Counterfeit: A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times BESTSELLER - the most exciting and addictive heist novel you’ll read this summer!

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Width. Counterfeit textbooks often don't have the same width as the authentic ones, as illegal producers Ava Wong has always played it safe. As a straight 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 perfect facade, 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 breaking point. Winnie Fang, who abruptly dropped out of college under mysterious circumstances, is now looking to reconnect with her friend twenty years later.

Counterfeit – HarperCollins

Thank you to #partners Libro FM, Kirstin Chen, & Harper Audio for a #gifted ALC in exchange for my honest opinion. 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). There are many other problems associated with this book, like the problems with the narration and the way the character's arc was created. There are problems with even the basics, like the author’s usage of quotation marks in this novel.While many books boast beach read status, are tauted by reviewers and publications, this is actually a book I can see someone lounging around the house or pool side or an actual beach and devouring. The prose was compulsively readable and Chen never tried to outsmart the reader. The developments that left me gagged were all logical, so close that I was simply blind to them. Ava an Winnie each compelling. Though they are also archetypes in a type of story that I routinely seek out, and so Chen didn't really have to do a lot of heavy lifting to get me on board.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen | Waterstones

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. Recommended by New York Times Book Review• Washington Post • People• Entertainment Weekly• USA Today• Time• Cosmopolitan• Today show • Harper’s Bazaar• Vogue• Good Housekeeping• Parade• New York Post • Town & Country• GMA.com • Buzzfeed • Goodreads • Oprah Daily • Popsugar • Bustle • theSkimm • The Millions • and more! College roommates Ava Wong and Winnie Fang were never close—but now they are literally partners in crime, with a designer handbag scam as brazen as it is foolproof. Clever, catty fun.” — People , Best Books of Summer 2022

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A con artist story, a pop-feminist caper, a fashionable romp . . . Counterfeit is an entertaining, luxurious read—but beneath its glitz and flash, it is also a shrewd deconstruction of the American dream and the myth of the model minority. . . . Chen is up to something innovative and subversive here.” — Camille Perri, The New York Times Example #1: Side-by-side comparison of an original and a counterfeit. The item on the right has a different color tone: In an interview on the podcast Editors Unedited, Chen said she came up with the idea for the novel while doing research for her second book, Bury What We Cannot Take, a historical novel. Money can’t buy happiness… but it can buy a decent fake. 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. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.