Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

50 reviews

abbyschafer's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I read this as if it was an extended cut of the movie 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Fatphobia

mattyvreads's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Urmmm… so… I didn’t care for this book. Parts of it were wonderful! I think it is definitely successful as a romance novel. There were real moments of humor and genuine surprise, but overall the storytelling and the content did not work for me.

My main critique all boils down to one pervasive thought I couldn’t shake: “this book was so glaringly written by a man.” In every description of the female characters, to the sexualized POV of the supporting female cast. Those elements were so distracting and strange that they really took me out. The book could have definitely used some major editing.

Besides that, the pacing and structure of the story made absolutely no sense to me. The twists (which do not make sense) are misplaced in the story.

Despite the book’s length, there is absolutely no resolution to Nick’s conflict with his family. There is barely a resolution between Rachel and Nick, too, and they’re the main characters! The twists left me more confused than enlightened.

Plus there’s like a whole chapter full of racial/homophobic slurs for some reason…. I’m remain… confused. 

Regardless, I think I’m glad I read it?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Car accident

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Racism

macliffe's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cursing, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I know, I know. I’m late to the party. 

I’ve learned a lot about the wealth gap, classism, and money in general as I’ve grown up (and wiser, as they say 😉). But Crazy Rich Asians was something else entirely. While I know this is fictional, I wouldn’t be surprised at the amount of money people surely drop on crazy things simply because they can.

Crazy Rich Asians follows Singapore’s richest families as they work very hard… at upstaging their fellow rich frenemies. While the characters flaunt their money in abhorrently lavish ways, the author really draws attention to class discrimination, how many ways someone can turn up their nose at someone or something, and just how incredibly unlikable these characters were. But I guess that’s the point. 

This one is for you if you love gossip, extravagance, scheming, and drama. Now I’m off to finally watch the movie! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying

voldycat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Drug use, Pregnancy, Racism, and Kidnapping

theuncannydani's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Colonisation, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Classism, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Incest, Violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Car accident, Cursing, Sexual violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Stalking, Grief, Fatphobia, and Drug abuse

atamano's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content

emilywemily6's review against another edition

funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book was a mixed bag, but overall I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the rest of the series. First of all, this book is really vulgar- not just in language and the use of racial slurs, but also in descriptions of debauchery. I feel like few of these things added to the story, and the author could have gotten the same points across by writing in a different way. This book touched on so many characters and I feel like I missed out on getting to know the characters more deeply since the story was spread between so many perspectives and storylines. This book read like a soap opera which I think was intentional but also very different than what I am used to reading. The culture of the crazy rich Asians portrayed in the book was so fascinating and I just couldn’t stop reading (like a soap opera lol). It makes me wonder how much of those types of people actually exist and want to do some research. The ending was so unexpected and I enjoyed it, but this book felt like it ended really abruptly. I also felt like a ton of names were dropped that I had no concept of, which makes me wonder if those people are real or not and whether the name dropping was just a literary device the author used to paint a picture of this culture of Asian oligarchy. This is so different than what I usually read, which was refreshing and intriguing and captivating, but definitely a superficial book with some flaws or creative choices that may or may not contribute to the book as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Cursing, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Car accident

moriahleigh's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Racism, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

sapphicsoilscientist's review against another edition

I miss books with characters I wouldn’t want to kick in the shins every three pages. This book is full of people that cannot or will not behave themselves. I understand some of them are meant to be poorly behaved because they have so much money, but even the love interest is not a likable person. 
Also the homophobia and rape jokes are more than I have time for. I don’t know how this could be a ‘fun and light’ read for people. I don’t think we read the same book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, and Racial slurs

The further into the book you get, the worse it gets. Nothing about any of these characters made me want to read past all the terrible things happening on the bachelor/bachelorette party.