Member Reviews

What a read! This story follows a group of Chinese American 20 year olds as they attempt to steal a bunch of Chinese art that was looted and is on display around the world. The concept had me in its clutches from the get-go, let me tell you, I love a heist. Everyone had their own reasons for wanting to commit the crimes and their own set of skills to bring to the table, but the way it all came together didn’t require quite as much suspension of disbelief as I thought it would. They’re not perfect, they’re not otherworldly geniuses (for the most part…) there were a few tricks that had me rolling my eyes because it seemed a little too easy but really the story pulled me along and I quickly forgot to be annoyed.

I had the time of my life with this fast-paced novel, constantly shifting perspectives and getting so many different emotions and motivations throughout was such a treat. I also loved that I never really knew what kind of love story was going to materialize within this group, there was sexual and romantic tension in so many different directions.

I was aware while I was reading this of the “white girl reads a book about a Chinese American experience and doesn’t get it” issue that I’ve seen non-white reviewers complain about, and certainly, some of the themes and moments in this book probably went over my head as someone not from the Chinese Diaspora but that in no way interfered with my immense enjoyment of this story and my love for these characters!!!! I did absolutely hate that Covid was in this, I’m sure in a few years we will think it's a good nod to the emotional landscape of people in this age group and in this era but I simply hated that it was brought up several times!!

(So grateful to have received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley, in exchange for this honest review!)

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PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is contemporary fiction about a group of college-age Chinese Americans who set out to steal five zodiac fountainheads from museums around the world.

Along the way, the novel explores questions surrounding art acquisition as well as Chinese diaspora identity. The group isn't just taking the statues for personal financial gain -- they're taking back Chinese art that was looted from Beijing. To be sure, they'll each pocket $10 million if they can pull off the thefts, forever freeing themselves from various pressures.

Perspective switches between each of the five future thieves. While that allows the reader to get inside the head of each of the characters, I think the narrative contained too much introspection, slowing down the pace of what might otherwise be a heist novel. Some of the content was fairly repetitive, I assume to remind the reader which character is which, but by the third time a personal musing was mentioned, I felt the text could have used another edit (to remove some repetition and improve pacing).

I do wonder if I'd have enjoyed the book more had I gone in expecting a character-driven novel (and thus could have been pleasantly surprised by any action) rather than expecting something heist-y (and therefore feeling slowed down by the characters' self-analysis). At the same time, I'm grateful to have spent this time thinking more critically about art acquisition (than I maybe ever have!) as well as the experiences of and pressures facing Chinese American 20something adults.

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I am so frustrated with this book, if I hadn't listened to the audiobook I would have flung it against the wall, <i>many times</i>.

The first time I heard about this book I was exstatic. BIPOC rep? Check. Queer book? Check. Female author? Check. And on top of all that, you're giving me a heist?! Count me in, sister! I'm here for it!
And then.
And then...
... Then I started listening to the audiobook and the more I kept going the more I started regretting my decision and all my positive feelings vanished. Yet, I had been anticipating it so much, I couldn't just give up, right? I told myself it would get better, with that premise it had to get better. And so I kept at it, until I reached the end and I realized there could have never been salvation. I should have trusted my gut.
The wasted time is all on me.

This is marketed and sold as a heist book.
We're in 2022. You want me to believe that, after all the books featuring heists published (fiction and nonfiction) and after all the TV shows and movies with heists, someone in 2022 would plan to rob a museum by turning of the cameras, going in and smash glass?!
Like... you really want me to believe that? That's your master plan. One month of planning, with money and resources and engineering and IT degrees and all that, your plan is to go in and break the glass.
Right.

There are five characters (and, therefore, 5 PoVs): Will, Irene, Alex, Daniel and Lily. Even without considering that halfway through the story, Lily's character was dropped and she disappeared for a while because, objectively, she wasn't interesting and nothing was happening with her - but I could say the same about any of the other characters really.
They were all so flat, a few traits each just to remember who was who and a love interest each and/or sexual orientation label to make everyone happy (where for everyone I mean the queers - and I can assure you, we weren't). I could have told who wanted to jump whose bones from the very first few pages and yet there was all this totally unnecessary and annoying pining because... these 20 year olds couldn't be together? Even if there was no apparent valid reason whatsoever?

And please, for the love of gods, you can say the word lesbian, you know. Say it with me: LESBIAN. In 384 pages, there were at least five or six scenes where Daniel was salivating after Irene (for a reason unknown to the reader, because why would someone love a flat bitchy character like Irene, but okay) and thinking about how perfect she was and how in love with her he was and saying over and over that he had to let her go because she would never like him "that way". Yet, not even ONCE, Irene referred to herself as lesbian. Not once! And yet you want me to believe she's this sassy kickass strong woman who always gets her way but can't say the L word?! Jeez.

And last but not least, what's with all the freaking light descriptions?! At the beginning middle and end of every. single chapter. "The light was coming through the window illuminating the dark room", "the reflection of the moon on the water", "the laptop screen gloom", like WE GET IT.
One thing is to set the scene and create a certain atmosphere, another one is to notice how the light is reflecting on the glass when you're right in the middle of a freaking heist and maybe you should be focused on what you're doing?
And maybe as an author you shouldn't stall and halt the rhythm of an action scene that should be fast-paced?!
The whole book's pacing was just totally off, but that was the cherry on top and my eyes at that point were too tired to roll.

I won't comment on the looted art because that was undeniably an interesting aspect of this book that, however, deserved more time and space to be fully developed and discussed; it was sacrificed due to the non-existent heists and the characters being annoying and complaining about the same things over and over again without anything ever changing. It was pretty much reduced to a black or white, right or wrong matter and I personally think it's far from it.
But I'm no expert, I'm white and I live in the west, so it is not my place to comment on it.

Totally insufficient and an absolute disappointment.

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I was super excited for this one and I loved the cover so much but unfortunately it just didn’t exceed my expectations.

For a book revolving around a heist, the stakes didn’t feel as high as they should have been? Like everything seemed a little too easy and it wasn’t realistic at all.
For example.. why would a China randomly hire 5 college kids to perform a heist in Europe.. That aside, they were able to steal the art so easily that I was like wait, it’s over??
And then they were able to hack the FBI like nothing. They also made plans of their heist on WhatsApp and Google docs..… really?

On top of all of that, the writing is repetitive and it becomes slow. The characters also don’t give me anything to care or root for them - it’s all so surface level and I just felt nothing.

I appreciate what Li was trying to do for Chinese American identity, diaspora, and the critique of colonialism. In another setting, I would've really enjoyed this. The potential was there but unfortunately, not for me. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

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This was a fun read (albeit a bit repetitive, but I suppose that's what might make it a good beach read this summer) and I can see why it was considered to be an anticipated book for 2022--art, international thievery, the Chinese-American culture (which seems to be a popular theme of late), repatriation, and more.

Where I thought things went well was the exploration of 20 somethings and identity. And that it encompassed the Chinese-American identity was very engaging.

I thought that I would like to have a fast-paced, quick developing plot unfold, but I think the problem with this novel stems from trying to do ALL. THE. THINGS. and make it fast paced. I get that there isn't supposed to be a ton of character development, but I struggled with the relationships between the characters--shouldn't there be a championship team mentality between them all to pull something like this off?

Overall I would recommend to those who are looking for a quick easy read with some action--you can't really help but root for these bumbling underdogs!

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3.5

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this a lot! I wish there was more heist-ing but the characterizations were so good it almost didn't matter. They were all flawed and multidimensional, and I loved reading about them. The diaspora aspect was done really well and depressed me! V hard to be a child of immigrants sometimes, especially when the country you live in, the country you were born in, refuse to see you as one of their own. I thought Li did a very, very good job with that (re: Lily).

The prose was flowery ("The night goes like this.") but I didn't mind it, even the over-abundance of descriptions of light. I do love soft light through a window, so I get it.

"All parents leave their own scars. We're the ones who have to heal from them."

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This is not really about an art heist, but more focused on colonial stealing of art and reparations and the difficulties of being young people and Chinese-American. The book does a good job describing the unique situation children of immigrant parents can face at the especially trying time of your early 20s, and this is where it's strength lies. The heist is poorly written, things just magically happen and plucky amateurs are able to defeat high end security systems, and feels like an afterthought to the story instead of the strong symbolic meaning it could have had.

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Thank you, Tiny Reparations Books, for allowing me to read Portrait of a Thief!

I absolutely get why this book became an instant New York Times Bestseller. Prose, characters and plot were all on point and they mixed to birth one of the best books I've ever had the honor of reading.

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Interesting point of view - the narrator takes the perspective of all the main characters from chapter to chapter. I noticed that the characters are young (undergrad age) yet the tone does not read as YA (not to say that would be a negative thing). I liked the diversity among the characters, despite all of them being Chinese or American-born Chinese - too often we forget that there are other types of diversity besides race and ethnicity. The characters are from different socioeconomic statuses, different parts of the country, and different sexualities, just to name a few ways that they differed from each other.

The heists were interesting and clever! I never felt like I was suspending disbelief, but simply believing everything was possible.

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Name of Book: Portrait of a Thief
Author: Grace D. Li
Genre: Multicultural/Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Books Dutton
Pub Date: April 5, 2022
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5 ~ rounded up!

This story is told in the POV by Will, Irene, Daniel, Lily, and Alex; five Chinese American college students stealing back Chinese art stolen from Beijing many years ago. The looted art had been distributed around the world. This is their story and their hopeful prize of 50 Million dollars. These thieves leave behind their card for Will Chen a Senior Art History student at Harvard who works part-time at the Sackier Museum.

A bit different than my usual psychological thriller ~ for some reason the [book: The Goldfinch] popped into my mind; it has been several years since I read it ~ I remember a lot was going on in the story but I believe it was finding looted art that triggered my memory ~ oops I got off track! However, this was more entertaining to read

I always enjoy reading the ‘Author’s Acknowledgements’ ~ a fun inside scoop into the author’s motivation in writing the story. In this case it is a story in its self.
BTW: [\author, Grace D. Li earned her undergraduate degree in Biology at Duke University.
I liked that she mentioned Durham, NC in this story.
She is a very impressive person as well as a great author; she is now in med school at Stanford.

Want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date was April 5, 2022.

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Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books, and NetGalley for this ARC. If there was a book I wish I would have liked more than I did, it is this one. Finally, I thought, a book focused on the Asian diaspora coupled with heists and the attempt to answer an intriguing question I never gave much thought to before: who REALLY deserves to own art? This book was ambitious and I applaud it for that. As a debut, I am even more in awe of Li attempting to write this character-driven heist novel. However, it simply fell short. The book attempted to have that "heist feel" right off the bat with its allure and quickly shifting from each character's perspective. I think what it sincerely lacked, though, was motive. Every character's reasoning for taking on the heist is, "why the hell not?", which didn't make a lot of sense to me considering they were, well, college students. It's fiction, so I'll write that off as writing fiction and "because it needs to be for the story." Onto the writing itself, it was way too flowery. I really did not need to know how decadent the fog was, amongst other scenic descriptions. Overall, the idea is magnificent but the execution simply fell short. I enjoyed the novel and the struggles each of these five characters had with China, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a fast-paced action novel the way it was advertised (heists, Ocean's Eleven), an exploration of home, art, and belonging or simply a quest to be as descriptive of the setting as possible.

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I've wanted to read this book since the author posted a mood board on Twitter one year before publication date with a brief synopsis.

For me, this book didn't disappoint. You can enjoy this book at the surface level, which is an absurd/improbably heist novel. It was fun to see how these college students thought, and then followed with the execution of their plans. Don't expect many details, each time the gang starts, the book fades to black. One thing you should know, most of their research involves watching OCEAN’S ELEVEN, and it's sequels.

However, just below the surface, you can see that it's really a story about complex relationships. There's the parent-child relationship, and the sibling relationship. It's not necessarily a story of strict parents, but what's parents expect of each child - whether they are an only child, the oldest child, the youngest child. Sibling rivalry also plays a small part.

There's also the relationship each of the five main characters had with being members of the Chinese diaspora. Each of our five characters has a different relationship with China, and what being Chinese brings. Just a reminder that not everyone is a monolith, and each person is different.

There's also a bit about socio-economics, but there's not enough depth for a critique.

I'm excited to see what @Netflix has in store for the adaptation.

For parts of the novel, I followed along with the audiobook. It's narrated by Eunice Wong and Austin Ku. Both narrator's do a fine job, but I couldn't help but wish we had a full cast, as sometimes it was difficult to distinguish which of the three female characters, and which of the two male characters were being read. Though based on the length of the book, I can see that it also wouldn't make sense for five narrators.

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I can’t believe it took me so long to read this!!! I absolutely loved every single second of this one.

take historical fiction x mystery x suspense and you have the most beautifully written novel of a suspenseful event.

this is going to be the new standard of the historical drama genre wow 10/10 experience I’m officially moved

thank you to netgalley and tiny reparations for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!!

rating: 4 stars

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This book lives up to the hype! It leans in to the fun, adventurous tropes of a heist novel while pushing the bounds of the genre to touch on weightier issues about the ownership of art, cultural capital, and belonging on different levels. From our charming band of thieves, we also get a touching coming-of-age story. I found myself rooting for this fun cast of characters. I'm grateful for the opportunity to read the ARC - though I'll have to pick up a copy so that beautiful cover can sit on my shelf. There were a couple of scenes/moments where I felt like we circled the same idea too many times, but those lags were short-lived.

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The pacing of this book was well done and a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed the story and the characters were well developed. The anti-colonial art heist plot was engaging and the different POV were amazing. Just enjoy the ride and go with it. Suspension of disbelief is necessary. My ONLY concern...why does the author think Galveston is a small, judgemental town? It's not that small. And it's a pretty supportive community? Minor thing but most people only go to the beach when they visit and think that the Seawall is the true Galveston.(this is honestly a dumb thing to fixate on).

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Portrait of a Thief tells the story of 5 Chinese-American students coming together to pull off heists in order to return stolen Chinese pieces of art to their homeland. If they can break into highly secure museums and obtain 5 select zodiac pieces they will receive $50 million dollars from a Chinese corporate benefactor. If they get caught, the get nothing but a criminal record to call their own.

The cover and title gave me "this is going to be a fun caper story" expectations due in part to the blurb referencing Ocean's Eleven. The execution of the story did not live up to my personal expectations. The five main characters were not professional thieves. After spending a month or so researching the best way to break into the museums and to get away, I didn't really believe in their ability to pull off the heists around the world. The heists themselves sort of took a back seat a lot of the time to Li's exploration of modern day museums history of colonialism, the repatriation of art, the life of Chinese-American diaspora kids and their identity struggles.

At times it was repetitive, but overall it was an entertaining enough to keep me interested and I did read it over the course of a single day. My rating is three stars meaning "I liked it fine, but others may enjoy it more than me."

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An excellent and thrilling story that both entertains and educates.

Harvard student Will Chen is given a big and very illegal job by a mysterious : steal 5 ancient Chinese statues from the Sackler museum, statues which were stolen from China long ago by Westerners and put behind glass. If he can do it, he and his friends will get 50 million dollars, money that will change all their lives. But if they fail, there will be big consequences for all them.

Truly an ensemble novel, the cast of characters is compelling and entertaining. The thoughts that Li expresses about the Chinese diaspora and the theft of artifacts from other cultures that are now coveted in museums are complex and thought-provoking. While some of the planning and execution is hard to believe, the overall message is clear and this novel keeps you hooked page after page.

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I truly loved the writing in this book. It flowed well for me and overall was just well written. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted though. It didn’t feel believable enough and I had no real reason to suspend my beliefs and just go with the idea that these people could pull all this off. I sometimes felt my attention drifting as well, though maybe that means this just wasn’t the book for me. But all things considered, I overall liked the book, but definitely didn’t love it.

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Been seeing a lot of neagtive reviews for this book, and I can't figure out why. Going into 2022, Portrait of a Thief was one of my highly anticipated books and it did not dissapoint at all. Loved the setting and the plot with the characters.

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I loved the premise of this book so much- in fact, it was my most anticipated release of 2022. I love heist novels, especially when they are committed by ordinary people and even better when the crew includes marginalized identities. I truly believe this book is beautifully written and overall I would probably recommend to friends. However, I had some major problems with it that seriously took away some of my enjoyment from what I surely thought was going to be a five star book at the beginning,.

My biggest issues were with the characters, their perspectives, and the repetition of every single thought they had about colonialism and Asia and the American dream and stolen art. I truly think every single one of them said the same sentence about taken back what was stolen from china in every single sentence. I think it would have been much more powerful if the author had approached it in a more nuanced way. Instead, it was boring to read because it was so overdone. Also, I really loved most of the characters from their own perspectives, but they were truly terrible from each others perspectives, especially Irene and Alex. Their romance at the end wasn't even believable because of the immature way they interacted with each other for most of the book. Finally, the actually heist scenes were so vague and not realistic that I feel like the author didn't even do any research into how to write a heist novel, which I'm sure isn't actually the case. I get that it is a really complicated trope, but it was very lackluster to me.

Anyway, I still enjoyed this book, so much so that i'm going to be devoting an episode of my podcast, YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK, to it at the end of april, so go listen to that if you want to hear us go even more in depth. I give this book 3 stars, which is pretty low for me, but I still think this book has a great premise and good writing and I would probably recommend if someone was interested in it.

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