Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

17 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent and Terminal illness

Minor: Medical content

maggie_falk's review

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

hmwoodward's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a very quick listen on audio with a solid narrator.

The story starts with a conversation that you quickly learn is the main character speaking to a detective about a counterfeit scheme gone wrong. So, you know it ends with her giving details to the authorities and don't know how it got to that point.

The book wasn't predictable and it does a great job of closing out loose ends. However, I think the last part moved way too fast - especially the last 10%. 

Overall, it was a solid read but nothing spectacular that I feel the need to recommend it to others. You will be entertained the whole time you read it though! Great book for anyone who loves "women's wrongs" and "girl boss" types of stories. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Classism, Medical content, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Pregnancy

kyriannaj's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Part One of the book was a bit hard to get through, but as soon as Part Two started I was hooked. Ava and Winnie are incredibly complicated characters, and figuring out the truth of their story after finishing the book will have me thinking about it for days. It left me with questions and since I read this for a book club, the conversations we had about it were amazing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Dementia

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

dizzymisslizzy's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny and Racism

bethantg's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexism

Minor: Medical content

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Addiction, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Xenophobia

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This story follows Ava and her college roommate Winnie as they create a counterfeit luxury handbag business. 

This book is split into two parts. The first half sees Ava being interviewed by the police as to her involvement in the business. We see a bored and bitter housewife who gets manipulated by an old friend. She comes off as the innocent party who was completely taken advantage of.

Then we get to the second part which is from Winnie's POV and the entire story shifts. I liked the shift in the story. The second part was much more interesting than the first. 

I really liked that this story focused on a strong female friendship and the drive of these women. Winnie and Ava are both extremely hardworking and  driven women who will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. 

I really enjoyed the audio version. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racism, and Toxic friendship

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One of my favorite audiobooks of the year! This book was so entertaining; the characters were fun and morally gray, and I love a good "listen as I tell my side of the story, Detective" framing. Ava was sometimes frustrating but you had to respect her hustle, and I loved how the dynamic between Ava and Winnie evolved as time went on. Since the focus was mainly on these two women, they were solidly fleshed-out and I could relate to different elements of their lives and histories without supporting all of their decisions. There was a twist right at the point where the story starts to lag, so that was perfectly timed.

My one issue is that I don't understand how they made any money from the central scam of the book... how is it profitable to return an exact dupe and then sell the real handbag online and retail? It might be less risky but you're not making any additional money. Honestly, I mostly overlooked this detail because the storytelling was engaging and I was along for the ride!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Terminal illness