangs, and the T'siens. Nick, Astrid, and Eddie are cousins; they all share the same show more formidable grandmother, Shang Su Yi (aka Ah Ma), who controls the family fortune. We meet them right in the prologue, and even as kids, their personalities are set: Nicky and Astrid are quite close; Eddie, four years older then them, is very boisterous and self-centered, spoiled to a fault.

This book focuses mostly on Nick and Astrid's storylines. Nick Young is bringing his American girlfriend, Rachel Chu, back to Singapore for his best friend's wedding. Rachel has no clue about her boyfriend's riches or the social status they command. They aren't just going to any wedding back home; no, it's the Wedding of the Year, between heir Colin Khoo and model/socialite Araminta Lee, both of whom also come from crazy rich families. Rachel is completely unprepared for this sudden change of culture and society; even though she has rich friends, like Piek Lin Goh, Nick's family is so rich and so private and lives in such rarified air that the peons don't even know they exist. At one point, Piek Lin and her father look up Ah Ma's palatial residence on Google Earth, and it literally isn't there - it's a giant black hole on the map. THAT'S the kind of crazy rich we're talking about here!

Meanwhile, Astrid Leong is watching her five-year marriage slowly disintegrate as evidence emerges that her
husband is having an affair. She's caught in a nightmare - not only because she actually loves her husband and is devastated that he's cheating on her (she can't bring herself to turn a blind eye to his infidelities, even though that's what ladies of her social class do), but because she can't fathom him leaving her and asking for a divorce, which is exactly what he does. Her husband Michael is not of her class, and he feels the pressure of marrying into a family who refuses to accept him too much.

Astrid very much reminded me of Lila Fowler - a poor little rich girl, yes, but a sympathetic one. She only wants one thing in this world, and that's love.

Swirling around these two story arcs is the hilarity of being this stupidly rich. Araminta's mother sees this wedding as the chance to step into the rarified society she has long been denied, being all nouveau riche and Mainland Chinese, to boot. Eddie Cheng is desperately insecure about his place in the world; he lives in a vat of all-consuming jealousy over his best friend's material possessions, and pushes his wife and children to quite literally be picture-perfect at all times to make up for his perceived inadequacies. Eleanor Young, Nick's mother, schemes with her best girlfriends to save her only son from a woman she believes is a scheming gold-digger (especially when it emerges that Rachel is not, in fact, one of the Taipei Plastics Chus). She goes so far as to bring out some scandalous secrets from Rachel's past in order to break them up, and it has far-reaching consequences (this was the poignant part). The next generation of women, the girls Nick grew up with, are scheming themselves to push Rachel out of the way and to place themselves as perfect candidates to become Nick's wife. We go through the whirlwind of wedding preparations and the wedding itself, all of which is so ostentatiously OTT that it is hilarious. The rich truly are different.

Beneath this veneer of wicked satire beats a warm heart, though, as we watch Rachel and Astrid in their struggles to deal with the world that is fast closing in around them. There is a rich menagerie of characters around them, all of whom are beautifully drawn with shades of gray. There are no villains and no martyrs; no matter how tacky or pompous, every character serves a purpose. I especially enjoyed Rachel's BFF Piek Lin (a "regular" rich girl who is both witty and supportive) and Nick's cousin Oliver T'sien (the family gossip and sassmaster who guides Rachel through the shark-infested waters that is his extended family).

I have no notion of Chinese culture, so I appreciated the snarky footnotes sprinkled throughout the text, which definitely gave some context to what was going on. It didn't detract from the story at all; at some level, the ultra-rich are the same, no matter where they hail from. But it was definitely the cultural differences that were the most interesting, and what gave the story its emotional punch. show less

This was hysterical. Amongst the fashions, the locations, backstabbing, stock portfolios, wealth, society, and scheming, there were five very human characters trying to hang onto to love in ways they only knew. And then there was Eddie. Oh, Eddie. You asshole.

I hope he gives this book a sequel since there were a few open ends left. I absolutely loved this.