Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

341 reviews

iqrasaied123's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book was so interesting to read from start to finish. The main character June, represents the white supremacy ideology so well that it was uncomfortable to read at times😂 I never thought I’d feel anger while reading a story. I will say it’s difficult to like most of the characters in the book, they all have their own reasonings for their behaviour which is valid and invalid at the same time (of course June had a victim complex so not her💀)  
At times I did think the book was slow paced but it fit the context of the book as it’s written in Junes POV and shows the complexities of being an author. 

The ending caught me off guard, i had a feeling Candice would return after being fired. She was very clever on how to get revenge for June basically making her homeless. Overall, I enjoyed the book and liked how it spoke about tokenism. It shows the effects of racism from the victim and oppressor

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol and Bullying

frogspawn's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective sad 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

4.75

sharp, informative, deeply reflective, and doubtlessly witty

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Racism, Stalking, War, Rape, Colonisation, and Grief

poirot's review against another edition

reflective medium-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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Xenophobia, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a great book! Really made me think and it will be a great one to discuss with my book club. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Racism

ellaxo's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Bullying

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Death, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol

mjones14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Very very good. Only reason it's not a 5 stars is I found the ending relatively predictable. The voice in this steals the show - as someone who studied creative writing, I feel so exposed it was terrifying 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Grief, Colonisation, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Bullying

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Rape

Minor: War and Islamophobia

gandalf_a's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Grief, Bullying, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Racial slurs, Classism, Cursing, Alcohol, and Colonisation

marissasa's review against another edition

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

This book is the definition of unlikable main character, to the point of being a horrible, racist, narcissist, entitled, crazy, dumpster fire of a character. The premise is interesting and hooked me because it genuinely could be something that happens in real life given the state of the traditional publishing industry and all the book twitter and booktok drama that happens nowadays. While it was fun to read along and cringe and gasp at how the narrator continuously gets herself into deeper and deeper shit, I do wish there was deeper social commentary and more objective points on how Athena wasn't a perfect person nor a good person at times. Since we only get to hear about her flaws through the biased eyes of the main character, some of the nuance about Athena being a very privileged, pretentious, rich kid with connections at the same time as being a well-loved talented author giving much needed representation in the industry is lost. I also don't think the book needed to be as long as it was, it did drag in some parts where the main character was trying to figure out to write next or was being paranoid. Overall, this felt like watching ugly drama that you can't look away from unfold so you end up staying for the whole thing with popcorn in hand.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Alcohol, and Bullying

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

---

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

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. 

---

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