2.5 stars

Will Chen is a senior at Harvard studying art history.
When a Chinese corporation offers Will a life-changing amount of money in exchange for stealing five works of art that now reside in museums around the world, Will says yes.
Will puts together a team made up of; Irene, Will's sister, who has a way of always getting what she wants; Lily, Irene's room-mate who drag races cars for fun; Daniel, a childhood friend of both Will and Irene; and Alex, a software engineer friend of Will's.
Each member of the team has their own reason for agreeing to the heists, but can they break into several museums and avoid getting caught by the police?

The premise for this book really intrigued me, so I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my hopes.
Will is the main protagonist, but we get chapters from the points of view of all members of the heist team. Out of all of them, I liked Alex and Daniel the most. I struggled a little with Will, and his chapters were probably the ones I looked forward to the least.
The themes and ideas were interesting and thought-provoking. I definitely found myself thinking about museums in a new light.
The plot was interesting for the most part, but the pacing was a little off for me and I did get a bit bored once or twice. There wasn't anything that happened that particularly shocked me, and I wasn't very invested in what happened to the characters.
The writing style was enjoyable, and easy to follow.
I am disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.
Whilst there were some important topics covered in this book, which were well done I thought, this ended up being a mixed read for me.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

It took me a long time, but I finally finished this. The writing style was gorgeous and I loved the lyrical prose and the way it pulled you into the story. I liked all the main characters and they way they came together as a team, but I would have liked to see more from the sapphic romance (it felt like it was added in too late). I enjoyed how academic the characters' ideologies and thoughts were, but there were also times when I thought they should have let lose and done what "typical teenagers" might do. I also found some parts of the story unbelievable - particularly the way the group almost got caught but then went back for another heist. On the whole though, this was a solid read!

Loved this book! The Chinese history entwined with the story was so interesting to read. I enjoyed each character and thought they were introduced well without the reader being bombarded with too much information.

I never actually received a review copy of this book, I just downloaded the excerpt but it is appearing in my "give feedback" tab for some reason so I am writing this to remove it from there.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

I wanted a fast paced heist novel and to be honest, I didn’t know much about it when I requested the e-arc, just that it was about a heist and reclaiming stolen Chinese art. And it is about that, but it definitely isn’t fast paced.

The mood throughout is somewhat subdued as everyone examines their life and their future. It doesn’t feel like an expression of joy. If you are a fan of long, beautifully descriptive prose then this book is for you (I’m not unfortunately). It is an in depth character exploration of what it means to straddle two worlds, to not quite fit in as an American but not quite belong in China either coupled with the weight of familial and societal expectation.

This book just wasn’t my vibe but I can completely understand how others would love it and definitely encourage you to pick it up if it appeals to you. I liked the ending and how everything wrapped up though.

5⭐. If you carved out my heart, it would be in the shape of this book.

This book is made out of the bleeding heart of Chinese dispora, all the loss, heartbreak, but also something hopeful and cherishable.

Although I wouldn't recommend this book for people who are solely picking this up and expect to find a series of impossible heist stories like the crew in Six of Crows would manage. This is a much more realistic depiction of using this heist as a backdrop to portray a group of young Chinese dispora college students, all distinct, all feeling pulled apart by their Chinese American identity and what it means to them. There isn't much action scenes and twist and turns, instead this is a more character driven story that is very much realistic and personal.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

I wanted to love this book. The whole concept of it had me intrigued and i was so excited to dive in but' i just could not get on with it. After weeks of struggling i finally decided to DNF at 52%.

The writing was wonderful so i give the author credit for that but i just don't think this is the type of book for me. I can see why other people have enjoyed it though

I am not quite sure what to make of this book. I expected a mystery, but that’s not really what this is. I liked the social commentary the best about the book. I did not mind that the whole set-up was implausible but sort of bemused how it all ended….

I low-key adore the insight into Chinese-American people, the diaspora they face and the in depth explanation and understanding of their complex relationships with both America and China. Each character had such different feelings and struggles regarding their culture and I adore the complexity of each character. My favourite in particular was Alex.

Alex’s intense nostalgia for her Chinese heritage is palpable through the pages of this novel. You really start to feel for her struggle between her love for her Chinese upbringing to her need to submerge herself into the American lifestyle to stay afloat.

All the characters just had so much depth and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about each one.

For it being a heist novel, it wasn’t really what I was expecting. Li’s take on this type of novel focused more on the characters partaking in the heist, rather than the heist itself, which is something I found refreshing, regardless of my previous expectations.

For a debut, I was impressed, although a little repetitive on occasions, I did enjoy the book. I enjoyed it enough to want to read more of Li’s work in the future.

I really enjoyed Portrait of a Thief, but not for the reasons you might think. Although I was excited by the heist plot, what really interested me was the promise of discussions on colonialism and museum, and heritage. The actual heists are fun as long as you suspend your disbelief, but I preferred reading about the characters and their different outlooks and all the themes discussed.

Grace D Li's Portrait of a Thief was one of my most anticipated books of 2022, as I hoped it would tackle the theme of colonialism masterfully, while also being well-written, engaging, and having compelling characters. I enjoyed this book, but for everything I enjoyed there was also something that didn't quite work for me.

The writing is very easy to read, not overly wordy, but the same time not being void of metaphor, which is good because my favourite writing styles tend to be quite flowery (think Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus). There were times where I did wonder whether I was reading the same passage again, as the writing could be a little on the repetitive side at various moments. The chapters were quite short, which helped maintain my reading pace and keep me engaged. I always appreciate when books have reasonably sized chapters, not 20+ pages. At the beginning at least, I found that the characters were well established and each had their own motivations, but as the novel went on, they did start to blend together and lost their three dimensional-ness (I'm aware that's not a word). I know I would have connected more to the characters if I was Chinese American myself.

One of the biggest things that let me down was the heist sections and pacing. I had to suspend SO MUCH disbelief that it kept taking me out of the story, as even if the characters faced setbacks it was still very convenient for them. I don't mean this about them being college students, by the way. I would have believed this element more had there have been more of an emphasis on their preparation, developed more than a few scenes here or there of the characters talking about getting a guard to show them around the museum, etc. The pacing is also rather odd, which I noticed particularly during the first heist segment, which takes place in a chapter, more or less. And the chapters in this book (a point I praise about this book) are typically under ten pages. The book up to that point had been very slow, and to suddenly have this very quick scene of action felt quite jarring to me. There are also quite a few random time jumps, which did make the writing start to feel a bit amateurish, and once again took me out of the story. This is a debut, and no one is expecting a debut to be as magnificent as the Mona Lisa (or some other internationally renowned painting) hanging encased in the Louvre, but I have read so many excellent debuts in the past year that the bar has been exponentially raised. But that doesn't mean that it is not an important book for its discussions on colonialism, and the question of is it really stealing if the items actually belong to someone else?

Portrait of a Thief is a good book, but as always, I wanted to be blown away. These days I rarely get my hopes up about books in fear of them being disappointing, so this was not as much as a blow as it could have been. I would still recommend this book, as reading is entirely subjective (as I sometimes have to remind myself), and what doesn't entirely work for me might well work for you.

By now, it should be no surprise to anyone that I love a good heist/con story, so when I heard of Portrait of a Thief, I just knew I had to read it.

I loved that this was not just a heist book (which, anyway would have been enough for me!), but it was also a fascinating character exploration AND a critique of Western imperialism and its lingering effects today. As five Chinese American students set out to retrieve ancient Chinese artefacts from Western museums in order to return them to the Chinese people, they didn't just take me along on their highly illegal and dangerous quest but also kickstarted some deeper reflections on art, museums and colonialism.

The characters were great, and I loved how well each of them was characterised as an individual. The alternating POVs worked really well to give us an insight into each character's thoughts, motivation, fears and desires, and I really enjoyed the wide spectrum of experiences that was portrayed here. Will, Irene, Lily, Alex and Daniel all come from different backgrounds and experience their culture and their relationship with both America and China differently, with all their complexity and sometimes contradictions, reflecting the many, many experiences of people who call more than one country "home".

But their struggle with identity isn't limited to their sense of belonging, and I loved how universal some of the characters' reflections felt: from following your passions to the pressures coming from social and family expectations to discovering and accepting who you really are, I could recognise many of my own conversations with friends and loved ones. Of course, I didn't try robbing several museums as a way of working through this but I enjoyed seeing our protagonists undertake this journey.

Where this book fell a bit short for me though was in the pacing. Although I loved the introspection, several passages felt very repetitive, with characters going over the same things over and over again. The heist planning sections were similarly slow and surprisingly underwhelming, with most being resolved with a quick Zoom call, and I missed some of the excitement that is typically found in this genre. Of course none of it is realistic, nor would I want it to be, but I would have enjoyed this even more if there had been a slightly faster pace and fewer repetitions. I did like the references to the pandemic and lockdowns, which were handled very delicately and helped ground the story in simil-reality, and the banter between various characters made me smile more than once.

Overall, Portrait of a Thief is a fantastic debut. Despite some minor flaws, it's an incredibly well-written and thoughtful heist novel that is sure to spark some brilliant discussions on a wide range of themes.

The art heists to end all art heists, and a reclamation of history, Portrait of a Thief does a good job at examining what it's like to question identity and heritage from the Chinese diaspora. Our group of found family all have their area of expertise, from the hacker to the con artist, leader and thief and while they all have their own separate issues and reasons for wanting to reclaim stolen art, they work incredibly well as a team. Will as the leader is a particular stand out, as his love for his cultural heritage and art mix combined with his easy going persona and outward charm make for an ideal figurehead for their mission.

Unfortunately I did find the pacing to be very off with this however. For a book described as a heist, and therefore should be dripping in action and tense scenes, it's very repetitive as the group need to visit several different locations. I also found it glossed over a lot of the preparation for the mission almost as if it was an afterthought to the turmoil the characters were inwardly experiencing.

I really liked the unique shift in perspective for this, and the concept of diaspora individuals reclaiming their rightful heritage and culture is an important and relevant issue. However I can't quite escape the feeling that this didn't live up to what it was suppose to offer.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

I found this book quite slow to get through so I’m finding it hard to pinpoint my exact feelings on it but I did enjoy it!

The book follows a group of Asian American college students who join forces to steal back Chinese art from Western museums and I’m going to straight up say that you have to kind of dispel reality a little going in.

The heist action doesn’t have that big of a focus in the book which was definitely not what I was expecting but the overarching storyline still has a film-like quality to it.

What makes this book shine are the nuanced characterisations. Li’s prose is utterly compelling and beautifully narrates the multifaceted diaspora experience through each of the main characters. However, their individual musings also got quite repetitive which I think was a big reason why sometimes the book felt like stretch to get through.

Though I’ll admit the repetitiveness did help to emphasise the characters dreams and aspirations for themselves as well as the whimsiness of the whole situation too and I know all of their individual stories will stick with me for a long time.
Final Rating – 3.75 / 5 Stars

The premise of this book; several Chinese students gathering together to steal Chinese art from major international museums, was really intriguing to me. The writing conjured up a very cool atmosphere for me and I was looking forward to seeing how it all panned out.

There were some great locations and settings in the book, and each was described well. The characters were interesting, as was the plot, though I felt like it should have been cleverer than it was in some ways. The major thing that I struggled to get on board with with these characters, were their motivations for getting involved in these thefts. Perhaps my own viewpoint, i.e. not as a child of immigrants like they are, had something to do with that, but additionally, it never seemed set. Irene in particular seemed difficult to pin down. Apart from that, who in their right mind would pick a bunch of college kids to steal something on their behalf?

It was an enjoyable enough read but fell slightly flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, what a great cover. A different type of read. Well-written great story. Recommended.

How would I describe this book in one sentence? Probably Ocean's 11 meets The Fast and The Furious.

However that would not do this book justice. The novel at first appears to be a crime caper with a group of young people of Chinese heritage looking to 'steal' back items of priceless art which they feel were wrongly stolen from China and were on display in some of Europe's most famous museums.

As a crime caper novel, it really works. Five young people using their unique skills to try to reclaim these pieces of art for their homeland. I was not at all surprised to see that there is a movie in the making and I am sure it will work equally as well as a movie as it did as a book.

However, this book really opened my eyes to something that I knew very little about. Whilst the novel is very entertaining, it also deals with issues such as diaspora, imperialism, identity and casual racism amongst many others.

When I originally heard about the premises of Portrait of a Thief last year I was hooked immediately.
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College students going on international heists around the world to retrieve back long lost Chinese artefacts and art. Ok sign me up, please.

So when I close backcover of Portrait of a Thief, to be honest, I felt short-changed. Here's why.

The entire story felt anti-climatic somehow. The collective of characters didn't come across to be remarkable actually as am I writing this review I don't really remember most of the characters. Maybe it could be down to multiple POVs being underwhelming and somewhat didn't really and to the tension of the story. Also, the narrative was very much 'tell vs show' and I dislike when novels do that. I don't feel immersed or engaged at all.

However, I do want to praise the saving grace of the story. Despite it not living up to my expectations

Li does a great job in writing an honest nuanced discussion of the Asian American experience, identity and being a child of the diaspora. It's obvious as day you can see how Li writes about her own lived experience and struggles about understanding her and many like her about what cultural and heritage identity means (which I can relate to myself) and it translates very well into her characters.

Discussing what it means to own your heritage can be a confusing and lonely exploration of yourself, especially when you have lack or have an indirect connection to your heritage. I love how Li showcases it in each of the characters and how it varies. Because it is never the same universal experience for everyone sure there are overlays and similarities but engaging with your cultural identity will be different for every individual.

That is why I can applaud Portrait of a Thief to some extent. Li acknowledges this about the diaspora experience and executes such intellect and maturity you can't ignore it.

Portrait of a Thief isn't groundbreaking storywise. But as a commentary about a rather complex topic of identity, it shines its best.

If the storytelling was better and then paired with the great discussion and commentary that is already embedded in the novel. I think Portrait of a Thief would have reached its full potential.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Coronet for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Please view trigger warnings prior to reading.

This book is not a heist book. It has heists in it, but the focus is on the characters and their relationships and it is written in a contemporary style. I was disappointed by this. I love a good heist book and the fact that it wasn't a thriller threw me off. It's a shame because it tempered my feelings for the whole book. I think if I'd gone into it knowing it was contemporary, I would have liked it more.

The plot and characters were really interesting though. I liked that it showed five different perspectives and five different ways to be Chinese American, from Daniel, who was born in China and moved to the US when he was young, to Lily who doesn't speak Mandarin and has never been to China before the events of this book.

I really liked the ending as well. It was the perfect way to close the book and I'm glad the author chose to do it that way.

In all, I would have preferred a thriller, but it was good despite that.