3.5 stars

What a weird book. Maybe this kind of book is common in its genre, but since I don't read chick lit or contemporary books, especially about rich people, it felt like something new to me. I'm not exactly sure how to categorize it--I've seen it described as a farce, but I don't feel that the tone is right for that (though there are definitely farcical moments). It is compulsively readable, and I definitely understand why it's sold a zillion copies and inspired a movie.

It's not that it's a good example of a novel. There are just so many characters that I don't feel like I got to know any of them. The only one I actually had feelings about was Astrid (well, and Eddie, whom I hated to the depths of my soul). Everyone else was just there, even Rachel. She's not a character, she's an audience stand-in who has no real personality. She's an economics professor, but that has no bearing on who she is--she could just have easily been a professor of literally any other subject, or a lawyer, or a doctor. The only part of her that felt real was her relationship with her mother, which I liked though it was very sidelined. Nick is just as bland; he's more of a stock "handsome leading man who's also a good guy" than anything else. I actually feel that this will be something improved upon by turning this into a movie: I think the actors will add some nuance to the characters that the book lacks. Because just about every single character in this book is a cardboard cutout of a person.

But. This book isn't about the characters. It's about the world. And Kwan does a hell of a job evoking that world. The intricate family relationships, the subtleties of class distinctions, the unbelievable ways people spend money. I am an eat-the-rich type, but I couldn't even really hate (most of) these characters because they just didn't feel real. I know intellectually that there are people this obscenely wealthy, but I just can't believe it. Maybe the reason I enjoyed this book despite not liking contemporary-set books is that it depicts such a different world that that world almost feels like something out of speculative fiction. It doesn't feel like a world inhabited by human beings.

If I really tried to internalize the idea that there are really people in the world who have this lifestyle, I would probably have a meltdown and turn into a being not of flesh but of pure rage. But because the book feels so...fantastical, it felt like a jaunt to the galaxy far, far away or something. I enjoyed it. I'll read the other books and watch the movies. But I still can't believe any of it.