sixofwoes 's review for:

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

5.0

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“We’re children of the diaspora. All we’ve ever known is loss.”

5⭐️

Portrait of a Thief is the story of five Chinese American college students embarking on a series of heists in order to reclaim the art the West had stolen from China.

I loved this book from the start. Its beautiful writing entranced me immediately, and the characters were so individually interesting. I flew through the first half as I learnt more about them and what they wanted to achieve with the heists.

There’s something to relate to in each character: Will’s attempt to discover his history, the pressure Alex feels to support her family, Daniel’s sense of loss, Lily’s struggle with her dual identity, and Irene’s fear of change and her loyalty. I really liked seeing their journeys and how they grew closer as a crew.

In terms of the actual heists, I did have to suspend my disbelief quite a bit that dove college students with no previous experience could pull them off. But the book itself is aware of this, and I’m sure that was the point, so I tried not to think about i too much. Although we didn’t get as many details of the thefts as I expected, the focus was more on the intention than the action.

There were many parts of this novel where I sat and reflected for a little while because they were so poignant. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I can’t wait to see what Grace D. Li writes next!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for providing an ARC.