Sarong Party Girls audiobook

Very hard to shelve. Where should it go? A comedy of manners? Could be.Fluff? Definitely NO.*****Sex and the Sity (a la Singapore)? Bridget Jones with some sad and bleak undertones?Possibly. This was nothing if not educational and eye-opening! And I truly mean it.Seemingly fluffy entertainment but you soon realise as the book sucks you in that even though it seems to swim on the glittery and shallow surface, there are some dark and muddy undercurrents. The cover blurb mentions Emma, but if you are looking for any type of resemblance to a Jane Austen character, the MC, Jazzy reminds me more of a modern Lucy Steele or maybe Isabella Thorpe.

SARONG PARTY GIRLS pulls off an interesting trick. After you spend the first half of it laughing and highly enjoying yourself as you watch Jazzy and her friends drink and party and drink and party and drink and party, things start to take a turn. This book has you convinced it's a light, fluffy romp and then it slowly shows that it has a real heart and a conscience. It's a happy surprise that only makes the book richer.The blurb calls this book EMMA, which it isn't. Though its closest comparison is probably the film CLUELESS, which was a kind of adaptation of EMMA, so maybe it's two degrees removed? I use CLUELESS because Jazzy and Cher are both judgmental, overly focused on class and outward appearances, and are hiding a big, beating heart below their name brand dresses. Jazzy, though, is not a naive teenager. She's a bona fide party girl with years of experience who knows all the best clubs and knows exactly how many shots she can take and still dance (it's a lot).This is a good pick for people who enjoyed CRAZY RICH ASIANS, which hits that juicy tabloid gossip spot. SARONG PARTY GIRLS hits a slightly different spot, but it also is funnier and more genuine. It's also written in Singlish, which may sound intimidating, but it isn't. Jazzy's voice is so clear and unique, you never need to look something up. Her patter starts to become a recognizable rhythm and pretty soon you know what every one of those words means. (If you do want to look things up, I recommend the site http://talkingcock.com) If you are not a fan of sex and swearing, you'll want to go far away from this book, since it has a lot of both. My biggest complaint is that it ends just as the real story is beginning. I'd love to see more.

Sarong Party Girls is a fascinating novel that attempts to reconcile modern Asia with the traditions of the past in a way that is believable and honest. Sarong Party Girls is the name assigned to a subset of women who actively seek out a relationship and subsequently marriage with rich, white Western men. We are introduced to Jazzy and her friends who are consumed by the need to have status, class and power. The materialism is quite disgusting but no matter how misguided Jazzy and crew are you can't help but admire the raw honesty on show here. The book actually seems on the surface to be a light, easy read but actually, the astute observations the author makes throughout run a lot deeper. The profundity is balanced by some very funny remarks that had me laughing out loud at times. Not only is this an exploration of tradition v modern materialism and gold-digging women but it touches on gender politics at play currently in Singapore, class, sexism, status symbols, capitalism, globalisation, patriarchal systems and the rise of social media. The Singapore setting is described in vivid, majestic detail, so much so that it comes alive on the page along with the vibrant characters. This is a highly original and satirical debut novel; in fact, it's difficult to believe it's Tan's first published book. Written in Singlish, which takes a little getting used to, this story captivated me from start to finish with its social commentary, hilarity and touching exploration of women striving for a better life. I thought the ending really was the icing on the proverbial cake and was incredibly satisfying. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for an ARC.

Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest reviewOn my recent flight to Singapore, I thought it was fitting to read Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan since this book takes place in Singapore. As I was reading this book, it reminded me a bit of Crazy Rich Asians and so I was thoroughly invested into the vivid and crazy antics Ms. Tan was able to portray with her characters.Sarong Party Girls somewhat stays true to young Asian women in Singapore where fashion, money, glam, and social status is a must. And so Ms. Tan dives into her book as she introduces readers to Jazzy and her colorful and entertaining life that consists of social mingling and lots of partying. So of course, this book is lots of craziness to keep readers entertained as we get a small taste of what Singapore is like. And as I was finishing up this book while I was in Singapore, I can actually picture the taste and sounds of Singapore since I did find certain hotels and bars in the city to be pretentious and immediately I thought of Jazzy and her friends. But life can’t be all about money and glam, and soon Jazzy will discover that there is more to life. So if you are looking for a book that was hilarious, witty, smart, fun, fresh and insightful then this book is for you. Review can also be found on Four Chicks Flipping Pages: http://fourchicksflippingpages.weebly...

Synopsis: a book about three ethnically Chinese Singaporean women who set out on a quest to find rich white husbands so they can have maids and highrises. You'd think I'd hate it.It's really a 3.5 star, but I rounded up since this book managed to surprise me. There comes a time, I think, in every woman's life when she realizes the degree to which systematic misogyny pollutes every part of her life and through this quest, Jazzy, at 26, is coming to realize that she's not as okay as she thought with the gender roles assigned to her in Singaporean society. She runs into problems with her job (the threat of being put to pasture where all late-twenties assistants go); her friendships; her romantic and sexual relationships as well as the issue of consent in situations where it's not so obvious the way a woman may feel pressured into sex. Jazzy has agency and is deeply, deeply flawed. She makes terrible decisions, but feels badly about them. She has prejudices and greed and throughout the book, she gets into situations that lead her to the realization that she deserves more than an okay guy who can provide for her; that happiness comes in different forms and perhaps their initial goal was not as much of a slam dunk as she thought. Written in first person, Tan uses a lively Singaporish that takes some getting used to (think Clockwork Orange kind of slang), but once you do, it really sets a fun and fast rhythm in her cadence.

In Jazzy, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan's lively, sassy narrator, a cultural phenomenon finds its voice: the young, status-obsessed Singaporean women who roam Singapore's glitzy nightclub scene in spike-heeled swarms, hell-bent on snagging the ultimate trophy, a white, ex-pat husband. Jazzy is determined that she and her two fellow "sarong party girls" will snag their "ang mohs" before they age out at the horrifyingly old age of 28. But what starts out as a fun romp through hilariously over-the-top nightclubs deepens as the book goes along, as Jazzy begins to question what it really means to be a woman in Singapore, and faces her own hedonism with an honest eye. It's also written entirely in Singlish, a singsong distillation of English, Chinese, Malay and other languages that -- don't worry -- is easy to read and very understandable. I loved this book: it's fresh, smart, sneakily heartwarming, and unlike anything else out there.

I picked up this book because of the comparisons to Emma and Breakfast at Tiffany's, but it actually reminded me most of A Clockwork Orange. Not only because of the linguistic tricks, but also because Tan's interrogation of a certain type of toxic hyper-femininity strikes me as similar to Burgess' treatment of Alex's views on masculinity.

When I checked out what books were being published this summer I came across this novel, Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. I wasn’t sure if it would be worth reading or not but the description said that the author had written in Singlish, a dialect of English used in Singapore and that this was a dialect that in no way would affect my ability to read and understand this story. I am a language and word lover so that was all I needed to get me to give the book a try. I was afraid it would be some fluffy chick lit, but like the chick lit I have read, it contains deeper thoughts and redeeming qualities.On the surface the narrator, Jazeline (Jazzy) and her friends, Imo, Fann and Sher seem quite superficial. They have been girls, like many girls in America, who go to work all week and then head out clubbing on the weekends. They are modern girls so they drink a lot, dance a lot, and they sleep around a bit. The dialect they speak in uses many references we think of as sexual and this fact alone means that this book will not suit all readers. In truth, there is no subtlety to be found in the Singapore bar scene that the Sarong Party Girls move in, which caters to every taste that men, if allowed, will indulge in, so I caution you again not to read this novel if you don’t want to learn about their world.The story line reminds me, however, of an old American movie with the title How to Marry a Millionaire except these girls are already sexually active and they want to marry white guys (ang mohs). Still, like the women in the movie, it is easy to like Jazeline, and to wish her well despite the rather materialistic project she is currently pursuing. Every once in a while Jazzy shows some real insight into certain realities about the treatment of women in modern Singapore (and elsewhere) by men, especially obvious if you go clubbing every weekend in a bar scene where wealthy men like to keep an entourage of young pretty women around them while they party.The author, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, manages to stay in dialect, using the hip cadences of Singlish almost all of the time. The dialect thins out a bit when Jazzy/Cheryl shares with us her insights into things she is starting to be critical of in relation to the male-female dynamic as she begins to think about finding a partner for life, rather than just living to enjoy the weekends. She is getting too old for the clubs and she is feeling pressured to find her ang moh right now.Here’s Jazzy/Cheryl in almost full Singlish mode:“Aiyoh—mabuk already?” Charlie said, blinking at us one time while she pulled out her cigs from her handbag and threw them on the table. This woman was really damn action! Her eyes are quite big and pretty, so she knows that when she acts drama a bit with them, men confirm will steam when they see it. Some more she always outlines her eyes with thick thick black black pencil, so it makes them look bigger and darker, a bit like those chio Bollywood actresses. This type of move – yes is quite obvious drama, but that night, I thought to myself, Jazzy, better take notes. If you can pull this off well, it can be quite useful.”Here’s Jazzy/Cheryl losing some Singlish as she makes a deeper point:“The truth is, even if I felt like I could speak honestly, I didn’t know how to explain everything – or anything, really. How to tell him about a society where girls grow up watching their fathers have mistresses and second families on the side? Or one in which you find out one day that it is your mother who is the concubine and that you are the second family? A society that makes you say, when you are twelve or seventeen, ‘No matter what, when I grow up, I am never going to be the woman that tolerates that!’ But then you actually grow up and you look around, and the men who are all around you, the boys you grew up with, no matter how sweet or kind or promising they were, that somehow they have turned into men that all our fathers were and still are.”I enjoyed this novel even more than I thought I would because it is even more like that old movie How to Marry a Millionaire than you might think. Movies of that classic film era generally contained a message, a practical moral message that passed on some wisdom from the elders in a form that was palatable to a younger generation. I did not really expect to find this in Sarong Party Girls, but it is there, along with a lot of shocking descriptions of what “fun” is like in Singapore, and it made the book worth more. It made it as Jazzy would say, quite shiok -- and it is quite feminist also, without leaving men out.

SARONG PARTY GIRLS is a far cry from my usual genre—it's written in Singlish, the English-based Singaporean slang that includes influences from Malay to Cantonese, and from the point of view of a young woman hard bent to get a husband. It's light and fun, but then also becomes darkly honest, satirical, and deeply emotionally resonant as Tan tackles sexual harassment, sexism, and the cultural complication of the valuing of white men as "a way out," with dire consequences. I highly recommend it—a compulsively readable and highly unique novel on a major cultural situation I have never before seen confronted in literature.

A gutsy novel to expose the sexist culture that remains in Singapore. I do wish that Jazzy had a greater, more concrete transformation at the end. Made me feel sad for women who might be in her situation. But not everybody gets that big of an HEA I guess. Kudos for the Singlish all throughout the book.

Finished in a day! This book was so hilarious, I honestly kept laughing out loud. Coincidentally, Jazzy and her friends were turning 27 in the book and I picked this (signed!) book just a few days after I turned 27. This book has similar vibes to Crazy Rich Asians, but this book has more layers to it. It dives into gender politics, and how patriarchy still continues to overrule modern day feminism. This book will now be my comfort book!

I absolutely loved Sarong Party Girls. While it started out as just a fun, raunchy beach read, it quickly developed into a compelling story with real heart. The main character, Jazzy, appears to be a sassy young woman on the hunt for a rich white husband in the glamorous and seedy clubs of Singapore, but it's not hard to read between the lines to see her disappointment in a class- and race-conscious society where women are often treated as disposable, interchangeable objects. In that sense she really did remind me of Holly Golightly: desperately trying to be festive and attract a man before the clock ran out on her good looks and youth. The setting is so interesting and rich, with vivid food and culture scenes. I loved the use of Singlish -- local slang -- and didn't need to look up translations, since the meaning was obvious in context. In particular, I found the friendship between Jazzy and Sher so moving. The book was nicely paced with the story moving along briskly but never hard to follow; I couldn't put it down. The last few pages were simply masterful. I'm hoping there's a sequel in the works, because I would love to see what Jazzy does next.I read this book as an e-galley that I received in advance of publication.