Hello Everyone!
Today is the first book post for the summer book club! Because of when I came up with the idea and got my list together this first book which incidentally might be the longest had the least amount of time. I’m sorry! It was awful planning on my part, however, I have still come prepared thanks to listening to this book at 1.5x the speed and a marathon cleaning session.
First Impression of The Last Tang Standing: It really is Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones Diary.
Scroll down for my review and thoughts!
Up Next:
July 8th: The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms
Length: 328 Pages
**** SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD ****
The Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
| Rating: 9/10 | Readability: 10/10 | Would Recommend: Yes! |
I got completely sucked into this book, could not put it down sucked in. I would mostly read at night and kept messing up my sleep schedule because I could not put the book down. Overall I really did enjoy the book, even if there were a few moments where I wanted to scream at Andrea to get her head out of her butt.
I found Andrea to be really relatable as a protagonist as she’s a very flawed character in a realistic way. The author being a woman greatly helped the portrayal of the woman in this book, because unlike a man who would likely write something like “Andrea, despite being late for work, always managed to look fresh as a daisy” we actually got Andrea falling asleep at her desk and drooling, old sports bras and awkward underwear moments with her mother.
I love this book being set in Singapore with bits of the culture woven through, familiar places like Lau Pa Sat or Tiong Bahru making appearances always make me happy as I can visualize the scene in my head. Similar to a book being set in NYC when a character walks through Times Square, you can see those big billboards and the omnipresent crowd. I do wish that there had been more slang woven through especially with the Characters that are Singaporean who would very freely use Singlish, but I know that the main character is an ex-pat so she wouldn’t necessarily use Singlish or potentially even hangout with locals often.
For romance through this novel, I felt is was a little formulaic (but how many love story variations are there really?), but still enjoyable. *Spoiler* I’m so happy she ended up following her heart and didn’t end up married to Eric Deng, he wasn’t right for her and it always seemed like he liked the idea of Andrea but in reality wanted someone to be a Tai Tai (wealth woman who doesn’t work). Do I wish she had gotten on a flight to NYC and had did a crazy romantic gesture… yes, obviously that would have been good reading. However, her staying in Singapore, while initially born out of fear, was probably the better choice so she could heal and figure out what she wanted. Though the end when Suresh shows up and sweeps her off her feet was *chefs kiss* perfection.
If I were to change anything, I probably would change her propensity to get hella drunk all the time. There were a few moments throughout the books – Val’s wedding in particular – where she really should’ve stayed sober. It wasn’t a good look and a rational person would usually try their best to keep it together on one of their friends wedding days.
xoxo S
To Come:
Sex and Vanity, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, P.S. I Still Love You, and Always and Forever, Lara Jean
