Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

8 reviews

litliz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body horror, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, Sexism, Cursing, Grief, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Bullying, and Homophobia

toofondofbooks_'s review

dark 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 knocked my fucking socks off. Yellowface is as funny as it is horrific with a "protagonist" at the center who is truly foul in every sense. As awful as June Hayward is, her perspective never becomes tiring or less baffling to read. R.F. Kuang is so brilliant to have brought something like this to the table and I can't wait to make everyone in my life who hasn't read it yet move it to the top of their lists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, War, Alcohol, Colonisation, Stalking, Rape, Xenophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Child death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual content

Minor: Murder, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

imstephtacular's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Stalking, Ableism, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.75

R.F. Kuang has done it again. A fantastic piece of literature, Yellowface dives deep into a multitude of themes ranging from the idea of who is allowed to tell what stories, imposter syndrome, the responsibility of an artist and how their work is interpreted, and many, many other things. For those who might've been unsure about Kuang or didn't like her past works because of her tendency to be on the nose about her themes, Yellowface feels like a direct response. With Yellowface Kuang seems to say, "You thought I was too in your face with these themes? Well, I'm going to write an entire novel centered around that feeling. You won't be able to turn the page without running into the main theme of this book."

I think I read an interview somewhere, where Kuang talked about her inspiration for Yellowface. and how part of it came about because she was worried she was like June, stealing something she wasn't meant to have. As I read the book, I saw Kuang's anxieties reflected in both Athena and June's characters. With Athena, it's easy to see how she might relate to the sudden push into stardom at a young age, as well as being tokenized for her identity as a Chinese American. While June may represent Kuang's imposter syndrome, of feeling like a fake as she gains all this attention for her work while other Asian American authors perhaps struggle to gain recognition. This novel is definitely the most personal of hers out of what I've read.

As for the meat of the book, I cannot believe how well the characters were done. Especially June and Athena. June is fantastic as a villain protagonist and Kuang does a great job at lulling the reader into feeling sympathy for her even as the next sentence will make you revile her. So much of this book really felt inspiring as a writer, because there is so much that you imagine could've happened, instead of what did happen. As the reader, I constantly was questioning June's choices and thoughts, why did she do what she did? Why does she feel the need to continue this lie? June's character really makes you question the world around you and your own feelings and choices. What is your own personal motivation for the things that you do and say?

As for Athena, I was wondering so much who Athena was behind the person that June thought she was. All we get is a little bit of her in the beginning, from June's perspective of course, but the rest of her is pieced together from all the other characters in this world. I really enjoyed though, how neither character was perfect. Theoretically, Athena was the hero to June's villain, but Athena wasn't a perfect human being. She had flaws, she made mistakes. How much of her flaws were real and not just formed from people who didn't really know her, who knows? But Athena was human like the rest of us and it was amazing how Kuang could shape a character that only technically existed in the first act. 

I will say, as much as I loved this book, I will not be giving it 5 stars. I can't really articulate why. Perhaps I just wasn't that satisfied with the ending, or a few of the more modern references were awkward and didn't fit the way Kuang thought they would. It's still a fantastic book, don't get me wrong. I think a lot of people should read it, even if they know nothing about publishing. It just isn't a 5-star for me. In any case, this review is getting too long so please, check out this book! Especially if you may not have liked Kuang's books in the past, this may finally be the book for you. I am definitely interested in what Kuang will explore in her next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Death, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Bullying, Grief, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Classism, Stalking, War, Death of parent, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

Minor: Suicide and Abandonment

There is a Major Knives Out spoiler on page 186 in the middle of the last paragraph, just so others know!

hue's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

3.75

Excellent writing! Intrigued to keep reading despite the main character being the worst person ever—but as that was the point, it was slightly more bearable. Not to say I still didn't roll my eyes enough times to roll them out of my sockets.

I was, however, dissatisfied with the ending. It came too abruptly, almost hurriedly. I wished for a more "tying frayed ends together" sort of ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

krisfailedtosubmit's review

challenging dark informative reflective 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

5.0

Yikes 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Colonisation, Death, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Rape, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Ableism, Bullying, Hate crime, Medical content, Racial slurs, Classism, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

katndrsn's review against another edition

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

I can’t recall another book that is so uncomfortable, with a character so subtly but blatantly awful that you can’t look away from. 
I don’t want to say much more, but it’s my first 5* of the year with good reason - def worth the hype, a must read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Xenophobia, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Suicide, and Death of parent

There is a scene of rape/sexual assault that features in the last quarter of the book. It is a necessary plot hook and doesn’t last too long but there is description of a drunken incident and recalling of events

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