Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

99 reviews

letterpress's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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 hope R.F. Kuang had as much fun writing this as I did reading this! 

R. F. Kuang is a master of language. This book had everything I love about a very fast paced read. She hooked me from the very beginning with the death of Athena and I was here for the thrilling ride of June Hayward. The ending even keeps you guessing. She has a way with toying with perceptions that is just delightful. 

I am not so slowly making my way through her catalogue and I have not been dissatisfied yet. This a refreshing way to take on the racial challenges within the publishing industry. 

Any book that I can’t put down in three days deserves nothing less than 5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing and Rape

juphip's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Racism

andibez's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Vomit

te_ss_i's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Vomit, Mental illness, Bullying, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Racism

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

3.5

I had heard good things about this one, but I guess it just wasn't for me... I can't tell if it's genius and I'm just not clever enough to pick up on it, or if the execution of the premise fell flat.

For such a character-focused book, the characters felt like they lacked depth and nuance. I mean, maybe that was the point, but if that's the case it made the book feel like a too-heavy handed attempt at satire. Either that or Kuang is just VERY good at writing extremely unlikeable characters.

For me there was also too much content that consisted only of the main character scrolling and reading social media... I read books to get away from that, not continue to be immersed in it for at least 50% of the book 😅

This book was still very readable despite the fact that it couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Again, maybe that's the point given the internal conflict of the main character, but really it just made things kind of confusing.

I did like the twist of *how* Athena died, that came as a surprise to me... But then the rest of the story felt like it dragged. I wanted more surprises!

3/5⭐ for me - I liked it enough to be able to finish it but not much more than that - plus an extra half a star for respect to the author in case this one just went over my head LOL.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

daisyfont's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Murder

dreklogar's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

I can't really comment on the representation of the publishing industry or the racism in it, but there was a question in the book that I found absolutely fascinating: how much of another person's story is an author allowed to take? 

Is it okay to tell stories that you weren't a part of, but you researched thoroughly? Is it okay to tell stories that are part of your generational trauma, but didn't actually happen to you? Is it okay to take personal stories people tell you and twist them into a short story, or a book? 

And looking at book events, of course, how can we know someone's credentials? We shouldn't force anyone into outing themselves to write about their identity, but that is also the only way to really know if someone is writing about events that they are personally familiar with or not. 

Additionally, which events/experiences fall under "write what you know"? If I've never walked down a particular street, I cannot imagine anyone would be bothered by my mentioning that my character did. If I mention my character visited a fast-food chain and look up their menu online, no one cares if I've also tried the item. 

In the story, the main character has their dub consent experience "stolen" by a writer.  The thing is though, the character also makes it clear that the writer was there for them, that she supported them and helped in a time when they really needed it. The writer was a good friend, in a way that was probably emotionally draining, and then used the experience she made to write a short story. The main character does not consider if this was a way to process everything, nor if the writer had also had similar experiences that were crystalized through their talks. They just feel violated, which, considering the timing, is especially understandable.

But when would it have been okay? Was the writer expected to just keep that experience buried, forever, not allowed to talk about it even if they anonymized it? Was the problem that they gained fame over it? And how does this line relate to her also writing about Korean experiences that she is, presumably, even further removed from?

I don't really have any answers, but as a hobbyist writer myself, that was what I found most gripping about the text.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Vomit and Sexual violence

kanjichris's review

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective 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

4.0

the asian american community has not forgiven june hayward

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, and Sexism

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

juliesleseecke's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Grief, Gaslighting, Death, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Stalking and Rape

Minor: Addiction

emmerylynn's review

dark reflective 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

4.0

Horrific narrator that I couldn’t stop listening to. Author did a great job of making me sympathetic for the protagonist while also making me despise her to the core. This isn’t my usual genre, but I was entertained (in the same way that I’m entertained by overblown celebrity gossip). Is this a bad reflection on me? Am I the problem? 👀

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Moderate: Vomit and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts