Reviews with content warning for Racism - Yellowface

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

1385 reviews

ashively18's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

I read this 6 months ago and I am just now able to post a review. I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I should. Ultimately, this was a personal experience and it shouldn’t sway someone from reading it if they want to, but I also feel like if I don’t just post my experience with it, that I will never move on. I would like to never think about this book again after this so here it goes.

To start, I know people love this book and that is amazing for them. It was not the book for me though. I have never in my life, had such an awful reading experience with a book, nor have I read something that legitimately infuriated me so badly that it has left a permanent negative mark on me. This book gave me massive anxiety.

There were numerous things about Yellowface that rubbed me the wrong way. The first, was the message telling authors to stay in their lane based off their ethnicity. Granted the main character was a POS that stole the works of her dead friend, but in any normal circumstances, I would never tell someone they couldn’t write about something that did the research for, because they didn’t live it. However, I am sure her pointing this out was intentional. My guess is that she has personally been told this multiple times, which influenced her decision to write this into Yellowface. The underlying message is likely an “F U” to trad publishing, which I mean I can definitely get on board with. I have heard it’s common to tell authors to “stay in their lane”. My issue is not with that message, it is that most folks are not all that intuitive, so the message at face value is discouraging and counterproductive to working towards equality of all in society, or publishing or whatever area of life.

The second, was that it directly points out the very real issues with today’s culture. Whether that is specific to publishing or in general is neither here nor there. I know that society is a shit show already, but I would rather not be faced with said shit show when I am reading to escape the struggles of living in this world. It does a fantastic job demonstrating how awful people are and how quick folks are to gather their pitchforks and torches. We have seen this so many times already “guilty until proven innocent” is the mentality of the masses and that is a dangerous place for anyone to find themselves facing.

Ultimately, I know what she was trying to do with this book and I think she achieved it. This whole book was a big giant negative sandwich. I am not a political person because of the negative connotations associated, so this was a definite mistake to read this and I should probably have researched it a bit more instead of going off my fave booktoker’s reviews, because I was certainly not the target audience. I truly hope the rest of this author’s works are much more of an enjoyable experience because I really would love to give her other titles a go.

Content Warnings

victoriousbookworm's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

bookishevy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book deserves a higher rating on Goodreads.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars, but Athena leaves June in the dust as she quickly becomes the literary darling. Realizing she's too basic to outpace her so-called friend, June swipes Athena's manuscript, a novel about the Chinese laborers who went uncelebrated for their contributions during World War I, after witnessing Athena die in a freak accident.

While June is honest about being white, she allows her publisher to rebrand her image by changing her name to Juniper Song and taking new author photos that make her appear racially ambiguous. June doesn't see anything wrong with editing and passing Athena's work off as her own. She believes the story should be told regardless of the storyteller's race. When evidence of her thievery threatens to shoot June's star down, how far will she go to remain relevant?

How dare Kuang tackle cultural appropriation, racism, diversity, and tokenism in the publishing industry with such biting satire. And to write it in first-person? To allow the reader to delve into June's obliviousness to her prejudices and justifications for stealing Athena's intellectual property? To have her mental health symptoms be exacerbated by the guilt that haunts her following the social media fallout?

This read shows how cutthroat the literary world is. For Athena to become so successful at such a young age, she had to do some questionable things because she was pigeonholed into writing about Asian experiences and trauma. But does that make what June did okay? Or is she just a mediocre writer who believes she deserves the success of her more talented Asian counterpart simply because she's white?

This book is brilliant. Kuang gives a middle finger to the publishing industry and bookish communities who feed off of BIPOC stereotypes and trauma. Many reviewers on #goodreads are proving her point.

TW: death, sexual assault, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, racism

Content Warnings

amybartoli29's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

monicadee88's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have complicated feelings about this book, which might be the author's intent. It was interesting and somewhat refreshing for the main character/narrator to be so despicable and divisive. Part of me wanted June to succeed in her writing career, while another part of me wanted justice to prevail and for June to get what she deserved. Still another part of me wanted June to be a little more likeable, relatable, or at least slightly more nuanced.
The satire is pretty thick throughout and Kuang's intent is quite obvious. Still, and interesting and gripping (despite my negative feelings toward June) story that adequately highlights racism in the publishing industry.

Content Warnings

occuprop's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

palebea's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow.
This is such a poignant critique on the publishing industry. Delivered through the means of a frustratingly unlikeable unreliable narrator. It was engaging and angering - exploring themes of racism and microaggressions. Probably one of my favourite reads this year. One of my favourite reads of all time. Read almost in one sitting. Could not put it down!

Content Warnings