Books I've Read: Rent a Boyfriend

 

I'm a huge fan of Gloria Chao.  I discovered her first book, American Panda, before it was published and she entered parts of it in a contest I was slush-reading for.  The voice and humor just leapt off the page.  I can't remember if she won the contest or not (I think she did), but it was not a huge surprise when the book was published.

Rent a Boyfriend mines similar ground in that it's about the massive divide between an American-born Chinese girl and her very traditional Chinese parents.

Chloe (or at home, Jing Jing) is at college in Chicago.  With the holidays looming, she's terrified about going home to California and facing her overbearing parents who have basically promised her to the worthless son of a wealthy family in their community.  In an attempt to put the brakes on this arranged marriage, Chloe uses a company called Rent for Your 'Rents and hires a boyfriend for the holidays - Drew, who arrives as serious, studious Andrew.

Her parents aren't entirely convinced that her relationship with Andrew is real, and are not sure he's from a good enough family to support her the way they want her to be supported.  There's friction, fighting and some hilariously bad food involved.  And somewhere in that mess, Chloe and Drew begin to have feelings for each other.

With the arranged marriage still on the table, Chloe hires Drew again for the next holiday and the lies begin piling up as she blows her entire family's lives apart.  And somewhere, within all this chaos, she and Drew fall in love.

Drew's family have basically disowned him for not following their dream for him becoming a doctor or lawyer or architect.   Instead, he dropped out of college to try and become an artist, something that is not going well because he doesn't have the confidence to show anyone his art.  If Chloe's parents find out the truth about Drew,  they will definitely not trust him with their daughter's future.

As Chloe and Drew grow closer, she gives him the confidence to try and move forward with his art while he shows her that she doesn't have to give up her Chinese side to have a happy life.

This was a deeply uncomfortable read.  Chloe's parents are so well drawn with their traditions, superstitions and neuroses.  To anyone not familiar with Chinese culture, they could be seen as borderline abusive, but if you understand, you can see it's just their way of showing their daughter they love her.  Unfortunately, Chloe has been brought up n western culture and doesn't want the things her parents want for her.

Drew's character was kind of under-written in many ways.  He lacked direction, I think.  If he dropped out of college to pursue art, he should have been pursuing it, rather than hiding it in his room, too afraid of failure here too to even make an attempt.

Yet, despite being somewhat under written in places, the book felt too long.  There were several places it could have ended and didn't.

I didn't dislike it, but there was definitely some tightening that could have been done.

But if you enjoy reading about cultural clashes and people finding the strength to defy their parents and go their own way, this is a good place to start.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?