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

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen | Goodreads

Thank you to #partners Libro FM, Kirstin Chen, & Harper Audio for a #gifted ALC in exchange for my honest opinion. 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 Example #2: Counterfeit item on the right has a different color tone and is narrower (a fake book cover): Chen has written a fast-paced, character-forward story of two very different Asian American women seemingly inadvertently falling into a collaboration to build a global counterfeit handbag empire . . . Ingeniously constructed, this cinematic novel of friendship, ambition, and wanting more out of life will leave you guessing until the end.” — Oprah Daily, 10 Must-Read Books for AAPI Heritage Month 2022 If you closely observe racial stereotyping in literary works, we can see that most of them are written by people from the same ethnic group settled in places abroad like America, Europe, or even Singapore (in the case of PRC (Peoples Republic of China)).

ISBN. If the book differs too much from other original editions but the ISBN is the same and there are no other markings indicating it's an international or instructor's version, it's definitely a counterfeit copy. What makes a fake bag fake when it’s indistinguishable from the real thing? What gives the real bag it’s inherent value?” It’s funny because going into the novel, I thought about how I’m not caught up in expensive purses anymore. I used to be all about getting a new Coach or a Kate Spade purse (at the outlets) but ever since the start of the pandemic, I’ve been fine carrying the same purse. But that said, I found myself looking at a Lululemon belt bag so maybe I do still care about name brands, haha. 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, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Other than Ava and Winnie, the characters don’t stand out. Most are quite flat and come on a need-be basis into the story.

Counterfeit – HarperCollins

Typos. Books are scanned, and their content is copied by special software. However, it sometimes makes mistakes and creates various typos. In the picture below, the fake copy on top has two errors that might serve as an indicator of the book being counterfeit. In terms of character development, I feel that Chen did a great job with both Winnie and Ava. Even though I disagree with their actions and the decisions they ultimately made, I was able to relate to the struggles they went through as Chinese women who grew up in traditional Chinese families. Ava especially resonated with me, as I recognized so much of her family dynamic in my own — i.e.: the pressure to choose a “prestigious” career path that ultimately leads to wealth, even if it’s not a career that I would want for myself (this quote sent shivers down my spine because it’s almost verbatim what I experienced: “ …in my family there were only a few acceptable paths—law, medicine, engineering. Law was the one I’d disliked least. From the very beginning, I’d known my lot in life: to be good enough at my job, and to tolerate it until retirement.”); the expectation to be an overachiever in school (anything less than straight A’s was frowned upon) and maintain the image of the “good Chinese daughter” so as not to disappoint my immigrant parents who sacrificed so much for their children to have such opportunities; the cultural significance of “face” and the huge impact it has on how, as a Chinese woman, I’m supposed to live my life (another quote that applies almost verbatim to my own situation: “ …but when you grow up as I did, schooled in the supremacy of “face”—the figurative face, the image, reputation, honor that must be fought for and preserved at all costs—breaking free from constraints to think for oneself becomes a Herculean task.”). One of the things I love about the reading experience is coming across characters whom I am able to relate to in some way (even if our life circumstances are completely different) and that certainly was the case here — this makes the time and effort spent reading this all the more worthwhile. There are no quotation marks for dialogues in Ava’s narration to the detective. I don’t like this writing style. The novel starts out well enough. We are introduced to Ava, the main character, who struggles as a new mom to a (I think?) developmentally challenged son and her husband (a cardiac surgeon), while they somehow have money problems. Already, this is drastically unrealistic but alright... go on.

Selections like Counterfeit are the reason why. Now don’t get it twisted and think this is some Pulitzer caliber lifechanger of a story because it most assuredly is not. What it ended up being, however, is exactly what I was hoping when it was first announced by Reese over on the ‘Gram. the two female MCs were clever and strong. one of the female MCs is recounting the entire story to a detective so you know something goes wrong… but do they get away with it? what happens? how does it all go down? some people don’t like the “telling” vs “showing” trope of a book (think BLOOD SUGAR) but i didn’t mind it one bit. 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 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. All in all, I thought this was an engaging novel. The tone is great—kind of comedic and I can see that really playing out on TV well. There are surprising moments so it does keep you on your toes a bit.

Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New

The characterisation is really good with Ava and Winnie being chalk and cheese. Ava‘s portrayal is especially strong, she is not happy in her current life and plays it safe until she doesn’t. Winnie is smart, clever and duplicitously successful. We have seen some amazing works of fiction from expatriate Asian authors. The amount of support these Asian-American Writers got recently was a really praiseworthy one. But a few new generation authors who are running behind instant fame through their galling creations are trying to belittle the brilliant work done by other authors from the Asian diaspora. A few Chinese authors living in America, Europe, Singapore, and a few Indian authors residing in America and Europe who write exotically about their race are adding oil to the racial stereotyping. 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.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! Their dynamic is compelling—and we soon learn that maybe they have more in common than expected. Counterfeit Purses I have been reading about the verbal battle regarding exotic writing between Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie in the book Joseph Anton: A Memoir. I found it interesting when I started reading this book after reading what Salman Rushdie had written about this topic. It seems some authors like Kirstin Chen are never planning to change this writing style, which is dangerous to many people in different ways. Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen | Waterstones

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. 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. 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, 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 as stylish and smart as its mastermind heroines. Kirstin Chen writes, with humor and verve, prose that’s as addictive as a luxury handbag habit, and psychologically rich characters, too. Come for the con, stay for the insights into identity and self discovery, and the ever-elusive American dream.” — Rachel Khong, award-winning author of Goodbye, VitaminThere 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. 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. The story of this novel can be easily described in a single line. It is the story of two ladies of Chinese ethnicity who try to fool Americans with fake luxury goods.