JULY 2015 - AudioFile
Entitled playboys, priceless ancient scrolls, and elevators that park your car—this is the world of the super rich who divide their time between Singapore and China. Lydia Look is an expert narrator of this hyperbolic story of billionaires in Asia. She distinguishes between the dizzying, mostly female, cast of characters, juggling middle-aged mothers and young brides as well as bored young men. At times, her delivery is screechy and her Chinese accent over the top, but these qualities accurately reflect the characters being portrayed. The story swings between gossip, intrigue, and betrayal in a world in which no one trusts anyone and everyone has too much money. M.R. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Snarky ... Wicked ... Funny.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Deliciously fun.... Satire at its best.” —People
“Scandalous.” —Town and Country
“Makes Downton Abbey look more like Downton Arrivistes.... Ingenious.” —The Daily Beast
“Frothy.” —Hanya Yanigahara, Conde Nast Traveler
“Lifestyles of the rich and famous, China-style” —The Houston Chronicle
“This year's best beach reading.... As frothy as the egg whites on the sort of cocktail you should drink while reading Kwan’s books.... Highly entertaining.” —The Washington Post
“A crazy parade through the lives of the aspirational elite.” —Los Angeles Times
“The equivalent of a Bubble Tea concoction laced with Henry James extracts and Jackie Collins sprinkles.... In the same way that Edith Wharton catalogued the Gilded Age via novels like The Age of Innocence, Kwan—in his novels—is doing his bit for a China that now has the second-highest number of millionaires in the world.” —The Daily Beast
“A taste of Asian opulence served with skewering humor.” —The Daily News
“Kwan’s characters are powerful and attractive, living in the lap of luxury.” —NPR, “All Things Considered”
“Very enjoyable.... Just as funny as Crazy Rich Asians, this globe-spanning tale of excess includes enough snootiness and class snobbery to fill a multitude of designer handbags.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“With the same hilarity ... as the first novel, China Rich Girlfriend will not disappoint both fans and newcomers to the series.” —Town and Country
“An equally good-natured, catty-as-hell sequel.... Part Oscar Wilde, part Judith Krantz, part Arthur Frommer . . . Hilarious . . . Over-the-top and hard to stop.” —Kirkus Reviews
“China Rich Girlfriend is the most fun I’ve had reading a book in quite some time.... A jam-packed, lively story.” —Amy Scribner, BookPage
“A heady taste of vicarious escapism.... Read China Rich Girlfriend for the exuberant spectacle of zippy vintage cars, gossipy matriarchs-who-lunch and reckless profligacy but read it also for its very engaging narrative about people like us.” —Thuy On, The Sydney Morning Herald
“[An] amusing, whirlwind novel.” —The Miami Herald
“Like Gossip Girl and Dynasty and the royal family of England all at the same time. Kwan’s characters behave hideously—and it’s hilarious.” —Elaine “Lainey” Lui, Flare
“Will have readers clamoring for more.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“An engaging page-turner with a multi-layered, inventive narrative. Kwan has clearly taken a few lessons from one of America’s great social satirists—think Tom Wolfe set loose on the wealthiest enclaves of Confucian Asia.” —South China Morning Post
