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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I wanted to love this, but at times, it felt like watching a pretty cliché movie in writing. The characters felt pretty flat and everything, from the heists to the romances felt convenient. I couldn't suspend my disbelief. The whole premise was just too improbable. I did like the themes intersecting of art, colonialism, diaspora, and repatriation. Also, I'd love to see a band of geniuses who are not as beautiful as art and can charm their way through everything. Give me so average looking protagonists!! And if I hear Galveston mentioned one more time or the sentence structure "It went like this," I will slap someone with a book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
ate DOWN. had everything i could ask for: found family, heist, ART museum heists, asian-american struggles...
amazing.
all of the MCs were relatable (common asian-american struggles) and the whole idea for why they're heisting in the first place: PERFECT.
(like India asking for the kohinoor to be returned, China's zodiac sculptures version) basically very relatable.
and sooo well-written, i could literally feel everything they were talking about (yes, asian-american struggles) so much so that i was like okay then, call me up for the next heist, i am DOWN.
loveeeed
amazing.
all of the MCs were relatable (common asian-american struggles) and the whole idea for why they're heisting in the first place: PERFECT.
(like India asking for the kohinoor to be returned, China's zodiac sculptures version) basically very relatable.
and sooo well-written, i could literally feel everything they were talking about (yes, asian-american struggles) so much so that i was like okay then, call me up for the next heist, i am DOWN.
loveeeed
3.5. This concept is incredible. Five Chinese-American college students undergo a series of heists to steal back a set of stolen Chinese art pieces from Western museums? However, the execution was flawed. There were three main aspects to this book: the heist, the characters, and the commentary, and I had mixed opinions about all three.
First, the heist was the weakest part. It required so much suspension of disbelief. I mean, I don't understand why this billion-dollar Chinese corporation picked five inexperienced American college students with quarter life crises to pull off this super-important heist. Like they literally prepared by watching Ocean's 11 over Zoom and tried to take priceless stolen art through airport security. How they planned to get $10 million a piece and keep that a secret from the IRS was never mentioned lol.
The characters weren't extraordinary, but I liked them well enough individually. Lily who wants to go anywhere to get out of her small town? Alex, who's now doing exactly what she wanted and it's not enough and she's nostalgic for a college experience she never had and she goes to work and goes home and has no one around to see the misery in her monotony? And Will who loves art but wasn't good enough to risk his livelihood on it so he chose the next best thing, an adjacent major that will leave him yearning for something greater? Hmm all a little too relatable. For the first half you can't really tell which pairings are going to be romantic. All of them give something good. Will and Lily? Best friend's brother. Lily and Irene? And they were roommates. Irene and Alex? Rivals to lovers. Alex and Daniel? Strangers to lovers. Daniel and Will? Childhood best friends. Will and Alex? Exes to lovers. However, once romantic subplots actually started happened, I realized this wasn't intentional. I just couldn't feel any chemistry or bonding in any relationships, platonic or romantic.
As for the commentary, it was definitely interesting, though there was nothing super mind-blowing or new. Overall, it was actually greatly lacking. The characters have rather similar views about modern China, so the book almost never explores it in any greater nuance, like China's modern politics. Also, even worse, it seems to completely ignore China's own history of imperialism and appropriation of other Asian countries. Like they couldn't talk about all that but there was a random Black Lives Matter intermission in the middle. Like that's good and great but no particularly relevant considering how much you missed about the actual theme of the book.
First, the heist was the weakest part. It required so much suspension of disbelief. I mean, I don't understand why this billion-dollar Chinese corporation picked five inexperienced American college students with quarter life crises to pull off this super-important heist. Like they literally prepared by watching Ocean's 11 over Zoom and tried to take priceless stolen art through airport security. How they planned to get $10 million a piece and keep that a secret from the IRS was never mentioned lol.
The characters weren't extraordinary, but I liked them well enough individually. Lily who wants to go anywhere to get out of her small town? Alex, who's now doing exactly what she wanted and it's not enough and she's nostalgic for a college experience she never had and she goes to work and goes home and has no one around to see the misery in her monotony? And Will who loves art but wasn't good enough to risk his livelihood on it so he chose the next best thing, an adjacent major that will leave him yearning for something greater? Hmm all a little too relatable. For the first half you can't really tell which pairings are going to be romantic. All of them give something good. Will and Lily? Best friend's brother. Lily and Irene? And they were roommates. Irene and Alex? Rivals to lovers. Alex and Daniel? Strangers to lovers. Daniel and Will? Childhood best friends. Will and Alex? Exes to lovers. However, once romantic subplots actually started happened, I realized this wasn't intentional. I just couldn't feel any chemistry or bonding in any relationships, platonic or romantic.
As for the commentary, it was definitely interesting, though there was nothing super mind-blowing or new. Overall, it was actually greatly lacking. The characters have rather similar views about modern China, so the book almost never explores it in any greater nuance, like China's modern politics. Also, even worse, it seems to completely ignore China's own history of imperialism and appropriation of other Asian countries. Like they couldn't talk about all that but there was a random Black Lives Matter intermission in the middle. Like that's good and great but no particularly relevant considering how much you missed about the actual theme of the book.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
One of my favorite reads of 2023!
3.5 rounded up???
I'm so conflicted about how I feel about this book; it did grow on me and by act 3 i was really loving it, but I also felt like the book didn't give what it was trying to give??? Maybe I read this too close to reading Babel, which is definitely the superior "pretentious book about chinese characters reclaiming their language/art from western colonisers whilst grappling with an identity crisis"
This book did make me cry though so i was definitely very invested in it (especially daniels family situation)
I think this is one of those books I'll need to sit with for a bit or reread to figure out how I feel about it better
The sapphic romance gave me life, that was great
I'm so conflicted about how I feel about this book; it did grow on me and by act 3 i was really loving it, but I also felt like the book didn't give what it was trying to give??? Maybe I read this too close to reading Babel, which is definitely the superior "pretentious book about chinese characters reclaiming their language/art from western colonisers whilst grappling with an identity crisis"
This book did make me cry though so i was definitely very invested in it (especially daniels family situation)
I think this is one of those books I'll need to sit with for a bit or reread to figure out how I feel about it better
The sapphic romance gave me life, that was great
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the premise. As a child of immigrants, we’ve had frequent discussions about the how stolen artifacts should be returned. But the book could be annoying at times. The vocabulary used is SO repetitive (everything “was filled with possibility” or “began like this”. Also I get it: lily misses Galveston you don’t need to say that 100 times. Also also people know where Galveston is and tourism is booming, it’s not some random small town). Also, I feel like there is a soapbox moment every five pages about what it’s like to be a child of immigrants but those rants were still a bit out of touch bc I’m not gonna go to Harvard or mit 😭. And I wanted more heists and action. Aside from that, I love lily (she literally what I see myself being in the future) and Daniel and ngl that’s kinda it.
adventurous
hopeful
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