The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with a glittering tale of love and longing as a young woman finds herself torn between two worlds–the WASP establishment of her father’s family and George Zao, a man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with.
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 the view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can’t stand that he knows more about Curzio 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. “Your mother is Chinese so it’s no surprise you’d be attracted to someone like him,” Charlotte teases. Daughter of an American-born-Chinese mother and 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. Soon, Lucy is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment, and ultimately herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world–and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures
Thoughts
As someone who has not read any of Kevin Kwan's books, I came into Sex and Vanity with little expectations. I watched the Crazy Rich Asians movie and I loved it, but as we know the quality of the book does not necessarily translate into the movie. Diving in, I knew that Sex and Vanity was supposed to be a lighthearted and fun romantic comedy with little to no deep message takeaway. However, I was expecting a drama-packed whirlwind romance. Instead, the entire book's plot is revealed in its synopsis with more fluff in between. I found parts of it boring and predictable; there were no moments of shock or surprise other than one or two of the romantic scenes between George and Lucie.
One of the problems I had with the romance was that it was poorly executed and there was no reason why Lucie and George should have been together. There is little character development with both of the main characters and both of them fall rather flat. Their attraction to each other runs surface deep and the romance between the two was just lust and primal attraction. Another problem was that Lucie as a character lacked a backbone; she does whatever she can to please her family even if it meant embracing her WASP side more than her Asian heritage by not allowing herself to fall in love with George, which I found ridiculous. Lucie is a weak protagonist can't seem to make decisions for herself until near the end of the book when she is called out for deceiving herself. I did find George Zao likable on the other hand, but he was just too perfect and put on a pedestal as a champion surfer, billionaire, rich hippie dude all in one.
That being said, Sex and Vanity can be a fun, easy-breezy, lighthearted read if you don't expect too much of it in any aspect. The scenes that Kwan paints in Capri and New York are fun and filled with haute couture and designer names, pop references, and comedic dialogue between characters. As a Cantonese speaking Chinese myself, I found the references to Chinese culture quite relatable and funny, such as the scene where the characters talk about Chinese fighting over the bill and when it included funny anglicized phrases such as "M sai hak hei" (No need to be polite). It tackles some issues of racism, internalized racism, and microaggressions from Lucie being half Asian and half white and we see Lucie eventually embracing her Asian heritage by choosing to be with George over her ridiculous fiancé, Cecil.
Overall not bad of a book, but don't expect too much of the characters or the plot. It does a good job of infusing both Asian and Western cultures with added extravagance and pomp but otherwise, the romance is lackluster.
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