Counterfeit - Kirstin Chen

Author: Kirstin Chen

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Rating: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A quick and easy women’s fiction, though stereotypical in some parts. Read with your analytical glasses kept aside to enjoy it better.

Story:

Thirty-seven year old Chinese-American Ava, ex-lawyer, married to a French-American surgeon, mother to a toddler Henri, living a picture-perfect life at least in theory. But Ava knows the cracks in the façade and is dissatisfied with the status quo. She has been contacted after about two decades by her college roommate Winnie, who was awkward and shy then but is evidently a successful businesswoman now. Winnie asks Ava for a favour involving her counterfeit luxury handbag trade, but soon the “favours” turn more frequent and Ava finds herself caught in the shady activities.

Where the book worked for me:

✔ The book is divided in various parts. The first part is written in Ava’s first person perspective, whereby she is narrating her experiences with Winnie and also her personal issues to the detective handling the case. After a while, it became very clear that Ava was quite self-centred and whiny, and her insecurities had been manipulated by Winnie, thereby making her an unwilling participant in her nefarious business. And then comes Part II, where you are forced to question whatever you read till then. I liked Part I but it is Part II and what came beyond that enhanced the book from a 3 star to a higher rating.

✔ The story offers some interesting insights into the luxury handbags business (both genuine and counterfeit). I am the “Jon Snow” of luxury brands; I know nothing! So reading this fun take on the overpriced goods market and also seeing the companies getting a bit of comeuppance was enjoyable.

✔ I loved the main character development (though you need to have a lot of patience to discover the development.) Neither Ava nor Winnie function on a WYSIWYG model – they are complex, sometimes irritating and sometimes vulnerable. Henri the toddler is l’enfant terrible. While I don’t enjoy children being portrayed in such a way, Henri’s behaviour adds a further layer of complexity to Ava’s arc as her parenting skills depict her attitude towards life.

✔ The story takes an almost satirical look at modern day consumerism, including the use-and-throw culture and brand fetishes.

✔ It is a very quick read, and not at all taxing on the brain.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

❌ 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.

❌ There are no quotation marks for dialogues in Ava’s narration to the detective. I don’t like this writing style.

❌ There’s too much of talk and too little action, especially in the first half. The second half is much better.

❌ While the “whats” of the story are detailed out, the “whys” aren’t. The motivation/rationale behind most character decisions isn’t explained at all.

❌ It is somewhat stereotypical of Chinese-Americans and the Chinese. (A part of the stereotypical thinking is what Ava uses to gain sympathy in the eyes of the detective. I am not sure if this is a stereotypical portrayal of the culture or Ava’s attempt to capitalise on white people’s stereotypes about her culture. But even otherwise, there are a few clichéd ideas about Asians.)

All in all, this is a nice chick-lit kind of mystery-drama. It is light and relaxing fun, not to be read too analytically and not to be taken too seriously. It has its share of appealing and irritating moments, but overall, it is a decent entertainer.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “Counterfeit”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.