Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

6 reviews

redvelveting's review

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

Yellowface is a thought-provoking social commentary while being wildly entertaining. The perspective is absurd but does well to make Kuang’s points on racism, privilege, tokenization, and social media. And honestly speaking, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book this fast. The sheer audacity in this book is nuts but honestly it unfortunately isn’t that far-fetched and I think that’s part of what makes this such a well-written satire.

And to be clear, both June and Athena are terrible people in their own ways, which I believe ti be intentional :)))

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, and Suicide attempt

aishallnot's review

adventurous 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

rachelshubin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

Couldn’t put this book down, I could’ve read it in one sitting. 5 stars for the unreliable narrator trope with unlikeable main characters. I had to know how it ended. Oh and the low ratings accusing R.F. Kuang of exactly what she’s pointing out in her book is the cherry on top. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Racism, Suicide, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Rape, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Death, and Sexual assault

meaghanslibrary's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

I’m between a 3.75 and a 4. Then beginning and middle of the book I thought were so good. The quips and short sentences were very engaging to read. The plot was very creative.

The back end of the middle started to drag. The end felt rushed and fell a bit flat, I guess I was hoping for more, but not sure what I would have preferred instead.

I think this book would lead to good discussions in book clubs about authorship, representation, and race. Hmm I guess for the beginning part of the book and convos I’ll give it a 4. I think if you asked me to rate it early on it was a heavy contender for a 5, but the ending really just lacked. To some extent I did feel like the authors other work Babel had a bit of a rushed ending. But in that book I thought the beginning and middle dragged and the end saved it. 

I give props to the author for branching out well into different genres.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

broccoli_j's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

Wow, just wow.

This book is a must read for everyone!

Is is a well written genius critique in which we follow the „villain“.

June is an unreliable narrator and the definition of white women tears. You are meant to feel bad for her and in conclusion feel then bad, for feeling bad for her. 
This book is brilliant, shocking and most importantly of all not at all far fetched!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Death, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Bullying, Racism, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

helliepad's review

challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

My least favorite RF Kuang book so far- though it delivered on its juicy premise, it reaaaallllyy took it's time to get there. The first part of the book didn't read like a story but rather like an extended rant, and the few bits of characterization at the end seemed out of place. Like I should've been invested in June's life at the beginning instead of outright hating her from the get go.

The thing is after 4 books you tend to notice that RF Kuang uses characters as a mouthpiece for her own anger, but she's a really good ventriloquist. The character voices are good and well-formed, they suck you in and they don't lose pitch. However, that did translate to June being silly- as a Southeast Asian girl I wasn't sold on the ghost aspect of this book because while June is haunted by Athena the myth and the human, it doesn't feel that way. The reader is stuck, flypaper and all, in June's very loud and singular voice.

...though I guess that'sbecause she did write in 1st person this entire book lol. RF Kuang writing in 2nd person will probably devastate me even more.

Still, this was an amazing read, if altogether preachy and drawn out longer than I expected. I can't wait for the author to explore other genres.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Death

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide attempt, Self harm, War, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts