Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

21 reviews

carmineslamp's review

dark reflective 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

4.5

OUCH. OUCH. THE END LITERALLY CLOTHES-LINED ME AND CURB-STOMPED ME. Juniper Song Hayward is an insufferable, self-victimizing protagonist who I want to, more than anything, vanish. I don't think I've ever read a mindset like this WRITTEN WELL. UGH. 

The insanity arc at the end genuinely fucked me up. Kuang is excellent at writing insanity, WHAT else is there to say?? Juniper slowly breaking, fracturing, becoming small pieces of herself, is so poignant and brilliantly written. Fuck you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual assault

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review

dark emotional funny reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, Cursing, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Drug use, War, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement

hedsek's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I'm really not sure how I feel about this book, to be honest. On the one hand, it was a really easy read and the buildup of tension was very well done. I also love reading an unlikeable and unreliable narrator, and the ways in which Kuang described the mental gymnastics of someone being racist but thinking they couldn't possibly be racist were spot on. But on the other hand, reading this after having read Babel, it fell a bit flat in some ways. Athena seems quite a self-insert of the author, and as a previous review mentioned, having criticism that Kuang faced repeated at Athena through the mouths of people we obviously shouldn't take seriously feels a bit strange (which felt at the beginning but couldn't really put into words before finding that review). In terms of writing, too, there was a lot less to like than in Babel and I feel like Kuang would have been able to do more in that department. However, this is also a completely different type of book, and it kind of works as well. I also thought the ending was really abrupt and not very satisfying. But overall, I still enjoyed reading this book a lot and it's been a while since I've read anything this fast so it did keep me engaged well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Sexism, Misogyny, Stalking, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

khradil's review

emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Funnier than I expected and a great critique on book and publishing culture!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

aamina's review

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Vomit, Bullying, Islamophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

ribbenkast's review

dark funny informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This review is edited after I sat with the book a little while and read some other litterary analyses of the book. Initially I gave it 5/5 now it's 4/5 stars. 

Reading this book was like pulling teeth, i finished it in 1 sitting.

The book is from the perspective of Juniper who steals her deceased friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own. Juniper throughout the book is completely delusional, self centered, and intentionally oblivious to the harm she's doing. She's so dislikable, it often made this book hard to read, which is a good thing. Juniper is unfortunately, a very realistic depiction of a white woman who thinks she can't be racist because she voted for biden.

This book is a great call out to the publishing industry and It's racist practises. It also makes you reflect on your own prejudice when it comes to asian authors and stories and aks a lot of questions about race and story telling.

Edit to add:
My one criticism is with R.F. Kuang herself. It's clear that Athena is a stand in for herself. A lot of the criticism Athena gets is criticism Kuang herself has gotten. Such as Racist/insensitive depictions of Taiwanese people in her work, having a very priveleged upbringing which made it easier to focus on writting and not acknowledging that etc. By having these (often valid) criticisms be voiced by Juniper, they are voiced by a jealous hater, and therefore Kuang sets out to invalidate and deflect the criticism of herself. Just something to keep in mind while reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Stalking, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime

Minor: Sexual assault, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

leonormsousa's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, and Medical content

akira_outofthegravity's review

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A beautifully stunning critique of racism in modern day America and in the modern book-sphere. 

Juniper is such an interesting character, because at points I almost do feel sorry for her. It’s difficult putting yourself out there, especially when your friend seems preordained for greatness. I’ve been there. My best friend was everything I wanted to be, she was blonde, beautiful, and funny. She was insanely intelligent and good at everything. Her poetry made a teacher cry, her grades were the highest in my year. No one wanted to know me, they wanted to know her. I understand Juniper, better than I’d like to admit. 

But Juniper’s downfall comes in the form of her unwillingness, or perhaps her lack of ability, to take any responsibility. She’s judgemental and rude and turns on people at any given moment. She’s incredibly selfish and bitchy, but at points she is sympathetic. 

I love how Kuang dips between timelines, showing both Athena and Juniper in a sympathetic and unsympathetic light- but the fact is that none of Athena’s acts are terrible enough to have her life’s work stolen and her identity as a woman of colour stolen. 

I think this is a very sharp thought out critique and I hope that Kuang writes more thrillers in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Rape, Bullying, and Sexual assault

Minor: Eating disorder and Gaslighting

majakrmer's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Vomit

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual assault, War, and Racial slurs

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicidal thoughts

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Well if there was one way to get me out of a reading slump it was picking up this book. Rebecca has done it again. I read the entire thing in one sitting, I could not put it down.

The main character is as insufferable and delusional as you would expect. Her justifications for her actions were wild to me, but I also believe that there are people out there who think like June does. 

The exploration of racism within the publishing industry and the insight into the industry was incredibly interesting. Also, the exploration into the online world as a writer was an interesting take. The ending took me completely by surprise and I was hooked.

A completely satirical look into the publishing world and life as an author, I don’t think anyone else could have handled the premise of this book quite as well. A complete 180 from Babel, so if you’re looking for that type of book again this is definitely not it. I can’t wait to see where R F Kuang goes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, Blood, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, Stalking, Violence, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, and Racial slurs