Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

119 reviews

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

If I had a penny for every time I’d read a book by an amazing Asian author about yellow face this year, I’d have two pennies, but it’s cool that it has happened twice! 

I don’t think I’ve read a book where I’ve been so invested but so revoked by the main character at the same time. This isn’t a story of heroes, and every character can be viewed as shitty in some way. Which ultimately ties in to where this book goes!

This is a unique kind of horror, and I would really recommend trying it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, War, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Grief

abbysingh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, War, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Vomit

sareidle'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Racism

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Cursing, Gaslighting, Vomit, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Genocide, War, Medical content, Classism, Abortion, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

kschuster's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

I always am cautious when reading a book about writing a book... But this felt like an original take on an established trope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death, and Racism

uncica's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective 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

3.5

I wanted to love this book soooo much, especially because Kuang is an amazing writer.

It started off as a 5-star read - very unique and different - but I liked it less and less as the book progressed. I'm not sure if it was the book's fault, but I entered a massive reading slump, so I struggled to finish it over the course of a whole month, even though it was a fast-paced read. 

What I liked:

I liked that the MC is straight up immoral in a sea of morally questionable characters. Her constant ability to find an "excuse" in order to "justify" plagiarizing her friend's work

(over and over again)

through blatant racism made Yellowface very thought-provoking. Kuang definitely made me reflect on my own biases.

Another intriguing aspect of the book is that it shows us how the writing and publishing process works on the back end, and just how competitive it can be.

Yellowface made me chuckle a couple of times, though the humor was mostly dark.

What I didn't like:

After a while, the book became repetitive, in my opinion, and I could pretty much predict what was going to happen next. That being said, I still don't know how I feel about the ending - don't love it, don't hate it. Since Kuang decided to go with

Athena's ghost

in order to expose Juniper, I almost wish she leaned fully into the narrative and made the book more

fantastical. (Note that I have a high preference for fantasy books, so I'm very much biased here.)

I just find the ending a bit anti-climactic given all the build-up.

Another thing that poked my eyes was that Kuang used the same quote about translation in Babel. Yes, the quote did fit in Yellowface, but I just did not like the recycling. 

Otherwise, I do recommend you read Yellowface if only for Kuang's brilliant writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Suicidal thoughts

brogancha's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Vomit, and Sexism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Rape

k8lynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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 loved this book and simultaneously hated every single thing Juniper did. she was a cery unlikeable character and i did not sympathize with her morivations whatsoever. it was challenging to read the POV of a "villain" doing something so ethically wrong, and i really wanted to see her get what she had coming to her, but certain people always seem to get off scotch-free. i really enjoyed how this was written, i especially enjoyed the audiobook form, and i felt engaged right off the bat from the first chapter/athena's death scene. this a great read, especially for those who hate plaigarists and people who try to be someone they're not because it challenges you to see from the other side. the ending didn't fall flat for me; if anything it just showed how Juniper will not stop her toxic ways.

also, reverse racism is totally not a thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

amandaboyer's review against another edition

challenging dark 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: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Racism, and Death of parent

katrinalamothe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Slavery, Emotional abuse, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Vomit

Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail