Crazy Rich Asians: Spoiler-free Trilogy Review

by Abbygaile Rodriguez

The best way to de-stress is read a fun book. One set of books that I always recommend is definitely the Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy by Kevin Kwan. I loved the movie very much, and when I heard it was based on a series of books, I immediately wanted to read them.

It’s a very easy read, and difficult to put any of the books down. Each book had its own very intriguing plots, along with the subplots with the side characters that weren’t very highlighted in the movie. Personally my favorite character arc was Astrid’s. Although in the movie she definitely had the most quotable scene when breaking up with her cheating husband, there is so much more to her story in the books and it’s a lot more interesting.

What Crazy Rich Asians is about

The plotline with the first book, Crazy Rich Asians is very lighthearted and with a lot of comedy and the introduction of characters’ lives and their personalities. Just like the movie, it focused on the clash of cultures between ordinary people and the ultra-rich.

The extravagance of the setting was described so much more in the book, and although the rich vibe that the movie portrayed was definitely up there, it could not compare to what the books were trying to show. It’s the most light-hearted out of the series, as things normally get more intense as it progresses through the second and third books.

After reading the first book, I couldn’t wait to read the next one, China Rich Girlfriend. It definitely got darker in this one, after Crazy Rich Asians’ fun narratives of the ultra-rich and their “problems” to car crashes and poisoning people. The second book was a little bit darker but it isn’t super heavy. It gets more suspenseful and mysterious and paints a picture about social-climbing, scandals and the main character, Rachel Chu’s birthfather who was mentioned in the first book.

My favorite book from the series is the third one, Rich People Problems. It revolved around the very familiar Asian problem of dividing up property and other assets among heirs for their inheritance, and it’s always fun to read about family drama. This book wasn’t in the same league as Crazy Rich Asians, since it tackled more on the family’s history and dove deeper into their riches. It also highlighted how ugly things could get when selfishness and greed comes in between your family values.

What I learned from Crazy Rich Asians

To me, the thing that makes a good book, no matter what genre, length, or if its fiction or non-fiction is whether or not I’ve learned something from it.

Though it did have me amazed at this caricature of the lives of the “crazy rich”, it reminded me how important it is to keep in mind the more valuable things in life. It doesn’t matter if you have the latest designer items, or millions of dollars in your bank.

These are all superficial and it does not add more value to our character. It is more important to stay humble, have integrity and remind the special people in our lives how much we love them. Our real relationships are more important than the money we can spend.