Portrait of a Thief was a beautifully written book that highlighted the devastating effects of colonialism on the art world. I thought the characterizations were strong - particularly Lily, Daniel, and Alex. Each character had a strong narrative arc and voice, and even though each character was experiencing similar emotions at being Chinese American, each was distinct and poignant. I found the reflections on the diaspora to be the strongest part of this novel. Li writes with such grace and care. I really felt as though her characters were REAL.

The heists, while taking a back seat to the characters' growth, were a fun idea if not entirely well-executed. I loved this as motivation for the characters. Some of the planning felt a bit silly and ridiculous, like using Google Docs to plan a highly illegal heist and video chatting weekly to discuss progress.

The biggest issue here was pacing. About 30% of the book passed before there was a heist, and then the heist itself was over in one chapter. The author lingered in internal dialogue and raced through any action. This led to what felt like a long, slow read. While not necessarily a bad thing, I think with a book being marketed as "Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell" I expected more Ocean's Eleven than what was present.

Additionally, the end of the book felt too rushed. The payoff therefore felt a little unsatisfying.

And, on a small note: at the start of each paragraph, the author uses the character's full name. (For example, "Daniel Chen was thinking... Daniel Chen had never... Daniel Chen had always felt...) I am not sure if this is intentional. Each paragraph therefore felt like it was introducing a new character rather than resuming the story with one we already knew. I am not sure the use of last names is necessary when the chapter headings already tell us which character will be narrating.

Ultimately, however, I found this to be a lovely read that makes the reader think about art and culture and what it means to belong to multiple places while feeling as though you belong to neither. The reflections on the Chinese diaspora were powerful and heart-wrenching. I found this to be a beautiful homage to those who have immigrated to a new place.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

The characters are well written, as are their relationships. I cared about the characters, and they had good development throughout the novel. The pacing is good, and the plot is interesting and unique.

This book was so smart and so much fun. Plenty of character development and cultural/historical background to give it some weight. I'd love to see a sequel and hoping there'll be a movie adaptation.

When Will Chen is contacted about stealing priceless artifacts looted from China centuries ago, he knows who he wants at his side. His sister Irene, her roommate Lily, his best friend Daniel, and acquaintance Alex. Each has their special talents, and Will is hoping they can help him pull these heists off. If they succeed, their payoff will be fifty million dollars. Each of them has their own reasons for accepting the job, and each of them has something important to lose if they fail. As Chinese Americans, they each have strong feelings about China and America, and are trying to figure out where they fit in. It’s a good story, and I enjoyed learning more about Chinese Americans.

I was given access to this ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers. Opinions remain my own.

This book was not what I was expecting that it was going to be. This made for a slow start at first but once I hit the halfway mark, it was smooth sailing.

I was not a fan of the rotating POV (I never am). However, the novel was well written, well paced and filled with well drawn characters.

Beyond the car chases and the hacking, this book was about home. It was about who is home for us, where is home for us and finding home. That was an unexpected journey that the novel took me on and made me grateful that I read this book.

I recommend this book to people who like created family, books about the Asian diaspora , and books about seeking and finding home.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Tiny Reparations Books for the chance to read and review this book in exchange of an honest review.

Will Chen fits in his curated roles as perfect student, an art history major, dutiful son and sometimes an artist, but when he's contacted by a mysterious Chinese benefactor with an impossible job offer, Will can't say no. He finds himself a leader of a heist to steal back five precious Chinese sculptures looted from Beijing centuries ago and now in five different museums around the world. With him the brilliant younger sister Irene, as a con artist and able to talk her way out of everything, Daniel, a premed student as a thief, able to lockpicking, a getaway driver, Lily Wu and an hacker, Alex Huang. Each of them have a complicated and intense relationship with China and their own identities as Chinese American, struggling to belong to both worlds and all of them will be ready to do anything to make history and earn fifty million dollars, in an attempt to get back what colonialism has stolen.

"They were all children of immigrants. They were all searching for something to hold on to."

Told by five POVs, the story is lyrical and skillfully written, a lush heist novel, inspired by Chinese art truly vanished in Western museums.
I loved reading this book and even though the plot is a bit surreal, five college students stealing art from museums, I really enjoyed the story, the characterization and the writing style. With care and sensitivity, Grace D. Li ,through the main characters, explores the diaspora, the struggles of Chinese American identity and the painful and lingering effects of colonialism. These five characters are diaspora children, and through their actions, feelings, thoughts fears and dreams, stand out the Chinese American reality and how the wounds of colonialism, loss and grief are deeply intertwined. Stylisticaly speaking, it's curious to notice how there are references to each character's passions in their own POVs, like Will's artistic gaze or Daniel's medical metaphors.

These five characters struggle to feel Chinese and American, to belong, feeling something missing in their lives, battling with their family's expectations and the weight of them. They are weighed down by theirs and others' dreams, losses and desires, feeling they are not enough, they will never be enough.
In this peculiar and surreal heist, each has a role and they connect to one other, some more strongly than other.

Will, the leader, feels the hunger of his want, the weight of people who made it in his family, the pressure to be his parents' son, the older brother and the need to be expectional. Irene measures herself against Will, fighting to be more cynical and grounded and their relationship, made of competitions, envy and love is a complicated one, Irene's pragmatic gaze against Will's artistic and dreamy one. Irene hides her insecurities behind a mask of confidence, battling her own fears and disappointments. Daniel feels acutely his mother and home loss, struggling to connect with his father. Alex is fighting to belong to something, to feel connected to a place and a person, while Lily is always running away from something, trying to find her home.
The characterization is truly on point, showing the bonds, new and old, between characters, with banter, tensions, sweet and cute moments, intense one and their own fears, dreams and expectations. All of them are bound together by friendships, family and complicated relationship and I enjoyed the romance, hetero and queer in this book and how they end up creating a strong and beautiful found family with each other.

About the writing style, even though I've found it really lush and evocative, I've also found too many repetions and sometimes the same themes are underlined too many times.

Even though pretty surreal the heist represents something different for all of them: a way to quench Will's hunger, to heal for Daniel, to make justice or something to hold on to. Through and thanks to them these characters grow, becoming more confident and centered, finding a family in one other, dissipating tensions, solving others and so on. They are attracted to this peculiar adventure by wealth, change, the desire of being part of something expectional and making history and it's underlined the importance of art, its loss, the cruel and painful history of looting, conquest, the want and its fierceness.

"We are children of diaspora. All we've ever know is loss."

There are many themes in Portrait of a thief, like the lingering effects of colonialism, the diaspora with its weights and expectations, the importance and resonance of art and how history is always told by conquerors, the identity and the struggles in finding one's place to belong. Portrait of a thief balances between the acute feeling of loss, longing and want, but also you can get a feeling of changing, a beginning in these characters' lives, of a future ahead of them that can be both an ending and a beginning. There's uncertainty and loss, the jittery feeling of growing up, of making impossible things possible and unreachable ones closer than ever.
Portrait of a thief is a book about diaspora and loss, the importance and resonance of art, the longing and want, the struggling in belonging and feeling Chinese and American, but also how it's possible to embrace both cultures. It's a story about identity and growth, found family and art.

PORTRAIT OF A THIEF was one of my most anticipated releases this year and I was over the moon to receive an eARC of it. Heists, art history and the found family trope? Count me in.

Grace D Li is a beautiful writer— her skill at crafting lyrical prose and atmospheric descriptions is astonishing, especially as a debut novelist. I was entranced by her ability to describe a setting and the characters emotions from the off. I would say that her character portraits were the strong point of the novel— she does an excellent job exploring identity, duty, family ties and all the messy emotions teenagers face as they transition into adulthood and the post university world. I’d argue that PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is a character driven story, with the examination of colonialism and diaspora through the lens of five Chinese American students. I enjoyed reading their individual voices and thought Li did a fantastic job displaying their personal wants and fears.

However, I do think the novel would have lived up to the premise more if it leaned more plot driven. Despite thoroughly enjoying my reading experience, I definitely was expecting more heists and higher stakes. It was easy to forget that they were planning and conducting art heists in hugely protected spaces as there was not much focus given to the actual logistics. I wasn’t worried about the consequences or sitting at the edge of my seat to see if they’d be caught. While it can be argued turning it into more of a thriller would take away from the conversation about colonialism and identity, I can’t help wishing there was a little more action and suspense. Overall, I really did enjoy PORTRAIT OF A THIEF and am eagerly awaiting to see what Li comes out with next.

A robbery at the Sackler Museum and a conveniently placed business card sent 5 Chinese-Americans on a heist of a lifetime.

The synopsis of this story got me in, hook, line, and sinker - but the execution of the story was so incredibly boring and underwhelming. In this 5 Point-Of-View book, every single character had to give their take 100 times about the same 2 themes. It got repetitive and I started losing interest in the characters and plot very quickly.

One thing I did like about this novel was that it touched on how children of immigrants have this immense pressure on them to succeed in America. I am not a child of an immigrant, so I can't relate to the pressure that these students are facing, but it was really interesting to hear how their families dealt with coming to America and what pressures each kid felt.

I had such high hopes for this book. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get over all of the grammatical errors and the repetitiveness of the character dialogue.

Portrait of a Thief is an ambitious story of 5 Chinese-American students who take it upon themselves (Ok, not really. There is a sus Chinese corporation funding this endeavor.) to return stolen Chinese pieces of art to their homeland. The book explores the themes of art theft, museums perpetuating modern-day imperialism and repatriation of art, as well as the life of Chinese-American diaspora kids and the crises they face in the modern day United States.


*Special thanks to Tiny Reparations Books and NetGalley for an early copy of this e-arc.*

I'm obsessed. 5⭐️

Summary- theives take art from the Museum where Will works, but also leave him a business card. He calls the number and suddenly he's in the middle of a wild world of art theft, with a deal to steal 5 specific pieces in exchange for $50 million. He and four other college age people, all with complex relationships with China, start planning their heists

When I tell you that I was HYPED to see that I'd been approved for this advance readers copy, I MEAN it. And the book aaaaabsolutely lived up to its premise. It's fast paced but it still dwells on the five characters enough that you know them and you get why they're doing all of this.

There's enough about the heist mechanics for me, a far from expert on museums, to believe that it could happen, but not so far into it that I get bored. I love the prose in this book- it's this airy, dreamlike style that sucked me in and I read the second half of the book all at once because I couldn't do anything else. I love the way that the five perspectives all sound distinct, and because there's so many perspectives the story gets to play around with time which I LOVE.

The book goes into the provenance of art and the messed up systems around museums, the effects of diaspora, the cultural identities and what we owe ourselves and our families and what it's like to be in college and wondering "now what?"

I don't think I've highlighted so much in a fiction book in my Kindle in a long time.

Everyone deserves the chance to read this book and think on it for a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest review

Grace Li's Portrait of a Thief drew me in completely. The story is partly of a high profile art heist and cultural repatriation of bronze figures from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing but it is just as much a story of the Chinese diaspora, belonging, and finding one's place. The main crew are:: 1) Will Chen, a brilliant Art History senior at Harvard who is present at the Sackler during the theft of Chinese antiquities. Will draws the attention of the thieves and receives a mysterious invitation to China. Will brings in his younger sister,Irene Chen, who is a talented linguist and government student at Duke. Irene and Will Chen have proven to be savvy, talented and able to achieve most everything that they want. Their close childhood friend and neighbor Daniel Liang is getting ready for medical school and was raised by his father, the FBI's Chinese Art expert. Daniel's skilled at opening locked doors and escaping surveillance. Irene's college roommate is a whiz at cars and drag racing but grew up in Galveston, Texas, distant from her roots in China. Irene's parents never spoke of China and what their family lost during the Cultural Revolution. Her own knowledge of China and its language and culture is minimal but this adventure with the other Chinese Americans gives her a closer tie to the country and culture. My favorite of the crew is Alex Huang.. Alex knows Will from Cambridge but doesn't have any connections to the others. Alex and Will had met their freshman year, had two dates but recognized something in each other -- brilliant children of immigrants with heavy responsibilities to their families. Alex had been at MIT and left before her senior year to accept a position at Google. She had grown up in Manhattan Chinatown, above their family's restaurant. She would have been the first in her family to go to college and certainly has been a trailblazer and role model all her life.

When a Chinese billionaire offers the group $50 Million to steal back the 5 bronze animal heads stolen from the Summer Palace, this life changing sum and task means something different to each of the crew. But it opens up doors and complications that they are unable to fix.

Portrait of a Thief drew me in and I couldn't put it down. I loved learning about the Chinese antiquities and the history of the Opium Wars, the destruction of the Summer Palace, and the movement to have the stolen art returned to China and the Chinese diaspora. I live in NYC and grew up in Southeast Asia, so I'm aware that Asia is complex and diverse but it was enlightening to learn more about the diversity of the Chinese American experience. Some of the poorest New Yorkers live in Chinatown and the Chinese elite are among the wealthiest in the world. The friendships, conflicts, and adventures of the five young Chinese Americans make this a fascinating read!

i finished this so long ago, i can't believe i'm only giving my feedback now, but wow. i understand the comparisons to the farewell, it shares the same melanchoy and sentimentality. in my opinion it's less about the heist and more about the rumination and reclaiming of culture and identity, so think about that going in. still, i think grace d li has tons of promise.

”This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of twenty-three pieces of priceless Chinese art…”

When I read the description of Portrait of a Thief, I was instantly intrigued. I haven’t read a good heist story since Six of Crows, and I was so excited to dive in to this one, with it’s comparison to Ocean’s Eleven. I went into the story expecting a comic, adventurous portrayal of a lovable band of professional art thieves—based on the description, I had a Chinese-American Neil Caffrey (a la White Collar) in mind. But that’s not really what this book delivered.

”When Wang Yuling talked about these heists—when Will talked about these heists—it was about what had been taken from China, all that had burned when the West came calling.”

The storyline itself was a little clunky, and required significant suspension of disbelief, especially when it came to the theft of the art itself. I found it pretty unlikely that anyone would hire five inexperienced college kids to steal priceless art from notable museums, and their methods were questionable at best and almost entirely implausible at worst. If you’re going into this book hoping for something that lives up to the blurb’s comparisons, and really wanting an Ocean’s Eleven heist experience, you might be surprised to find that there is actually far less “heist” and far more time spent on the Chinese diaspora experience.

”China and its art, its history, would always be a story of greatness. It would always be a story of loss.”

But Grace D. Li’s writing style charmed me right away. Poignant and lyrical, with deep emotion veined through every page, her writing became the star of the show and made me want to keep reading even after I had lost interest in the plot itself. Her prose feels like poetry, and speaks to deep issues of the soul—what it is to be seen, to be known, to belong; what it is to understand and embrace the intersections of our identities; what it is to reclaim what’s been lost to you; what it is to finally feel like enough.

”He had spent these years searching for what it meant, to be the eldest son of an eldest son, to go to a school that flung open doors, but now it was his senior year and he had not yet figured out who he was supposed to be, how to become.”

Seriously a gem of a book, in the most unexpected way. Not what I expected, plot/story-wise, but my goodness, I could go on and on for days about how effortlessly beautiful Li’s writing is. I probably highlighted 65% of the text.

”As the light changed outside his window, fall swirling soft and golden around him, Will thought—as he always did—of history. It was made in moments like this.”

——

Thanks to Grace D. Li, Penguin / Dutton, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Will Chen, a Chinese American art history student, has long struggled with being a child of the diaspora. Even as he makes his way as an undergraduate at Harvard University, he writes of the colonization of art and grapples with the ugly truth of stolen history in the museums he visits. When a mysterious organization leaves a calling card and a chance to steal back history, Will seizes the chance with both hands. He recruits his sister Irene, who always has been able to bend the world to her will, and his friend Alex, whose computer programming skills got her to Silicon Valley. Irene calls up her friend Daniel, whose father specializes in art crime for the FBI, and her roommate Lily, a street racer by night, and a heist for stolen treasure is born.

I loved the premise of this novel, and I think the ideas of diaspora and the Asian American existence were explored really well. The author was able to capture why this art meant so much in a very authentic way, and the writing pulled me in to the point where I was invested in the art as well. I fell in love with the found family these characters created, and I think the group dynamic showed a lot of chemistry throughout the novel. The members of the crew played off each other so well! The ending to this novel was super unique for a heist story, and I think it was really creative as well.

I highly recommend this novel for fans of young adult fiction! Thank you so much to Penguin Random House’s Dutton Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.

History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.

Will Chen plans to steal them back.

A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents' American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible - and illegal - job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.

His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine - or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.

Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars - and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they've dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.

Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary cri­tique of the lingering effects of colonialism."

YAS! Not just art theft but theft with a purpose. I love it!

I have thought of nothing since this book since I finished it. It follows a group of Asian Americans who break into western museums and steal back chinese artifacts. WHICH IS SO COOL?! And the book discusses the relationship between art and culture in a way that is absolutely fascinating. I literally am currently doing my history internal ib assessment based off of this book, I will be shoving it down the throat of every person I know the second it comes out.

Portrait of a Thief is an entertaining heist story that, while often unrealistic and somewhat contrived, keeps the reader on their toes and interested in the plot. I know that others were disappointed in the plotting of the heist in the story (the characters have a shared Google Drive and doc to commit a federal crime and still don’t get caught, which is a very valid criticism), but I found POAT to be brimming with talent in the area of books that is often most important to me: its characters. Will and Daniel in particular stood out to me (Daniel holds a special place in my heart), but beyond them, each of the cast members has a unique, complicated relationship with China, which was the part of the story that jumped out for me. D. Li’s examination of what it means to be a child of immigrants and how that affects a person is compelling and well thought-out. Not to mention the romance—in my opinion, this book excelled at its character dynamics, especially in romantic terms. Will and Lily were so fun to read and root for, and Alex and Irene were such a good use of the enemies to lovers trope; I was so close to tearing up when the book ended and these characters’ stories closed. Overall, while POAT does have its problems, for me, it was a thrilling, heart-wrenching ride that I wish I could take over again for the first time, if only to feel the same sense of wonder I did while reading.

Portrait of a Thief is an ambitious debut novel that sadly doesn't live up to its promised thrill, but, damn, it was an enjoyable read.

It has a unique, attention grabbing premise - an Asian American heist thriller about five junior/senior Chinese American college students on a mission to reclaim Chinese art from Western museums - on top of equally eye catching, gorgeous cover art.

I really, really love the writing style. Li's poetic writing is absorbing from the start and made for a fast, smooth reading experience. She crafted her characters well and made this feel like character studies rather than a procedural thriller. It felt really personal, the heart and frustration woven into the characters was palpable and raw.

Unfortunately, the writing is also the crux of this novel. The excessive inner monologues/time jumps impeded the pacing quite a bit and really got old once the actual story was getting interesting, a lot of it could be cut out. The final conflict that was built up from the start was resolved in a few paragraphs, and the overall incredulousness of all the conflict resolution was groan inducing.

Be warned, if you're picking this up because you're expecting an Ocean's Eleven-esque heist story, you'll be disappointed. As the title suggests, this book isn't too heavily focused on the robberies but the characters themselves. Don't expect grand schemes either. They're college kids. They planned through Zoom, WhatsApp and Google Drive and didn't think to scout their locations while wearing disguises or even talk in code while out in public, aka they were pretty much begging to get caught.

But! Despite my critiques, I really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to Li's next novels. If you're looking for a fun read with some thought-provoking themes of identity, diaspora and the colonization of art, I highly recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton / Tiny Reparations Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wonderful, well-written debut! A great cast of characters and an engaging, action packed plot that made me think more about museums and colonialism.

PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is a love story; a tale of anger and longing and vigilantism; and the desperate, universal need to find our place in the world. Above all, this is a story about right and wrong; about who gets to shape and reshape history; about home and heritage. Debut author Li absolutely blew me out of the water with this modern-day, elevated heist novel that is sure to appeal to a wide audience.