Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was such a fun and adventurous read. I couldn’t put it down and I didn’t want it to end. Grace Li does such an excellent job in describing and setting the scenes in the various cities that the characters are visiting. It feels that she’s actually painting the picture for the reader.

The story struck a chord with me with its main character/crew leader as an Asian American male who studied the arts. It’s super exciting to be able to read about characters that can be reflected upon and for one of the first times, truly relatable as an Asian American in storytelling. It’s been said a lot lately but representation really does matter.

With a premise like this one, I couldn’t not read Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li, coming on April 5, 2022. The novel follows five Chinese American college students who plan to steal back Chinese art from Western museums. It has all the elements of a perfect heist: intricate planning, nail-biting break-ins, and a 50 million dollar payout. At the same time, Li presents a well rounded exploration of the Gen Z, Chinese American identity for all readers, regardless of background.

Will Chen, an art history student at Harvard, happens to be on shift at the Sackler Museum when a group of thieves steal a collection of Chinese art pieces. In the chaos, Will picks up one of the pieces for himself, and also finds an anonymous note with a phone number. He follows the note to Beijing, bringing along four others:
Irene Chen: Will’s sister, younger by one year. Public policy student at Duke.
Lily Wu: Irene’s roommate. Engineering student and the best street racer on campus.
Daniel Liang: childhood friend of Will and Irene. UCLA pre-med student.
Alex Huang: long ago Tinder date and now friend of Will’s. Dropped out of MIT to work at Google.
In Beijing, they meet Wang Yuling, the CEO of China Poly, who wants to hire them for a specific job: steal five art pieces from five different museums.

From the start, I knew that this heist book was unlike any other. If you are looking for a heist movie à la Ocean’s Eleven put on paper, this is not the one. There is no need to suspend your disbelief in order to witness amazing feats of tactical brilliance, because there aren’t any. Despite their determination and intelligence, these are just college kids, not professional thieves. Their planning and methods are questionable, so the successful heists are mostly due to good luck.

What is really special about Portrait of a Thief is what the heist means to the protagonists. Each of the five had a different experience growing up Chinese American, and thus different perspectives, emotions, and connections to Chinese history and culture. On one end of the spectrum is Daniel, who spent more than ten years of his childhood living in Beijing. On the other end is Lily, who was born in small-town Texas and whose parents have distanced themselves from the culture of their homeland. Chinese American readers like myself will see parts of themselves reflected in at least one of these characters. For readers with different backgrounds, Li demonstrates how the diasporic experience is not universal even within a specific diaspora. Ultimately, the book is less about heists and more about cultural connections, both personal and collective. Li’s writing style in illustrating these connections almost borders on flowery, but instead lends beautiful imagery and enhances the storytelling. I am so excited for this book to be published and will certainly be recommending it to all my friends.

A group of Chinese-American college students attempt to steal art taken by European colonizers and installed in museums and return it to China. And what’s more—one of their dads is an FBI consultant specializing in (wait for it) Chinese art & artifacts. Cool concept, right? This is the best premise for a book I’ve come across in a while—no wonder @netflix already optioned a TV adaptation!

The typical heist format allows the book to explore complex issues of art history, morality, theft, culture, coming of age, and immigration. It’s kind of like Killmonger’s art theft in Black Panther (swipe to see a GIF version)—if Killmonger were the hero rather than the villain.

The writing was beautiful, the plot kept me on my toes. Will they go through with the theft? Won’t they? Will they get caught? Are they doing the right thing?

The only thing that let me down were the characters. There were 5-6 people on the crew... and other than Will, Lily, Irene, and Daniel, I don’t remember any of them. This book falls into the heist story problem of having too many central characters—vital for the theft to take place, but hard to remember. I think with more memorable—or fewer—characters, this would be a pretty great book. As it is:

3.5/5 stars

Portrait of a Thief grabbed me right from the get-go - the cover, the synopsis, it all sounds amazing. Fortunately, the book itself more than lived up to my high expectations. I devoured this gorgeous story, pretty much obsessed from the first few lines, taking so many notes along the way - just highlighting every sublime sentence or feeling that rang so deeply true within me. It's got everything I hoped for - a sharply clever heist plot, tense group dynamics of all sorts, richly drawn characters, dreamy prose (every description of light in this book is sheer chef's kiss perfection), and beautifully rendered thoughts on diaspora, family, identity, home, expectations, history, and so much more. I wasn't sure how it would be able to pull off a conclusion at once believable and satisfying, but the way it ends was just so smart and rewarding, elegantly genre-aware and deeply satisfying. Mesmerizing, cinematic (in the best possible way), exquisite, evocative. I'll be raving about this book to everyone I know.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t praise PORTRAIT OF A THIEF enough. It is beautifully written, with enticing characters, a fun heist (or few), and challenged so much of how I look at art and art history. The characters feel so real from the very beginning and you're instantly intrigued by what's going to happen next.

I wish there had been a bit more details throughout the novel, but it works without them. I know this is a book I'll be thinking about for a long time -- and I highly encourage everyone to read it. It was the perfect mix of heist and thought-provoking dialogue and character development. What an absolute masterpiece of a debut.

(I received a copy of this book for an article I'm writing about Chinese art heists, but in the spirit of NetGalley etiquette, my former book-blogger self thought I owed y'all a review. I hope this helps!)

This fully blew my mind. Wow. Thoughts being formulated, what the heck, I think I'm just going to need to bullet-point the reasons why I am in love with this because I Cannot right now:

- Ensemble cast of characters who are all equally complex and well-drawn
- Extremely thoughtful consideration of the subject matter (the relationship between imperialism and art)
- Literally every two characters who aren't related have at least one semi-romantic-seeming moment and I had no idea what the endgame ships were until like page 290 of 323 and that, my good fellows, is my Jam
- College-aged protagonists(!!!! SO FREAKING RARE!!!!!)
- Heist movie goodness
- More books need a getaway driver character. (Lily was by far my favorite, mwah, I would read an entire book about her.)
- The most /gorgeous/ prose??? I was routinely blown away by how smooth, elegant, and lyrical the writing was. It's rare for me to find a book whose prose style stands out to me enough to actively contribute to my enjoyment, but this was one of those books.

But mostly, this was a story that easily could have been cynical, but it wasn't. It's all about past wrongs (both on a personal scale in each character's life and the much grander one of imperialist art theft), disillusionment, feelings of discontent - but it's warm and hopeful and it doesn't let you leave without a feeling that these characters found something worthwhile in all of this. It makes your heart clench, which is something that I've long since stopped expecting most books I read to do. (I am perhaps the most cold and unfeeling fan of happy endings you will ever meet.) And...wow, I went into this expecting a zippy heist plot with social/historical commentary and ended up getting emotionally attached. That was such a nice surprise.

Tl;dr: I honestly can't say enough good things.

Will, a Chinese American graduate student, firmly believes that art belongs to its creators. When Will is asked to quietly appropriate some Chinese art pieces from American museums, he wastes no time in assembling a crack team. This is a rollicking heist read that subtly asks the reader to think about art and ownership.

The premise of this story is highly improbable but an interesting device to bring attention to missing art. Colonialism robbed quite a few cultures of precious artifacts and should be addressed as a whole scale effort.

I found this book to be an exploration of what it means to be a first generation immigrant. The experiences are Chinese American but those experiences are applicable to experiences that other nationalities encounter. The quest to go "home" to a romanticized view of the home country. This spoke loud and clear to me as a first generation immigrant who was the first one in my family to attend and graduate from an American college. The difficulties that first generation immigrant children face when trying to assimilate and the need to constantly prove yourself are handled so beautifully by Li.

Wonderful story that succeeds on many levels.

Li does an excellent job of relating the level and degree of diasporic feelings that this group of college age Chinese Americans experience in their lives. Five different students and five different experiences is a lot to get across in one book and keep it interesting. I found this part of the book the most compelling and the examination of the repercussion of colonialism that we are still seeing in museum collections today. The 'heist" part and the continued angst that the students are feeling concerning the end of their college years and the beginning of the next chapter in their lives became tedious for me. Fortunately, part 3 of this book pulls it all together it a meaningful way.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

2.5 stars
When I heard about the premise of Portrait of a Thief, it became one of my most anticipated releases in 2022 so when I started reading the arc, I went into it with good expectations thinking that it was going to be one of my favorites. Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened.
Let's start with things that I did like: I really like the fact that the story centers around diaspora and how the author explored and delivered this theme through the different experiences of the 5 main characters, who are all children of immigrants. It was nice to see how each of their diaspora experiences were reflected in their motivations, perspectives, and personalities. Though I never became attached to these characters, I enjoyed reading each of their points of view, and despite the fact that all 5 of them get a POV chapter, it was not difficult to follow through since they all had distinct personalities. Moreover, the dynamic and relationship that they had with one another was written well and was entertaining to read about. The discussion about how stolen art is just another tool for colonizers to exert their power was also very thought-provoking, though I did find it to be surface level and repetitive because it is never elaborated more and examined in depth. But then again, what little discussion provided still made for an intriguing read. Another thing I liked was how easily I could relate to these characters. I could deeply understand that feeling of uncertainty they had at their early 20s, how lost they feel sometimes, and the constant questioning they had about what their life is/ what it is going to be. This is perhaps the aspect of the book that made me feel a strong connection with the characters.
Now onto the parts that I did not like: First of all, the WRITING. I'm not one to be selective about the writing style in a book, because I usually can get behind any as long as I love the characters and/or the story. But my god the writing here bothered me so much I wanted to rip my hair off. The same lines constructed into different sentences were constantly being used, and at first it didn't bother me that much, but at some point in the book it became so irritating to read the same thing over and over and over again. The number of times the sky was described and how a certain character "was not a hacker" actually drove me insane and made the reading experience worse for me, especially because once I started noticing the repetitive lines, I could not overlook it anymore no matter how much I tried. What's more is that I found a lot of the things that happened in this book to be ridiculously unbelievable to the point where some things just did not make sense anymore. [SPOILER] An example of this is how easy it was for them to pull off a heist despite how reckless their plans were. And the only reason they got caught was because one of the character's father was in the investigating team and he was able to recognize their voices. It was just absurd to me how they kept outsmarting the police and the authorities despite the fact that their plans were so dumb, and at times, illogical. [END OF SPOILER]
Also, I expected a lot more from the heist plot but it was literally so unexciting and it ended up being just underwhelming. There was not a single moment where I could feel how high the stakes were despite how many times we were told about how the characters' futures were on the line, no scenes that had me on the edge of my seat feeling anxious for what happens next. When the heist started, it ended so quickly it didn't feel like it really happened. I just wanted more of it. I wanted the thrill and the action that I'd usually find in a heist plot, but sadly, I never got that. Lastly, some of the characters' reasons for agreeing to the heist were just not convincing enough. I kept waiting for a moment or a scene to understand more about why certain characters were so eager to do the heist and risk their entire lives for it, but their reasons remained insubstantial thus it made for a weak characterization.

This really could've been such a great book if only some aspects were done better. I guess I did set high expectations for it and it's partly my fault that I ended up a bit disappointed. Nonetheless, overall this was still an okay read and I think people would still be able to enjoy it for what it is.

Portrait of a Thief follows five Chinese-American college students across various countries trying to steal back a part of history lost to colonialism. I'll be honest I loved the concept of this book, but not so much the execution of it. I had really high hopes going into this read and maybe that fault lies with me.

I'll start off by saying the portrayal of the diaspora experience amongst the members of the heist was probably the most well done and it being a major focus in the book. However, I didn't really like any of the characters that much - they felt very one dimensional and literally only played the part of leader, con-artist, thief, getaway driver, and hacker. Oh, I'm sorry Irene did have a have a horrible personality - one constantly putting down Alex for over half the book and she also leads on a straight man who's been in love with her since they were kids - but knowing fully well that she is a lesbian and has only dated women. It's a no for me for that character.

I also had high hopes for the heists that also fell flat. More times than not the heists had no suspense, and if they did it just some how miraculously worked out. Let alone the heists did not start until close to the 50% way mark and them preparing for the heists was just watching a bunch of movies and taking notes lol it was mostly 5 college students goofing their way around obstacles and somehow managing to get the art.

Another thing I had high hopes for was the discussion of the colonization of art and its reduced to art = power with no further discussion really. As a person who loves history and appreciates art within history, I wish this book could have focused more on this aspect and in depth.

I also feel like the writing style was super repetitive and hard to get through sometimes. It's hard for me to write such a negative review for a book I was super hyped to read but it may have been my own fault on that one. Overall, I'd say if I went into it knowing that mainly focused on the experiences and reflections of the characters and the heist and art history part was just a backdrop not necessarily the forefront I probably would have enjoyed this more. I think this book just wasn't for me and I truly hope it finds the people that it is meant for!

Disclaimer: I received Portrait of a Thief as an ARC through NetGalley and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

This was a really fun book, following a group of 5 Chinese American college students who decide to perform several art heists to reclaim Asian art from museums. I thought the ‘heist’ portions of the book took a backseat to the characters themselves - it’s more a coming of age type of story than a heist thriller, and discovering their identities and culture. I think this would make a fantastic film/series adaptation

2.5 stars
9% in I knew that people were going to fall in love with the writing style. 25% in, I had fallen out of love with it. The writing style just isn’t for me, but I still know that a ton of people are going to love it. For me, the lyrical writing and metaphors and descriptions of the mood of the space took me out of the plot. I found it difficult to finish, because of the writing style. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, so I’m sad that my brain couldn’t get past this.

As someone who works at a museum myself, there is much important discussion that happens in this book. I really appreciate how it was discussed and the attention it was given. Colonialism is something that museums have ignored for far too long. Museums are not neutral.

The discussion of feeling unwelcome or not wholly welcome in the country you live in, but also not fully welcome in the country of your ancestry is also a very important part of this narrative. I think a lot of people are going to connect with that, and I can see from the other early reviewers that this is true.

As someone who reads for character development and motivation, I felt that the five characters didn’t feel quite distinct enough. This, for me, was partially because of the short chapter length and partially because the writing style stayed consistent between the point of view characters. I never had enough time with a single character to feel immersed in their thoughts.

I hope this helps you decide if this book is for you, and ultimately I hope everyone falls in love with it.

I have mixed feelings about this book, which totally comes down to what I was expecting vs what I read. Billed as an Ocean's Eleven style heist novel, I was expecting a lot of action....and you know heisting. The action parts of this novel such as the art thefts and street racing are merely glossed over. Like you know they happen, but the details are hazy.

I think the title, Portrait of a Thief, fits the book perfectly. There is a lot of character development with multiple perspectives from various Chinese Americans and how they grew up and feel while living in America. Despite the main characters common connection to China they all have different backgrounds and family issues that make up who they are and propel their motives. The book primarily focused on why the main characters were interested in committing the art thefts and how they grew personally throughout this process.

As an art history professor, I loved the focus on the question of "who owns art?" This is a topic that we discuss at length in terms of museums and how they obtain artwork be it legally or illegally, through theft, war, or other nefarious methods. I think the message of this book is important, I just honestly wished there was more action. Give me a character repelling down a museum building while being shot at by the FBI please!

Thank you to Netgalley and most importantly Penguin Group for allowing me to read an eARC of Portrait of a Thief in exchange for an honest review.

I'll say it now and I'll say it first, my review is going to bias just based on the fact that I wanted to read this book so goddamn much that there's no way it could have ever let me down. From the moment I heard about this book I wanted it in my hands, Chinese-American college students picked to be the ones to steal Chinese art back from the Western countries who stole it, tell me that doesn't get your attention.

From the first line of this book I knew I would be falling madly in love with these character, Will Chen had that smooth talking confident young man air about him, gave me Gansey from the Raven Boys, Irene was confident and beautiful, Alex was unsure but so intelligent, Lily was looking for adventure, Daniel was trying to protect his future and navigate his feelings, and they all came together because they wanted to be more, do more. This novel is a heist novel but it's armature, they're college kids, they don't know anything about heist except what they've seen in movies. The heist portion of this novel, the actual scenes of robbery weren't these amazing believable heists but what they felt like to me were character studies, everything in this novel felt like a background in order for us to look at these characters, learn about them and love them. The writing in this novel had a feeling of art itself, a dreamy way of bringing forth these hard thoughts and feelings.

This is a rambly review but if you're looking for a true great heist this isn't what you're looking for, but if you're looking for a beautiful character study into the thoughts and feelings of Chinese Dispora and all the different ways people deal with it, please pick up this novel, pick it up to feel and learn and remember.

I really enjoyed this book. Getting the perspectives of all the characters and their complicated feelings about being Chinese, American, or Chinese American was interesting to read about. The plot of them being average college students yet also working on international art heists was a fun dynamic. I do think that ultimately the character development aspect of the book was stronger than the heist plot.

I loved seeing the different ways that all of the characters interacted with one another and the unique skills they brought to the group. While there is a lot of plot in the book, there is also a large focus on identity and family that I thought was really well done. The conversations about Chinese art in Western museums and who should own it added a lot to the story.

The actual executions of the heists were the weakest parts of the book. The details seemed really glossed over so that it could make sense that these students with no prior experience could successfully break into museums and evade capture. A lot of the events just felt way too convenient. Overall that didn’t end up bothering me too much because the other parts of the book were so strong. But I think this could’ve been a 5 star book for me if the heist aspect was reworked.

I tried to make it all the way through this book, but I couldn't; which is a shame because this was one of my highly anticipated reads for the year.
There was beautiful prose woven into the story, but it very quickly got repetitive,
I was also disappointed with the pacing of the portion of the book that I read. By 37% in, they hadn't even completed one of the five heists that they were planning. And when I did get to the first actual heist, it lasted less than 3 pages.

Slight spoiler: But what really caused me to DNF was that I couldn't move past the fact that they planned a heist via Zoom and Google Docs. It immediately took me out the story. One of their parents is "the sole expert on Chinese art theft in the Western world, asked to consult on cases that spanned countries and continents.", and they thought it was a good idea to plan the heists via Zoom?

After the museum in which he works is broken into, Will Chen receives a proposition to help steal back artifacts that were stolen from China and return them. He brings together four other Chinese/Chinese American college students and together, they set off to take back artifacts that belong to the Old Summer Palace.

I loved all of these characters so much, and they were really interesting to read about. I love how some of their relationships developed throughout the story.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the prose. There were a lot of quotes I liked, but it did tend to be a bit repetitive. The plot was enticing, but I found it unbelievable at times. However, I’d still recommend this book if you’d like a heist novel that explores themes of colonialism, art history, and diaspora.

3.5 ish, I think!

I, like so many others, fell head over heels in love with the premise of this book. Chinese diaspora young adults team up to take back stolen Chinese art from Western museums. What could go wrong? Nothing did go wrong, really, but I was a little underwhelmed with the way things played out.

What I did really enjoy were the explorations and portrayals of diaspora experiences. Each of the characters had different perspectives and experiences, and yet, I was able to connect to so many of them. Each of the characters' connections to their "home country" were very different and I really liked the way the author shows them grappling with these feelings as the plot progresses.

The relationships each of the main characters had with their parents, especially how their parents reacted to their plot, were so relatable, which was such a cool experience as a reader. I think what I loved most about this book was that Li manages to take characters who, on the surface, are your stereotypical, high achieving, Chinese-American college students experiencing parental pressures to go to xyz school and get xyz job, and show them as nuanced and flawed humans with rich lives and stories beyond what you see at first. I feel like this is something we have been seeing more and more of in books recently, and I absolutely love that.

The heist part itself was where I was a little disappointed, especially because it kind of dies out after the first half of the book. I wasn't necessarily unsatisfied with the way the book did end, but I also wish we got to see more of the action and the plotting of the heist, which was done really well in the first part of the book.

Overall, this is a really solid debut that explores Chinese diaspora experiences really well, with the added excitement of an art heist. If you go into the book with the right expectations, I think you'll really enjoy it.

loved this book! the discussion of art and diaspora was beautiful. I think the heists could have been written with a little more detail and made a little more realistic. Also, there are some very repetitive aspects and phrases and ideas that come up too many times that could be changed or cut out.