Counterfeit
Ratings52
Average rating3.6
Quick and easy summer read that had a few plot twists to add to the interest for the book. I didn't find the characters likable, but they were interesting for sure.
Loved every minute of this one! The Devil Wears Prada meets The Hustle--this book manages to be thrilling and fun while using intersectionality to shine a light on the true harm of supporting black and gray market counterfeiters, who can use fake purse funds to counterfeit things like single-point-of-failure parts for airplanes. Great read.
just okay i thought, after finishing it. but i'll credit it for helping me along while i cleaned.
i will say that i thought the partial frame tale device(recounting to a detective) was handled poorly; just put the detective's dialogue into the text, rather than having the narrator repeat it all back before answering in a completely insane, unnatural way.
Started off with a bang, but much like a counterfeit purse it didn't hold up toward the end. It was an easy read yet didn't deliver like I hoped it would. Even though Ava and Winnie are unreliable narrators and unlikeable characters, they're the portrait of modern scam artist. They ruthlessly used Asian/Asian American stereotypes to their advantage and weren't afraid to use people to get ahead.
I wanted more scam artist and less angry mother. I get that motherhood plays a big part in Ava's life, but the book leaned toward that side too much for my preference. There's a lot of telling not showing, which I think is due to the POV choice. The ending felt rushed and I think it was it a miss to not mention the scale of their operation.
I really liked the twists and unexpected characters in this book, but felt it was missing something. It reminds me of my high school English teacher who would circle the last paragraph of my essays and tell me that my conclusion was actually my thesis. Doing that with Counterfeit would have eliminated the surprise, but maybe a plot restructure would help?