Portrait of a Thief is a solid debut novel that explores the complexities of being between two cultures and wanting to claim an identity

Life got in the way and I could not finish the book. Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read the book.

The cover synopsis promised me a thriller heist story, it was a little misleading. The history lesson on recovering art lost in war or theft of burial grounds is familiar with all race and culture classes. The story was a good one, not great. As a debut, it shows many promises for future titles. Grace D. Li has joined my list of authors to watch.

To be honest, I did not finish this book. I loved the premise, I loved the idea, and I loved the setup, but when it came down to the actual writing and execution, I felt that it fell flat. I would give the book and the author another chance, but for now, i leave it at DNF.

I had to DNF this one unfortunately. I just couldn't connect with the characters and I normally love a good heist novel.

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li is a thrilling and intriguing novel that is a perfect fit for readers who crave a dynamic blend of adventure, cultural exploration, and found family themes, particularly those interested in Asian American experiences, art, and heists, and are looking for a story that delves into the complexities of identity, belonging, and the power of art to shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Portrait of a Thief, like its five protagonists, does an absurd number of things well: it’s an impressively researched heist book that spans three continents (and whose crew is entirely Asian-American!); an incisive commentary on colonialism, art, history, and power; a study in lush, lyrical prose; and an exploration of Chinese-American diaspora that felt, at points, as if the author had peered into my brain and given a name to a sort of liminal, silent reaching I had been struggling to put into words.

But the surprise of this story—the cutting edge, for me (though perhaps this says more about me than it does about the book)—was the characters’ sense of the world breaking open; that their whole lives lie ahead of them; that it isn’t too late to change what might be changed. Portrait of a Thief is as much about hope for the future as it is the scars of the past; as much about what we diaspora kids might ask of the world as much as what our families and communities expect of us. It’s about daring to want, when every day our lives seem to fill with more constraints—and, in imagining the impossible, makes it feel not as out of reach as it first appeared.

A heist story will always be is for me, One of the things I love about this book are that it examines the diaspora and colonialism. Being a person who is a par t of a Diaspora, it's fascinating to see it from the perspective of another Person of Color. The Critique of colonialisn is told through the lens of art theft. The book has short chapters which make it very easy to breeze through.

One of the issues that I had with this book is that I wasn't able to subscribe to the characters motivations, I think you have to suspend disbelief too much to buy in. I also felt like this book needed to be edited better, I looked through the final version and the editing errors were not caught. The writing in this book felt as if the author was trying to say something profound, but the connection wasn't being made.

Ultimately, I loved the premise of this book, but the execution wasn't there for me,

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Wow! This book was unexpectedly amazing--I'm not usually a thriller or suspense reader, and was not expecting this to grab me in the way it did.

A museum theft sets up a trip to Bejing for 5 college students. They are offered the opportunity of a lifetime -- $50 million in exchange for the return of ancient Chinese artifacts. In a fast-paced heist tale with shades of "Fast and the Furious" and "Oceans 11" plus a little romance thrown in.

While I would say that I enjoyed the book, it was not one of my favorites. The characters were pretty well developed, but I just really didn't care. I just couldn't get into the story of the globe-trotting college kids who speak all the necessary languages and have all the necessary skills to break in high security museums and get away with it. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief long enough to really get attached to the story. It was OK and a pleasant diversion, just not great.



SPOILER -- of course the kids figure out a way to restore the Chinese art to the rightful owner without suffering any repercussions. A big stretch since one of the parents is an FBI expert on stolen art. All's well that ends well, I guess.

I found this book to be quite intriguing. It definitely gave me Italian Job and Ocean's Eleven vibes, but in a younger audience. I love the connection to art and natural belonging that the museums profit from. This was a slow build and took a little bit to differentiate the characters, in my opinion, but overall kept me engaged and wanting to know what more could happen with the whole "heist" attempt with the art that was expected.

Do not compare something to Ocean's Eleven and expect me not to read it!

I love a good heist story!!

I had no idea that this was based on a true story.

This was fast paced and dealt with themes of colonialism and cultural identity. It was a ride!

DNF

Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. Portrait of a thief had been an anticipated release of mine, and I tried my best to get into it. The few chapters I read were continuously repetitive, but the second they started planning the heist on google docs, I had to close the book.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC

I enjoyed the plot and the general concept of this book, which revolves around Chinese-American students who steal repatriated art for the purpose of returning it to the original homeland. However, I felt like the cast of characters was decently crafted but not multifaceted and compelling enough to get truly attached to. This led to an entertaining reading experience, but one that would not stick with me for very long. However, I would be willing to give this author another try as she can execute an interesting premise and has a great writing style. This particular title may not have clicked with me entirely, but I saw a lot within it that I liked.

A very fun and very fast read! Grace D. Li did a great job on this novel. It garned tons of attention and I get it.

This novel was certainly original but for me too much of a stretch of my imagination. Wonderful characters and relationships and well written, but it failed to engage me. I think it’s a generational issue.. a younger audience is probably the best one.

I thought that this had an interesting plot and take on colonialism. I've been wanting to read more books written by POC and it didn't disappoint.

This book was just okay for me. Thanks for the review copy. Felt there should have been more about the heist.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review. I think this book is going to translate really well to the big screen! I think the writing itself could use a little bit more editing and the plot seemed a little all over the place at first but nonetheless, it was a fun read.