MixedWashington PostPart of the novel’s fun is that Kwan is in on the joke: He excels at satirizing the uber-rich. He’s also an Olympic-level name-dropper. If I had a dollar for every reference to an A-list designer or brand mentioned here, I’d be — well, still not a fraction as wealthy as these characters ... Kwan’s trademark snark, which hooked Crazy Rich Asians fans, remains on display in this new offering. As in his earlier novels, his flippant footnotes are at times more enticing than the story line itself ... Though Kwan hints at the complexities of being mixed-race, there’s no deep, meaningful takeaway buried in the story. Few of the characters are particularly likable, and they’re certainly not relatable....the novel lacks the pizazz that made Crazy Rich so successful ... Still, come for vacuous entertainment, and Sex and Vanity delivers. It’s all style and little substance...At a time when travel plans have been jettisoned or postponed, the novel offers a fun-filled vacation to a world marred only by the most trivial concerns. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and readers who follow suit can revel in the kind of extravagances that sound like a dream after months of isolation and anxiety during the coronarvirus pandemic ... It’s like a bubbly glass of expensive champagne: It goes down easy, but don’t expect to remember it the next day.
