He did it again! Love me some Kevin Kwan!! This book was pure escapism at its finest! Tucked into this one during my shelter in place summer and found myself laughing out loud and flipping to the next page to find what happened next! Another wonderfully entertaining peek into the lives of the fabulously rich! This time Kwan explores the life of a young lady who is coming to terms with her biracial heritage. I hated it ended as quickly as it did. I flew through this book!

Sex and Vanity is apparently a modern retelling of A Room with a View. Which I had no idea until I was almost done with it because I'm uncultured, apparently. I don't know how the book worked on the retelling front, but it was a perfectly fine beach read as a standalone. Honestly in some ways it was sorta like Crazy Rich Asians part 4. Kwan has a style and he's sticking to it - funny footnotes, lots of name dropping. It works, but Lucie wasn't as compelling as Rachel. But this could be the source material he's updating?? No idea. Regardless, it's still a fun book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed CRA or likes to read about rich people rich-peopling.

I loved Crazy Rich Asians (the whole series) and I expected to enjoy this one as well. I certainly did! I don't know why the world of excess is so entertaining to me, but Kwan writes it well. All in all, it is a fun and quick read. Definitely one I'd recommend.

What a great retelling of A Room with a View, with the great addition of the modern details of the super rich!

This book follows the same format as CRA just set in beautiful Italy and East Hampton. This was fun as expected from Kevin Kwan but I kept comparing it to CRA which Doesn’t compare. Still makes for a fun summer read

I really enjoyed this book and included it in my recent summer book roundup
https://mashable.com/article/summer-book-roundup-what-to-read/

Don’t you hate when a book you’re excited about is so aggressively… average? That’s how I felt about this one. It had all of the ritz and glamour of the Crazy Rich Asians series but just didn’t stand out as much to me. Kwan’s writing is stunning – he will transport you to wherever the book takes place. The start of this one is in Capri, Italy and I felt like I was there and was envisioning the Italian towns I visited last year while reading. I loved this book for that experience.

All that to say, I felt like there was just too much going on in the book. Apparently it’s a modern retelling of A Room With A View, which I haven’t read so I can’t comment on. Kwan touched on cultural appropriation and racial microaggressions, as well as recapturing the cattiness and name brand dropping of the CRA series. But instead of focusing on a few of these things and doing it well, I think that the issues were stretched too thin and didn’t get the proper coverage that they deserved.

The main character, Lucie, also just didn’t do it for me. She was boring. She had no backbone. She was 19 and needed a chaperone to a wedding? She was with a man who was a complete douche canoe to her and just let him walk all over her. No ma’am. She disliked George, who was so kind to her, for no reason. And there was a huge scandal at the beginning of the book that didn’t quite get the attention and discussion later on that I was needing.

I still think it’s worth a read, but I think my excitement for the release made my expectations a little too high.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher did the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sex and Vanity was a fun and quick summer read. It’s always fun to let yourself live vicariously through characters and their elegant lifestyles!

Welcome to the world of the ultra-rich. Where old blood and historical descendants have lavish weddings, multi-million dollar homes, and posh friends. Lucie Churchill grew up in the wealth and glitz but has always felt like an outsider until she meets two men that will test who she is and how she views her family. Sex and Vanity dive into the world of the elite, critiquing the standards, rules, and biases that are deeply ingrained. How a last name means more than the morals and values the person keeps. Kwan encapsulates the lush and decadent world the elite live in by describing the fashion, architect, and pose. The reader will be transported to the beaches of Capri and the streets of New York. Yet, with the over detail on the decadent lifestyle, some of the character development was lost. Lucie seemed superficial, privileged, and weak in most of her interactions. This was seen most when she interacted with her romantic relationships. These relationships did not have any depth or real connection. The overarching themes that could have brought depth to this summer read were barely touch on and the moments that could have been deep where fleeting

I never read Crazy Rich Asians but did see the movie and the premise of this one had me very interested. I love a love triangle and was excited to find out how Lucie's played out for her. I struggled from the beginning with the structure of this story. The choppy clippings, emails, invites, etc threw off the flow. I also found Lucie to be very naive throughout the story. I wish I was more invested in these characters but I wasn't. I appreciated how the author included details of the world of the super-wealthy, there was a lot of designer name dropping going on so if you enjoy that you'll be in for a treat.

I was really needing something light and kind of ridiculous to snap me out of the heaviness of our world today. And this was exactly what I needed. While I didn’t find Lucie or any of the characters too compelling, the story was entertaining. The first half of the book takes place in Capri where Lucie and George meet and Kwan’s descriptions of this magical place are so vivid it made me want to risk my health to fly there right now. This is a modern retelling of “A Room With A View,” which I did not read, so I can’t compare, but the pacing felt rushed in the second half. I did find the additional layer of racial micro-aggressions and racial identity interesting. I recommend if you want something light, fun and sexy for the summer.

Special thanks to Doubleday for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

After reading & loving the CRA series, I am so excited about Sex & Vanity. This title is top of my list for Summer Reading. For the time being, I am chalking up my difficulty in getting invested in the story to COVID. For right now, I am about 35% into the story. I love the Capri setting & love the wild, rich characters & education into the lives of the wealthy. Yet, I am having a hard time getting invested in the story. I'm going to set it down for right now & will try to read it again.

Thank you for the opportunity to be an early reader.

This one didn't do it for me. As ever, I enjoyed Kwan's gossipy footnotes and catty commentary, but it wasn't enough to balance a cast of characters I found supremely unlikeable (with few exceptions).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/kevin-kwan-moves-on-with-sex-and-vanity-but-the-characters-are-still-crazy-rich/2020/06/25/360f304a-b70b-11ea-aca5-ebb63d27e1ff_story.html

The wedding of the summer is still on — and you’d have to be crazy rich not to squeal in vicarious wonder at its opulence.

Custom-made Givenchy gowns. White truffle and caviar pizza. Millions of rose petals turned into a decadent carpet at a secluded villa.

Kevin Kwan’s new stand-alone novel, “Sex and Vanity” — following his wildly popular “Crazy Rich Asians” trilogy — opens at this over-the-top affair in Capri, Italy, before whisking readers off to the Hamptons. That’s a change of scenery for the author, whose previous books were largely set in Singapore and Hong Kong. But Kwan again delivers a set of ridiculously rich characters who are mostly Asian or Asian American.

Kevin Kwan is back with a new crew of ultra-wealthy characters in this modern spin on Room with a View. Lucie, the daughter of a Chinese-American doctor and the son from an extremely reputable and wealthy WASP family has always felt like an outsider to both her cultures, but has always done her best to make her family proud. While attending a lavish wedding in Capri with her uptight cousin Charlotte, Lucy become infatuated with George Zao, the dashing son of the outrageously wealthy Rosemary Zao, and someone she never could imagine fitting into her respectable world. When an intimate moment is interrupted by Charlotte, Lucie is ushered off the island never to see George again.... until her reappears years later soon after Lucie becomes engaged to one of the world’s most-eligible bachelors.

Once again we are swept away into the lavish detailing ( with footnotes) and fantastical descriptions Kwan is known for. Part 1 of this story checked all the boxes for me: excessive displays of wealth, adventure, drama, and of course romance. I found Lucie’s internalized racism along with the microagressions she experiences at the hands of her loved ones to be extremely compelling and timely. I think my lack of enthusiasm for the story stems from it being a retelling of Room with a View. I read this book without that context, and as a result, I found the plot, especially the second half, to be too predictable. I was so disappointed that I could figure out the exact beats of the story. Now knowing it’s a retelling, I think I can be a bit more gracious. If anything, this has me with a renewed interest in reading A Room with a View. I will make it clear when recommending that this is a retelling.

Sex and Vanity delivers more of what Kevin Kwan has become known for after writing the Crazy Rich Asians series—lavish descriptions of luxury, unabashed brand name dropping, and cheeky footnotes—but that’s not all it offers. Although it’s a romantic comedy and a retelling of A Room with a View, a central conflict in Sex and Vanity is the biracial white and Chinese American main character vs. her internalized racism.

In Part I, which spans almost half the book, nineteen-year-old Lucie Churchill (yes, those Churchills) attends the extravagant destination wedding of her childhood friend, chaperoned by her older cousin, Charlotte. Within the travelogue of beautiful places and real historical sites in Capri, Italy, are a number of instances in which Lucie experiences and witnesses racism and microaggressions. These moments add up, chip away at Lucie's self-worth, and lead her to choose Cecil despite her attraction to George. While I loved Lucie's story arc, the romance fell flat for me because George seemed too perfect to be real. Lastly, I loved both Rosemary and Marian, and their friendship. It was a joy to see them connect over cooking and the films they both loved.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to seeing what Kwan has up his sleeve for the rest of the trilogy.

I received a free copy of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Crazy Rich Asians. It seemed like just a list of name dropping and details of extravagant purchases. Wasn't nearly as funny as in the past. #sexandvanity #netgalley #kevinkwan

Following the hit series of Crazy Rich Asians, I was super excited to see that Kwan was giving us more in *Sex and Vanity*. Kwan writes spectacle so well. The over the top scenes and the footnotes make this book another winner. I really enjoyed the entire experience and look forward to the audio version!

I did not read the Crazy, Rich Asian series, but was expecting great things with this book and was disappointed. The beginning with the description of Capri just made me want to go there, but I didn't understand Lucie's character who is supposedly smart, but come across as mindless & juvenile. Her original antagonism to George is perplexing. I'm also not sure why George would have any interest in her. Overall, just an ok read.

I received this title from the publisher through Net Galley and this is my unbiased review.

I liked the CRA series so much I didn't know if there was more to write on the topic. Kwan, through this story, addresses the issue of race and the line people must experience in trying to cross that line from one culture and assimilate to the WASP culture of American old money. So it is a re-telling of the issue Fitzgerald tackled in his novels. As a child immigrant from Europe to the United States I can understand that desire to fit into American culture but I grew out of that by the time I was 16. Lucie still struggling with that in her mid twenties is a little strange.

The Lucie character, although central to the novel, is childlike and I was impatient with her self centered behavior and I think Kwan did a better job with Rachel (CRA) because she was more sure of herself. I didn't understand, given Lucie's mother and brother, how she wasn't a more confident character. Also, does anyone like Cecil really exist and I didn't think his back story was developed enough.

The story is also a retake on A Room With A View and I think that it is interesting that we are still dealing with the same issues of class, wealth and prejudice over one hundred years later. Over all I enjoyed the book great summer read one quote stuck with me though and I will end with it: "When we allign with the truth of who we are, all things are possible."