Ava Wong is a semi-retired lawyer, a stressed-out mom, and a woman deeply frustrated with how her life is going. Enter Winnie Fang, her glamourous, high-flying and mysterious former college friend. Winnie throws Ava a lifeline - and an opportunity. She's a successful conwoman, running a complex and lucrative scheme that involves buying "superfake" handbags from China, returning them to boutiques, and pocketing the profits. Ava is electrified by Winnie, and before she knows it, she's in on her scheme.

Counterfeit is a story of secrets and lies, love and friendship, betrayal and corruption. It's also a story about the American Dream and the life of Asian immigrants. It's streamlined, plotty and a lot of fun while still packing a surprising amount of punch and food for thought. I will admire I found Ava's parenting worries tedious, and her husband was less a character and more of a thin sketch. This meant that her domestic scenes lacked the colour of her interactions with Winnie or with the handbag business - though, maybe that was the point?

The mid=point Big Twist took me genuinely by surprise - which is always a good thing! - and though the narrative slows down a bit after this., it's still punchy and absorbing. Counterfeit is a fantastic poolside read, smart enough to get your teeth into and fun enough that you don't notice the pages fly by. Filing it on my "good for her" shelf along with all the other complex, difficult women that publishing is having a moment with.

Counterfeit is a Reese’s Book Club pick so I had high expectations. It’s the story of a Chinese-American woman Ava who while on maternity leave is contacted by her college roommate Winnie and then swept up in her counterfeit bag schemes. As Ava recounts the story of her involvement to a detective, we’re asked to question how much she was knowingly involved and how much her friend led her astray.
The topics of counterfeit designer goods and Chinese-American relations are fascinating but this slim volume doesn’t really do them justice. The novel touches on the ethics of Chinese factory workers being exploited but never fully addresses this and neither of our heroines feel sympathetic or fully fleshed out characters. It was a quick read but I never felt invested in what happened to Ava or Winnie, so I’ve given this three stars.

I absolutely adored this book and could not put it down! I loved the unreliable narrators, and felt that this gave the plot a really unique twist. I will definitely recommend this book to friends and family, and will be reaching for Kirstin Chen's books in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for sending me this arc.

When I saw this book was Reese's Book Club pick for June, I was really excited to read it as the story line sounded so intriguing. This book started off really strong and I enjoyed the first half of it so much, however I felt as it was getting towards the end, I began to lose interest and felt it just sort of dragged out a little bit. I really enjoyed Ava as a character and loved her relationship with Winnie and how it was all a little mysterious but the story sort of fell flat for me just past the half way mark. I have seen a lot of good reviews for this book though, so maybe it just was not for me.

This was an excellent read.
I loved the fast paced nature of this book and how quickly we get thrown into the deep end with our MC.
It's a really quick read and I'd highly recommend if you like messy women and pure chaotic vibes.
I mean the book literally starts with the MC getting interviewed by a detective what more do you want🤪
Anyway excellent fun and quick read and I would give it 4.25 stars rounded down to 4.

I really wanted to like Counterfeit however it turns out it wasn't quite the conwomen/scammer story I was hoping it would be. A lot of the focus is on 'mommy' & husband drama, which bored me as scenes with the mc's husband or child were presented to us in a very (intentionally sure) annoying way. I also thought that those bits were the mc recounts this stuff to her interrogators was gimmicky. still i can see that this book could easily appeal to those looking for a light summer read

Ava Wong is a married mum of one, living a seemingly unhappy and unfulfilled life with her doctor husband when, Winnie, an old roommate from college reappears in her life. Winnie introduces Ava to a life of crime and fraud through the manufacture and trading of counterfeit high end handbags. This story had me hooked from the beginning as the manipulative Winnie appears to be able to control Ava in the most surprising of ways. An interesting and enjoyable read which had a few twists and turns along the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and to the publishers for the opportunity to read this story in return for an honest review.

Everyone has a price, right? A magical number (or even a person) who when it comes along is willing (or can be convinced) to risk everything for.

The level of hustle in this book kind of reminded me of the movie Queenpins.
And just like the movie, it was enjoyable enough while engaging wth it. One that allows the reader to relax and switch off. But not quite something to write home about.

Many thanks to Kirsten Chen, The Borough Press, and NetGalley for an invitation read of this book.

An enjoyable story of counterfeit handbags, making the most of what you have and female ambition.

The story is largely presented as the monologue of one character speaking to a detective after a counterfeit handbag operation goes south. The counterfeit operation was one where real bags were bought and resold with fakes then being returned to department stores for refunds.

The character telling the story is weaving a tale where she was a pawn in her old college friend's scheme and wasn't culpable for anything that happened. Her tale involved her difficult toddler and largely absent husband - the crashing down of the American dream after she gave up work as a lawyer to raise a child.

While there are interjections where she asks the detective a question and then continues as if the detective has answered we don't know the specifics of the response.

There is a shift in narration for part of the story that adds a bit of depth but I wish more had been done with it.

In the end while it was a diverting enough story it didn't have the depth and complexity that makes me really love a book.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Ava Wong has always played it safe. As a strait-laced, rule-abiding Chinese American lawyer with a successful surgeon as a husband, a young son, and a beautiful home--she's built the perfect life. But beneath this façade, Ava's world is crumbling: her marriage is falling apart, her expensive law degree hasn't been used in years, and her toddler's tantrums are pushing her to the breaking point.

Enter Winnie Fang, Ava's enigmatic college roommate from Mainland China, who abruptly dropped out under mysterious circumstances. Now, twenty years later, Winnie is looking to reconnect with her old friend. But the shy, awkward girl Ava once knew has been replaced with a confident woman of the world, dripping in luxury goods, including a coveted Birkin in classic orange. The secret to her success? Winnie has developed an ingenious counterfeit scheme that involves importing near-exact replicas of luxury handbags and now she needs someone with a U.S. passport to help manage her business--someone who'd never be suspected of wrongdoing, someone like Ava. But when their spectacular success is threatened and Winnie vanishes once again, Ava is left to face the consequences.

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first saw it on Netgalley - sadly for me this was a book that I could quite happily have walked away from. Personally, I feel that this will be a book that is very quickly forgotten. A quick and easy summer read, that just fell short of the mark.

Rating 3/5

This formatting of this book put me off, I’m not entirely sure if this was the arc copy or not. But overall, the book could not hold my attention for long.

A fun weekend read that made me chuckle at times.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.

It had the hallmarks of a really good book, a lawyer in a difficult situation, which progressively gets worse as time goes on.

However, for me, it missed the mark as whilst there was an element of a plot, it disappointed and never really got off the ground.

I had hoped there would have been elements of humour, however if there were, I didn’t notice.

That being said, would certain give another book by Kirstin a chance,

Ava Wong is a mum and a wife first. She’s fallen in to the role of staying at home with two year old Henri. It’s a supposed ‘Maternity leave’ according to her husband Olivier or Dr Dessjardin to you! He’s gotten a new role in a hospital upstate, leaving Ava to solo parent most of the time. When he announces that it would be ‘easier’ to have an apartment nearer the hospital. Ava thinks enough is enough.!

Just at breaking point Ava gets a phone call from her old Stanford roommate Winnie, with a proposition for her.
There’s only one problem, it’s not exactly above board. Will Ava succumb to Winnie’s charms?

Told from both Ava and Winnie’s perspectives in sections throughout the book. I adored the fact that almost the first half of the book was Ava speaking to a detective. It was a one sided monologue for her and asking him rhetorical questions which made me chuckle.

A wonderfully unique premise for a book, I love handbags so this was right up my street! I also really like the mainland China setting very Crazy Rich Asians vibes from Ava’s family in Hong Kong.

I was lucky to receive a proof copy and a e-arc on NetGalley which I was very thankful for!

*disclaimer to mention my bag isn’t fake even though it’s not designer anyway! 🤣🤣

Thoroughly entertaining escapism. I loved the type A Ava who has always towed the line and ticked every box, from the career in law to her successful husband and two year old son. And her antithesis Winnie, who aborted grad school and is living the life off ill-gotten gains - selling counterfeit handbags. Combine the two together in a hair-brained scheme and you get a whole lot of fun.

This book doesn’t take itself too seriously and has the most wonderful, addictive flow that makes it hard to put down. It’s tongue in cheek, and has Ava breaking the third wall and talking directly to the reader which makes it all the more inviting. An overall romp of a book that has you smiling to the end.
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I had high hopes for this, especially as it was a Reese's book club pick but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I found none of the characters actually likeable and just rather annoying. Under 300 pages so I stuck with it and finished it hoping it would pick up at the end but it was rather one note. Sadly I wouldn't recommend.

Had me at the premise of a hustlers meets big little lies

HUSTLERS meets BIG LITTLE LIES in the heist of the summer coming June 2022…
Meet Ava: rule-abiding lawyer who has ticked all of life’s boxes. She’s married to a successful surgeon and has just taken an indefinite career break to raise her adorable toddler. A picture-perfect life.

Meet Winnie: Ava’s old college roommate. Once awkward, quiet and apparently academically challenged, she left Stanford in a shroud of scandal. But now, she is charismatic, wealthy and has returned to town dripping in designer accessories. An actual perfect life.

When the two women bump into one another at a local coffee shop, it seems like fate has intervened: Winnie’s new-found success is courtesy of a shady business and she needs a favour; Ava is realising she is not built for the stay-at-home life. But what starts as one favour turns into two, then three, and soon Ava is in far deeper than she ever imagined.

I really didn’t enjoy this one too much, I found the characters very shallow and nit very likeable. I wasn’t very interested in the story at all as I’m not at all bothered about designer handbags. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A witty book about 2 friends who get together and start selling cointerfit designer handbags.

Fast paced, made me laugh out loud in parts.

A great summer read

Those that regularly read my reviews and my blog will know I am not much of a contemporary reader. While I love a bit of Crime fiction, books like Counterfeit are not the genre I usually reach for, so I was surprised when I was auto approved for this on Netgalley. However, despite it not being in my normal wheelhouse I really enjoyed this book!

It is such a fast-paced read. I devoured it in just over an evening finding it hard to put down. I really loved the style of the writing, it was really inviting, pulling you in and getting you invested in Ava and Winnie’s relationship and their story. Despite the ‘Confessing your life story from your jail cell’ is quite a cliché in Fantasy genres it was somewhat refreshing here. It played out in such a unique way and the mid-point perspective shift was fantastic. I also love that we never got any input from anyone investigating. It was a really good use of the unreliable narrator trope.

The plot was a great mix of the mundane domestic problems faced by Ava and Winne, combined with great moments of tension and drama as they get deeper and deeper into the counterfeiting scheme. I don’t want to give any spoilers but there is a mid-point shift in perspective that really ramps up the drama significantly and turned this from a good book into an excellent book. I didn’t see those twists coming and they dramatically alter the impressions of the characters and how the story plays out in such a swift way that it was almost like being blindsided. It completely changed the nature of the plot and made it so much more exciting!

Overall this was just a fun read, with compelling characters and jeopardy. It also made some really good points on the cost of fashion that left you with something to think about.