I flew through Crazy Rich Asians and the two follow-up books because they were over the top in a delightful way. I had expected my feeling for this one to be similar with the ridiculous opulence of the upper !% and a juicy romance. However, with this one, the descriptions of the clothes, hotels, cars, and trips, was too much. The romance storyline seemed by an afterthought. The novel's similarities to Crazy Rich Asians is probably it's greatest strength. On its own, it falls short.

Fans of Kwan's other work will enjoy this story. A fun tale of glamorous people and their love lives.

Sex and Vanity starts with a lavish wedding in Capri. The details are truly amazing and I could picture everything. Kevin Kwan again gave us another story about the absurdly rich. The multi million (billion?) dollar wedding week sounded amazing. I loved the main character Lucie and the other strong female characters. Kevin Kwan has a way with details that make his books so wonderful! .

Thank you to netgalley, Kevin Kwan and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The descriptions of Capri were so detailed, I felt like I was there, watching the action unfold before my eyes. This was a fun read, and even if you guess the ending, you'll still enjoy the journey!

Such a smart retelling of A Room with a View. I loved reading this book and even went back to watch the movie version of RwaV.

Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Publishing Company for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review of the book.

Let me start by saying that I haven't read any other books by Kevin Kwan, this was my first! I loved Kwan's modern romantic style, his effortlessly integrated details about the A-lister lifestyle, and the characters that he carefully built. The main character, Lucie, finds herself torn between two men and the battle between what her family wants for her and what she wants for herself ensues. This novel poignantly touches on family values, how our childhood impacts our adult self-image, and the important aspects of a romantic relationship. For me, the last 100+ pages of the book was filled with so much opportunity. Without sharing any spoilers, I really wanted more information about the romantic direction that Lucie pursues at the end of the novel. There was so much romantic build up, I wanted to see and feel more of it in the end. Needless to say, I will absolutely be circling back to the Crazy Rich Asians series and reading Kevin Kwan's future novels!

This was great. I was unsure about how Kevin Kwan would follow up the Crazy Rich Asians books, but this was a nice, new standalone.

Be aware though, that this is VERY Kevin Kwan. It is over-the-top rich people problems at hyperspeed. These characters are wild. And Lucie is a grounded foil to their drama, until she absolutely loses her mind towards the end of the book. That was my only complaint. Her behavior in the back end of the story did not really match her character throughout the rest of the book.

Otherwise, a very fun read. And the very final footnote is just...*chef's kiss*, perfection.

I enjoyed “Sex and Vanity” a lot! I love reading rich people drama. His footnotes with additional information about characters, places, etc. are always hilarious and educational. I did like the “Crazy Rich Asians” trilogy a tad better, but would definitely recommend this book.

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan (6/30)

Rating 3 / 5 Stars

** Thank you to Netgalley, Doubleday Books, and of course, Kevin Kwan, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am really struggling with my review for this guy, strictly because I was such a big fan of the Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy. I was so excited to read Sex and Vanity and it did not disappoint, I just wish I didn’t have something it had to live up to. I didn’t hate the book and I didn’t love it either - I simply kept repeating in my head what it did and did not have in comparison to CRA (humor, smart, entertaining versus meh, oh no, and suspense.) I felt I was constantly comparing it to Kwan’s previous works.

That aside, this book is very enjoyable. Specifically for the themes, Kwan presents throughout: Racism, class differences, and other prejudices. I had no clue this book was a retelling of Forster’s “A Room With A View”. In fact, I didn’t learn this until later on in the book after doing a search. I’ve never been someone who likes retellings and on top of that, I found the characters to be a bit boring. Maybe it is just me as so many people seem to be a fan of this book based on other reviews.

I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. While it wasn’t my cup of tea in general, I can see how it could be others, thus the three-star rating.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

There's never much substance to these books but they are enjoyable. With a few cameos from Crazy Rich Asians characters :) You can't help rooting for Lucie.

Summary: 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 him. She can't stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can't stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can't stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin Charlotte. The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as his other books. It was all so predictable as if it was trying to be a copy of Crazy Rich Asians. Some of the characters (the mothers) were a hoot. Perhaps a story about Lucie’s mother and how she met her husband could be his next story.

It's definitely not going to beat Crazy Rich Asians, but building characters and setting the scene is something Kevin Kwan does and does it well. If you're looking for a fun beach read - this is a decent way to pass the time in the sun!

I really enjoyed Sex and Vanity!

The first half part of the book focuses on the lavish weeding in Capri, Italy. With absorbing writing, Kwan took me to Capri as I was fully living the architecture, beautiful landscape, food and Italian culture. In addition to the mesmerizing setting, I found the characters very relatable and complex.

The Chinese manners accurately described in this book gave me a bittersweet experience - the feeling of familiarity almost always comes with the reality of facing daily microaggressions (e.g.: when people mistake generosity with trying hard to be nice). I particularly loved all the footnotes and thought that they added another layer of complexity to the story.

Lucie is a biracial girl that struggles with her identity - she is trying to embrace her white heritage while dealing with the lack of sense of belonging. The way Kwan explores internalized racism and microaggressions that Lucie (and Chinese people) suffer was so subtle and at the same time, in depth. I appreciated her growth throughout the story as she discovers what she wants rather than meeting family and society's expectations. Through Charlotte and Lucie's grandmother, we witness countless examples of racism and white privilege. Marian Tang and Rosemary Zao were crafted in authenticity and I just wanted to have some fun moments with them- sharing Chinese food and culture. While I found the love story quite predictable and a bit rushed, I still enjoyed the chemistry between George and the protagonist. As for George, he was quite mysterious and realistically developed; thus it was easy to root for him. I am excited to read what Kwan writes next!

Sex and Vanity is a modern retelling of "A Room with a View" and although I haven't read either it or CRA series, it didn't affect my reading experience.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the world of a Kevin Kwan novel. Similar to “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Sex and Vanity” pulls you in to the glamour and glitter of an elite class of wealthy socialites who are once completely outrageous and yet in some reliable ways extraordinarily human, deeply flawed, and delightfully accessible. The depth of research and personal context both culturally and socially that Kwan incorporates into fleshing out his characters and their stories is highly engaging.

Sex and Vanity seemed to have taken the lives of those crazy rich Asians we read about in his first series and brought them to American soil. But with the change in scenery, the story needed to change as well. What would a blue blooded Chinese American look like? How would the world react if there was one of us among them? Kevin Kwan definitely answers those questions in this new novel.

Lucie Churchill was just invited to the wedding of the century. She alongside her cousin, Charlotte, jet off to Capri for a few days of bliss and topped with an extravagant wedding. They immerse themselves in the culture, basking in the beautiful coastlines of Italy while eating deliciously described foods. When she's in Capri, she meets George Zao. For all intents and purposes, George sounds like the kind of guy you would most definitely catch and keep forever. A hottie with a 12-pack who loves surfing and the environment? He's also got money and ambitions and loves art and appreciates beautiful music? He's also putting others first? He loves his mother? Did I mention he was hot? I'm sorry, but if Lucie doesn't want him, can I have him?

And at this point in the novel, Lucie most definitely doesn't want him. After seeing how her cousin Charlotte reacts to George and his mother, Rosemary's, behavior and then the fatal kiss between Lucie and George at the wedding, it's no wonder that Lucie doesn't want anything to do with George. Being with George would mean ridicule and torment for not only marrying into an eccentric family, but also marrying into a Chinese family.

Five years later, everything is different. Lucie is engaged and ready to marry into one of the wealthiest families in America. Now that she's engaged to a socialite, her priorities are changing as well. It's planning her opulent wedding, renovating her multi-million dollar townhouse in New York with her fiance, and spending time with her mother and brother as these two families start to get to know each other.

But there's no way to pull herself out of the attraction with George especially when George shows up everywhere she goes and their families start to get closer.

For the most part, this is most definitely a story about love, friendship, and family. The coastal scenes of Capri and even their vacation in the East Hamptons will definitely wish you were on vacation right now.

However, Kevin Kwan is super clever and he added a little something extra to make this story just as authentic as he could make it. He talks about racism. Lucie's experiences with racism are so obvious that you can't read this book without noticing them. Within 20 pages, you already have Charlotte introducing Lucie to some friends emphasizing how she's half-Chinese and she's related through her "American" father (despite her mother being born in Seattle). From that moment on, it was a series of microaggressions throughout the rest of the novel. As Kevin Kwan describe it, they're like little paper cuts that accumulate over time. I think that's the perfect metaphor for it and what you see over the course of this novel.

I really loved Lucie in this book. She was a brilliant artist who didn't like to make a splash the way her fiance did. She was understated and that just made her shine. I loved the way she would light up when she spoke about art and when she heard her favorite piano concerto. I felt deeply for her when she recalls the day her dad died. However, Lucie kept a lot to herself and kept up appearances frequently. I felt for her in those moments especially as a person who's felt like she had to suppress a major component of her personality.

And Lucie gets it from everyone. From the wealthy family friend who asks if she sides with her Chinese side or her American side more to the Filipino sisters who asks her specific ethnicity (if you didn't know, there's a lot of racism within the Asian countries) to see if she's one of them. She gets it from her fiance who is always trying to "fix" her the same way her grandmother used to try and "fix" her as well. There's even some internalized racism from her own mother that's most definitely had an impact on her life. I found myself asking how do you navigate when the people you're supposed to trust and love you unconditionally find fault because of your Asian heritage?

I did like the conversation Lucie and Charlotte have about her racism towards the end of the novel, but I also felt like Charlotte was gaslighting her a little bit. I don't want to say that Charlotte didn't learn anything or felt the embarrassment of being racist toward her own cousin, but I would have really liked to see Charlotte own up for her mistakes in the past. The reason why I would have loved this kind of resolution is because it's so obvious that Lucie struggles with a lot of internalized racism. She's pushed down the "Asian" part of her life to a point where she couldn't love someone because of who they were and part of that is because of her family and her upbringing. I think Lu

I would have loved to see more of George and the discussion regarding racism with him. I know being born and raised in Hong Kong is a different experience than being born and raised in New York City, but I can imagine George struggling through some daily convos with westerners and Americans who don't understand or appreciate the culture he came from. I wanted George and Lucie to have a much deeper convo.

To be honest, this was the part that kind of annoyed me the most about this book; the relationship between George and Lucie. I feel like George would have brought insight or at least opened Lucie's eyes a bit if their relationship was allowed to grow on the page. Much of their encounters are met with either sexual tension or just tension, which made their relationship questionable at the end. It didn't necessarily be the main part of the story like a true romance, but I would have liked there to be more conversations between the two even if it was in the friendly sense.

The only other issue I had was the pacing. The entire book seemed to read quite laid back. It wasn't necessarily slow, but there wasn't a lot of events that would keep you turning the page (at least for me). But within the last 100 pages, everything picked up. Characters started acting out of character and my hopes for a bigger discussion on the racism components were truncated to a few simple paragraphs. It felt rushed and tidy, which made the ending less fun for me.

Overall, a great book that many book clubs should pick up and chat about! I think that the books would be a great read for book clubs especially since it was fun to read, but then have those deeper discussions about racism. I hope the discourse you all have will be a productive one!

this was a DNF for me. It felt like it was a wanna be Crazy Rich Asians and I couldn't engage with the characters. Wanted to love it. Bummed.

Thank you @netgalley and @doubleday for the opportunity to read this book! The cover alone had me drooling and after the success of his past books I was eager to devour this book. Though once I got to Chpt 2 I realized something I recognized this story. I had to Google to be sure. Charlotte and Lucie complaining that you must have a view on your first visit to fill in the blank. Oh, we have a view take our room! Wait what? This is loosely based off my childhood favorite Helena Bonham Carter movie that I watched all the time with my mom and giggled at the bathing scene in the pond (if you've seen it you know what I mean). I adored Room with a View, now that version was decidedly extremely English and proper well as proper as George was, the scamp.

George and Lucie were my favorite romance growing up and this gives them a whole new layer of romance that stuffy 1908 Britain/Italy couldn't. I couldn't be more pleased with this book!
This book didn't disappoint me. I couldn't put it down!

This book has gotten mixed reviews and I have seen but not read Crazy Rich Asians so I can't really compare writing styles. This does hold the same plot points as the original RWAV but it has very different details about the super rich that I am for sure not privvy to. I found it entertaining and correlated them all to the original storyline. I can see how Charlotte was trying to protect Lucie's reputation that's what old money does. There is a big difference between old and new money and WASPs and everyone else. This did talk about a lot of that which is very relevant. People with old money don't want to share it, flaunt it, or use it. People with new money want to show it, wear it, flaunt it, and use it.

It was a self discovery for Lucie realizing that her families views of her did not have to dictate her life or be her views. She could write her own story, live her own life! She was refusing George and her Chinese heritage to please her family until she realized she didn't have to. She was pretty hard on him but he could see through all of them into her true self. She just needed a huge push.
Thank you for the ARC for an honest review!!

Meh - not my favorite. Being predictable was expected, but it was predictable without the satisfaction of a wonderful ending. There were a few curves at the end but not sure why - just left feeling like it wasn't great. Because I didn't love it, I won't be rating/reviewing on Goodreads or elsewhere.

This was a fun, entertaining book and while I did not pick up on the references to A Room with a View, realizing that based on the reviews actually makes me feel even fonder towards this. I found it enjoyable, and it has much of the over the top, unimaginable actions of the insanely wealthy that made the Crazy Rich Asians book so interesting. The Capri parts, with the beautifully described setting, was quite fun, but I also enjoyed the New York set parts as well. A great summer read!

I have really enjoyed Kevin Kwan's other books and this one is just as fun. This is a great romance and beautiful descriptions. The only drawback was the character of Lucie. I just couldn't connect with her. She is very mean. But I did enjoy the book.