Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

249 reviews

hannah_lilli's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

elliya's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I almost didn’t finish this. It really dragged for me, until we got to the “Athena’s ghost” arc near the end. I thought the satire was so overwhelming that there was hardly space for anything else in the narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Stalking and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

charlotteturt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting

audreading's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense 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

R.F. Kuang does not miss!! You are going to HATE June Hayward, but you are going to love this book. It almost reads like a mystery where you’re in the mind of the criminal, waiting to see whether she will get caught (and hoping she will).

I actually started noticing so many stories like this one coming up on Twitter while I was reading. We always wonder, with these celebrities who go off the rails with bigoted rhetoric, how their thought process works and how they get to such a place. Yellowface shows you just that. I can’t tell you how many times I was screaming at the page and wanted to type out an argument just like I would online.

The book also shows an interesting peek into the publishing world in almost a meta way (except we would never want to relate R.F. to June). This is a struggle we readers don’t have to think about too often! We just lap up the books with no real appreciation for the fight that goes into getting honest work onto the table.

I only take off half a star for this book because the ending wasn’t my favorite.

Candice’s actions felt hard to believe and out of nowhere. I truly thought Athena’s “ghost” would just be June descending into madness in consequence to her own choices and struggles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Violence, Rape, and Alcohol

msnopek's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders

alipenguinface's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Brilliant, witty, twists and turns throughout. Kuang in a form you've never seen before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ninahuynh's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

Ok. How do I start?! I have so many feelings about June and how the book ended. I found it funny with the

ghost elements (with Candice, the hallucinations and social media accounts

. Is it trying to comment on how out of touch she is with reality? All I know is Juniper Song Hayward needs help ASAP, especially before she taps into another novel.

Overall, I like the book. There were just some parts where the writing was a biz clunky for me and I had to re-read the sentence several times to understand it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and War

clare_dv's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

maureenlessreen's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

Absolutely gripping and captivating. An unexpected pro was learning more about the behind-the-scenes of publishing! Excellent critique and discussion of cancel culture and race politics without it feeling overly dated. I felt like it didn’t quite stick the landing but the journey was mesmerizing. It’s remarkable how much I hated and loved the POV character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Stalking, Xenophobia, War, Murder, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual violence

kanjichris's review against another edition

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