Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Yellowface

This was so good, I listened to this entire audiobook in just one day. It’s cringey and realistic, with lots of micro aggressions and covert racism. It was a fascinating read, and as a white person, I could see the slippery slope of racism/appropriation. This is a book I will think about for a long time. I didn’t prefer the ending (this book almost felt like it would end up as a literary horror but it didn’t go quite that far). The main character kind of descends into madness but I wanted more. Such a good read that talks about the sins of the publishing industry and the impact of race. The author did a beautiful job making me both hate the main character and feel for her.

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poirot's review against another edition

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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

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keelin04's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I found this book SO well done. The first person writing style with our ridiculously unreliable narrator is really engaging and made me think about situations in ways I never would have otherwise. It was frustrating (in a good way) to read through June's obsessive and twisted paths of logic and reasoning, and to realize things like the fact that

she would often name white authors/actors/people in general directly before or after referring to POC as things like "that Asian lady" or similar.

Throughout the book, it is also evident that

June does have experiences to dive into in which she is a victim. Her relationship with her mom and her assault are both experiences that would garner attention and sympathy, yet she seemingly chooses to ignore these things in favour of villifying asian people and complaining that because she is white, nobody will read her stories.

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tenaciousp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book was amazing, but also haunting. Kuang develops the main character to be hated but you also have this pity for her and then you feel bad about that pity. It was written to pull the reader along with the main character’s emotions. Extremely well written and fast read.

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grunbean's review against another edition

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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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ajobin's review against another edition

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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

3.0

I'm a big fan of Kuang's writing and I'm glad to have read it, however I can't say I liked it (?) just because June is sooo (intentionally) unlikeable. I did not necessarily have a good time reading it but there was a perverse pleasure in watching how low she would go.

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mjones14's review against another edition

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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

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