Last Tang Standing: The most hilarious, feel-good debut romcom you’ll read all year!

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Before I begin, I just want to say that since many friends here have already given their amazing thoughts on the Asian culture, particularly on how the elders of southeast Asian Chinese interfere with the marriage and career of their children, I will not elaborate any further here. Here are my main reasons why this book deserves 5 stars:- I think in many ways, Andrea represents all of us, outside of race, ethnicity, or anything else. Just as a person, she represents all of the moments where we’re blind to the things we’re holding on to out of habit and the wonderful things that we’re letting go of, not even from fear, but out of being utterly unaware of what we want. Why? Because we never had thought to take the time away to think if the path that we are barrelling down is the one we wish to pursue or if it’s just the one that we were set on and now do not know how to stop? Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary in this funny and irresistible debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one’s thirties intact, and opening oneself up to love. At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: she has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore’s hottest clubs and restaurants. All she has to do is make partner at her law firm and she will have achieved everything she (and her mother) has ever worked for. So what if she’s poised to be the last unmarried member of her generation of the Tang clan? She doesn’t need a man to feel fulfilled, no matter what her meddling relatives have to say about it. But for a dutiful Chinese-Malaysian daughter, the weight of familial expectations is hard to ignore. And so are the men life keeps throwing in Andrea’s path. Men like Suresh Aditparan, her annoyingly attractive rival for partner and the last man she should be spending time with, and Eric Deng, a wealthy entrepreneur whose vision for their future is more lavish than she could have imagined. With her workplace competition growing ever more intense, her friends bringing dramas of their own to her door, and her family scrutinizing her every romantic prospect, Andrea finds herself stretched to the breaking point. And she can’t help but wonder: In the endless tug-of-war between pleasing others and pleasing herself, is there room for everyone to win? Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho – eBook Details On top of those things, the author posted a passive aggressive blog post in response to this by claiming that she wanted to showcase these issues to provide an “authentic” look on life for families like this in Singapore—however, when things like that are accepted as normal even from the main character who is meant to be a vessel into this world, it makes me wonder whether that’s truthful.

Lord knows we could all use some moments of escapism, and Ho's debut novel was the perfect way to unwind. Her protagonist Andrea Tang is a complex woman; she's funny and self-deprecatingly awkward while also prideful and aloof. There were times when I really didn't like her, and at other moments, I found her utterly relatable and charming. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but a fun one nonetheless. I liked that the book had a good split between Andrea's work and private life. There's a paragraph about her having nightmare's about telling her mother about getting Bs on exams that I related to considerably.

The story follows Andrea, a 30 something lawyer, as she struggles to finds herself and fulfill her life ambitions and/or her mother’s. She goes through the everyday ups and downs and some more downs and we find ourselves completely charmed by this imperfect, crazy protagonist who is too real to be fiction. Anyone who has ever been career oriented, or waited to find the love of their lives or found too many loves in their lives, had a few drinks, hated their friends, loved their friends, failed to meet their parent’s impossible standards, OR just simply lived.. will relate to the story.. That is probably the beauty of it. There is nothing too new about the story. It is relatable, really well written and planned and hence, you love it. Andrea Tang is 33 years old - not ancient by any means, and a hard working lawyer hoping to make partner soon - but none of this matters to the hard-core traditional Chinese-Malaysian family she has. She must get married and soon! How will it look if she never produces grandchildren - and soon? She lost all the fat and now she's thin - why doesn't she have a husband - she best get one - AND SOON. Andrea Tang is a thirty-three-year-old Chinese-Malaysian woman who has a seemingly perfect life. She has an enviable job as a lawyer in a reputed law firm. She lives in a posh condo that is cozy and comfortable and has a string of friends who are always updated when it comes to the season’s buzziest hangouts. After a promising beginning focused on family strife, Last Tang Standing turns its attention to Andrea’s love life, and that’s where it fails to deliver.

The book focuses on Andrea's desire to progress in her career, the fact she hates her job and felt like she didn't have a choice outside of law and medicine. There's also her love life, where she's torn between Eric, a Chinese billionaire who her mother would approve of, and her colleague Suresh, who she thinks she's competing with for partner, and is the creator of a comic. She knows her mother would definitely not approve of Suresh.

Success!

At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore’s hottest clubs. All she has to do is make law partner, and her life will be perfect. And if she’s about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in the Tang clan–a disappointment her meddling Chinese-Malaysian family won’t let her forget–well, she doesn’t need a man to complete her. Her social life has become non-existent and her love life is practically dead, but when fate somehow manages to send not one but two men her way – she is torn between the classy, suave, and ultra-rich corporate mogul Eric Deng, and her strikingly attractive rival at work, Suresh Aditparan.

This book is easily about choices, finding your ground with them, and recognising your own reasons for making them. I have a very low tolerance for diet talk and fat shaming and there was too much of it for my taste. Of course, my taste would be zero. Into her life comes the older, rich-beyond-your-wildest-dreams Eric, who falls in love with her. She tries to convince herself that she loves him in the same way, but deep down, it's evident she is deceiving herself. Instead, she gives her readers a full glimpse of Andrea's life from diversified angles, ranging from career goals, the concept of feminism, friendship, dreams and soul-searching. There were heartfelt moments where I actually shed some tears, especially when the characters started to show their supports to one another.A lush portrayal of Singapore life filled with vibrant characters and a lovable leading lady readers will root for.