Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

25 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 

---

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.

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

---

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

theasi's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Racism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, and Bullying

Minor: Death, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, War, Body horror, Rape, and Stalking

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. 

---

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

---

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

emma_sky's review

dark funny informative mysterious 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Xenophobia and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Racial slurs

beaubaggins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Bullying

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

scmiller's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Bullying, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, War, Medical content, Death of parent, and Confinement

emily_journals's review

challenging emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I really liked and appreciated the themes explored in this book, but the execution and construction fell somewhat flat for me. I still overall enjoyed the reading experience, but there were a few elements I wish has been fine tuned a little more. 

The main thing I had an issue with was the pacing. There was a good chunk in the middle of the book that I was getting bored and finding my mind wandering as we're waiting for the next plot point to come and I wish some of the rambling that the main character does on the same points over and over again had been trimmed a little more. Then the ending felt really rushed to me and some of the character choices in the climax and end of the book felt really rushed and unexplained, so I think some of the middle could have been trimmed and the end could've been expanded a bit to make the pacing more consistent throughout the whole book without risking the book getting too long. 

What really shines through in this book is the character work. Kuang does such a masterful job of creating such hate-able and authentic characters. Kuang does a really good job of especially highlighting how awful and racist June is, but writing June's internal monologue in a way that she almost convinces you June might be doing this all unintentionally. This book is also such an insightful look into and criticism on the publishing industry and what a dumpster fire it is. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Toxic friendship

rhirush's review

dark funny informative mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Grief, and Bullying

This book is SMART in so many ways, kudos to the author. The protagonist (if you call her that?) is such an interesting, yet frustrating person to follow along as you watch everything come together and wait for the inevitable unfurl. If you're reading this to see if you want to read it, GO READ IT!

I also was surprised by, yet welcomed the use of psychological horror, it reminded me a lot of perfect blue!