Andrea Tang is smart and successful. Her career is really taking off, and she enjoys a great social life. Unfortunately, her very traditional, wealthy Asian family gives her no credit for any of this, because Andrea is not yet married. The pressure is on -- constantly! She does find romance, but the way is not smooth or straightforward. Andrea is a very appealing and relatable main character, and we care about her and her happiness. There's lots of humor in this story, which makes it even more fun. I look forward to recommending this to readers who enjoy the Crazy Rich Asian series or Helen Hoang's books.

Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho⁣
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Thank you @putnambooks for a #gifted copy in exchange for my honest review! ⁣
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I saw a lot of comparisons for this book to Crazy Rich Asians, but I found that the writing & actual storyline were quite different. ⁣
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Last Tang Standing follows 33-year-old Andrea Tang, a successful lawyer trying to make partner before the year ends. She lives comfortably in her posh condo, but there’s just one thing missing: a husband. She is the last one in her family to get married, a fact she is very often reminded of by her Chinese-Malaysian family.⁣
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This book is written like a diary — Andrea pours her heart (and drunken, late night thoughts) into this diary, and while at first I felt it was all over the place, I really enjoyed it at the end! Andrea was also, for lack of a better word, a hot mess 😂 I did get frustrated with her stubbornness (and slight drinking problem?), but I grew to love her & her character development.⁣
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When the time comes and she has to choose between Eric Deng, a perfect match in her family’s eyes, and Suresh Aditparan, her office rival that her mother would NOT approve of, who will Andrea choose? ⁣
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Another thing I appreciated was Andrea’s relationship with her mom — she had a tense relationship with her, but towards the end of the book, Andrea realizes why her mother acts the way she does, and that it’s always out of love. I think lots of people tend to view Asian parents as relentless, nagging, shallow, and even borderline racist (which is addressed in this book through Andrea’s sister’s fiancé, a Malay-Muslim man) so I’m glad we got to get more in-depth with her mom 💛⁣

This book is pitched as a blend of Crazy Rich Asians and Bridget Jones’ Diary and delivers on those promises. I loved Andrea Tang; she’s ambitious, funny, and has her soft spots. It was definitely a predictable plot, but a fun one to watch unfold nonetheless. We also get a great rivals-to-lovers storyline in here. I was so afraid there was gonna be a major cheating plot line (which I really don’t like) but there was only really explicit cheating done by background characters. Overall, this book was witty, fun, and quick.

First reaction.
Last Tang Standing is absorbing and addictive. Comps that name check Bridget Jones Diary rarely work. That’s doubly true of descriptions like Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones. They’re never accurate. This time, however, the comparison totally nails it. I love that this is a sharply drawn portrait of a particular segment of a particular culture as much as it’s romance. The social observation is smart and funny, spot on and original, the voice perfectly imperfect and totally relatable. It’s all very specific, and a wonderful surprise.

Being accurate and sharply observed of course means that there’s a fair amount of ugliness on the page: racism, body shaming, sexism. It’s worth it.

Full review to come.

Lauren Ho’s Last Tang Standing is probably one of my favourite reads of the year. Her novel has been labelled a combination of Crazy Rich Asians and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and while this is technically accurate considering the style and genre, I believe Ho charts a path all her own. In Last Tang Standing we are introduced to Andrea Tang, a senior associate at a successful law firm who is looking to make partner. She is also looking for the man to spend the rest of her life with; making partner seems an easier task than this tall order.

The novel begins with Andrea and her best friend/cousin Linda attending a lavish luncheon hosted by their Auntie Wei Wei on the second day of Chinese New Year, preparing for the dreaded confrontation of their singleton status. My Chinese single friends have described such occasions to me before, the onslaught of aunties asking them if they are attached, the judging eyes and matchmaking efforts that ensue when the answer is no. Ho’s writing style is effortlessly funny, with spot-on social commentary and superb crafting of Andrea’s narrative voice. I don’t need to read the footnotes since I live in Singapore and understand most of the references, but Ho makes me want to devour all of it because her humour is laced into everything. I raced through the book and only had to take a break because my eyes were getting droopy even though my mind was still invested.

In Andrea’s challenges we see the challenge of being a woman. No matter how successful you are in your career, you are still found wanting if that life doesn’t come with a husband and family. Being married is still a huge part of our social worth, and Andrea finds herself worried about it constantly because she is told that she should be married and churning out kids at her age. So Andrea throws herself into the dating world, be it through dating apps, high society book clubs and even enduring a blind date, all in an attempt to find someone suitable enough. The One is a fantasy, maybe someone good enough will do.

And along comes Eric Deng, a multi-millionaire, older and matured enough to know what he wants, eager to introduce Andrea into his life. Rich, good looking and very successful – isn’t that what we are told to look for in a man? But we can’t help but feel that Andrea isn’t convinced, even as she loudly remarks on the the eligibility of Eric, and pragmatically, she can’t go wrong if she chooses to marry him. On the other side of things is colleague Suresh, her competition for partner, and despite her attempts to villainise him, we sense a camaraderie and kinship between the two.

Much like Andrea, Suresh doesn’t have it all figured out too. He has a fiance who wants a life in London while he doesn’t, he has a passion for his graphic novel The Last True Self, which he posts snippets of on an IG page. But the life of an artist is a pipe dream, and being a lawyer isn’t. Andrea has worked hard to achieve her goal of being made partner, but she never stopped to ask herself if this is what she truly wants. We are taught from young that there are certain careers and paths that we should strive for, all in an attempt to elevate our social worth. However, all this is based on capitalist notions – we chase money and not our dreams.

There is also the added hurdle of race, given that Suresh is Indian and Andrea is Chinese, becoming an issue because of cultural expectations and traditions. But Ho makes it clear that this remains an issue only if you allow yourself to accept the status quo. You need to be brave and exercise your own sense of agency, and that will effect change for the next generation. Ho also belabours that we cannot expect love to conquer all. We can marry for love, however, this doesn’t guarantee a happily-ever-after. All we can do is make the leap, and hope that the other person is waiting to catch us.

Last Tang Standing is the rom-com genre at its best, mainly because Ho focuses on the development of her protagonist, which comes way before any romantic prospect. Things come together romantically for Andrea when she has figured herself out, just the way it should be.

4.5 Stars, HJ Recommended Read!!

Andrea has nearly achieved everything that she has wanted in her life, at thirty three she is loving her best life; a thriving career as a lawyer on her way to making partner, s group of supportive fun loving friends and a snazzy apartment. One would think she is a success, but in the eyes of her traditional Asian mother she has failed at one major milestone; she is thirty three and unmarried. Adding to this already stressful pressure Andrea is the last remaining singleton from the Tang family. Completely happy with her life the way it is and content without having a man in her life, but also being the dutiful Chinese-Malaysian daughter that she is Andrea finally relents to the constant pressure from her meddling relatives, her only problem now being that her romantic prospects are not looking very fruitful.

With all of the pressure from her family not to dishonour their ancestors, the last thing that Andrea needed is for things between her work rival Suresh to heat up. To add to her growing confusion life throws another romantic prospect into the mix, this time in the form of the charming Chinese businessman Eric, exactly the type of guy her mother would love for to settle down with. Faced with dealing with being torn between these two men, pleasing her family and what she wants, Andrea begins to fear there is no real win at the end of the day.
When the blurb described this novel as Crazy Rich Asian meets Bridget Jones’s Diary, I had no idea how spot on that description would be. I was a huge fan of Crazy Rich Asian and Last Tang Standing has only added to my love of the Asian literature genre. This novel gives a very good depiction of the cultural norms and societal ways found in the Asian culture. Andrea has to be one of the most relatable characters I have read thus far, from her career struggles to the pressure that she feels from her family. What I really enjoyed was that we got to see bits of Andrea’s diary, which really helped me get a true feel of what she was going through. In saying this I liked that for a change the lead female was not some wilting flower, Lauren portrayed Andrea as a strong, ambitious and hardworking, all while still giving her a softer side, showing her doubts and fears.

I loved the flow of the narrative, it started out a little on the slower side but once you got into it, the pace picked up nicely. I liked that even though there were a lot and I mean a lot of different characters involved in Andrea’s story Lauren has done well in introducing each character so that we do not get confused or overwhelmed.

In saying all of this I think as much as I found references and similarities to Crazy Rich Asians, I found that instead of only looking at the family influence on romantic prospects, Last Tang Standing touched on not only the pressure females face to get settled down by a certain age but also how that impacts your professional life. This is definitely a book I would recommend reading, this slow burn will have you reflecting on your own life.

I received a free ebook copy through Netgalley.

I enjoyed reading the book. It was an easy read and perfect to get through COVID-19 reading slump. It was interesting to read about Singapore’s culture and about Andrea’s dilemma of being the last Tang without a partner. The plot was difficult to follow at times due to the diary/journal format and attention to too many details (her work and other characters) that didn’t necessarily apply to the story. Enjoyed Andrea and Suresh’s interactions but was left wanting more. It would have been more interesting if their relationship had been explored further.

A delicious read Lauren Ho is an authorI will be following.Andrea Tang auk trained attorney a Singapore girl shares with us her life her horrible dates.Her very entertaining families pressure for her to get married told in diary form I was completely charmed by Andrea her family her law partner overall fun involving read.#netgalley #penguin

The last Tang standing had me laughing out loud. In my opinion, this was a way better version of Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians. These characters had heart and oh so many hangovers. I loved the family relationships and the snags that seemed to follow Andrea around. Having to dig deep to follow her heart took a long time, but it's so easy to get lost and not be able to see the forest through the trees.

The brand name dropping was excessive, but not nearly as bad as others in this same Asian rom-com.

Links to follow!

This novel has been hailed as Bridget Jones's Diary meets Crazy Rich Asians and it is exactly that...with some surprises thrown in.

Last Tang Standing is a cute story overall. There were a lot of great moments and I enjoyed the way the characters interacted. Andrea had a strong voice and it was fun getting to know her. I liked the descriptions as they made everything easy to visualize and didn't weigh down the story. I liked all the cultural aspects, as well.

I wasn't on board with this novel being in diary format, since most of the story was told with dialogue. It has always been a pet peeve of mine to see dialogue in someone's diary. I also would have liked if the dates corresponded to the past or current year a bit more. I kept wondering what year it was. I didn't understand most of the law terminology, so it would have been nice to have footnotes or something along those lines.

This was an enjoyable chick lit read for the summer and it kept me entertained throughout.

Movie casting suggestions:
Andrea: Vanessa Matsui
Suresh: Nikesh Patel
Linda: Brenda Song
Valerie: Sandra Oh
Eric: Will Yun Lee
Orson: Ryan Potter
Anousha: Richa Moorjani

A big thanks to the author and Putnam Books for the digital galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Have you ever read a book that resonated with you? Because that is what I felt while reading Last Tang Standing. This laugh-out-loud novel portrayed the pressure that women, especially Asian women, experience regarding familial responsibilities, career choice, and finding and settling down with the perfect partner whom one’s ancestors could boast and be proud of.

The story follows Andrea Tang, a thirty-three-year-old MA lawyer, who according to her own mother, almost winning at life. She was one step close to becoming a partner at her firm, and the only thing that hindered her for finally living the ‘perfect life’ was her lack of marriage and kids. Being the dutiful daughter that she was, these expectations were hard to ignore. As well as the men in her life: Suresh Aditparan, her annoying rival at work, and Eric Deng, a wealthy entrepreneur. Would Andrea succeed in pursuing a successful life that would please her family while also being true to herself?

Oh boy, what a fun ride! This book perfectly fits the description as Crazy Rich Asian meets Bridget Jones’s Diary. There was no such thing as dull moments because every second I spent reading this novel was enjoyable. The stead pacing was good, and despite its epistolary narration style, the author still managed to show not tell the scenes and emotions evoked by the characters. I also liked Lauren Ho’s writing style: humorous with a bit of sarcasm. She was able to smoothly switch the mood and atmosphere between light and fun moments to serious ones. She also gave Andrea, the main character, a commanding yet friendly voice which kept me hooked and felt more connected with the story. Romance wise, there were lots of tensions going on between the love interests. A slow-burn romance and hate-to-love trope were there. Even I had a hard time choosing who I wanted for Andrea.

I like how culturally diverse the characters are. What more is, they all felt so real. Andrea was a reliable, funny character. My personal favorite, of course, is Linda, Andrea’s cousin and best friend, who has Filipino blood. I’m also happy that all the characters here had their purposes, not two-dimensional, and especially not for just the sake of diversity.

The book discussed the weight of familial expectations which is very common to Asian families. Asian families teach and ingrain in the minds of their children that they need to study hard, go to a good school, pursue a high-paying job like for us, Filipinos, a nurse, an engineer, or a doctor because children’s endeavors in their school are very much regarded as an investment, not only in their children but also in the subsequent financial stability of the family itself. Parents define the law, and children are expected to do their requests and demands. Filial piety or respect for elders is also very important. That’s why I can really relate to Andrea. It’s hard to please others when you yourself aren’t happy about those requests and demands. You can’t just ignore them fully since you feel this sense of obligation. However, Last Tang Standing highlighted that we should not be swayed by other people’s opinions and decisions, even when they were good intentions, because, in the end, we are the one who has to live with those choices and consequences.

Overall, Last Tand Standing by Lauren Ho is a hilarious read with serious undertones that reminds us all of our success is different. Also, it has multicultural characters that readers will love. I highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading more of Lauren’s work.

4.5 stars!

Andrea Tang is a thirty year old successful lawyer, but in the eyes of her traditional Chinese/Malaysian family, she cannot be truly successful without a husband and kids. Andrea is competing for a partner positions with Suresh, a transplant from the London branch of the firm, engaged to Anousha, but having some confusing chemistry with Andrea. There are many additional characters like Linda, Andrea’s best friend. There were some very funny parts in the book focusing on Andrea’s attempts at finding the right man. I did feel the book would appeal to a younger audience than older, but all in all, it was a fun read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

LAST TANG STANDING is a hilarious and honest story about Andrea Tang, a Chinese- Malaysian lawyer living in Singapore. Even though having a successful career, her life is not "perfect" as her family pressures her to get married and have kids. So here starts the story with Andrea trying to find someone through dating apps and blind dates.

I enjoyed a lot reading LAST TANG STANDING! The big family gathering at the beginning of the novel was so familiar and relatable - the matriarchal strong symbol represented by Tang family's grandma; all the wealth and elder respect that Asian culture highlights is so true and I kept nodding while thinking "yes yes yes, this is it!". I can also totally empathize with the mental and emotional torture from older relatives as they keep pressuring about the subject of marriage and kids - we used to be regarded as "rude" for being too much direct in our thoughts from Western eyes.

It was so pleasant to read and I felt nostalgic while reading the Chinese cultural references - the status symbol everywhere shown by the red color, porcelain vases, orchids and peacock, as well as the traditional Chinese food during festivities that made my moth water.

I loved how Ho writes the friendship between Linda, Andrea and Valerie - this dynamic is built only when you have a long-time relationship and it felt intimate and organic. It reminded me of the friendship with my best friend, when we don't think twice before speaking our thoughts and share raw moments.

Moreover, Ho covers serious topics of interracial marriage mixed with racism and tiger parenting. I found the approaches very accurate and they are issues deeply ingrained in the cultural context.
Andrea's love story was cute and realistic - at times I was rooting for one candidate while partly for another one; I was eager to read about her interaction with both Eric and Suresh.

The writing is easy and humorous with a bit of satirical tone; I enjoyed the structure in form of diary and thought that it helped with the flow.
My only critique is that the pacing was quite uneven since the middle part was a bit dragged and monotone, however, the pace picked up towards the end. Most importantly, Andrea was a well-developed and flawed character that I wanted to know more and cheer on. Ultimately, I was absorbed in the setting and captivating characters.
I do recommend this novel!

[ I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review ]

This was pitched as Bridget Jones Diary meets Crazy Rich Asians and I would definitely have to agree with that sentiment. It was fast paced, funny and taught me alot about the Chinese-Malaysian culture and how pressured women feel that they have to get married young or by their thirties or their families will disown them and cut them out.
Andrea was funny and brash and the romance in this is a mixture of hate to love and the definition of slowwww burn. Overall funny, thoughtful and insightful.

I enjoyed this book a lot!

This was a fun read about thirty-three year old Andrea Tang, a Chinese- Malaysian living in Singapore as a successful lawyer. A recent break-up with her boyfriend leaves her as the last In her Tang clan to be married and that is highly disappointing for her family.

With a hilarious take on single life, and the dating scene as a 30 something successful professional this was romp full of fun. The hilarious scenes will have you laughing out loud. And turning those pages - I found it hard to put down.

I really enjoyed Lauren Ho’s writing - it was refreshing, open, very modern and sexy!

With a completely relatable motley crew of characters, your heart will endear with each one. I promise!

I recommend this read and look forward to reading more about Andrea and the rest of the gang!

Why is it so hard for family to mind their own business and just be happy for you and moments that you care about!
Sometimes people in your life mean well but figuring that out is a part of life too. This is a really fun read and while I wouldn't exactly compare it to Crazy Rich Asians, I would say that they did get it right in comparing it to a Chinese Malaysian Bridget Jones Diary . You do however get that Vibe of extravagant lifestyles and in finding your place in the world that is full of things that either don't want you to blend in or stand out but not too much.
if you like to read Diaries are things in Diary form or poetry or prose would be something you would enjoy who doesn't like a happy ending! Even if it's not exactly what you expected.

first of all, thank you @prhinternational & @hellolaurenho for this beauty. the cover is so gorgeous & the spine is a wow! I seriously love it to bits. I mean, how many times can a reader laugh in a book? told in a series of diary entries, this one is very relatable in terms of being a modern day woman & dating. it is a plus point for me that it also tackled more about being asian particularly being chinese. this one is set in singapore so you can expect fabulous designer clothes & delicious foods. there are also filipino characters in the book who were portrayed positively. I mean, it's not fair for us filipinos to be stereotyped as troublemakers/criminals (as most books I've read suggested) & that we're all housekeepers (lol) because we're more than that. it's a plus point that the book radiates a positive aura all throughout. Last Tang Standing is available in the market today. so grab your copies & don't miss this rom-com with haters-to-lovers trope + many more laugh out loud travel & romantic scenes. what happens when The Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones' Diary? hello, it's the Last Tang Standing.

Last Tang Standing is a must have for everyone's beach bag this summer!

This book is exactly what I thought it was going to be and I am so glad about that! It's too often that a book is described as being similar to another, only to find out that it's not! Thankfully, that wasn't the case here and I found myself loving the culture, laugh out loud moments, and the skilled writing of the characters. Lauren Ho has not only introduced me to a culture I'm not familiar with, but she did so with such ease and percision that I felt like I was experiencing it through her characters. This my friends, makes for an excellent debut and I can't recommend it enough!

This book was like Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones and utterly entertaining. The story of a 30 something year old lawyer in Singapore trying to balance work, friends, her family and finding a husband. Part of it was in diary form and part narrative and the two worked seamlessly together. It was full of pop culture and fashion references and general millennial angst. All while touching in pursuing your own dreams versus what your family expects of you and being true to yourself. Such a fun read that I enjoyed thoroughly!!

Andrea Tang, 33, is a successful lawyer on the partner track with a beautiful apartment and great friends. Unfortunately, her relatives view her unmarried status as a failure. Having broken up with a long-term boyfriend, Andrea resorts to trying dating apps and allowing her best friend to set up her profile. Meanwhile she is sharing an office with handsome, engaged Suresh, a rival for the partnership, who drives her insane. Readers will love this Bridget Jones-ish story filled with lots of laughs. Highly recommended - a great summer read!