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A review by kates_books
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-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
3.75
I loved the concept of this book: stealing back stolen art; A heist with purpose; Centering the Asian American experience; capturing the feelings of never being enough.
The cover for this book is AMAZING. However, the book fell a bit short for me because I wanted it to be a much faster read — it’s a heist novel so I felt like there needed to be more action and less internal reflection. Though I will say that the reflection is really what captured the important themes of the book, so maybe I wish it was just a bit shorter. Similarly, this mix of heist and reflection made it feel like a weird mix of genres — was it a thriller or was it literary fiction? While the relationships of the book were quite obvious, I liked the twist at the end. I also really liked the characters — while some people at my work book club said that they needed more backstory for each character, I found them relatable — obviously I can’t fully relate with the Asian-American experience, but the characters being college students / recent grads was something I could identify with and the author wrote that experience really well. I also liked that the author including references to the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The cover for this book is AMAZING. However, the book fell a bit short for me because I wanted it to be a much faster read — it’s a heist novel so I felt like there needed to be more action and less internal reflection. Though I will say that the reflection is really what captured the important themes of the book, so maybe I wish it was just a bit shorter. Similarly, this mix of heist and reflection made it feel like a weird mix of genres — was it a thriller or was it literary fiction? While the relationships of the book were quite obvious, I liked the twist at the end. I also really liked the characters — while some people at my work book club said that they needed more backstory for each character, I found them relatable — obviously I can’t fully relate with the Asian-American experience, but the characters being college students / recent grads was something I could identify with and the author wrote that experience really well. I also liked that the author including references to the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent and Colonisation