Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

885 reviews

karydiazc's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I don't even know what to say about this book...
It has so many important messages woven through it's pages. 
I love how June was portrayed as the villain and at the same time as the victim. What she did was definitely not good, but, did she deserved everything that came her way at the end of the book?

I think this book is an important portrayal of how social media and cancel culture can affect someone mentally, wheter they deserve it or not. Also it shows how the industry operates, not really caring if they are doing a good job and being actually inclusive, all they care about is appearing as if they cared and publishing what the people want, not necessarily what the society needs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide

ninajune's review against another edition

dark informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Cyber bullying

m_cant_read's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense 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

4.25

Oh my lord, this book did everything it set out to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War

astralfeline's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious 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

I wasn't sure what this book was about originally going into it, so I wasn't sure what to expect but this ended up being such a good story. I found it almost funny in a "I can't believe she just said that" kind of way, because I found myself thinking that OFTEN throughout the story because of the main character. But I think it also does a good job talking about how white people especially white women tend to center ourselves in conversations or when we think about how things affect people. And I also think it is a good critique on how online fandom spaces behave and what they prioritize in discussions, especially book related spaces. Overall I loved this story, it was a very fun listen in audiobook form and definitely recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

elliebasta's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent and War

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

meraissa_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely brilliant writing! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation

violet_viper's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

ibeau's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

Really interesting book. 100% recommend. Very interesting and complicated character. It'  so interesting to see the nuances of racial issues in a modern world, both real and precieved. Incredibly realistic in showing how people can convincing themselves that they are right even when they break their own moral codes and accurate anxiety portrayal. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

katherineshawwrites's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I pre-ordered Yellowface as soon as I knew it was a thing, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally read it!

R F Kuang's writing is intelligent, engaging and compelling, and I found myself whizzing through this book much quicker than I expected. The main character, June, is incredibly unlikeable - but that's clearly the point! You're supposed to dislike her jealousy, her pettiness, her casual racism and privileged bad takes, and her complete denial she has done anything wrong. Somehow, though, R F Kuang's writing gets you hooked, and you can't help but devour page after page as everything goes right and then very, very wrong for June.

I see some people take issue with this book, and that's to be expected, and kind of the point. R F Kuang is provoking us and forcing us to consider our own biases and privilege, our own jealousy and nastiness, our own reaction to discourse, rumours and scandals, and that's bound to feel uncomfortable in places for people. It makes for an interesting an unexpectedly addictive read.

My biggest critique is that the pacing is off. The book starts relatively fast-paced, slows right down and then jumps to a bit of a silly climax right at the end. After such a solid 75% or so, the sudden escalation and weirdly tropey and kind of stupid standoff was a bit jarring for me. It didn't ruin the book, but definitely prevented it from hitting that 5 stars. 

Still, a solid read that I recommend giving a shot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Rape, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide