Sex and Vanity: A GMA Book Club Pick

A Novel

By: Kevin Kwan

Narrated by: Lydia Look

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

"Kevin Kwan's new book is his most decadent yet." --Entertainment Weekly

The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with the glittering tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two men: the WASPY fiancé of her family's dreams and George Zao, the man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with.

On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can't stand him. She can't stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have a view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can't stand that he knows more about Casa Malaparte than she does, and she really can't stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin Charlotte. "Your mother is Chinese so it's no surprise you'd be attracted to someone like him," Charlotte teases. The daughter of an American-born Chinese mother and a blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton, where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucie is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment building, and ultimately herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world--and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View, and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.

Wonderful

This was as funny and entertaining as the Crazy ones. I would love if you developed some of the other people and told their stories.

Fun Sumer love and intrigue

Kevin Kwan has a light flowing plume, interesting characters. Very enjoyable!
PS. I’m missing already my travels to Capri

Fantastic fantasy

Narrators make listening into cinema. This was a blissful escape from headlines and boredom. Hopefully there will be more Lucy to love in the near future!

Ok

The story was just ok. A little too fluffy fancy for my taste, and the narrator used way too many accents (not well, might I add).

Pretty good story

BUT the last hour of the story was so frustrating, the lead female character to be exact. I had to stop and start out of frustration but since I was under an hour I forced myself to finish. The very ending was nice but not truly enjoyable due to the previous 58:00-6min remaining of story.

Not much range in voice for different characters

Kevin Kwan knows how to set a scene, set a mood, and give you a glimpse of a world most of us will never have a first-hand view of. Sex and Vanity was lavish and cultural with a side of scandal. The downside was that it was a slow-moving plot, and I found myself asking from time to time, where is this all going?

That being said, I think if I'd known going in that I was along for the experience and the front row seat to this lavish lifestyle, I'd have been able to kick back and enjoy it a little more.

Take it for what it is! A slow, slow burn romance among the lifestyles of the richest and somewhat famous.

As for the audio, the narration was good. There just wasn't much distinction between the different characters' voices.

good book. need a better ending tho

hopefully the very wide ending is a set up for part 2. otherwise i was entertained by the narrator and rhe story itself

Not on par w/Crazy Rich Asians

This book is cute. It's very light reading. frivolous but I liked it enough to finish it.

enjoyed it - adjacent to CRA

I enjoyed it a lot! Same style of writing as CRA and adjacent to the world without revisiting it.

Bad Narration Ruined This For Me

I was so excited for this book. Kevin Kwan is a guilty pleasure for me and like the protagonist, I’m half Asian and half Mayflower WASP. I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobook and this was the WORST narrator. She needs to stop trying to do southern, Australian and cockney accents, because she so obviously can’t do them. Her poor performance took me right out of the story. It was really disappointing and was a disservice to the book! She would’ve been better off simply not attempting the accents.