Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor. 
 
On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Book Overview:

Author: Kevin Kwan | Series: Crazy Rich Asians | Format: Audiobook | Narrated by: Lynn Chen | Length: 13 hours, 53 mins | Publish Date: May 20, 2014 | Genre: Contemporary | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: HECK YES



“Remember, every treasure comes with a price.” 


I normally don’t read adult books, let alone adult contemporary books, but since I know the movie is coming out this year and I heard such good things about this book, I knew I had to at least try it.

I definitely was not disappointed.

One of the reasons why I wanted to read this book as well was because there aren’t many books about Asian families that I’ve come across. I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, after watching the movie with my mom countless times. You could say that the premise can be deemed similar in that it’s about Chinese families, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. In this case, this book is about the life and times of the crazy rich Asian families in Singapore, and what happens when a lowly commoner falls in love with one of their prodigal sons.

Rachel Chu was invited by her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, to spend an entire summer in Singapore with his family. She’s down for the trip but has no idea what she’s getting into. It’s not her fault though since Nick never thought to tell her that he’s actually from a hella rich family, and is pretty much Asian royalty because of it. So you can imagine her surprise when she finds that Singapore is filled with rich and snooty girls thinking that Rachel is only after Nick for his money, and resorting to their mean girl tactics to get her to disappear forever.

“Just because some people actually work for their money doesn’t mean they are beneath you.” 


See, Rachel doesn’t come from an affluent family, although her mother has become a successful real estate agent in her own right. She met her boyfriend Nick at NYU, where they are both undergraduate professors – her in economics and him in history – and the rest is history. They’ve been dating for two years now, and Nick has met Rachel’s mother and uncle in San Francisco. You would think that it would have been time for Rachel to meet Nick’s family already right?

Well…

So of course, chaos ensues. It’s so interesting to know just how far these rich Chinese women will go to find out Rachel’s background, and how far they will go to get Nick to break up with her. They don’t let just anyone in, and with Rachel being pretty much a nobody, there’s no way that they are going to accept her just like that. The vindictiveness of these “crazy rich Asians” added just enough drama to this book that made me continue it, but I think it was the behavior of the rich boys that made me laugh out loud even more.

There were aspects of the book, like Rachel’s mom worrying about what Nick’s parents would think about her not behaving like a proper Chinese daughter that made me think about my own family. We may only be part Chinese, but Rachel’s mom really reminded me of my own and I had to appreciate my mom every single time Rachel’s mom was in the picture. I love it when books do that. They usually get a special part in my heart for years to come.

I honestly can’t wait to see how this book translates onto the big screen. I looked up the cast, and I agree with everyone they chose! It’s almost perfect, and I really hope they do this book justice.

Author Spotlight
Courtesy of Goodreads

Born: in Singapore, Singapore
Genre: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary
Goodreads Member Since: March 2013

Kevin Kwan is the author of “Crazy Rich Asians,” the international bestseller now being adapted as a major motion picture. The sequel, “China Rich Girlfriend,” will be released on June 16, 2015. Born and raised in Singapore, Kwan has called Manhattan home for the past two decades but still craves pineapple tarts and a decent plate of Hokkien mee. 
A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain

A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 1 Comment

Beautiful and brilliant, Kendra Donovan is a rising star at the FBI. Yet her path to professional success hits a speed bump during a disastrous raid where half her team is murdered, a mole in the FBI is uncovered and she herself is severely wounded. As soon as she recovers, she goes rogue and travels to England to assassinate the man responsible for the deaths of her teammates.

While fleeing from an unexpected assassin herself, Kendra escapes into a stairwell that promises sanctuary but when she stumbles out again, she is in the same place – Aldrich Castle – but in a different time: 1815, to be exact.

Mistaken for a lady’s maid hired to help with weekend guests, Kendra is forced to quickly adapt to the time period until she can figure out how she got there; and, more importantly, how to get back home. However, after the body of a girl is found on the extensive grounds of the county estate, she starts to feel there’s some purpose to her bizarre circumstances. Stripped of her twenty-first century tools, Kendra must use her wits alone in order to unmask a cunning madman.

Book Overview:

Author: Julie McElwain | Series: Kendra Donovan | Format: Audiobook | Narrated by: Lucy Rayner | Length: 18 hours, 39 mins | Publish Date: April 11, 2016 | Genre: Mystery / Time-Travel / Historical Fiction | Literary Awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2016) | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Yes


“Whoever had said that appearances were deceiving was only partially right; they could also be deadly.” 


So I definitely wouldn’t have chosen this book on my own, but I am very glad that I did end up reading it, thanks to a buddy read on Goodreads. Thanks Jennifer for choosing this book!

This was a time travel murder-mystery book. Since I did end up reading a time travel book sometime last year that I absolutely didn’t like, I was worried about this one. That goes to show that I shouldn’t judge a genre by its cover. I really loved the murder mystery aspect of this book, and throughout the entire book, I just wanted to know who the heck the killer was and whether or not Kendra Donovan was going to figure it out.

I was a little confused about the beginning though, thinking that the book spent too much time in the present time, but by the time Kendra was sent away to the past, I understood why it went that way. To give a better background, Kendra Donovan was considered a child prodigy, going to college at only 14 years old and being the youngest person to be accepted into the FBI. It doesn’t hurt that she’s the product of some crazy experiments that dealt with super smart scientists combining their DNA to create even super smarter children – deemed “Frankenbabies”. Everything seems to be going well for Kendra until an FBI mission goes terribly wrong and she almost dies at the hand of a traitor.

After dealing with months of rehabilitation – she did almost die after all – she decides that she’s going to take justice into her own hands and finish the mission that she never got to complete on the night she almost died. Everything seems to be going well too, poetic justice and all that, when the plan goes awry and she somehow finds herself… in the past. Kendra must not have watched many time travel movies because it took her an entire day to realize that she was not going crazy and that she was not the victim of some elaborate prank. No, she was really sent to Aldrich Castle in 1819 England, and she had no idea how she was going to go back.

If that wasn’t enough, now she had to figure out how to catch a serial killer in a time where the term wasn’t even in existence.

That should be fun for an FBI agent, right?

Kendra definitely has her work cut out for her, and without any of the technology she could rely on in the present, she’s going to have to prove that her Frankenbaby brain of hers can solve a mystery on her own before any more murders take place.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book, and while the ending was something that I was a little upset with, for the most part, I liked what happened. I’m interested to find out what happens next, and I’m excited that the final book is coming out later on this year. Maybe I can find out how Kendra’s time travel journey ends. Hopefully on a good note?

Author Spotlight
Courtesy of Goodreads

Born: The United States

Julie McElwain began her journalistic career at California Apparel News, a weekly Los Angeles based trade newspaper. She has freelanced for numerous publications from professional photographers magazines to those following the fashion industry. Currently, Julie is West Coast Editor for Soaps In Depth, a national soap opera magazine covering the No. 1 daytime drama, The Young and the Restless. Julie lives in Long Beach, CA.
Book vs. Movie – Catching Fire

Book vs. Movie – Catching Fire

by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment


Welcome to the 75th Hunger Games!

I mean, welcome back to another Book vs. Movie Showdown! I love these posts so much. Can’t you tell? Anyway, I’m back with another one, and this time it’s a sequel. I haven’t read sequels in so long! Or actually, if you have seen my earlier postings, I usually read the first book of a series and don’t go on to the next one for many years. It’s a bad habit, but I’m slowly getting over it.


You guessed it! This showdown is all about Catching Fire, the second installment of The Hunger Games! It’s only getting better and better in my opinion, and I’m very excited to see which one wins. Are you ready? Let the games begin!

* * * * * * * * * * S P O I L E R S   B E L O W   T H I S   L I N E * * * * * * * * * *


So the first thing I have to say is: wow.

Both the book and the movie were incredible. This one is going to be a hard one for me, especially since after reading the book, I can see that the movie did a pretty good job of following the book. I love it when movies do that, don’t you?

While I was going through the book, I just kept thinking about what parts they could have added to the movie to make it even more exciting, or which parts they took out of the movie that probably would have slowed down the pace. I think it’s important when directors and producers are able to make creative decisions to make sure that the movie is a good one, even if it means that not everything is exactly like the book verbatim. Sometimes, it makes it work out better for both the source material and the movie.

There were certain scenes in the book and the movie that – while they were pretty much the same – gave me completely different feels or reactions. Cinna’s death in the book didn’t seem as final as it was for me in the movie. Katniss’s reaction to Cinna being brutally beaten by the guards made it that much worse to witness it than just hearing Katniss’s reaction to it in the book. I cried a lot more in the movie than the book. Another one was Mag’s sacrifice. In the book, Katniss sees her convulse before she is dead, but I was still way more emotional about her dying in the movie. The way she bravely walked in the mist without any hesitation, after kissing Finnick goodbye for the last time just completely broke my heart.

Some of the differences that I can recall:

  • First meeting between Katniss and Plutark (Book)
  • Katniss meeting the runaways from District 8 (Book)
  • The discovery of the facade surrounding District 13 (Book)
  • The wedding preparation (Book)
  • What happened in District 11 during Katniss and Peeta’s Victory Tour (Book)
  • The interaction between Katniss and the Victor-Tributes during training (Book)
  • The revelation of Plutark’s involvement in the games (Book)

I am so glad that I have the opportunity to read this series for the first time while doing a rewatch of the series. It definitely allows me to appreciate the movies in a new light. But, once again… there can only be one winner. Unless I should pull a Katniss and Peeta and start a rebellion? Hmm…


I definitely loved the details that the book included much more than the fact that the movie didn’t include it. I think it would have made it that much better. I definitely recommend reading this book. It was much better than the second one in my opinion.

What do you think? Do you agree, or should the movie have won? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.