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A review by niamhreviews
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
3.0
I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and Random House UK.
3.5/5.
Once again, Kevin Kwan has delivered a frothy, soapy, opulent novel with a ridiculous cast of characters that certainly has its flaws, but no one can deny its entertainment value. It tells two stories simultaneously - one of a tragic event in the past and its consequences and another of how those consequences have manifested in the present day. It takes some time, but you start to see how these intricate plots overlap and come together to create this novel.
I personally think this was a lot stronger than Sex and Vanity, but it had some of the same pitfalls. With such an enormous, sprawling cast of characters, no one really gets to advance beyond their pre-set archetypes and so they don't develop much across the novel. For some, their stories take wild, entirely unmotivated turns that become difficult to suspend your disbelief for. The plot of this wouldn't be entirely out of place in the 1800s - there's a lot of focus on who must marry who for money to save the family estate.
My most significant criticism is on the dialogue and, more specifically, how the British characters are written: we don't talk like that. I know American authors can be particularly guilty of just assuming that because we all speak English, we all speak the same (incorrect) and I found myself cringing on multiple occasions at the dialogue choices the British-born characters were given - especially Bea and Eden. Also - so many exclamation points. Too many, if we're being honest. It stopped there being any nuance to some pretty significant lines. Some chapters ran too long and lacked much intrigue - you could've easily found 50-100 pages to chop in here.
Nevertheless. I was entertained. I kept wanting to pick up the book and disappear into this lovely world of money and excess. It's fun and soapy and perfect if, like me, you needed something to read on a plane and didn't want to have to think too hard.
'Lies and Weddings' will be available from June 20th.
3.5/5.
Once again, Kevin Kwan has delivered a frothy, soapy, opulent novel with a ridiculous cast of characters that certainly has its flaws, but no one can deny its entertainment value. It tells two stories simultaneously - one of a tragic event in the past and its consequences and another of how those consequences have manifested in the present day. It takes some time, but you start to see how these intricate plots overlap and come together to create this novel.
I personally think this was a lot stronger than Sex and Vanity, but it had some of the same pitfalls. With such an enormous, sprawling cast of characters, no one really gets to advance beyond their pre-set archetypes and so they don't develop much across the novel. For some, their stories take wild, entirely unmotivated turns that become difficult to suspend your disbelief for. The plot of this wouldn't be entirely out of place in the 1800s - there's a lot of focus on who must marry who for money to save the family estate.
My most significant criticism is on the dialogue and, more specifically, how the British characters are written: we don't talk like that. I know American authors can be particularly guilty of just assuming that because we all speak English, we all speak the same (incorrect) and I found myself cringing on multiple occasions at the dialogue choices the British-born characters were given - especially Bea and Eden. Also - so many exclamation points. Too many, if we're being honest. It stopped there being any nuance to some pretty significant lines. Some chapters ran too long and lacked much intrigue - you could've easily found 50-100 pages to chop in here.
Nevertheless. I was entertained. I kept wanting to pick up the book and disappear into this lovely world of money and excess. It's fun and soapy and perfect if, like me, you needed something to read on a plane and didn't want to have to think too hard.
'Lies and Weddings' will be available from June 20th.