Reviews tagging 'Death'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

1365 reviews

10thousand_megs's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A brilliant novel that pulls back the curtain to reveal that there are no good guys when a bestseller is on the line.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racism and Rape

setauuta's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I am shocked by how much I liked this book, considering how utterly unlikable the protagonist is. It was actually eye-opening in terms of showing how easy it is to slide into dominant-culture-focused thinking about minority-culture content, and how some prejudice is lurking just below the surface.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Gaslighting

sydney06's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit

Minor: Suicide

leechachatotheright's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I will say that this book was very thought provoking, a social commentary on racism, diversity, etc. I gave it a 3 as it was a good read in its writing itself and does tackle an interesting perspective but, I don't think I'd recommend this to a friend to read. The first two thirds of the book was very inticing, but the ending felt like

"This, really? Is that all? You haven't learned anything."

and honestly, that may be the point of it. I find the narrative very different from anything I've read before, but maybe that's also why it felt flat at the end. I don't mind endings not having the whole

character learns from their mistakes trope, if anything, it is kind of refreshing to see this perspective.

But alas, the ending did feel a bit inconclusive to me, though I understand the intention of it. I don't know if I'll read it again, but I'll definitely say it was a unique read and I didn't put the book down until I was finished. I basically wanted more from the ending.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and War

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

lemonsforyu's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

catcat15's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

singalana's review

challenging reflective tense 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

3.5

Oh boy, this book was a rollercoaster, but the ending knocked the rating down.

Yellowface is a contemporary literary novel about diversity in publishing. In this novel, June Hayward, a failing white author, witnesses the death of her former classmate and a successful Chinese-American author Athena Liu. On an impulse decision, she steals Athena’s manuscript and decides to present it as her own. 

The novel explores the publishing industry, calcel culture, plagiarism, racism and diversity in literature. The main character, June, or Juniper Song, as her publishers market her, is so oblivious to her racial biases and the fact that what she’s doing is wrong that it beggars belief. But the thing is that every single character in this book is more or less unlikeable. And all of them are fleshed out almost as caricatures of the people they are representing. On the plus side, all the characters get the same harsh treatment, but it renders them so unlikeable that it was painful to get through this work.

This book displayed the worst side of people, especially on social media, and I feel that there were interesting discussions to be had there. However, I felt that Yellowface almost condoned the lynch mentality and cyberbullying that is so pervasive in our current climate. Yes, the main character is shitty, and yes, what she did was wrong, but does it REALLY justify sending death threats to her through social media? 

The main character showed a glimmer of awareness in the last third of this book, but the ending ruined that. I suppose this book was meant to criticise the publishing industry, but the ending shifts the tone into something resembling a crime novel and feels a bit like a cop-out. This book could have been an excellent discussion about racism, stereotypes and cancel culture, but in the end, it ended up lacking nuance. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_lake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

i wish i had the capacity to write a more intelligent review but i've sat on this ending for two days and still the only thing going through my mind is OH MY GOD.

a really really captivating read; equal parts stunning (the prose) and horrifying (the storyline). i haven't read many books where the main character is designed to be unlikeable and it was a really refreshing change: i slowly became more and more disgusted by june when, usually, it is the opposite that occurs in fiction. 

again, like i said, i wish i could write a better review that would do this book justice but my in progress english lit degree seems to have deserted me this week. my apologies.

anyway! a great read and def one i would recommend. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Racism

sigrungjengset's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and War

alisonannk's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and War