Sex and Vanity: A Novel by Kevin Kwan

kc49er: A lot of name dropping, maybe a few too many cliff notes but some were quite informative…. all in all, I enjoyed it for summer read

United States on Aug 29, 2023

SWEATA BACHYASSWEATA BACHYAS: Book: Sex & Vanity
Author: Kevin Kwan
Genre: Fiction (contemporary)
Rating: 3.5⭐️/5 (Rounded to 4🌟)

My thoughts:
This was the first Kevin Kwan book that I finished, and one of the novels which I adored for its good humor. It was a light read and found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions 😂

The plot basically revolves around family, love, and listening to your heart. The extravagant and lavish culture with the impeccable taste of food and places of the author is just what made this book so fun!

If you’re still at home and need an escape from the present Covid infused reality, this is definitely the book for you!

READ IF YOU LIKE👑:
-Contemporary romance
-fun and quick read
-classic enemies-to-lovers
-second chances
-themes of a lavish lifestyle, cultural norms, and races
-funny Asian MC’s
-destination wedding scenario
-luxurious descriptions of Capri and NYC
-steamy moments 🔥/5

CW: mentions racist remarks and classism

🚫What I didn’t like:
-lack of depth of character development
-relatively cliché characters, making it a bit annoying
-rushed...

India on Sep 05, 2021

Carpool Book Club: This was the perfect Spring Break beach read on a trip with kids. It was quick, easy and mindless: I didn’t have to read intently to follow and enjoy the content.

In typical Kwan fashion, there are cultural Easter eggs everywhere and the camp meter is sky high. In that sense, the book actually has more depth than it initially appears. For anyone looking to lose themselves in the lives of the ridiculously rich and not delve too deep into a realistic story or character study...pick this one up. It’s a fun one! A pro: the book is short enough that I never got bored with the vapidness. Had it been any longer, I fear I might’ve lost interest.

P.S. For lovers of “Crazy, Rich Asians”...this is more of the same with a different setting and different characters but with a plot that isn’t as defined (IMO). Personally, I liked “CRA” more than this story.

P.P.S. 3 stars doesn’t mean this book wasn’t an enjoyable read, it simply means it’s not a literary masterpiece in the conventional sense.

DESCRIPTION:

On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can't stand...

United States on Mar 30, 2021

Matthew Petty: Absolutely loved reading the Crazy Rich Asian trilogy so was super excited to see that he had written a new book but was definitely disappointed. There were so many times where I was skipping sentences as I felt like so many pretentious names were thrown in and I don’t believe that it added anything to the narrative. Disappointed as I thought the story line could really get somewhere but after I finished the book I felt a little bit like the book itself was rushed and incomplete, definitely left me feeling underwhelmed. Regardless if you’re just looking for a light hearted read during quarantine give it a read but don’t get your hopes up too high if you wanted another Crazy Rich Asian novel.

United Kingdom on Jan 17, 2021

JD: The reason i bought this book was because I've loved the crazy rich asians series to the point of re-reading them when life gets dull! They're reminiscent of the drama every asian family goes through, and the characters dealt with in the book were mature, the connections came as a surprise, and the books had many plots and subplots making for an exciting read.

While i waited and waited and waited for this book to get exciting, instead of a plot, all i got was a headache. Sadly a very uninspired novel, it was more like reading a list of all things fine and finer and finest. The protagonist is a 19 year old so one has to deal with a very unidimensional aspect of her immature personality throughout the book ( she doesn't mature much as a 24 year old in the second half and has the same issues with the world. Boo hoo).

As much as i love fashion and art, it got boring to read how its all that was used to define the characters in the book, disguised as "taste". When did taste become such an overwhelming character trait??!! Its all that each human being mentioned in the book is obsessed with. Okay, i expected some of glamour and grandeur to show up, but in the previous...

India on Aug 19, 2020

BooksAreWings: Kevin Kwan is already a king of the beach read. The "Crazy Rich Asians" trilogy was a sly peek into the uber-rich of Singapore (primarily), Hong Kong, Mainland China and beyond.
I never thought I'd say I liked his new book even more because Crazy Rich Asians had .... too much plot ;-)

Sex and Vanity HAS a plot, and it's a sweet one. But the book is really about dissecting the pedigrees, preferred brands, and mores by which a specific segment of society (mostly Upper East Side Asian-Americans) defines itself. Because so much is set in NYC or Italy, it's not a dive into various Asian cultures as his earlier books were. You'll learn no Cantonese swear words or secret recipes here. BUT....IF you are looking for a real summer read replete with brands and dropped names.....you will enjoy the complete and utter superficiality of the book (I say this with love...I did give five stars!). Like one of its playboy or playgirl protagonists, this book has no cares in the world. This book is tanning by an eternal pool, with anyone who is anyone stopping by for a large glass of the ONLY kind of champagne one drinks in society.

United States on Jul 28, 2020

Cherrygeli: When I first heard Kevin Kwan had a new book coming out I quickly went to preorder it. I fell in love with the Crazy Rich series and knew I couldn't miss out on this one. To make me even more excited than I already was I found out he wrote this as a modern day "Room with a View". I have not read that one yet but I love the movie version.

Kwan did an amazing job bringing this story to modern times. Its incredible how seamlessly the characters can be transformed to be relatable in today's world.

This was a great page turner I couldn't put down. I had to pace myself so I didnt finish it all in one day. Wanted to make it last. I suggest checking out his Instagram account for some amazing pictures that inspired a few of the gorgeous scenes he writes about.
I cant wait for the movie version of this! I hope they get the casting that's subtly hinted at throughout. Or at the very least get Helena Bonham Carter to make a cameo.
I think this was the perfect summer read we all needed right now to escape awfulness of 2020. My only gripe is (slightly spoiler alert) that I wanted to see Lucie apologize directly to George. I wanted to know that reaction. But I suppose it still...

United States on Jul 19, 2020

KellyKelly: I absolutely loved this book. I actually found it better than the CRA series even more because it did not hold as many extravagant, prolonged, detailed scenes. This was the perfect length. I absolutely adored the characters of Lucie and George. Freddie, Rosemary, and Auden were some of my favorites. Kwan sets up the characters so that each had their own personality and style. Absolutely adored them all. Even Cecil, I had a love hate relationship with.

I also loved how he incorporated, very discreetly characters from the CRA series. (I won’t give the names but I found at least 2. Make sure you read the footnotes too.)

This book made me feel like I was bathing in glitter off the Almafi Coast while sipping a custom made cocktail after getting massaged all morning long. The romance was dirty, but also comical at parts. There was passion behind the love and different relationships.

It also explores how we visualize our own family and how we think our family sees us. That was important to look at as a 28 year old. Lucie starts out 19 in the book and the fast forward part puts her at 24. A perfect age for finding oneself and learning about love and life.

I...

United States on Jul 15, 2020

Dr. Tim Parker: I enjoyed Kwan's earlier trilogy a lot, and looked forward to diving into this book when it was released. It focuses on the lifestyles of the rich-and-famous at the billionaire level, both documenting and exposing to some degree what life at that level must be like. But the main theme in the book is romance: a young lady caught in a mix between Caucasian and Asian identities, engaged to be married to the "suitable" man, but in love with another, and how this all works itself out. It's a page-turner, which is a good thing, but I didn't find it quite as good as his Rich Asian trilogy. That doesn't mean it's not as good a read, just that it's more bodice-ripper than solid story. Still, Kwan's fans will enjoy reading, as I did.

Canada on Jul 10, 2020

PlatinumEstates: Very descriptive with the luxurious life and items and experiences that the vast majority will never come to experience, but it doesn't come off as pretentious. That being said, the book does get resolved rather abruptly, and while I personally relate to that given my strong personality, and in fact rather admire it, I would have appreciated a little more internal struggle with the main character to make her more relatable in the sense that it's experience the majority of us go through. Could have set it up for another well read trilogy that translates well into film? Fingers crossed that it does.

Canada on Jul 06, 2020