Review: China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan 
(Book #2 in The Crazy Rich Asians series) 

Publishing Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Pages: 400 pages
Asian American Fiction / Contemporary

** This is the sequel to the first book Crazy Rich Asians, which you can read my review for here. You can read this book, China Rich Girlfriend, as a stand-alone if you wish, but I recommend reading the first one before hand to have more context and background to certain characters **

The Premise: In the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan once again brings the reader into the contemporary world of Asia, and this time taking us from Singapore to Hong Kong and more. Kwan still focuses on the characters we met and fell in love with from the first book, such as Nick and Rachel, Astrid and even the hilarious Eddie. But Kwan also introduces a whole bench of new characters. There is Carlton Bao who is known for his Prince-Harry antics, Colette, his celebrity girlfriend and for those of you who are familiar, Kitty Pong returns and she is trying to make a name for herself. There also is some development in as to who Rachel's father is. There is more scandal, more fashion and more food!

My overall thoughts and review: It is very rare for me to say I enjoy a sequel more than the first book. This was one of those cases. To all of those looking for a BIGGER and BETTER sequel, Kevin Kwan knows how to write them. When I first read the first book, I loved it so much and to hear that Kevin was going to explore more of this world, I was over the moon excited. I took my time reading this book because as always, Kevin is sure to include a lot of details, such as footnotes and I wanted to get every detail. Kevin also introduced some emails, newspaper clippings and tabloid articles which really added to the story in a unique way. I loved how there wasn't one set protagonist and that every character, you got an insider look into. You may not like certain characters, but what I appreciate that Kevin does is that, you still get the opportunity to understand them, even when you dislike them. You get to learn about where their ambitions have lead them and why they are the way they are. I loved seeing old favorites in this new book and seeing their storylines develop even further, like Astrid! She is by far my favorite and it was so great to see more of her story. I can't say too much without spoiling the plot of course, but know that you are in for a wonderful ride with this sequel. I loved it so much and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. I highly recommend you pick it up because you will not be disappointed. It is absolutely the best summer read! And after finishing it, I didn't want to leave the world and it has only made me more anxious waiting for the next book! Well done, Kevin!

P.S. I recently attended a library author talk with Kevin Kwan and Elaine Lui, so a full recap for that will be up soon. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for that because I have a lot of answers for some questions about the series! ;)

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮✮  (5/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
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Disclaimer: An advanced reader's copy of this book was sent to me by Random House Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own.