I wanted to read this book when I first saw it in a book store many months ago, but I controlled my urge and didn’t splurge that day.
Then I saw it again in a “famous” Denver bookstore and my “vacation mentality” was excuse enough to go for it. Reading this book was such a damn treat! It was like watching Keeping up with the Kardashians and The Bachelor and makeup tutorials, all the indulgent hot fudge lava cake guilty pleasures rolled into a literary work. 
The book was written fairly well. So much of it was populated with brand name name drops and while I understand why this was so, I got tired of it after half the book. My curiosity about the characters kept me interested and immersed. Several different bombs are dropped in the beginning chapters and I’m kept hooked. Rachel and Nick, the couple this book was built on, were not very deep. They were charismatic no doubt, but their character was shallow and I’d even say under-developed. I continued to be amazed by Nick’s stupidity and complete ignorance about Rachel’s experience in Singapore and around his family. It’s sweet at first that he believes that she is smart and tough – which she is, but that doesn’t mean you throw her to the sharks. At least giver her a pair of fins or a diving mask!
The most dynamic character had to be Astrid. She was written well and her arc was much less ridiculous.
As a person who cannot stand excess, the sole theme of this book, I had a hard time with some of the characters who represented excess and waste and spoilt-rich personalities. Eddie and Bernard and even Araminta.
My timing was spectacular because just as I finished the book, the movie was released. I watched it and was not disappointed. The casting was absolutely fantastic. Constance Wu did a great job of giving Rachel some real personality and some fire. Nick in the movie was just as clueless as in the book unfortunately, but that isn’t to say that Henry Golding wasn’t wonderful. Because they made the movie a comedy and put effort in to make it HUGE and over the top, I could appreciate how different it was from the book.
Some pieces of the story line were changed and made to keep the movie about two hours and stand on its own. For example, Nick’s father never showed up in the movie and a key piece of tension in Nick’s life was the pressure his mom and grandma put on him to 
return to Singapore and take over the family business so that his father could retire. The mahjong scene near the end was great. It gave Rachel so much power and grace. Awkwafina as Peik Lin was award-winning casting. She made that character her own, and carried each of her scenes effortlessly. One of my favorite scenes was during the Khoo wedding when the bride was walking down the aisle and Kina Grannis sang Fools Rush In the build up and set up was breathtaking – at least for me. I had tears in my eyes. It was refreshing to like Araminta in the movie, she was simply a fun and sweet girl getting married to the main character’s best friend. In the book, her flaws were signs that the marriage might not end well.
I cannot say that I prefer one over the other. They were both fun to experience and it’s safe to say that you can experience each in their own rite. They each stand along as a piece of art, an indulgent foray into the crazy world of rich Asians.
snowhiteice 