Notes on China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

***warning: spoilers***

Because I appreciated the light-hearted yet deeply juicy tale that was Crazy Rich Asians, I snagged a copy of the next book in the series, China Rich Girlfriend, and maybe I shouldn’t have.

Let’s start from the very beginning: the title; “China Rich Girlfriend” literally makes no sense. Who this title is referring to is a mystery, though other versions of the cover suggest that the girlfriend is Kitty Pong who is, in fact, a wife who disappears throughout the entire middle section of the book.

The plot is incredibly muddy. I felt as though Kwan was just trying to reach a page limit which, in doing so, he created what seemed like an infinite number of subplots which were introduced randomly throughout the novel without a single one bring properly developed. Throwing in a murder attempt in the last third of the book is...an unusual choice. In any case, this was just another subplot stacked upon a long list of undeveloped subplots that were all solved within the last dozen pages as if Kwan had reached his designated page limit.

The excessive name-dropping and tabloid/digital content also lead me to lose sight of the main conflicts. In Crazy Rich Asians, I was bewildered by the extravagance; in China Rich Girlfriend, I was drowned by it. While Kwan did settle into a reasonably believable version of Rachel as she was transitioning into a life of wealth, her and Nick’s wedding was so over-the-top that it undermined Rachel’s wholesome and frugal character. Even though neither her or her husband are dynamic by any means, I found them charming just like in the previous book.

During at least 10 points (maybe more, because I don’t have the keenest eye), the book was narrated with tabloid content or digital communications content that sometimes over a dozen pages in length. Between the e-mails between Astrid and Charlie, magazine features, or documents for Kitty’s complete makeover, I felt as though I wasn’t actually reading a book anymore but rather just a gossip mag.

This, however, is an opinion of mine. Perhaps other readers did not mind. Considering that generations are becoming more and more digitized, authors will likely struggle to relate to their audiences without including very basic proponents of our everyday lives like texting and emailing. Maybe that’s something in particular that I will have to get used to.

I am happy to say, fortunately, that China Rich Girlfriend DOES pass the Bechdel test! *applause* (It pains me to be excited about something so basic, but I suppose I should do what I can to encourage such practice.)

To me, considering that I gave China Rich Girlfriend three stars, this one deserves two, leaving me with no desire to seek out the final book.