Kirstin Chen is the author of Soy Sauce for Beginners and Bury What We Cannot Take. Born and raised in Singapore, she currently lives in San Francisco.
Ava Wong has always played it safe. As a strait-laced, rule abiding Chinese American lawyer with a successful surgeon husband, a young son, and a beautiful home—she's built the perfect life. But beneath this 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 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 US 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.
What struck me most was how readable this novel is. It's a swift read, and I probably could have read it in one sitting had I had the time. The narrator, Ava, speaks directly to the reader (which you later find out why). This way, the novel feels like Ava is appealing directly to readers like a friend, and she draws you into her world and experiences with vivid details and stories. The novel itself is short, but the style of storytelling also makes it fly by.
Ava and Winnie are truly one of a kind main characters. They tell their stories candidly, sparing no detail about how their counterfeit world works. Ava also dives deep into her marriage and motherhood experiences, making the readers trust her implicitly, because who would want to reveal the details she does? The genius in the sharing is the details that also feel conversational, and it's why we go along with Ava's story and want to learn more about how Winnie dragged her into this scheme. Ava's victim outlook gives readers a better understanding of the counterfeit world, and allows us to relate to her, despite the truly outrageous things Winnie had her doing.
The truly brilliant element of this novel would be diving deeper into spoilers. So, skip this paragraph if you want to avoid those! So, about partway through the novel, Winnie starts to narrate, switching with Ava's talks to the detective. This is when we learn that maybe Ava isn't as reliable a narrator as we thought, and that there's more going on behind the scenes of the confession. This was unsettling, because it's done well. Ava doesn't seem like an unreliable narrator until we get a different perspective, but once that comes in, it's impossible to see her as what she is: a con woman, looking for more out of life than what she was promised. This is where we truly get that commentary on the American Dream and what it means to succeed. It's absolutely worth the read.
I truly enjoyed Counterfeit and I believe if you're looking for a fast-paced and unique read, this should be on your TBR.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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