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caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
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? No
4.0
Thanks to Tiny Reparations Books for the free copy of this book.
- PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is a cinematic meditation on colonialism, the Chinese diaspora, art history, and rewriting history from the view of the oppressed. You can absolutely already see the movie playing in your head as you read.
- It's much more of a character study than you might expect from a heist novel, but there are still plenty of heart-pounding passages amid the exploration of the team members' motivations and histories.
- Some of the ruminations become a bit repetitive in the last third, but the ending is more than worth sticking around for.
- PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is a cinematic meditation on colonialism, the Chinese diaspora, art history, and rewriting history from the view of the oppressed. You can absolutely already see the movie playing in your head as you read.
- It's much more of a character study than you might expect from a heist novel, but there are still plenty of heart-pounding passages amid the exploration of the team members' motivations and histories.
- Some of the ruminations become a bit repetitive in the last third, but the ending is more than worth sticking around for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Racism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is engrossing from the first page, featuring five young Chinese Americans hired to steal back Chinese art in Western museums. If you've been looking for a character-driven heist novel, don't miss this one.
The tone is generally contemplative, as the motivations for every move are just as important as the action itself. Occasionally the narrative plays around with time as one chapter might actually take place before the chapter it followed in the book. It’s clear when this happens. It’s used just often enough to be a feature of the storytelling, while being infrequent so that the book is linear overall.
Will is the logistical center of the group since he was the one hired to make the heist happen, but all five of the main characters have similar importance in the narrative. The style of rotating third-person narrators mean that not only do we get what each character thinks as the story progresses, but also we get what they think about each other in various combinations and circumstances. Will chose this crew, and so they all know him while having various levels of connection (or even no connection at first) to everyone else. Irene is his sister, Lily is her friend, Alex and Will briefly dated, and Daniel is Will’s friend. Just as important (or perhaps more) than these interpersonal connections is each of their relationships with China and their identities as Chinese Americans.
The worldbuilding is gradual, beginning with enough information to establish an approximate decade, then eventually dialing in on a one-to-two-year range for its start. Where it shines is in the complicated web of feelings that each person has about their positionality with regards to the United States and China, what that looks like and what it means for them individually and in relation to their families. Whether they think of themselves as Chinese Americans, as Americans, as Chinese, or some more nuanced blend of these... all of that combines to affect how they move through the world and, importantly for this heist story, how they move through Western museums holding (looted/stolen) Chinese artifacts and art.
I enjoyed the heists, but at times the actual heists are secondary to the process of each of the crew figuring out their feeling about themselves and each other. Even the attempt is transformational, and I love how the overall aim of the heists is handled.
PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is engrossing from the first page, featuring five young Chinese Americans hired to steal back Chinese art in Western museums. If you've been looking for a character-driven heist novel, don't miss this one.
The tone is generally contemplative, as the motivations for every move are just as important as the action itself. Occasionally the narrative plays around with time as one chapter might actually take place before the chapter it followed in the book. It’s clear when this happens. It’s used just often enough to be a feature of the storytelling, while being infrequent so that the book is linear overall.
Will is the logistical center of the group since he was the one hired to make the heist happen, but all five of the main characters have similar importance in the narrative. The style of rotating third-person narrators mean that not only do we get what each character thinks as the story progresses, but also we get what they think about each other in various combinations and circumstances. Will chose this crew, and so they all know him while having various levels of connection (or even no connection at first) to everyone else. Irene is his sister, Lily is her friend, Alex and Will briefly dated, and Daniel is Will’s friend. Just as important (or perhaps more) than these interpersonal connections is each of their relationships with China and their identities as Chinese Americans.
The worldbuilding is gradual, beginning with enough information to establish an approximate decade, then eventually dialing in on a one-to-two-year range for its start. Where it shines is in the complicated web of feelings that each person has about their positionality with regards to the United States and China, what that looks like and what it means for them individually and in relation to their families. Whether they think of themselves as Chinese Americans, as Americans, as Chinese, or some more nuanced blend of these... all of that combines to affect how they move through the world and, importantly for this heist story, how they move through Western museums holding (looted/stolen) Chinese artifacts and art.
I enjoyed the heists, but at times the actual heists are secondary to the process of each of the crew figuring out their feeling about themselves and each other. Even the attempt is transformational, and I love how the overall aim of the heists is handled.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse
TW for COVID pandemic (backstory).
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