Crazy Rich Asians

Just Okay

I purchased this book because it had a pretty good rating, although I must say I was disappointed. The writing itself was great as it really painted a picture of the characters and places. But the story was lackluster, and the characters rather boring. It was honestly a little hard to get through. The only time my interest was peaked was in the final few chapters. The performance was great, but overall the book was just okay. Not something I would recommend. It is also supposed to be made into a movie, which hopefully will be better.

Thanks,
Just Being Honest

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

1st Chapter, can't stand narration AND I'm asian!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This would have been a great a book to listen but I am now just going to read this book.

What didn’t you like about Lynn Chen’s performance?

exaggerated

45 of 51 people found this review helpful

You're better off reading this light-hearted romp

What disappointed you about Crazy Rich Asians?

The narrator may be Chinese, but she fails to imitate the Singaporean accent, nor does she pronounce the various Cantonese, Hokkien, or Singaporean words correctly.

I obtained a physical copy of the book, and there are many useful, entertaining footnotes that have been omitted in the audiobook.

139 of 161 people found this review helpful

Narration is horrible

What disappointed you about Crazy Rich Asians?

I had a lot of difficulty getting through the narration of this book. I speak Chinese and know how the asian dialects sound; the narrator obviously does not know either. It was painfully annoying listening to her attempts to mimic the accents and the language -- it was downright insulting at times. Her British accent was fine but anytime she tried to speak with an accent or use the Chinese words, I cringed and unfortunately, it ruined the book for me. I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if I had read it rather than listening to the narrator.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The general story is interesting.

How could the performance have been better?

A narrator who actually spoke Chinese and could mimic the accents, without being insulting

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The story kept me going or else I would have given up on it after the first few chapters.

187 of 217 people found this review helpful

Entertaining, Fun Listen

If you could sum up Crazy Rich Asians in three words, what would they be?

Worth the Credit!

What other book might you compare Crazy Rich Asians to and why?

This book is totally entertaining, and it is all about money, eye candy, jet setting and living LARGE! It's not deep but that's ok - it's entertaining, and the family dynamics among the crazy rich are interesting. I also liked the love story story between Rachel and Nick. I liked both characters and was rooting for them throughout the book. This book is a little like Devil Wears Prada in tone and absorption. Again, not deep but very very entertaining.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Rachel Chu deals with the fish incident. She takes the high road and I admired her for dealing with the non stop backstabbing and gossip. She was the recipient of some serious mean girl action.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I really enjoyed this book - it's the perfect beach read type book.

Any additional comments?

I hope to see more Kevin Kwan audio books in the future!

34 of 39 people found this review helpful

Worst Narration Ever

The attempts at accents are so bad that in addition to being annoyingly distracting the delivery rarely matches the context of the dialog. Add to that vocal fry and.. cringing experience.

49 of 58 people found this review helpful

A Fun Beach Read

Although this book gets a little close to being Chick-lit I found it a lot of fun and had a difficult time putting it down. I have spent a fair amount of time traveling in Singapore and Malaysia and very much enjoyed the author's descriptions of different areas, food and the over all sense of place.

I have had no experience with the variety of "crazy rich" Asians described in the book, the "regular" people who live in Singapore and Malaysia are indeed delightful.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Annoying Narration

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Narrate the book without the exagerrated accents so we can hear the words clearly. The constant shifting back and forth of accents and voices made it difficult to follow the dialogue.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lynn Chen?

Anyone incapapble of doing "chinese" accents. The accents in a different light could be thought of as offensive stereotypes.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

no

33 of 40 people found this review helpful

Terrible narration

What would have made Crazy Rich Asians better?

The narration was stilted and did not match the time if the book.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lynn Chen’s performances?

Not with the same narrator

28 of 34 people found this review helpful

Audiobook recommended. Great narration!

I had originally attempted to read this book when it first came out, but couldn't even get past chapter one. Then a few weeks ago, a colleague came to talk to me about this book. She mentioned how she was really enjoying the audiobook, and asked me whether I'd read it (since I'm from Singapore). I sheepishly told her how I'd tried, but given up. Her talk reignited my interest in the novel, and also made me feel compelled to read it in order to live up to my Singaporean name.

I must say that the audiobook was certainly much more enjoyable than its printed counterpart. Listening to it during my commutes to and from work kept me entertained for weeks on end, and I felt a tinge of sadness when the recording finally came to an end. I then tried the next book in the series, China Rich Girlfriend, and was dismayed to find out that they had switched the narrator.

In all honesty, I'm not sure why Lynn Chen is being criticized so harshly. For someone who (I assume) was brought up in America, I feel she does a darn good job with all the other accents. While it is true that there were things being pronounced "incorrectly," I found the mistakes sort of cute, which added to the entertainment value and made me laugh. I liked how Lynn Chen created distinctive speaking styles for each character, making it easy to differentiate between them.

Even though the other narrator, employed for books 2 and 3 in the series, is spot on in terms of pronunciation, I found her narration a lot less engaging, which most unfortunately, resulted in my returning China Rich Girlfriend.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful