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gracieg19's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Good and interesting, but not my favorite. Quick and short read!
amengelking's review against another edition
3.0
The book started out cute and relatable but then it got darker and I realized that the characters had absolutely no redeemable qualities and no moral compass. That’s when I could no longer follow what was even happening. The timelines were confusing and the plot went nowhere.
phibourjreads's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
monarchsandmyths's review against another edition
4.0
"this was the allure of ostentatiousness."
COUNTERFEIT by Kirstin Chen tells the story of Ava Wong and Winnie Fang, former college roommates who work together to sell counterfeit designer bags. Told through Ava's confession to a detective, she recounts the stress of being a stay-at-home mom, a husband who's never home, and how it was all manipulated by Winnie Fang to rope her into a counterfeit scheme.
I originally picked this up because an author whose work I enjoy gave it a good review. By the end, I understood why people want designer handbags, something I've never even thought about before. It's certainly an easy and fairly quick read, and had just enough twists and turns to keep me reading (it took me less than 3 days to finish it), though the meat of the story is in the way it almost does a character study of Ava. What exactly made a straight-laced Stanford grad turned tax lawyer crack. But that's not the whole story, though I can't fully get into it without spoiling the whole story.
The most masterful thing that this book does is subvert, from the reader's expectations, to the storyline, to the cliches and tropes it could (and sometimes does) follow. It's well written and hard to put down, if not exceptionally deep in most issues. However, the more that you discover about Ava and Winnie, that too falls into play in the story.
As a whole, COUNTERFEIT is an echo of about a dozen other stories like it (without reading the blurb, I immediately thought of Hustlers). But take a closer look, and there are at least a dozen touches that are uniquely Kirstin Chen. This isn't the typical type of book I pick up, and it's not a favourite. But if you're looking to dive into a book that's a little bit confessional, until it's not confessing what you think, I'd recommend picking this up.
COUNTERFEIT by Kirstin Chen tells the story of Ava Wong and Winnie Fang, former college roommates who work together to sell counterfeit designer bags. Told through Ava's confession to a detective, she recounts the stress of being a stay-at-home mom, a husband who's never home, and how it was all manipulated by Winnie Fang to rope her into a counterfeit scheme.
I originally picked this up because an author whose work I enjoy gave it a good review. By the end, I understood why people want designer handbags, something I've never even thought about before. It's certainly an easy and fairly quick read, and had just enough twists and turns to keep me reading (it took me less than 3 days to finish it), though the meat of the story is in the way it almost does a character study of Ava. What exactly made a straight-laced Stanford grad turned tax lawyer crack. But that's not the whole story, though I can't fully get into it without spoiling the whole story.
The most masterful thing that this book does is subvert, from the reader's expectations, to the storyline, to the cliches and tropes it could (and sometimes does) follow. It's well written and hard to put down, if not exceptionally deep in most issues. However, the more that you discover about Ava and Winnie, that too falls into play in the story.
As a whole, COUNTERFEIT is an echo of about a dozen other stories like it (without reading the blurb, I immediately thought of Hustlers). But take a closer look, and there are at least a dozen touches that are uniquely Kirstin Chen. This isn't the typical type of book I pick up, and it's not a favourite. But if you're looking to dive into a book that's a little bit confessional, until it's not confessing what you think, I'd recommend picking this up.
ashurq's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5 - This book was written in a unique way and I didn’t always enjoy it. I didn’t like the main characters and couldn’t relate to any of the decisions they made. As a young Chinese American mother myself, I expected to relate to Ava more, but I just didn’t. At all. I feel like the plot itself could have been written in a more suspenseful way. Overall, I just feel pretty disappointed in this one.
acheng's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly, I thought this was a fun read! It's funny how you really feel like you get to know the characters in part 1, just to have that all come down in part 2. Looking through other reviews, I see a lot of comments about racial stereotyping in this book. I'll be honest, none of that really crossed my mind while I was reading this. This probably says something about the (non-analytical) way I approach books and just take certain stories at face value (for better or for worse), but if this isn't something that would bother you much or if you are able to appreciate the story for what it is beyond these potentially troubling themes, then I do really think it's a fun book.
anabak's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Couldn’t put it down. Told as a confession and then multiple points of views. It’s a good view into immigrants both FOB and longer generations. A light fun but meaningful read!