Happy Wednesday! Originally created by Jill at Breaking The Spine, Waiting on Wednesday was adapted to Can’t Wait Wednesday by Tressa at Wishful Endings. It is a weekly meme that spotlights upcoming releases that I’m eagerly anticipating!
This week’s Can’t Wait Wednesday book is…
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li Published on April 5, 2022 by Tiny Reparations Books
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Thriller
Pages: 384
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son that has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a shadowy Chinese corporation reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine—or at least, the closest he can get. A conman: Irene Chen, Will’s sister and a public policy major at Duke, who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering student who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
About Grace D. Li
Grace D. Li grew up in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and is a graduate of Duke University, where she studied biology and creative writing. She is currently a medical student at Stanford University, and when she isn't writing or studying, she is searching for the best cheesecake in the Bay Area. PORTRAIT OF A THIEF is her debut novel.
- I saw a tumblr post like six or seven years ago that set up a similar idea, and I am PUMPED to be able to read a whole book about this!
- earlier this year I watched all of Leverage, and this seems like the perfect book comp to that!!!
- hello have you seen this GORGEOUS cover?!?!!?
- These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
- The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
- Heist Society by Ally Carter
- White Ivy by Susie Yang
- Ocean’s Eight/Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen
- Leverage/White Collar
I AM SO EXCITED for this book! What upcoming books are you excited to read? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous week!
This sounds like such a fun read!