Sarong Party Girls

A Novel

By: Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Narrated by: Angela Lin

A brilliant and utterly engaging novel—Emma set in modern Asia—about a young woman’s rise in the glitzy, moneyed city of Singapore, where old traditions clash with heady modern materialism.

On the edge of twenty-seven, Jazzy hatches a plan for her and her best girlfriends: Sher, Imo, and Fann. Before the year is out, these Sarong Party Girls will all have spectacular weddings to rich ang moh—Western expat—husbands, with Chanel babies (the cutest status symbols of all) quickly to follow. Razor-sharp, spunky, and vulgarly brand-obsessed, Jazzy is a determined woman who doesn't lose.

As she fervently pursues her quest to find a white husband, this bombastic yet tenderly vulnerable gold-digger reveals the contentious gender politics and class tensions thrumming beneath the shiny exterior of Singapore’s glamorous nightclubs and busy streets, its grubby wet markets and seedy hawker centers. Moving through her colorful, stratified world, she realizes she cannot ignore the troubling incongruity of new money and old-world attitudes which threaten to crush her dreams. Desperate to move up in Asia’s financial and international capital, will Jazzy and her friends succeed?

Vividly told in Singlish—colorful Singaporean English with its distinctive cadence and slang—Sarong Party Girls brilliantly captures the unique voice of this young, striving woman caught between worlds. With remarkable vibrancy and empathy, Cheryl Tan brings not only Jazzy, but her city of Singapore, to dazzling, dizzying life.

Enjoyable

3.5 rounded up to 4/5 stars. I really only finished this because the characters and life is so different from my own that I was intrigued but it did get rather boring. That might be because I’ve been marathoning YA fantasy, though & I didn’t hate it- I liked it well enough, I just need more in a romcom. It was nice to get used to the dialect and accent enough that I can finally say it’s an easy accent for me to understand whereas before due to auditory processing issues I could not.

Smart, funny and ironic.

The author is gifted at detailing social nuances and the real dangers of being a fun “party “girl. It doesn’t seem like Jazzy the main character is supposed to be particularly likable but you find yourself cheering for her anyway as she stumbles through trying to make the right choices. The language is contagious and I really didn’t want to leave her world at the end of it.

Beautiful Bildungsroman

Loved the narrator. Her simple personifications and jangling coastal rhythms just put me on a plane to Singapore. Wistfully transparent coming of age story.

Singlish! Oh Singlish!

Would you consider the audio edition of Sarong Party Girls to be better than the print version?

Yes. There is absolutely no way you can read this book, if you are non-Singaporean without knowing how Singlish actually sounds like. The narrator perfectly captures the nuance and pronunciation of every word, and the intonation perfectly.

What other book might you compare Sarong Party Girls to and why?

Crazy Rich Asians may be close, but totally different world. CRA feels like reading a fairy tale where the course of true love never runs smooth. In SPG, the dating scene of Singapore is seen from the POV of Jazzy, the main protagonist. She is more grounded, and much more relatable compared to Rachel Choo in CRA.

What about Angela Lin’s performance did you like?

Her inflection and pronunciation of every word, including the Hokkien swear words. Perfect in every way!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sex in the Lion City.

If you enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians, you'll love this

It's a very solid book. The ending wasn't what I expected, but overall, I think the ending due to the choices the protagonist, Jazzy, made, were more satisfying than what the title and main idea had me hoping it would be. If you're a fan of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, the Singlish will seem very natural and normal even though it's read the whole way through in Singlish. If you haven't ever read CRA, the Singlish will seem a bit off-putting at first, but I promise it's worth it.