Last Tang Standing

⭐️⭐️

I really wanted to like this book and was actually going to DNF, though reading through the mixed reviews, I thought I’d proceed anyway. There may have been moments I skimmed read.

Let’s start with what I liked… I thought the author’s writing was engaging, witty and fun. I liked her style and would love to check out her other work. The main reason why I bought this book was because it was set in Singapore and my heritage is there. I like to have representation and support BIPOC authors. The premise intrigued me - Andrea Tang being a 33 year old who is the last in her family to get married, so she’s the “Last Tang Standing”.

The book definitely explored the family and cultural pressures that some people face in todays world - where tradition outweighs personal needs and wants. The MC Andrea felt like a pariah because she is getting on in years, and in her family’s eyes, being unmarried was frowned upon. Though some of us in today’s day and age may not feel this pressure, there are still so many that have this idea of success being housed around having a good job and also marrying someone with a good job. Can we really judge this mentality? Andrea’s mum makes a point of why she acts the way she does and her sacrifices have always been to see her children succeed. With this in mind, you can start to (somewhat) forgive the harshness of her actions. I personally have only felt some of this expectation of having a good job though never felt like I had to meet someone with a good job also… however you define what a good job is.

So the main problem I had with the MC Andrea is her alcoholism. Honestly, she has a drinking problem and if she wasn’t drinking every day, she was drinking every other day. I don’t see how this is funny or entertaining… it’s a serious problem. Because of this, she lacks maturity. Andrea is a successful lawyer who is trying to make partner at her firm, but she goes into work so many times hung over and you’re telling me she’s supposed to be a professional? If you want to make partner, you might take your job more seriously or have more respect for yourself to be the best individual to make partner? Very frustrating to read.

I agree with other reviews how there’s topics which can cause an uncomfortable feeling amongst readers. There’s “casual racism” which I didn’t really feel was challenged enough by those that could educate others, there’s Chinese privilege (which by the way still exists in Singapore), there’s inappropriate comments surrounding weight and plastic surgery, the queer cousin won’t be accepted and disowned unless she marries a straight person, there’s ageism, there’s fat shaming, an inappropriate comment in reference to pedophiles on page 12 and did I mention how much alcoholic drinking is in this book by the MC and her friends?

The person Andrea ends up with, isn’t even a convincing romance. I didn’t really get the sense that much spark was there. They were colleagues and they were just getting to know one another. To me, it didn’t really scream out hot burning desire. It really felt short for me.

The reason I stayed until the end was to see if Andrea would grow as a person. We did see this towards the end where she quits her job, tries to stop drinking and truly think about what she wants to achieve in life. If you blink you may miss it as it’s only covered in very few pages.

The book is also long for not much character building. Since we get Andrea’s internal monologue, we get her judgemental commentary of those around her, but we don’t really get to know anyone in too much depth… or maybe that’s the point? Everyone in her life is so surface level, including the MC, so no one has any real substance to them? Not sure if intentional or not.

I am sitting here still with mixed feelings on the book but as I said I would still like to check out this author’s other work. It could just be that this book didn’t really hit, but that’s not to say her other work won’t. I feel like this story could have been really great and a missed opportunity.