Sarong Party Girls just wasnt a book for me. i really struggled to engage with the characters and follow the dialogue easily, not because of the Singlish, just because it was very contrived and difficult to believe. The characters were tedious and the story didnt interest me enough to keep reading.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I enjoyed this book, as I knew I would, being that I really liked "Crazy Rich Asians".
It was a bit challenging at times, because it has a lot of "singlish" in it, however it was an entertaining book and I do recommend it, especially if you find Singaporean culture intriguing and you want to learn more about it.

Thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I knew when I read the synopsis for this book that it would be marketed as similar to Crazy Rich Asians - it's really not though. It's more of a satirical look at lives of a group of young Singaporean women and their quest to snag an 'Ang-Moh'.

The book follows Jazzy, a Sarong Party Girl (girls who exclusively date white Westerners) living and partying in Singapore. It's written in Singlish which made for a really fun reading experience.

Although Jazzy and her friends might seem vapid and shallow, the novel scratches beneath the surface of their high octane party lifestyle to explore some of the deeper issues with their lives and the depressing reality of the relationships they form with the men they pursue.

Despite these bleaker undertones, the novel manages to be an absolute hoot. Jazzy is bitchy and hilarious and it's fun to live vicariously through her life and read her inner monologue. I probably wouldn't want to meet her in real life and I can only imagine the caustic remarks she'd make about me, but she was certainly a lot of fun to read about.

The party lifestyle of Singapore and some of its seedier aspects were explored, warts and all. There isn't some grand revelation where Jazzy decides to pack it all in and live a more virtuous life, she is what she is and if you need your characters to ultimately find redemption then this might not be the book for you.

Sarong party girls are Asian women who seek relationships and marriage with rich western men. And this story follows Jazzy and her materialistic friends who are totally consumed by the want to achieve this and obtain a higher status. Singapore is described in such detail you can visualise it.
The honesty is laid bare for all to see to the point it is quite fascinating but not enough to keep me riveted to the book. The singlish dialect at times paused the momentum but certainly the story is a thought provoking glimpse in to a World I knew very little about.
My thanks go to the publisher author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review

Written in Singlish with vivid expression that jumps off the page, Sarong Party Girls tells the tale of Jazzy, who seeks a marriage to a well off white man to cement her place in the world, straddling her western social culture and her conservative home life. There's lots of humour here, and plenty of satire. The experience of women is pulled apart and examined many times, and Jazzy's voice is a constant barrage of pith, sass and wit. There is an underlying darkness to this world, and though the book shines in places, it plods along in others and the Singlish affects coherence when things are slower.

Difficult storyline at the beginning but once I got into the book I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to those readers who enjoy reading this type of story.

Sarong Party Girls is a delectably vulgar look at the racism, sexism and classism in the upper echelons of Singaporean society.

This book was pitched on Netgalley as ideal for fans of Crazy Rich Asians, and I flipping loved Crazy Rich Asians, so I was in there like swimwear. It’s pitched as a high-life, high-style satire, perhaps a little bit How to Marry a Millionaire with three girls trying to find rich husbands to elevate their social status. In actuality, it was more emotional than that, and more personal. It reminded me more of Queenie than Crazy Rich Asians, perhaps with a hint of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (the book, not the film).

Jazzy comes across as naïve, even though she sees herself as wise to the ways of the world – which is where my comparison to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes comes in – whilst ending up in sexual situations which are undesirable and which she doesn’t enjoy but she seems powerless to stop, rather like Queenie. The comparison to Crazy Rich Asians gives the idea this that might be lush and lightweight comedy, but honestly the misogyny that was deeply embedded in this was really quite unpleasant. The story focuses on three ‘normal’ girls who are aiming to marry white men to improve their social status. These girls have jobs, live in small flats with their parents, and are only able to party the way they do because they are dependent on the generosity of wealthier men. It’s a vulnerable position to be in.

It’s also written in Singlish, the patois of Singapore which the government has tried to stamp out through various campaigns. It’s looked down on as a dialect, seen as inferior. I loved reading the rhythms and the formations of the sentences, it felt so different from my language and so full of character. There are no translations provided, at least there weren’t in my ebook advance, so meaning has to be gleaned from context when words from other languages are thrown about. I loved the choice to use Singlish, because it added to the impact of the book and emphasised the book as a protest, a statement against the author’s perception of injustices – whether it’s government control of languages or institutional misogyny. The Singlish was another reason I was reminded of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as Lorelei’s voice in that is uniquely her own and entirely constructed around the dialect she has assumed.

I found it an unusual book as while there was character development, it took a while to come. Instead, there was reader development – the more I learned about Jazzy, the more I understood and empathised with her. The book opens with her seeming like a shallow social climber, but the more I was exposed to the daily misogyny she faced from her boss, her friends, and men around her, the more I could see her reasons. Surrounded by men who cheat on their wives, who objectify women constantly and casually, who refuse to recognise physical boundaries, and even men who have whole second families while still married, Jazzy sees Western men as a way to escape. She is convinced that Westerners have different ideals about monogamy, commitment and faithfulness, and that they will treat her better.

It’s a strange mix because the book shows Jazzy and her friends trying to step up their game in terms of man-snaring after one of their friends was “lost” – i.e. she married a local man. In making this decision, Jazzy forces herself further beyond her comfort zone in a lot of ways to scope out the “competition” for the rich, white men. She goes to a bar with sexy dancers, and even a brothel. With each visit, she becomes more uncomfortable with the behaviour of the men around her, but also more concerned for the girls she sees in these places, particularly as she connects them to previous encounters that pop up in her memories. Her empathy overwhelms her view of them as an enemy.

Much like Queenie, I felt so sad for Jazzy when it became clear how little she valued herself, but also how little the people around her valued her. At 26, people are telling her she is past it, she is getting overlooked for younger women, and feels like she is being set up for failure by men who are abusing their power over her. There is definitely triggering material in terms of dubiously consensual/coercive sex.

I feel that comparing this to Crazy Rich Asians also implied that this would be a romance novel, so a lot of the book was spent trying to work out which of the plotlines would lead to a happy ending. None of the men in this book come out terribly well, although some seem less awful in comparison to a very shallow pool of candidates. If you’re looking for a romance, this isn’t the book for you. If you’re looking for a book with a confident woman trying to continually prove her worth in a society which constantly tells her she is worthless unless as something to look at, and even that’s not going to be for much longer as she ages up to *gasp* 27.

As a feminist, this book made me furious for Jazzy. I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t more angry, why she wasn’t more frustrated at the unfairness of it all. But it becomes clear that this has been part of her society all her life. It’s ingrained into her, and she has to unlearn her own prejudices and perceptions. I would be curious to know how well this reflects Singapore from someone who lives there or is familiar with the country.

If you’re looking for an unusual book which changes your mind as the character changes hers, this is a good stop. It’s got real heart, and personality. But it’s definitely not a romance.

Briefly:

A book which fully commits to its character and its tone, I loved the use of Singlish and the way my mind was changed about Jazzy rather than her changing to fit the expectations of the narrative.

It’s full of flagrant and outstanding misogyny and sexual harassment. If ever there was a book that proved that #MeToo needs to be global, and its work isn’t finished, this is it.

I think this book asks the reader to come to the narrator rather than bringing the narrator to the reader. It’s a narrative which encourages you not to judge first, and that’s important.

Rating: 4/5 – I would have liked a more triumphant ending for Jazzy, but I recognise also the poetic value of the understated way it did finish.

Sadly this book just isn't for me so I am having to DNF. The language takes some getting used to but the main thing for me is that after 20% read, I am disliking the storyline and find it all quite shallow. Sadly I am unable to continue.
Thank you for sending me this book and apologies for the DNF.

Even if I think this is the kind of book you love or hate I couldn't connect to the characters or being involved in the plot.
I appreciated the style of writing but it's not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I sadly didn’t enjoy this read, just think it wasn’t my kind of book , not a criticism of the author or her writing. I just couldn’t connect with the story or characters

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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.

This was an interesting novel in a sense that it's been executed. It's been written in a different language Singlish, a mixture of Chinese and English. It's not difficult to get hold of it after a while. I thought it was a nice touch to make a point.
However, I thought the content isn't something highly original. It's a dark story that centers around the place of women in society in Asia. If somehow the story was more original, or something new added to the table, could be a more interesting book.
It was an OK read, but didn't reach that high mark for me.

Thanks a lot to the publisher and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting concept, but it's so difficult to read. I understand that it's written in what the author calls 'Singlish' [Singapore-English], but as written words on the page, I couldn't attach myself to it. Because it's written in the first person, from the perspective of the main character, it feels very detached. Whatever it was, I just could not get into it.

I'm going to be rather brief in my review on this one because it was a struggle to be engaged or stay engaged with this read. SARONG PARTY GIRLS feels initally like a light read with vapid characters, I could see quite quickly that that most of the characters were deeper than first glance but I struggled nonetheless to make connections with them.

Singapore life for the rich and entitled was like many that of the young and rich in other cities but with a different cultural landscape. These women were aiming to secure a white, western man but all did not go to plan. The tale completely immerses the reader from the first page in Singlish - a patois of the region which although was comprehensible, it was difficult to get lost in the words or story because I was constantly trying to make meaning and connections between words.

Overall, this read wasn't for me.

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan writes a remarkably illuminating novel set in Singapore that exposes the clash between the old traditional culture and new, more materialistic moneyed one. Our guide to this is the almost 27 year old Jazzy, who along with her girlfriends, Sher, Imo and Fann are the eponymous Sarong Party Girls with attitude. For a decade, they have been the girls who wanna have fun, dancing, drinking, picking up men, usually rich, white, western, ex-pats, in the city's bars and clubs, a lifestyle largely funded by their rich Singaporean friend, the married Louis. However, Jazzy is feeling the pressure of getting older in a culture where at the age of 28 a woman is considered to be over the hill, personally and professionally. Jazzy feels the need to get serious, and for the girls to snag a white expat as a husband who can provide them a way out of the country and the lifestyle they aspire to, with designer products, and maids, all consolidated with a 'Chanel baby'. In a narrative composed of Singlish, a patois that reflects Singapore's history, we follow Jazzy's, often hilarious, vividly eye opening quest to achieve her goal.

It may be tempting to judge the apparently vulgar and shallow Jazzy, but as the story develops, we are to learn what contributed to making her the woman she is today. Jazzy involves the girls in a strategy of learning what it takes to bag the man of their dreams, incorporating looking at why the Chinese girls have been more successful than local women in this arena, why Japanese girls are more attractive to men and other avenues of inquiry. This brings Jazzy into contact with the seedier world of brothels and particular clubs, where young girls play up their schoolgirl persona for unscrupulous contemptible men with jaded sexual appetites. This is a world that leaves Jazzy deeply uncomfortable, and she begins to become aware that even women who have what she so wants are unlikely to be happy. The rich white expat men portrayed really are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the male gender with their morally bankrupt and corrupt lives, and even Louis is to be found wanting when it comes to being a friend. As Jazzy's life begins to be hit by a number of shocks, how will she respond?

The author does a marvellous job in characterisation when it comes to Jazzy and her friends, she uses them as effective mechanisms to display the misogyny, sexism, overt discrimination and sexual exploitation milieu that women face in Singapore. The economic inequalities culminate in a culture of entitlement amongst rich and powerful men that precludes the concept of decency, never to be held to account for their behaviour. Jazzy's closest friend, the bright Sher, is deemed beyond the pale by Jazzy after having broken their code in her choice of husband. Will their friendship survive? The novel is promoted as a Asian interpretation of Emma, and there are certainly elements that resonate with this in the narrative. This is a wonderful read, where the reader can quickly and easily immerse themselves in the Singlish patois. Jazzy is a great creation and the character development that follows in the sizzling storyline is done with style, skill and verve. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Atlantic Books for an ARC.

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. What makes it stand out is the Singlish dialect/patois that gives Jazzy a vibrant voice you can hear. But the story itself of a girl taken in by a materialistic culture and absorbing the values imposed upon her is hardly new. There's a sort of Big Brother/Love Island feel to it as Jazzy (not at all stupid) plots to get herself and her friends married off to rich Western banker types, while negotiating a culture which sees women as either 'good' or slutty and bound for exploitation either way.

One of those books where I wanted to enter the pages and tell the main character to just get her act together...

"Sarong Party Girls" was meant to enlighten and surprise, however living in an age where more and more women are becoming independent, Jazzy's search of herself could have been done better, with more taste and less offensively.

Having lived in Singapore for a year and failed to get under its skin – not the fake, expat skin but its deeper dermis – I was super excited to read 'Sarong Party Girls' by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan.

Written in Singlish, the wickedly brash Singaporean patois that muddles Chinese and Malay dialects with quirky, jerky English, this is a book that makes no apologies for the materialistic goals of its narrator, twenty-six year old Sarong Party Girl (SPG) Jazzy. And it certainly doesn’t pander to liberal Western expectations of a feminist heroine.

Jazzy and her best friends embark on a mission to marry an 'ang moh' (white expat) and have a Chanel baby. This apparently simple plan throws up a maelstrom of gender, cultural, racial and class conflicts of which Jazzy appears blissfully unaware, leaving her reader to navigate this ethical maze without a map.

As a literary device, this is exquisite. I love books that confuse my moral compass. Can I blame Jazzy for wanting to be rich, when she lives on a small island that can seem defined by its blatant gulf between rich and poor – where the stupidly-wealthy expat men are sexually obsessed with the local women? Is it condescending and hypocritical to want Jazzy to continue her family’s cultural traditions by marrying an 'ah beng', shopping in wet markets and spend her days cooking in a stiflingly hot, government-owned flat – on the basis that, ultimately, it might make her happier than being the wife of an adulterous, culturally-homeless, morally-bankrupt ang moh?

Jazzy might be naïve, but most British readers will be clueless about the world she inhabits. We can try to impose our feminist ideals on her but, really, she needs to find her own way out of this tightly-wound labyrinth. At every turn it seems there is yet another man waiting to exploit her naked ambition; another childhood friend to betray. My delight in Jazzy’s refreshing honesty and buoyancy soon slipped into a slight sense of despair.

'Sarong Party Girls' has been billed as 'Emma' set in modern Asia but I think it’s more original than that; more fascinating and culturally-insightful than 'Clueless'. And it walks a much finer line between female empowerment and prostitution.

I absolutely loved everything about 'Sarong Party Girls', from its conflicted characters to its narrative structure - (conversational, non-linear, deceptively casual) and Jazzy’s voice - often hilarious, breathtakingly raw; it's a full immersion in the patois with translation neither offered nor necessary.

This is a book that will stay with me for a very long time. 24 hours after finishing it I find I am occasionally thinking in Singlish. For the first time since I left, I really want to go back to Singapore and discover this brilliant, tiny, complex country all over again. And eat lots of delicious chicken rice.