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te_ss_i's review against another edition
- 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
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
jourdanicus's review against another edition
- 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
For such a character-focused book, the characters felt like they lacked depth and nuance. I mean, maybe that was the point, but if that's the case it made the book feel like a too-heavy handed attempt at satire. Either that or Kuang is just VERY good at writing extremely unlikeable characters.
For me there was also too much content that consisted only of the main character scrolling and reading social media... I read books to get away from that, not continue to be immersed in it for at least 50% of the book đ
This book was still very readable despite the fact that it couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Again, maybe that's the point given the internal conflict of the main character, but really it just made things kind of confusing.
I did like the twist of *how* Athena died, that came as a surprise to me... But then the rest of the story felt like it dragged. I wanted more surprises!
3/5â for me - I liked it enough to be able to finish it but not much more than that - plus an extra half a star for respect to the author in case this one just went over my head LOL.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
audreading's review against another edition
- 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
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 canât 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 donât 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 wasnât my favorite.
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
samuelachillese's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
Minor: War
winterwoodbooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, Murder, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Biphobia, Bullying, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Sexism
florenceassetto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual violence, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent
mari_is_here's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Death and Violence
maureenlessreen's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Stalking, Xenophobia, War, Murder, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual violence
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- 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
Although my review may be full of basic bookish rambling about the perpetual spiral of the so-called delulu in regards to the main character who is a writer, the writing in this book by the witty R. F. Kuang is so sharp, timely, and addictive that you certainly feel like youâre delulu too. (Okay Iâll stop using that word now.)
So this novel is basically a ridiculously well-written reddit thread of âAITA for stealing the manuscript of my dead Asian friend and passing it off as my own since Iâm a woman, but Iâm also very much a cishet white woman?â
GIRLLLLL. Kuang crafted such a punchy, visceral novel about race, loneliness, envy, and the pros and cons of the publishing industry. I was glued to every page, almost like watching a train wreck. Itâs like, chapter after chapter, our white MC (June) goes deeper and deeper into her web of lies and youâre like âthereâs no way she gets away with thisâ in a non-Scooby Doo villain kind of way, and then SHE DOES!! She just keeps at it!! The secondhand embarrassment and utter frustration was so real, especially in the way that could absolutely happen in real life, which is messed up but also shows the reality of diversity in todayâs societyânot always as advanced or progressive as we perceive it to be when itâs not directly related to us. This narrative was such an interesting piece on how far someone will go to save their reputation, when said reputation is a fabricated construct in and of itself. Fascinating.
Parts did remind me of âAmerican Fictionâ, which is another great example of the assumptions made about POC writers, just in a sort-of opposite form. In any case, I highly recommend both.
TL;DR June Hayward is kind-of the Hannah Horvath of this story, but somehow even worse. If you liked HBOâs âGirlsâ for the writing and not for the characters, this book is for you.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Hate crime
Minor: Alcohol, Self harm, Death of parent, Abandonment, Murder, and Suicide
em_of_swags's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Racism, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Violence, and Stalking