Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

61 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

4.25

This is a narrative about personal jealousy, racism in publishing and interrogating race politics 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Murder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Medical content, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, War, Drug use, Grief, Biphobia, Classism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Rape

The entire narrative of this book is about a White American woman excusing and justifying her actions against a college friend and writer colleague who is Chinese American plus the varying moods and swings in action to conceal what she is doing. We are in the mind of the white woman character the whole time and it’s intentionally uncomfortable to be in this character’s head. Pace yourself if you need to though this novel isn’t that long.

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Biphobia, Bullying, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Sexism

ninahuynh's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Ok. How do I start?! I have so many feelings about June and how the book ended. I found it funny with the

ghost elements (with Candice, the hallucinations and social media accounts

. Is it trying to comment on how out of touch she is with reality? All I know is Juniper Song Hayward needs help ASAP, especially before she taps into another novel.

Overall, I like the book. There were just some parts where the writing was a biz clunky for me and I had to re-read the sentence several times to understand it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and War

jennaviolet's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Blood, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: War and Death of parent

fleur____'s review against another edition

reflective 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, Toxic friendship, Racism, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Minor: Grief

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Death

Moderate: Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent, Violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Islamophobia, Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, and Racial slurs

abicaro17's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-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

0.5

God this book was unbearable. I will say first off, that Kuang has a beautiful writing style and the base of this book is really interesting. That being said, the execution of said base is god awful.

Juniper Song Heyward is a jealous, manipulative, vindictive, racist, bitch. She spends the entire book a plagiarist who attempts to convince the reader she's a victim somehow. June continuously uses racist language and defends her actions by blaming Athena for being more talented and likable. Every word that came out of her mouth made her less likable.

The plot is unbearably slow. You spend like 80% of the book reading tweets. Why? Who knows. I considered DNFing so many times it's a miracle I finished at all. I would recommend this to someone only if I hated them. Brb while I go cleanse my aura of this nightmare. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Alcohol, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Islamophobia, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cursing, Rape, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

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

sofiarodriguez's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was absolutely in love with this book until the last 50 pages. I feel liek Candance faking being Athena was too expected. I would have much rather seen June end up having some tragic ending due to her own psychosis. I loved the themes and messages--June as an unreliable narrator gave such an interest perspective and how the book views intersectionality and the self-victimization of white woman. I love how this book talks about the duality of social media, especially in times of crisis and reinforcing systems of harm without it being "cringey." I think it fell into some of the pitfalls of thrillers at the end, and should have leaned more lit fic in being able to end with some "loose ends." This book is so beautifully written and self-aware, and I would have given it 5 stars without the last 50 pages. I have so many thoughts I cannot even express in this review. Such a beautiful piece by R.F. Kuang. God I loved this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

dsalazar's review

dark mysterious 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

4.25

I expected this book to be really good and all my expectations were met. Kuang’s story telling and writing style were compelling and brilliant. For most of the story, I couldn’t put the book down, especially at the start. 

This reminded me of The Curse on Hulu with Nathan Fielder, Ben Sadfie, and Emma Stone, where everyone (including the audience) is in on the joke except the main characters. I especially liked that the whole plot revolved around the writing/publishing industry and how vicious it can make a writer. It felt like I was reading a fictional story but also questioning which parts came from Kuang’s lived experiences. This added depth and intrigue as I learned more about a failed v. successful novelist’s journey. 

Aside from the language and pacing, diving into Junie’s psyche felt like watching that recent Golden Globes host flop horrendously. It’s as if I simultaneously hated her, needed to understand her more, wanted to stop reading cause of the overwhelming cringe, and pitied her. 

Plot-wise, it was enough of a glimpse into Junie’s life, family, and background to move the story along but not so deep that I would get bored or lost in the details. There was just enough to bring me into the story and Junie’s head, which made this a fairly easy read. I do think the ending was a bit predictable but only insofar as (I think) Kuang intended. Any readers will enjoy this even more if they are super online and have used Twitter. Iykyk 

Anyway, I loved it and everyone should read it!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content