A photographer in his previous life, Kwan has a gimlet eye for how fat cats strut ... Kwan makes a point of noting what wealth can wreak — poverty, racism, exploitation, environmental degradation — but he’s too canny a showman to let any of these critiques linger.
The plot feels like a mishmash of Jane Austen, American comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives (2004 to 2012) and British romantic comedy Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994), sprinkled with Cantonese swearing ... Whole paragraphs are clogged with dense references to fashion houses and brand names ... After a while, it becomes rather tedious.
Lies and Weddings is chock-full of scheming characters and breathtakingly lavish scenes ... Kwan remains a cheekily hilarious writer, with footnotes that give each chapter an extra kick ... Pure pleasure.
Kwan continues to wrap fairy-tale love stories in glitz, glamour, couture, fine art, and delicious wit ... Still more brilliant escapism among Kwan’s 1 percenters.
Irresistible ... The various festivities allow Kwan to indulge in his flair for vivid party scenes ... Kwan also delivers on his reputation for breezy prose, encyclopedic references to art and haute couture, and quick-witted dialogue laced with Cantonese.
