The writing style in this book was my absolute ideal: lyrical yet meditative, emotional yet detached. The tonal changes, depending on whether it was a biography-type section or the narrator's recollection, as well as being grounded in real historical figures and painters really made the book feel alive. 

That being said, the plot was not what I expected. It was marketed as a mystery of sorts, and based on the premise, I was expecting something more elaborate than what it was. The plot was very thin, and while it was a ' captivating enquiry into what we mean by 'authenticity', in life as in art', it left me unsatisfied. 

Overall, individual elements in this book really appealed to me (art forgery, mixed media, unreliable narrators and academic yet engaging prose). Maybe I went in with unfair expectations, but I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I would've expected.