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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I really wanted to like this book. I love the idea of it. But it just feels like there’s not a big climax in any part of the book. The plot definitely falls short. Major bummer.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The kind of beautiful that makes you overlooked things just for the beauty itself.
Will be back later for a more coherent review.
EDIT: I'm back!
Unfortunately, this isn't a fresh out of the book review, but I'll still write about what I like about it.
In a nutshell, this is a book that encourages me to write. I've highlighted so many passages that I now have ten (TEN?) half-baked writings and a few other prompts to complete. This is a book that demands me to sit down with post-its, pens, and highlighters ready to capture the flashing ideas in my head, the sudden scenario, and all the reminders and associations of things (and people) I love(d). This style of writing is not for everyone, and I think I'm drawn to it because I'm still learning how to write and this is one of the style I prefer.
There are several plot holes and the storyline somewhat is shaky, and the characters, despite having their own voices, are sometimes lack distinction and blurred together, but as I stated in my first review, I overlooked all of that solely for the writing.
The diaspora life, the in-betweens, the privileged-kind-of-idealism, the sense of lost and found—this is essentially a coming-of-age novel with a dash of academia and a heist plot. And I enjoy it.
“Loss was the hesitation in his voice when he spoke his mother tongue, the myths he did not know, a childhood that felt so vast and alien from his parents' that he did not know how to cross it.”
“Art was many things, but in the end it was a question asked: What do you want to be remembered for?”
“This was how it always went. Museums overlooked colonialism, conquest, a history of blood, until it was laid in front of them, until violence was met with violence.”
"It feels like home shouldn't have to be this complicated."
"How could he explain how it felt to know, with a terrible and unflinching certainty, that you were not enough for your dreams?"
"I'm not like you or Irene. I don't need to change the world. I just—I want to live, and to know that it's enough."
"To live without the weight of everything you were not—how could it ever be?"
"We're children of the diaspora," Will said. He had grown up in the US, knew that no matter how much he wanted it to be, China would never be home to him. "All we've ever known is loss."
“All parents leave their own scars. We're the ones who have to heal from them.”
“You want too much, Will."
These thefts, this art. A future unfolding.
"What's wrong with wanting everything?" he asked.
The lights flickered on. If anyone had walked into the museum now, all they would see were these two siblings, faces turned not toward each other but to the art surrounding them.
"Nothing," Irene said, but her voice was soft as a warning, "as long as you know how to get it.”
Will be back later for a more coherent review.
EDIT: I'm back!
Unfortunately, this isn't a fresh out of the book review, but I'll still write about what I like about it.
In a nutshell, this is a book that encourages me to write. I've highlighted so many passages that I now have ten (TEN?) half-baked writings and a few other prompts to complete. This is a book that demands me to sit down with post-its, pens, and highlighters ready to capture the flashing ideas in my head, the sudden scenario, and all the reminders and associations of things (and people) I love(d). This style of writing is not for everyone, and I think I'm drawn to it because I'm still learning how to write and this is one of the style I prefer.
There are several plot holes and the storyline somewhat is shaky, and the characters, despite having their own voices, are sometimes lack distinction and blurred together, but as I stated in my first review, I overlooked all of that solely for the writing.
The diaspora life, the in-betweens, the privileged-kind-of-idealism, the sense of lost and found—this is essentially a coming-of-age novel with a dash of academia and a heist plot. And I enjoy it.
“Loss was the hesitation in his voice when he spoke his mother tongue, the myths he did not know, a childhood that felt so vast and alien from his parents' that he did not know how to cross it.”
“Art was many things, but in the end it was a question asked: What do you want to be remembered for?”
“This was how it always went. Museums overlooked colonialism, conquest, a history of blood, until it was laid in front of them, until violence was met with violence.”
"It feels like home shouldn't have to be this complicated."
"How could he explain how it felt to know, with a terrible and unflinching certainty, that you were not enough for your dreams?"
"I'm not like you or Irene. I don't need to change the world. I just—I want to live, and to know that it's enough."
"To live without the weight of everything you were not—how could it ever be?"
"We're children of the diaspora," Will said. He had grown up in the US, knew that no matter how much he wanted it to be, China would never be home to him. "All we've ever known is loss."
“All parents leave their own scars. We're the ones who have to heal from them.”
“You want too much, Will."
These thefts, this art. A future unfolding.
"What's wrong with wanting everything?" he asked.
The lights flickered on. If anyone had walked into the museum now, all they would see were these two siblings, faces turned not toward each other but to the art surrounding them.
"Nothing," Irene said, but her voice was soft as a warning, "as long as you know how to get it.”
This book is stunning.
I could go on and on about everything I loved in PORTRAIT OF A THIEF - the crisp-yet-elegant prose, the careful attention to detail, the way the unassuming characters take on lives of their own throughout the book. But what struck me the most about this novel was something that's so incredibly hard to get right, and that's the heart.
There is so much heart in this book that it felt personal. Like I was reading a diary entry. Every place, every scene, every setting feels lived-in and unique, in the way only someone who lived somewhere for years could describe. From Houston, my own backyard, to San Francisco, the place I was actually flying to when I started reading this book, everything clicked. And it's so beautiful reading a story from someone that understands the magic of location and all the little bits of a person that come from where they grew up.
And that's the whole point of the story, isn't it? Claiming identity over one's birthplace? Maybe not their original birthplace, as with Will and Irene, but the place where they feel the most connected? I will admit that this was my first time reading from the perspective of Chinese diaspora outside of nonfiction and articles and Twitter threads, but I am once again floored by how incredibly informative and beautiful the world can be when you look at it through someone else's eyes. Books like this are why books should exist in the first place.
Reading PORTRAIT OF A THIEF, for me, felt the same way that the last few months of university did before the so-called real world began. It feels like a beautiful fever dream, a midnight joyride through an empty city, the simple pleasure in knowing you might not get to experience something like this ever again. It's a moment in time that's impossible to describe - you have to live it.
What an incredible debut. I cannot wait to get my hands on a final copy - you'd be missing out if you didn't do the same.
(Thanks to the heist crew over at Penguin/Tiny Reparations for the NetGalley ARC!)
I could go on and on about everything I loved in PORTRAIT OF A THIEF - the crisp-yet-elegant prose, the careful attention to detail, the way the unassuming characters take on lives of their own throughout the book. But what struck me the most about this novel was something that's so incredibly hard to get right, and that's the heart.
There is so much heart in this book that it felt personal. Like I was reading a diary entry. Every place, every scene, every setting feels lived-in and unique, in the way only someone who lived somewhere for years could describe. From Houston, my own backyard, to San Francisco, the place I was actually flying to when I started reading this book, everything clicked. And it's so beautiful reading a story from someone that understands the magic of location and all the little bits of a person that come from where they grew up.
And that's the whole point of the story, isn't it? Claiming identity over one's birthplace? Maybe not their original birthplace, as with Will and Irene, but the place where they feel the most connected? I will admit that this was my first time reading from the perspective of Chinese diaspora outside of nonfiction and articles and Twitter threads, but I am once again floored by how incredibly informative and beautiful the world can be when you look at it through someone else's eyes. Books like this are why books should exist in the first place.
Reading PORTRAIT OF A THIEF, for me, felt the same way that the last few months of university did before the so-called real world began. It feels like a beautiful fever dream, a midnight joyride through an empty city, the simple pleasure in knowing you might not get to experience something like this ever again. It's a moment in time that's impossible to describe - you have to live it.
What an incredible debut. I cannot wait to get my hands on a final copy - you'd be missing out if you didn't do the same.
(Thanks to the heist crew over at Penguin/Tiny Reparations for the NetGalley ARC!)
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
No portraits were mentioned
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-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:
No
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes