Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy, #3)

by Kevin Kwan

[girlinthepages]

I am SO SAD this trilogy is over (for now, there were a few loose ends if you ask me...). These books are so much fun to read, and Rich People Problems was no exception, Jumping several years in the future, we're taken back to Singapore as the family matriarch dies, and true colors come out as everyone is clawing all over each other to see who will inherit what. It was truly a fitting end to the series to close out with Su Yi's death, and that we spent so much time at her massive, infamous estate in this last installment.

Backing up, the first few portions of the book follow Su Yi's time on her deathbed, and the reparation of a lot of family relationships between herself and her grandchildren. It was fascinating to learn about Su Yi's history and how integral of a role she played in the war, as she's always been such a god-like figure in this series, and this novel really serves to humanize her. It was touching to see her try to set up her grandchildren for as much emotional (rather than monetary) happiness as she could before she passed, and it really showed a whole new side to the whole Young/Leong/Cheng etc. clan, which was a nice juxtaposition to the insane antics usually portrayed (although there were plenty of those in this book too! Especially with Eddie...OMG).

I also felt like this book spent a lot less time with Rachel and Nick as the previous installments and I found I was able to learn a lot more about other family members, especially Astrid, who I think could rival Nick in terms of being the most prominent grandchild in this story at this point. Portrayed as so perfect and almost ethereal in the first two novels (like Su Yi in a way), she's very humanized and humbled by the misfortune that befalls her in this installment, and I really enjoyed her character arc. The book also featured Kitty a lot which I honestly probably could have lived without (though it all tied together in the end) but it was fantastic to see how Kevin Kwan managed to weave even the more minor characters from the first book into major players later on in the series- it honestly is hard to believe that this is the first series he wrote, as it's done so masterfully!

Overall: I'm going to miss so much about this series: the completely mouth watering food descriptions, the stunning settings from the most private beaches in Asia to the couture lines streets of Paris, the completely outlandish spending (an eye lift for a fish?), the laugh out loud moments (Ed Saranwrap!) and at the heart of it all the completely drama filled family. Though there was a fun epilogue at the end of the novel, I would totally be down to read a spinoff series about the next generation of crazy rich asians- Harvard, Cassian, baby Young, etc. You can bet you'll find me at the movies this August, seeing the film adaptation of this series and all of the craziness and wealth come to life on the big screen.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages