When I saw this book was Reese's Book Club pick for June, I was really excited to read it as the story line sounded so intriguing. This book started off really strong and I enjoyed the first half of it so much, however I felt as it was getting towards the end, I began to lose interest and felt it just sort of dragged out a little bit. I really enjoyed Ava as a character and loved her relationship with Winnie and how it was all a little mysterious but the story sort of fell flat for me just past the half way mark. I have seen a lot of good reviews for this book though, so maybe it just was not for me.

This was an excellent read.
I loved the fast paced nature of this book and how quickly we get thrown into the deep end with our MC.
It's a really quick read and I'd highly recommend if you like messy women and pure chaotic vibes.
I mean the book literally starts with the MC getting interviewed by a detective what more do you want🤪
Anyway excellent fun and quick read and I would give it 4.25 stars rounded down to 4.

I really wanted to like Counterfeit however it turns out it wasn't quite the conwomen/scammer story I was hoping it would be. A lot of the focus is on 'mommy' & husband drama, which bored me as scenes with the mc's husband or child were presented to us in a very (intentionally sure) annoying way. I also thought that those bits were the mc recounts this stuff to her interrogators was gimmicky. still i can see that this book could easily appeal to those looking for a light summer read

Ava Wong is a married mum of one, living a seemingly unhappy and unfulfilled life with her doctor husband when, Winnie, an old roommate from college reappears in her life. Winnie introduces Ava to a life of crime and fraud through the manufacture and trading of counterfeit high end handbags. This story had me hooked from the beginning as the manipulative Winnie appears to be able to control Ava in the most surprising of ways. An interesting and enjoyable read which had a few twists and turns along the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and to the publishers for the opportunity to read this story in return for an honest review.

Everyone has a price, right? A magical number (or even a person) who when it comes along is willing (or can be convinced) to risk everything for.

The level of hustle in this book kind of reminded me of the movie Queenpins.
And just like the movie, it was enjoyable enough while engaging wth it. One that allows the reader to relax and switch off. But not quite something to write home about.

Many thanks to Kirsten Chen, The Borough Press, and NetGalley for an invitation read of this book.

An enjoyable story of counterfeit handbags, making the most of what you have and female ambition.

The story is largely presented as the monologue of one character speaking to a detective after a counterfeit handbag operation goes south. The counterfeit operation was one where real bags were bought and resold with fakes then being returned to department stores for refunds.

The character telling the story is weaving a tale where she was a pawn in her old college friend's scheme and wasn't culpable for anything that happened. Her tale involved her difficult toddler and largely absent husband - the crashing down of the American dream after she gave up work as a lawyer to raise a child.

While there are interjections where she asks the detective a question and then continues as if the detective has answered we don't know the specifics of the response.

There is a shift in narration for part of the story that adds a bit of depth but I wish more had been done with it.

In the end while it was a diverting enough story it didn't have the depth and complexity that makes me really love a book.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK and I am leaving this review voluntarily

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.

Enter Winnie Fang, Ava's enigmatic college roommate from Mainland China, who abruptly dropped out under mysterious circumstances. Now, twenty years later, Winnie is looking to reconnect with her old friend. But the shy, awkward girl Ava once knew has been replaced with a confident woman of the world, dripping in luxury goods, including a coveted Birkin in classic orange. The secret to her success? Winnie has developed an ingenious counterfeit scheme that involves importing near-exact replicas of luxury handbags and now she needs someone with a U.S. passport to help manage her business--someone who'd never be suspected of wrongdoing, someone like Ava. But when their spectacular success is threatened and Winnie vanishes once again, Ava is left to face the consequences.

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first saw it on Netgalley - sadly for me this was a book that I could quite happily have walked away from. Personally, I feel that this will be a book that is very quickly forgotten. A quick and easy summer read, that just fell short of the mark.

Rating 3/5

This formatting of this book put me off, I’m not entirely sure if this was the arc copy or not. But overall, the book could not hold my attention for long.

A fun weekend read that made me chuckle at times.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review.

It had the hallmarks of a really good book, a lawyer in a difficult situation, which progressively gets worse as time goes on.

However, for me, it missed the mark as whilst there was an element of a plot, it disappointed and never really got off the ground.

I had hoped there would have been elements of humour, however if there were, I didn’t notice.

That being said, would certain give another book by Kirstin a chance,

Ava Wong is a mum and a wife first. She’s fallen in to the role of staying at home with two year old Henri. It’s a supposed ‘Maternity leave’ according to her husband Olivier or Dr Dessjardin to you! He’s gotten a new role in a hospital upstate, leaving Ava to solo parent most of the time. When he announces that it would be ‘easier’ to have an apartment nearer the hospital. Ava thinks enough is enough.!

Just at breaking point Ava gets a phone call from her old Stanford roommate Winnie, with a proposition for her.
There’s only one problem, it’s not exactly above board. Will Ava succumb to Winnie’s charms?

Told from both Ava and Winnie’s perspectives in sections throughout the book. I adored the fact that almost the first half of the book was Ava speaking to a detective. It was a one sided monologue for her and asking him rhetorical questions which made me chuckle.

A wonderfully unique premise for a book, I love handbags so this was right up my street! I also really like the mainland China setting very Crazy Rich Asians vibes from Ava’s family in Hong Kong.

I was lucky to receive a proof copy and a e-arc on NetGalley which I was very thankful for!

*disclaimer to mention my bag isn’t fake even though it’s not designer anyway! 🤣🤣

Thoroughly entertaining escapism. I loved the type A Ava who has always towed the line and ticked every box, from the career in law to her successful husband and two year old son. And her antithesis Winnie, who aborted grad school and is living the life off ill-gotten gains - selling counterfeit handbags. Combine the two together in a hair-brained scheme and you get a whole lot of fun.

This book doesn’t take itself too seriously and has the most wonderful, addictive flow that makes it hard to put down. It’s tongue in cheek, and has Ava breaking the third wall and talking directly to the reader which makes it all the more inviting. An overall romp of a book that has you smiling to the end.
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I had high hopes for this, especially as it was a Reese's book club pick but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I found none of the characters actually likeable and just rather annoying. Under 300 pages so I stuck with it and finished it hoping it would pick up at the end but it was rather one note. Sadly I wouldn't recommend.

Had me at the premise of a hustlers meets big little lies

HUSTLERS meets BIG LITTLE LIES in the heist of the summer coming June 2022…
Meet Ava: rule-abiding lawyer who has ticked all of life’s boxes. She’s married to a successful surgeon and has just taken an indefinite career break to raise her adorable toddler. A picture-perfect life.

Meet Winnie: Ava’s old college roommate. Once awkward, quiet and apparently academically challenged, she left Stanford in a shroud of scandal. But now, she is charismatic, wealthy and has returned to town dripping in designer accessories. An actual perfect life.

When the two women bump into one another at a local coffee shop, it seems like fate has intervened: Winnie’s new-found success is courtesy of a shady business and she needs a favour; Ava is realising she is not built for the stay-at-home life. But what starts as one favour turns into two, then three, and soon Ava is in far deeper than she ever imagined.

I really didn’t enjoy this one too much, I found the characters very shallow and nit very likeable. I wasn’t very interested in the story at all as I’m not at all bothered about designer handbags. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A witty book about 2 friends who get together and start selling cointerfit designer handbags.

Fast paced, made me laugh out loud in parts.

A great summer read

Those that regularly read my reviews and my blog will know I am not much of a contemporary reader. While I love a bit of Crime fiction, books like Counterfeit are not the genre I usually reach for, so I was surprised when I was auto approved for this on Netgalley. However, despite it not being in my normal wheelhouse I really enjoyed this book!

It is such a fast-paced read. I devoured it in just over an evening finding it hard to put down. I really loved the style of the writing, it was really inviting, pulling you in and getting you invested in Ava and Winnie’s relationship and their story. Despite the ‘Confessing your life story from your jail cell’ is quite a cliché in Fantasy genres it was somewhat refreshing here. It played out in such a unique way and the mid-point perspective shift was fantastic. I also love that we never got any input from anyone investigating. It was a really good use of the unreliable narrator trope.

The plot was a great mix of the mundane domestic problems faced by Ava and Winne, combined with great moments of tension and drama as they get deeper and deeper into the counterfeiting scheme. I don’t want to give any spoilers but there is a mid-point shift in perspective that really ramps up the drama significantly and turned this from a good book into an excellent book. I didn’t see those twists coming and they dramatically alter the impressions of the characters and how the story plays out in such a swift way that it was almost like being blindsided. It completely changed the nature of the plot and made it so much more exciting!

Overall this was just a fun read, with compelling characters and jeopardy. It also made some really good points on the cost of fashion that left you with something to think about.

I knew absolutely nothing about this book before picking it up. I started to read it on the beach whilst on holiday and devoured it in a day. Perfect holiday reading.

A meeting of two old college friends leads to them working together selling counterfeit handbags to a global market. This was a wildly entertaining read. Outlandish, sharp and funny. If one wanted to be critical of some elements of the novel, there's a couple of things they could focus on but I am choosing not too. I loved the characters, the pace and it was an entertaining story.

Perfect beach reading this summer, one to add to suitcases! Id read more from this author.

3.5-4 ****

I don’t think I’m the correct target audience for this book. I found it a slow read, superficial, with one dimensional characters and very little plot. I have never understood the appeal of designer handbags that people are willing to pay thousands of pounds for, so the main thrust of the story left me cold.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Old college room mates Ava and Winnie get in touch after 20years. Winnie has a plan and Ava gets hooked into it. They both get involved in selling designer handbags. Needless to say things don't quite to plan. We learn their back stories Lots of cultural issues are covered and it makes for an interesting read.