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amandasbrews 's review for:
Portrait of a Thief
by Grace D. Li
wow this book tore me apart i have never felt more seen this is 100% a new favorite
Emotional, heart-wrenching, glamorous, anti-colonialist, beautiful, epic, priceless
Portrait of a Thief surprised me more than any other book that I've read this year. This book is absolutely stunning and I can't believe it exists. The entire book is an absolute love letter to Asian-Americans. I was incredibly underprepared. I went into this book looking for a heist to steal back artifacts that had been stolen from China and came out feeling like I had reevaluated my entire identity as an Asian-American. Grace Li's stunning debut novel is an absolute treasure and should not be missed by a single person.
Quick Summary: Throughout history and even until today, museums have always displayed the spoils of war, conquest, and colonialism. A Chinese-American senior at Harvard, Will Chen, plans to steal priceless artifacts from museums around the world, artifacts initially stolen from China, and return them to their rightful home. He and his gang set out on their own Oceans Eleven worthy heist to make their mark in history and earn fifty million dollars, but the challenges they face force them to confront their own Chinese identity as they attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
This book touched my soul so deeply I can't even begin to explain how important it is to me. Grace Li explores what it means to be Asian American, or Asian diaspora, in such a beautiful way. She explains the constant battle between rejecting your heritage and fighting so desperately to hang on to what you have left and it left a huge mark on my heart. The heist slowly changed from stealing back artifacts that were stolen from China to an exploration of how urgently the characters were fighting to steal back their Chinese heritage that was taken from them, as it is taken from so many of us in ways we never expected. Their desperate attempt to get China to love them back is all too familiar and all too heartbreaking. Being Asian-American we often are told that we are neither American enough nor Asian (insert your own heritage here) enough and these characters embody it so deeply. Continue Reading
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Emotional, heart-wrenching, glamorous, anti-colonialist, beautiful, epic, priceless
Portrait of a Thief surprised me more than any other book that I've read this year. This book is absolutely stunning and I can't believe it exists. The entire book is an absolute love letter to Asian-Americans. I was incredibly underprepared. I went into this book looking for a heist to steal back artifacts that had been stolen from China and came out feeling like I had reevaluated my entire identity as an Asian-American. Grace Li's stunning debut novel is an absolute treasure and should not be missed by a single person.
Quick Summary: Throughout history and even until today, museums have always displayed the spoils of war, conquest, and colonialism. A Chinese-American senior at Harvard, Will Chen, plans to steal priceless artifacts from museums around the world, artifacts initially stolen from China, and return them to their rightful home. He and his gang set out on their own Oceans Eleven worthy heist to make their mark in history and earn fifty million dollars, but the challenges they face force them to confront their own Chinese identity as they attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
This book touched my soul so deeply I can't even begin to explain how important it is to me. Grace Li explores what it means to be Asian American, or Asian diaspora, in such a beautiful way. She explains the constant battle between rejecting your heritage and fighting so desperately to hang on to what you have left and it left a huge mark on my heart. The heist slowly changed from stealing back artifacts that were stolen from China to an exploration of how urgently the characters were fighting to steal back their Chinese heritage that was taken from them, as it is taken from so many of us in ways we never expected. Their desperate attempt to get China to love them back is all too familiar and all too heartbreaking. Being Asian-American we often are told that we are neither American enough nor Asian (insert your own heritage here) enough and these characters embody it so deeply. Continue Reading
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