Capri - 2013
Lucie Churchill is ecstatic about her Italian trip to Capri for her friend Isabel's wedding. It doesn't matter she has to put up with her uptight and snobby cousin Charlotte as her chaperone, Lucie can't wait to explore and admire the beautiful art the Italian island has to offer.
There she gets to meet Isabel's cousin George Zao, a Hong Konger/Australian boy with a loner and quiet personality that's totally in contrast with the one of her bubbly and excessive mother.
At first, Lucie finds him annoying but as they get to meet on more than one occasion throughout the extravagant and lavish wedding celebrations she starts to feel something for him...and that will cause the most unexpected (and frankly hilarious) accident ever!
New York - 2018
5 years have passed, Lucie successfully graduated from Brown University and became one of the top art consultants in the city. She's also engaged with start-up billionaire Cecil Pike and about to start a sumptuous life filled with private jet rides to the Haute Couture shows in Paris, holidays on mega yachts with jet-set stars, and all the designer clothes she'd ever wanted... too bad, that's not what Lucie wants.
She was always concerned about the perception of her family towards her; since Lucie has both American and Chinese roots, ever since she was a baby she felt she wasn't fitting in neither her dad's or mom's families and tried to be impeccable so that her demanding grandmother wouldn't complain.
But she fooled herself for so long about what she really wants and how she really feels, it just took a random encounter to make her world fall apart...along with her sanity!
👍👎My Thoughts
I got mixed emotions while reading this book: on one side, it's funny and touches some hot topics like self-acceptance, feeling inadequate, and that no matter how hard you try you'll never good enough for your relatives.
On the other side, it was overly filled with designers' names it felt like I was ready an influencer's sponsored Instagram post! I get it, it was a way to underline that these people are constantly scrutinize everything and everyone but Mr. Kwan I know you could have made it a bit more balanced!
Lucie's dad's side of the family is something in between the "devil wears Prada" and an issue of Vogue: snooty and posh and, at the same time, they try not to show how rich and powerful they really are. Especially the grandmother, she's the cause of almost all of Lucie's insecurities and struggles to meet up with her unreachable standards.
Thankfully, for Lucie to keep her sanity (along with ours) there are a few witty characters that help mitigate the atmosphere, but as it usually happens, Lucie's worst enemy is...herself. In the long run, that will cause a series of misunderstandings that will lead her to go crazy and act irrationally and against her true nature.
Even if I spotted a few similarities with Kwan's famous trilogy series 'Crazy Rich Asian' (an improbable luxurious wedding, a rich Asian guy how's actually down-to-Earth, New York, and so on), the character's backgrounds are completely new and kind of thoughts provoking, in my opinion.
On a final note, Kwan's descriptions of Capri are incredible, they shone a light on a beautiful island that's known for being chic and expensive, but the author managed to highlight the beauty in its scenarios and cultural sites.
My vote: 7½/10
Ph: goodreads.com
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