tracygravy's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.75
shksprsis's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
the_raenaissance's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-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? Yes
5.0
rjoberfoell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
With heists being a top five plot line of mine and a chronic re-watcher of the Ocean's 11 franchise, I jumped at the chance to read a modern, more diverse art heist story.
A very quick and engaging read, I had a good time with this one. With the Chinese-American crew of Will, Daniel, Irene, Alex, and Lily setting off to reclaim Chinese art from colonizing nations for China, I was immediately hooked. While I enjoyed the actual thievery going on, the more significant and impactful aspect of the story was how each individual character dealt with what is meant to be a part of the Chinese diaspora and how it affected their lives and futures. Each character was distinct and had me empathizing with them in different ways. The heist itself was pretty good, and I was surprised with the direction it took by the end. My only qualms were that it seemed to drag a bit in the middle and then overcompensating at the end by squeezing everything in in the last 50 or so pages and some of the romantic subplots felt a little forced. I know this was Li's debut novel, so I am interested to see how her writing improves and will definitely be reading her next book.
Overall, a good read that I am glad exists. The diverse representation in this story is more of what we need in books and I am looking forward to diving into those stories in the future.
A very quick and engaging read, I had a good time with this one. With the Chinese-American crew of Will, Daniel, Irene, Alex, and Lily setting off to reclaim Chinese art from colonizing nations for China, I was immediately hooked. While I enjoyed the actual thievery going on, the more significant and impactful aspect of the story was how each individual character dealt with what is meant to be a part of the Chinese diaspora and how it affected their lives and futures. Each character was distinct and had me empathizing with them in different ways. The heist itself was pretty good, and I was surprised with the direction it took by the end. My only qualms were that it seemed to drag a bit in the middle and then overcompensating at the end by squeezing everything in in the last 50 or so pages and some of the romantic subplots felt a little forced. I know this was Li's debut novel, so I am interested to see how her writing improves and will definitely be reading her next book.
Overall, a good read that I am glad exists. The diverse representation in this story is more of what we need in books and I am looking forward to diving into those stories in the future.
khu91012's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
disasterchick's review against another edition
4.0
This is less of a how did they do it than the inner motivations - before, during, and after for this group of friends with a connection to Will. This does get me thinking about what we see in a museum and where does it actually belong. Especially, with a few years ago the owners of Hobby Lobby smuggling religious artifacts from the Holy Land. The book is enjoyable but what it opens your mind to is even better.
How did I find this book? It is a Goodreads Summer 2022 Trendsetter, Most Popular Books of 2022 (so far) along with being on the Staff Summer 2022 reading list. Stephen Curry selected this for his May 2022 read for his Underrated book club hosted through Literati Book Store.
How did I find this book? It is a Goodreads Summer 2022 Trendsetter, Most Popular Books of 2022 (so far) along with being on the Staff Summer 2022 reading list. Stephen Curry selected this for his May 2022 read for his Underrated book club hosted through Literati Book Store.
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
3.0
Reading vlog: https://youtu.be/8CMB1INWKH8
Buddy read with Deborah, from Hills of Books ^^
I could really picture this as a movie, and as one I think I would have really enjoyed it, however to read it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I could see the use of repeated phrases (often altered slightly) was probably to convey some sort of full circle but it was a device used so frequently that it just felt too repetitive (especially the over used phrases like: "it would go like this:" , "this is how the weeks passed:", "this is how it went:", "it could have gone like this:" - which felt too movie montage in style).
Will and Irene, Irene in particular, felt so entitled and the way the latter looked down on Alex really irked me. They were supposed to be a team, yet her reasons for not liking Alex was petty and pathetic.
The characters all seemed too juvenile in their experiences and you could see that bitchiness and uncertainty of immaturity throughout. I found it had to understand why anyone would want to commission them to pull off such a high risk series of heists. It just didn't make sense.
What also didn't make sense was their individual reasons for accepting it... I understand and respect them wanting to give back what was stolen but for 21 year olds with their whole lives ahead of them... it just didn't seem enough and felt pretty random .
The last 15 to 10 chapters is what really upped my enjoyment over all, which is a bit of a defeat the purpose sort of moment because it was the heist that I had issues with... And that was generally a hefty portion of the plot... and the time I felt I enjoyed the most, was when the heist was removed from the plot development.
Despite my disbelief and frustrations throughout, I cannot deny that by the end some of the relationships deepened beautifully and character growth fleshed out. A particular favourite was the dynamic between Daniel and his dad. To me, he always seemed like the character with the most to lose, on a personal-family level, so I felt compelled to keep a close eye on him as the story unravelled.
I also loved what it did for the representation of children of immigrants and the diaspora, and began to enjoy learning about art history, especially with the information on stolen art throughout time.
Overall, this one is settling on a 3 stars for me.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
Buddy read with Deborah, from Hills of Books ^^
I could really picture this as a movie, and as one I think I would have really enjoyed it, however to read it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I could see the use of repeated phrases (often altered slightly) was probably to convey some sort of full circle but it was a device used so frequently that it just felt too repetitive (especially the over used phrases like: "it would go like this:" , "this is how the weeks passed:", "this is how it went:", "it could have gone like this:" - which felt too movie montage in style).
Will and Irene, Irene in particular, felt so entitled and the way the latter looked down on Alex really irked me. They were supposed to be a team, yet her reasons for not liking Alex was petty and pathetic.
The characters all seemed too juvenile in their experiences and you could see that bitchiness and uncertainty of immaturity throughout. I found it had to understand why anyone would want to commission them to pull off such a high risk series of heists. It just didn't make sense.
What also didn't make sense was their individual reasons for accepting it... I understand and respect them wanting to give back what was stolen but for 21 year olds with their whole lives ahead of them... it just didn't seem enough and felt pretty random .
The last 15 to 10 chapters is what really upped my enjoyment over all, which is a bit of a defeat the purpose sort of moment because it was the heist that I had issues with... And that was generally a hefty portion of the plot... and the time I felt I enjoyed the most, was when the heist was removed from the plot development.
Despite my disbelief and frustrations throughout, I cannot deny that by the end some of the relationships deepened beautifully and character growth fleshed out. A particular favourite was the dynamic between Daniel and his dad. To me, he always seemed like the character with the most to lose, on a personal-family level, so I felt compelled to keep a close eye on him as the story unravelled.
I also loved what it did for the representation of children of immigrants and the diaspora, and began to enjoy learning about art history, especially with the information on stolen art throughout time.
Overall, this one is settling on a 3 stars for me.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
jacintha_'s review
the idea is really cool but I just didn't care enough to finish it