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scarlettevans 's review for:
Portrait of a Thief
by Grace D. Li
5/5
a found family heist. must i say more.
i wasn’t expecting much when i randomly picked this up in a chapters. normally i’m one to get books i have been recommended online, but i read this synopsis and i had to buy it. and oh my goddddd i haven’t read a stand-alone that has completely overwhelmed me like this in too long.
this book was beautiful. the writing, the plot, the characters. everything was so so so impeccable.
this book is about five chinese american university students who find themselves hired to steal back five chinese sculptures in a series on art heists across the world.
each one the these characters matches a specific ‘heist’ archetype:
“ A leader. Will had spent so many years studying art and how it changed hands. His whole life— it had brought him here.
A con artist. His sister, her smile in the dark. Irene was a public policy major, had always understood people and what they wanted. She could shape the world to her will.
A thief. Daniel would be a surgeon someday, had always known how to break things open, put them back together exactly as they were.
A hacker. Alex, who had left MIT for Silicon Valley, who had never found a problem she couldn’t solve.
And finally, a getaway driver. When Lily drove, nothing could touch her if she did not want it to.”
however, at its heart, this novel is a story about reclaiming what was lost, whether that be in chinese art stolen in western colonization or the asian-american identity that has been erased by diaspora and the pressure of inadequacy and failure that comes along with it.
this book has the perspective of all five characters and somehow, in only 380 pages, managed to capture each and every one of them. i don’t know how it was done but i left this book KNOWING these characters, their lives, their motives. and every character has a relationship with another, something that is so difficult to achieve in a book with so many of protagonists.
and the couples <333333
anyways, here is what i have discovered in my reading:
EACH CHARACTER AS TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS
will - peace
“would it be enough if i could never give you peace”
irene - mirrorball
“i can change everything about me to fit in, you are not like the regulars, the masquerade revellers, drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten”
daniel - marjorie
“what died didn’t stay dead, what died didn’t stay dead, you’re alive you’re alive in my head”
alex - this is me trying
“i’ve been having a hard time adjusting, i had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting”
lily - getaway car
“driving the getaway car, we were flying but we’d never get far, don’t pretend it’s such a mystery, think about the place where you first met me”
that’s all thank you, please read this book <3
a found family heist. must i say more.
i wasn’t expecting much when i randomly picked this up in a chapters. normally i’m one to get books i have been recommended online, but i read this synopsis and i had to buy it. and oh my goddddd i haven’t read a stand-alone that has completely overwhelmed me like this in too long.
this book was beautiful. the writing, the plot, the characters. everything was so so so impeccable.
this book is about five chinese american university students who find themselves hired to steal back five chinese sculptures in a series on art heists across the world.
each one the these characters matches a specific ‘heist’ archetype:
“ A leader. Will had spent so many years studying art and how it changed hands. His whole life— it had brought him here.
A con artist. His sister, her smile in the dark. Irene was a public policy major, had always understood people and what they wanted. She could shape the world to her will.
A thief. Daniel would be a surgeon someday, had always known how to break things open, put them back together exactly as they were.
A hacker. Alex, who had left MIT for Silicon Valley, who had never found a problem she couldn’t solve.
And finally, a getaway driver. When Lily drove, nothing could touch her if she did not want it to.”
however, at its heart, this novel is a story about reclaiming what was lost, whether that be in chinese art stolen in western colonization or the asian-american identity that has been erased by diaspora and the pressure of inadequacy and failure that comes along with it.
this book has the perspective of all five characters and somehow, in only 380 pages, managed to capture each and every one of them. i don’t know how it was done but i left this book KNOWING these characters, their lives, their motives. and every character has a relationship with another, something that is so difficult to achieve in a book with so many of protagonists.
and the couples <333333
anyways, here is what i have discovered in my reading:
EACH CHARACTER AS TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS
will - peace
“would it be enough if i could never give you peace”
irene - mirrorball
“i can change everything about me to fit in, you are not like the regulars, the masquerade revellers, drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten”
daniel - marjorie
“what died didn’t stay dead, what died didn’t stay dead, you’re alive you’re alive in my head”
alex - this is me trying
“i’ve been having a hard time adjusting, i had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting”
lily - getaway car
“driving the getaway car, we were flying but we’d never get far, don’t pretend it’s such a mystery, think about the place where you first met me”
that’s all thank you, please read this book <3