Akiva Reads

by Kevin Kwan

Good job starting to have an honest conversation about money, you sweet dumb kids! Don't stop there....

This balances the vileness of extreme wealth with characters you care about emotionally pretty well, though it lands a bit too hard on the side of hundred-grand dresses being a neutral-to-enviable fact of life. It's a fast, fun, engaging read with delightfully over the top villains and lots of reversals. The mom is the best villain of the lot: you feel for her and you understand where she's coming from, even as you marvel at her inflated sense of grandiosity. I was delighted when the backstabbing society she's mastered so well manages to screw with her, too---the wheel rises, the wheel falls. This is all despite the frequently clunky writing.

Apparently some reviewers think it's unrealistic that Nick has no idea how wealthy his family is; that part was entirely too believable. :S