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sk_isheretoo 's review for:
Portrait of a Thief
by Grace D. Li
Intriguing plot but failed to keep me interested.
When I read the blurb for this, I was immediately engrossed. C'mon what's not to love, a group of Asian Americans conducting a heist to return Chinese art to its homeland. That sounds absolutely amazing. Look it starts like a banger, the first two chapters are chef's kiss, perfect for a thriller. But what happened after that...yeah it was problematic for me.
Let me elaborate-
1. Firstly, I get that the main motive behind is to return the art to its native country. As someone hailing from a country, that had it's art stolen by the colonisers too, I get it. Am behind this heist a 100%. But if you're gonna write something like that, bring out the realities as to why. Why do you really want to do it? Make it raw and real. What happened at the time when your art got stolen? Keep it raw for people who are reading it.
2. The characters just went along with the heist without any problems? Umm okay. I get the bigger picture but it's not supposed to be as simple as "Hey mate. I am planning a heist, you in?" "Yeah bro." Yeah that's not logical. I also did not relate to any of the characters. They're also quite forgettable. The personalities are all the same.
3. The story is supposed to about the heist and planning and all the complexities that come with it. But I personally felt that it got overshadowed by the character development taking place. The author was so focused on the characters, that the central plot felt like a secondary one.
4. The story is told by different perspectives of the characters and yet they all sound the same. Wasn't a fan of that. It was confusing.
5. It's described as a literary masterpiece of sorts by some. Yeah I don't think so. Look, the author is no doubt talented but if you're just being wordy without any substance, it's not a masterpiece. So much happened that did not contribute to the main plot aka the heist at all! I skimmed a bit.
This is a book that might work for some and might not work for others. I clearly fall in the latter category. I personally thought this book was a wasted potential. It's such a complex and real subject, the author did not deal with it in the rightful manner in my opinion. It kind of felt like reading a bad episode of Money Heist. Considering the premise, I had high hopes and it backfired. Am not too keen on checking out future works by the author but we'll see.
When I read the blurb for this, I was immediately engrossed. C'mon what's not to love, a group of Asian Americans conducting a heist to return Chinese art to its homeland. That sounds absolutely amazing. Look it starts like a banger, the first two chapters are chef's kiss, perfect for a thriller. But what happened after that...yeah it was problematic for me.
Let me elaborate-
1. Firstly, I get that the main motive behind is to return the art to its native country. As someone hailing from a country, that had it's art stolen by the colonisers too, I get it. Am behind this heist a 100%. But if you're gonna write something like that, bring out the realities as to why. Why do you really want to do it? Make it raw and real. What happened at the time when your art got stolen? Keep it raw for people who are reading it.
2. The characters just went along with the heist without any problems? Umm okay. I get the bigger picture but it's not supposed to be as simple as "Hey mate. I am planning a heist, you in?" "Yeah bro." Yeah that's not logical. I also did not relate to any of the characters. They're also quite forgettable. The personalities are all the same.
3. The story is supposed to about the heist and planning and all the complexities that come with it. But I personally felt that it got overshadowed by the character development taking place. The author was so focused on the characters, that the central plot felt like a secondary one.
4. The story is told by different perspectives of the characters and yet they all sound the same. Wasn't a fan of that. It was confusing.
5. It's described as a literary masterpiece of sorts by some. Yeah I don't think so. Look, the author is no doubt talented but if you're just being wordy without any substance, it's not a masterpiece. So much happened that did not contribute to the main plot aka the heist at all! I skimmed a bit.
This is a book that might work for some and might not work for others. I clearly fall in the latter category. I personally thought this book was a wasted potential. It's such a complex and real subject, the author did not deal with it in the rightful manner in my opinion. It kind of felt like reading a bad episode of Money Heist. Considering the premise, I had high hopes and it backfired. Am not too keen on checking out future works by the author but we'll see.