Ava Wong has always played it safe. As a strait-laced, rule-abiding Chinese American lawyer with a successful surgeon as a husband, a young son, and a beautiful home—she’s built the perfect life. But beneath this façade, Ava’s world is crumbling: her marriage is falling apart, her expensive law degree hasn’t been used in years, and her toddler’s tantrums are pushing her to the breaking point.

The Counterfeit Candidate (The Reich Trilogy Book 1) eBook The Counterfeit Candidate (The Reich Trilogy Book 1) eBook

Witherspoon responded with the comment, “Twinning!! I love this book so much! Perfect summer read.” Ava Wong is a successful lawyer with a picture-perfect family, but behind the scenes, her marriage—and life—are falling apart. Enter Winnie Fang, Ava’s college roommate, with a proposition for Ava: help Winnie manage her wildly successful counterfeit luxury purse business. But when consequences loom, Winnie disappears, leaving Ava holding the bag.” — Harper’s Bazaar , The Best Beach Reads of 2022 It seems much easier to make a novel a global success if the authors cater to the needs of readers from other countries according to their misconceptions. These authors are not ready to put in the extra effort to break these stereotypes by removing the misconceptions. At first you may think you know Ava and you may think you know this book. But don't worry, the book is a few steps ahead of you and it is more than meets the eye. This isn't really a spoiler at all, after all, a book all about counterfeiting can't be exactly what it claims to be on the surface, can it? But then the narrative changes. And we get Winnie's perspective. I was getting ready for some action!Italians - People who are very greedy for money. They cheat the customers by selling luxury items, always overpricing them. They will just manufacture the handle of the luxury bags in Italy, make the rest in China, and put made in Italy over their products. With all that said though, this wasn’t just a superficial story about a counterfeit handbag business gone awry. It actually went much deeper than that, as it also explored recent social, political, and economic issues such as anti-Asian sentiment, immigration and the American Dream, racism, the strained U.S.-China trade relationship, etc. It also dealt with Chinese cultural elements (as well as stereotypes) in ways that were insightful and respectful, yet not heavy-handed. Despite some of the serious themes, there was a lightheartedness to the story that made this a well-balanced read.

Counterfeit – HarperCollins

Maybe 4.5 (I know, unpopular opinion apparently because so many people have rated this book within the 2 to 4 star range lmfao) Two Asian-American women turn a fake handbag scheme into a global enterprise. Need we say more?” — Parade , Our Favorite Books of Spring Hmm... What can I say about Counterfeit? There was just something about this book that I didn't quite like. Binding. It differs from the one of the authentic textbook. The glue can be of a different color and unevenly distributed along the binding, and the book may generally look poorly made. Books with bindings for which cheap glue was used also smell differently than an original quality edition. The curvature of the spine can also be different (e.g., too flat or bent). Ava Wong hasn’t heard from Winnie Fang for over twenty years, in fact since Winnie hurriedly left Stanford. What does Winnie want? Ava‘s life hasn’t panned out the way she hopes and she’s dazzled by the wealth, beauty and confidence Winnie displays. An added bonus if she is very good with her two year old son Henri who has the most spectacular of tantrums. Oh boy, does Eva ever get lured into a Winnie web, a con involving counterfeit designer handbags which are so good they are the creme de la creme of counterfeits they could be the real thing. It becomes intoxicating as common sense flies out the window until it all crashes to earth.

Chen’s third novel, published Tuesday by William Morrow, tells the story of Ava, a Chinese American lawyer who joins with an old college roommate in a long con involving counterfeit handbags. A critic for Kirkus called the book “a delightfully different caper novel with a Gone Girl–style plot twist.” There’s too much of talk and too little action, especially in the first half. The second half is much better. What is about purses that we lean toward all the name brands? I think compared to any other item, purses is where many women tend to splurge. And that’s what these counterfeit purse operations try to take advantage of.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen | Goodreads Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen | Goodreads

The biggest problem with this book is excessive use of racial stereotypes. The way in which the author describes a few of the stereotypes seen in this novel are - Width. Counterfeit textbooks often don't have the same width as the authentic ones, as illegal producers There are no quotation marks for dialogues in Ava’s narration to the detective. I don’t like this writing style. Ava and Winnie are initially presented as different as can be. Ava grew up in the states while Winnie is from Mainland China. Winnie desperately wanted to fit in college and Ava seemed kind of standoffish and not willing to help Winnie—a little bit of mean girl behavior. So it seems way out of left field for Winnie to enter Ava’s life again, right? Of course, there’s more to the story there and it’s quite intriguing and surprising.In this delicious romp about a counterfeit bag scheme, you’ll get “Hustlers” meets “The Bling Ring” meets “Molly’s Game.” . . . This one is so fast-paced and bingeable that it’s already been scooped up to be turned into a TV show.” — theSkimm, Buzzy Beach Reads of 2022 Propulsive and captivating . . . A provocative story of fashion, friendship, and fakes (in more ways than one), with characters that both subvert and capitalize on the model-minority myth. No surprise that the sly feminist caper was the subject of a fierce eight-way bidding war for TV rights.” — Vogue , The Best Books of 2022 Ava recounts about up until this point, she’s always been a rule follower. She’s a Chinese American lawyer who is married to a surgeon and they have a toddler son. But beneath the perfect facade, her marriage is full of troubles and she’s having difficulties handling her son’s outbursts. She put her career on hold to take care of her son and now she’s having an identity crisis. The most interesting aspect of this novel was learning about counterfeit luxury handbag operations. I had no idea about it, although we've all seen the ubiquitous fake brown Louis Vuitton handbags. Not all fakes are the same. Some counterfeits might have been originals, they were so close to the genuine ones, that not even the people selling the genuine items could tell the difference. I confess, my moral compass needle barely moved, the "crime" was bloodless, and those cheated didn't know their luxury item wasn't genuine. They're all made in China, by very skilled people. But, Ava is disgusted with her “friend’s” behavior, that is —until she needs money for her son to get into the best of the best schools & when her husband freezes her credit cards….the list adds up. With a whole lot of bribery she falls under Winnie’s spell and gets in on the scheme.

‘Counterfeit’ Is New Pick for Reese’s Book Club | Kirkus Reviews

Kirstin Chen keeps readers on the edge of their seats as she weaves an addictive tale about the high/low world of counterfeit luxury handbags, spanning San Francisco to Guangzhou. A glittering, provocative read.” — Janice Y. K. Lee, New York Times bestselling author of The Expatriates Centered on two women who partner on a global counterfeit luxury handbag business. I always wish there was more fashion in novels . . . My fun read of early summer!” — Kathy Wang, Entertainment Weekly Engrossing . . . . There is something particularly joyful and delicious right now about reading a novel centered around a feminist caper. This novel is a lot of fun, but it also asks a lot of questions about what we covet and why.”— Roxane Gay Ava Wong, Asian American lawyer, has the appearances of a perfect life. Sure hasn’t worked since having her son, Henri, now two years old. Her husband Oli is a renowned transplant surgeon and everything should be rosy. So why does she feel so flat? Well Oli spends too long either at work or travelling to and from it and Henri is a very difficult child who cries at every opportunity. In fact Ava would be completely lost without her nanny, Maria.

Counterfeit is decadent and delicious. The sparkling story line seduces with its compelling twists and turns even as Kirstin Chen deftly interrogates issues of race, identity, wealth and consumerism. A true delight for mind and heart from beginning to end.” — Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee