Scan barcode
keelirae113's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
withlivjones's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was such a fun read, a thrilling heist story that is actually realistic in that it’s messy and the characters (far from professional thieves) don’t know what they’re doing a lot of the time, but that makes the way everything comes together that much more satisfying. I loved the discussions of museums keeping stolen artefacts and of being descendants of immigrants and what the American Dream means to the characters in that context. The characters were all well fleshed out with their own arcs and they worked really well together - I especially loved the tension between Alex and Irene.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Terminal illness, Racism, and Xenophobia
hannah_steven's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- 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, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief and Xenophobia
Minor: War
jtpgdavey's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- 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 and Colonisation
Moderate: War
Minor: Racism
justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
I loved everything about this novel. I loved the characters and their complicated backstories/feelings. I loved the heists and how perfectly the first one went to how un-perfect the second one was and how they never even managed to grab all of the zodiac heads! Instead they found their own unique way to take them down and get what they wanted without having to smash and grab like they had done for the first and tried with the second one.
I think overall Daniel was my favorite character. He was so sweet and nice and was able to get along with everyone in the group. Will might be the opening POV but Daniel stole the show with his easy going nature. I found Daniel very relatable, despite the fact that we're not similar at all, but his inner turmoil and his disconnect with his father really resonated with me.
Lily is probably my second favorite character. What's not to love about a racer? Aside from her late night antics, she's probably the one I'm most like so it made sense that she was high up on my list of favorites.
Alex and Irene might be tied. Despite how much I loved their whole enemies to lovers vibe, I didn't really like how Irene's sexuality was never defined. Irene was said to have gone to pride and had ex-girlfriends but it also seemed like she loved Daniel. Parts of it read like she loved him as a friend and other parts read as if she loved him as something more. I would have preferred if it was explicitly stated whether she was lesbian or bisexual or if she was simply queer. Alex on the other hand was great! She was fierce and stubborn but I almost wished she had ended up with Daniel. They got along really well and I liked the idea of them together. It was also unclear if Alex was bisexual or queer or if she realized she was a lesbian.
I don't want to say will is my least favorite character, because I do still love him, but he is at the bottom of my list. (I'd argue he's tied with Alex and Irene for third). Will's POV's all felt very melancholy to me though and while it isn't a bad thing, I think I expected more from him. He's clever and thoughtful and sounded like an incredible artist. I can only hope that after the ending of the book that he pursued art more seriously. It sounded like he was going to but I'm not sure, especially since he was on the fence about it the whole time.
Overall I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm looking forward to anything else Grace writes!
I think overall Daniel was my favorite character. He was so sweet and nice and was able to get along with everyone in the group. Will might be the opening POV but Daniel stole the show with his easy going nature. I found Daniel very relatable, despite the fact that we're not similar at all, but his inner turmoil and his disconnect with his father really resonated with me.
Lily is probably my second favorite character. What's not to love about a racer? Aside from her late night antics, she's probably the one I'm most like so it made sense that she was high up on my list of favorites.
Alex and Irene might be tied. Despite how much I loved their whole enemies to lovers vibe, I didn't really like how Irene's sexuality was never defined. Irene was said to have gone to pride and had ex-girlfriends but it also seemed like she loved Daniel. Parts of it read like she loved him as a friend and other parts read as if she loved him as something more. I would have preferred if it was explicitly stated whether she was lesbian or bisexual or if she was simply queer. Alex on the other hand was great! She was fierce and stubborn but I almost wished she had ended up with Daniel. They got along really well and I liked the idea of them together. It was also unclear if Alex was bisexual or queer or if she realized she was a lesbian.
I don't want to say will is my least favorite character, because I do still love him, but he is at the bottom of my list. (I'd argue he's tied with Alex and Irene for third). Will's POV's all felt very melancholy to me though and while it isn't a bad thing, I think I expected more from him. He's clever and thoughtful and sounded like an incredible artist. I can only hope that after the ending of the book that he pursued art more seriously. It sounded like he was going to but I'm not sure, especially since he was on the fence about it the whole time.
Overall I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm looking forward to anything else Grace writes!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Panic attacks/disorders
kimveach's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
I wish I had read this book in print. It was excruciatingly slow on audio. I even increased the speed (which I rarely do as I like the narrators' performances.) I found the male narrator annoying while trying to mimic female voices. It would have been better if he'd read the lines instead of falsetto. This book is primarily a character study of the five members of the theft ring. Unfortunately, they all had similar issues that sounded like repetitive whining. I did appreciate elements of the American-born Chinese diaspora. It paired nicely with similar problems in "Yellowface," which I read at the same time.
I did enjoy the parts of the book dealing with the thefts. That was fun.
I did enjoy the parts of the book dealing with the thefts. That was fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Dysphoria, Classism, and Death of parent
annoyingtwig's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
5.0
objectively, this book does not warrant a 5 star rating. the writing style got pretty repetitive after about 2/3 of the book, the characters voices didn’t feel really distinct from one another, and most of the messages were very heavy handed. if i were being objective, i’d probably give this 3.5/5
however, i am not an objective rater. sometimes (most of the time) i rate on vibe. and i’ll be damned if these vibes did not go so hard. despite all my critiques listed i had so much fun reading this book. and the CLIMAX!!! yeah no 5 stars immediately. so excited for the netflix show. i <3 irene chen 🤗
however, i am not an objective rater. sometimes (most of the time) i rate on vibe. and i’ll be damned if these vibes did not go so hard. despite all my critiques listed i had so much fun reading this book. and the CLIMAX!!! yeah no 5 stars immediately. so excited for the netflix show. i <3 irene chen 🤗
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Xenophobia
elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
lia_argo's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Xenophobia, and Racism
literaryinluv's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
okay, so for me, the siblings were the least interesting of the bunch, and for a good chunk, i felt like i didn't know anything about lily. alex and daniel were the most interesting characters. i heard there was an enemies-to-lovers-esque sapphic romance in the book, and i was excited about that, but it felt so... flat? the reason behind being "enemies" wasn't that interesting either. i agree with the characters, art should definitely be returned to the countries they originated from, but their reasoning gets a bit repetitive for me sometimes bc it feels like they keep feeling the need to justify the heist. however, I literally gasped when daniel's dad found out , so that's something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Racism