Last Tang Standing, by Lauren Ho

In Last Tang Standing, by Lauren Ho, Andrea’s in her thirties, and she’s just split up with her long-term boyfriend. Still-single-in-her-thirties could be a stressful premise for an American heroine, but with a Singaporean Chinese family after her to get married, it’s disaster for poor Andrea. Her cousins (including her queer cousin!) are all getting married, and if she doesn’t hurry up she’s going to be the only single girl left in her generation, a huge embarrassment to her mom, and a general failure at life.

There’s a meandering, experimental search for love in Last Tang Standing that reminded me a bit of Jazzy in Sarong Party Girls, as Andrea looks for a suitable boyfriend before becoming an old maid. For Jazzy, though, the search is motivated by the desire for a Chanel baby and for financial security. For Andrea, getting a suitable husband is next on the list of life accomplishments her family expects, and at the start of the novel, Andrea is checking off that list, with a top degree, an apartment in the right neighborhood, a good job at a top law firm, and she’s on track to make partner.

I loved scenes of Andrea outlast her officemate in the facetime politics game, which means being physically present for more billable hours. It’s just one of the hilarious slice-of-life moments, along with sneaking McDonalds to an over-scheduled child or a spreadsheet of appropriate wedding gifts amounts, that build the upscale Singaporean setting and Andrea’s life.

The friendships are hilarious and well-developed. I always look for my awesome cousin Andrea at family events, so I loved Last Tang Standing‘s cousin/besties Linda and Andrea even more. (I haven’t actually shown up at my cousin Andrea’s house to get drunk and sleep on the couch… but she would totally let me do it.) I also loved Valerie’s increasingly ridiculous attempts to hide her age.

There’s a bit of Crazy Rich Asians style, for better or worse, when Linda and Andrea take the week off for a last-minute trip to the Maldives for a free stay in a friend’s resort. They moan about the constant rain, which is kinda how they got in free, but isn’t the most relatable view. Also, at another point in the story, Andrea’s money worries are basically sorted by renting out her extra bedroom, which is very much not what money worries mean to most of us. This does help highlight how Andrea is very much NOT failing at life, even if her unmarried status feels that way.

Finally, the romance. There are enough signs pointing to Andrea’s perfect match that I felt more of a now kiss feeling than romantic suspense, but I still enjoyed discovering him and his nerdy hobbies.