Like a counterfeit product, this book isn't what I expected. I wasn't sure if it would be too chick litty for my tastes but it is light enough to be fun with unexpected twists that kept me reading and reading to finish it quickly.
Absolutely loved the characters and how as a reader I grew to consider them in different ways as the book progressed.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Counterfeit is a fun and fast-paced novel about two women caught up in a counterfeiting con. I'll be honest, it was the awesome cover that made me pick up this one, but I did not regret it.

I love an unreliable narrator, and Chen really delivers with Ava and Winnie. The reveal halfway through may not take readers completely by surprise, but I loved the playful turn the story takes.

Smart and compulsive, Counterfeit is a highly enjoyable read.

Counterfeit is a novel about two women pulling off a brilliant con: returning counterfeit handbags to boutiques and selling the real ones online for profit. Ava is a difficult point in her life, having given up her lawyer job to look after her young toddler whilst her surgeon husband works, but realising it's not all working out for her. When she runs into her old college roommate Winnie, who had to drop out but now seems to be rich and successful, Winnie offers Ava a chance to get involved in her shady business, giving Ava money and thrills, but as things start to go wrong, Ava has to decide what to do.

This is a fun crime novel in which characters use assumptions about gender and race to pull off their con of returning luxury handbags by replacing them with very good counterfeits. The narrative starts off pointing in one direction, but, as you might expects, twists off into something slightly different partway through. It feels very much like a film, not just because it has the feel of Ocean's 8 in terms of using gendered expectations as part of a con, and I could imagine an adaptation would work very well. It makes a good light read, engaging with some complex main characters and a fast pace.

Ava is bored with her life. She is a Stanford graduate who has been working as a lawyer until the birth of her 2 year old, Henri. Ava's husband is a top transplant surgeon who works in the City and has taken to staying at an apartment near the hospital during the week to save him the commute. Ava is home alone with Henri - her very needy toddler, and Maria the live in Nanny. So when Ava bumps into Winnie, a friend from Stanford, who has the seemingly perfect life she starts to feel depressed.

Soon Ava is swept into Winnie's world - and Winnie's world is a dark and dangerous place...because Winnie is committing fraud on a massive scale. Using contacts in China, Winnie is replacing genuine designer handbags with one - to - one replica's when she returns them to the store she purchased them from - the originals get sold online and Winnie gets a refund from the store using the fake bags. It isn't long before Ava is joining Winnie in this high stakes game and things start to spiral out of control.

Told in the form of Ava's confession to an investigating detective it is certainly an interesting book - even though I did find the writing style to be quite irritating. The characters are shallow and mostly unlikeable and the ending annoyed me.

However, it was a quick read and entertaining enough - even if it is just for the audacity of what they pull off.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh I read this quickly- devoured it, in a night or two. Kirstin’s novel is funny, sad and eye opening. I found myself empathising with Ava and also wanting to berate her for being so foolish. I thought it was very clever to make Henri’s character so complex, and for her to have lost her mother- all of which make it easy to understand what happened. And yet, by the ending I wasn’t sure who to feel sorry for, if anyone! When did the schemes really start?
It was such a clever book and I absolutely loved it- would highly recommend!!

Many thanks to the author publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. The characters are engaging but quite dislikeable. The story is mostly told as a lengthy confession to a detective. It's quite a short read., but we'll worth it.
4 stars

Started off strong with an an interesting premise of two women in the luxury handbag counterfeit business but the second half fell flat for me. Neither character was engaging and it was hard to understand why they acted the way they did. Secondary characters did not add to the story. The choice of having the second half of the book unfold via a one-way dialogue with an unseen detective was clunky, and, to me, did not add to the story. Unfortunately, this one was just not for me.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Counterfeit was my first Kirstin Chen book, and it certainly won’t be my last! It’s not normally the type of book I’d choose to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in a day! I think that this is ripe for a TV of film adaptation!

Two women who were once room-mates at Stanford University bump into one another. On paper, Ava has everything - she’s married to a successful surgeon, lives in a beautiful house, had a successful career as a lawyer before having her son. Winnie has completely reinvented herself, which initially bowls Ava away. Ava eventually learns how Winnie earns her living and is repulsed by what she does and her complete lack of scruples. Time passes and Ava finds herself in a position where she needs Winnie’s help and finds herself getting sucked into the criminal underworld she inhabits. Will it be a means to an end for Ava or a career?

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, HarperCollins UK, for making this ARC available to me for a fair and honest review.

Goodness me, this was clever.

In a heavy reading slump, this book refused to allow me to put it down. It tells the tale of two women at the heart of a beating criminal underworld - one that centres around counterfeit goods.

It is told in a rather genius style; it is not a spoiler to say the events of the story unfold through a series of confessions to the detective. The author captures every emotion felt through such vivid imagery and dialogue, it ensured for a genuine page turner and one that really keeps you on your toes - I pride myself in my ability to guess novels’ twists yet I had no idea in which direction this was going.

I would love to read more from this author in the future - they truly have a knack for writing something creative yet addictive.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review :)

"Counterfeit" by Kirstin Chen was such a fun ride! From the not quite likeable protagonists, Ava and Winnie, through exploring the intersections of nationality, race, careers and class, to the surprising plot twist--this novel has it all.

Kirstin Chen proves that women's fiction can be light and entertaining without being infantilising and romance-centred. While reading "Counterfeit" I also got Netflix's "Good Girls" vibes, when it comes to the two women dabbling with very illegal endeavour, as well as Ava's motivations to take part in Winnie's scheme. Bored stay-at-home mum? Check! Seemingly unhappy and unfulfilled marriage? Check! Brushes with the criminal world? Also check!

I'd love to read some more of Kirstin Chen, as it was my first encounter with her writing. "Counterfeit" set the bar quite high...

A good book but feels like it could have been better. It has an interesting plot but I didn’t find either of the main characters particularly engaging.

I received an ARC of, Counterfeit, by Kirstin Chen. This was an interesting read. From dull housewife, to breaking the law, what will Ava do?

i support women's rights but i also support women's wrongs. diversity win! this white collar criminal is a woman of color. sly and pointed, loved reading this

Sadly I got too frustrated with this and it struggled to keep my attention. Lack of speech marks makes for even more trickier reading. Not for me,

An illegal scheme of two upper class women throws them both into some dangerous waters, as they test the boundaries set by our society. An excellent read!

Ava is a stay at home mom, on extended maternity leave to look after Henri, her son. She is married to Oli, a surgeon, who works crazy hours. Winnie, an old room mate from college, contacts Ava for a catch up. After a few get togethers it becomes apparent that Winnie has an ulterior motive for getting in touch with Ava, but will she succumb? Or is there an alternative version of their friendship we need to know about?

This book is an unpleasant read, not due to the plot or the characters (though they leave a lot to be desired), but due to the lack of speech marks and poor grammar. The premise was good so it’s disappointing that it fell short because of the actual presentation. Thankfully it was a short read.

Thank you NetGalley.

Two former room mates reconnect after several years. They become involved in a scam which seems unbelievable but works up to a certain point. The book was well written and I found the plot easy to follow. A light read that kept me turning the pages which was just what I needed. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

This book is pacy, intriguing and fun. I love the writing style and the story carries well throughout. The characters are full of energy and enigmatic. I would love to pick up a physical copy of this title.

So, when is this going to be a movie? @ Hollywood? Get on it.

This is such a fascinating novel. It takes what is a relatively well-thumbed subject - counterfeit handbags running between the US and China - and puts a completely new spin on it. The formatting of the story, as weird as it sounds, is one of 'Counterfeit's real highlights. Because the majority of the novel, save a few caveats, are told as one long confession by our main character Ava to a police officer. If you love unreliable narrators, you are going to love this book.

The writing felt authentic and intriguing, even when it leaned into the shadowy parts of Ava's life. It carefully unspooled information to us, never quite giving away enough to satisfy you - always wanting to keep you reading onward. I read most of this on a plane and despite the endless distractions, I always felt gripped and drawn in by this novel. It was a fascinating study of how far two individuals would go in the pursuit of something better, of an odd sort of friendship that never quite goes away.

And the ENDING. Ooof. I won't say anything - but I loved it. I loved its simultaneous messiness and cleanliness. See you in hell, happy endings. This is better because I didn't expect it.

What a brilliant, thrilling novel. And I mean it about the film - this deserves a slick, cool adaptation in the same way most thriller/heist movies do.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

Synopsis
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.

Now Ava has to make the ultimate decision: cut and run, or risk it all?

Review
I really enjoyed this book, refreshing storyline, funny in places. It was a light easy read that I found very enjoyable.

Rated 4/5

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.