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.

Definitely worth reading if you like to be educated as well as entertained.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton, Coronet, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A leader. A con artist. A thief. A hacker. A getaway driver.

Portrait of a Thief starts with Will Chen, a Chinese American art history student, witnessing an art heist at the Sackler Museum. During the heist, his actions lead to a mysterious Chinese corporation contacting him and making him a job offer: steal five pieces of priceless Chinese art from museums in the West and he’ll be paid handsomely. Will recruits four fellow Chinese American students to help him with the dangerous task, each one of them with a particular skill-set and their own motivations for agreeing to the job. Will they manage to successfully carry out the heist or will they be caught?

I was excited to get an ARC of Portrait of a Thief after having read the blurb sometime ago - and I really enjoyed it! All five of the main characters were extremely well developed and I enjoyed how the book kept switching between each of their perspectives, allowing you to understand their different reasons and motivations for agreeing to the heist. It should be said, though, that while the plot revolves around art heists, this is a very character-driven novel (the actual ‘heist’ part is, in fact, quite light). It’s more of a story about identity, what it means to be Chinese American, and a commentary on the effects of colonialism. As a consequence, readers that are expecting a suspense/thrill-type novel might not find what they're looking for here.

4.5 stars.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. The combination of a traditional heist story and the archetypes we expect alongside the thought-provoking themes of colonialism, and the Chinese diaspora was expertly done. Each of the main characters got enough time for us to get to know them, their reasons for agreeing to the heist, and their own relationship to China as Chinese-Americans. I also particularly enjoyed the tension-filled dynamic between Alex and Irene, as well as Daniel's relationship with his father. The only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars, is that some of the descriptions (while always beautiful) got a little repetitive at times, at first the descriptions of the sky were charming and evoked the idea of limitless potential and possibilities, but I felt it was a little overdone, particularly as the plot progressed. Other than that, I was incredibly impressed with this book, and can't wait to see what the author does next.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC.)

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2022 and I was beyond excited when I got approved for the arc. Unfortunately it suffered from a case false advertisement.
I was drawn to this book as it was widely pitched as Ocean’s Eleven meets Farewell. The Farewell comparison could be true but since I have not watched that movie I can’t be the judge of that. But the Ocean’s eleven comparison was definitely not met.
Before I go deep into what disappointed me let me quickly go through what the story is actually about and what dod work. Will Chen is a witness to an art heist. His actions during the heist draws the attention of the art thieves and he gets himself a mysterious invitation from them. He decides to take along some of his friends and his sister for this mysterious meeting and the story takes off from there.
The beginning was a bit abrupt but soon we get immersed into the lives of these 5 characters who are figuring out their place in this world, their identities as Chinese Americans and battling through their insecurities, doubts and confusions amidst familial expectations. The care with which Grace Li builds up her characters shine through bright and clear and that is the biggest plus point for this book. You get completely immersed in the heads of Will, Irene, Daniel, Alex and Lily. The discourse about culture, racial identity, colonisation and art were well researched and executed. For a debut this was super impressive.
But my problem came with the heist element of the book. By the way the book has been promoted, you come to expect the righteous heist intended to return ancient stolen artworks to their original country to take centre stage. For me, it wasn’t so. I felt like the heist felt relegated to the side while the story focused on the inner turmoils of the 5 main characters. It simply wasn’t the sophisticated planned heists carried out with finesse as I was brought to expect. Rather it was more of a grab and run executed by amateurs, succeeding purely due to chance. As it should, since all our protagonists are college students with no idea how to carry out heists and not professionals. But the comparison to Ocean eleven did absolutely no justice to what the author was trying to convey through her story and I blame it entirely for my disappointment.
The climax managed to patch up some of that disappointment by surprising me. It was very well done and was very realistic, which I appreciated very much. Overall if you pick this book up for the heists and the Ocean eleven comparison, I think you would end up disappointed. But if you pick this up for the its deep insights into the Chinese American Identity then you would have a much more satisfying experience.
Rating: 3.5 stars