Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Yellowface

I am really torn on this one. I did not enjoy reading the book. I have discovered I really don't care for books with unlikeable protagonists (maybe I am a shallow and unsophisticated reader, but whatever). And June, our protagonist is UNLIKEABLE. She is a racist, manipulative, selfish, petty thief. The fact is no one in this book is even remotely likable, aside from Athena's mother who is in all of two scenes. Kuang does some nice subtle work portraying June's ignorant (and occasionally hateful) racism, but overall, when it comes to themes, Kuang is about as subtle as a sledgehammer (I felt the same way about Babel). In one paragraph, I am admiring the way Kuang portrays the character's microagression, and then the next I am rolling my eyes at how over the top the next statement is. But unfortunately, in real life, there are people that obviously racist, who have no awareness of their behavior, so Kuang is making real points here, and racism does need called out. Important points being made to be sure, but I don't think I enjoyed the reading experience (the plot itself feels very unbelievable and the ending is cartoonish). But Kuang is entitled to deal with her personal experiences of racism as she sees fit, AND reading about racism SHOULD make us uncomfortable.

Content Warnings

cdo499's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

5.0

HOLY FUCK

Content Warnings

ribbenkast's review against another edition

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dark funny informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This review is edited after I sat with the book a little while and read some other litterary analyses of the book. Initially I gave it 5/5 now it's 4/5 stars.

Reading this book was like pulling teeth, i finished it in 1 sitting.

The book is from the perspective of Juniper who steals her deceased friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own. Juniper throughout the book is completely delusional, self centered, and intentionally oblivious to the harm she's doing. She's so dislikable, it often made this book hard to read, which is a good thing. Juniper is unfortunately, a very realistic depiction of a white woman who thinks she can't be racist because she voted for biden.

This book is a great call out to the publishing industry and It's racist practises. It also makes you reflect on your own prejudice when it comes to asian authors and stories and aks a lot of questions about race and story telling.

Edit to add:
My one criticism is with R.F. Kuang herself. It's clear that Athena is a stand in for herself. A lot of the criticism Athena gets is criticism Kuang herself has gotten. Such as Racist/insensitive depictions of Taiwanese people in her work, having a very priveleged upbringing which made it easier to focus on writting and not acknowledging that etc. By having these (often valid) criticisms be voiced by Juniper, they are voiced by a jealous hater, and therefore Kuang sets out to invalidate and deflect the criticism of herself. Just something to keep in mind while reading.

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

everyone already knows what this book is about so I'm just here to say that R.F. Kuang writes *everyone* in the bookish industry (publishers, editors, white women performative ally authors, tokenized snobby authors, book bloggers, bookstagrammers, booktokers, literary agents, etc.) TO FILTH !!!! No one is left unscathed and it hurt. It was aggravating, exhausting, infuriating, hilarious, and a goddamn rollercoaster. I think if anything, this discouraged me from ever wanting to become a writer hahaha. I know that was not the intended point of the story, but holy crap. I already deal with the politics of academia and I don't know if I could handle the publishing industry, because though this is meant to be satire, I know SO MANY PEOPLE JUST LIKE JUNE. June was in her delulu era, and R.F. Kuang is MOTHER. I am immediately sat.

Content Warnings

lmbo138's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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arytia's review against another edition

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dark informative tense medium-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

4.75

Man I never thought I could hate a MC this much but DAMN. Every page was pure agony and cringe - and I was there for it!!

Content Warnings

bi_n_large's review

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challenging dark 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

2.5

Content Warnings

codifyy's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

Quick and easy read. First contemporary book I've read and didn't mind it since I like this author's writing style and I didn't find the contemporary references as cringey as I've always thought I would. I liked that it was written from the perspective of June because this is almost like another story she has stolen or perhaps the only one she has actually written herself but it's still based on Athena really. I was never rooting for June but I was rooting for Athena as a person until it became more nuanced when it was revealed about Athena's past beliefs and actions. I see how it shows that June can be forgiven so many times and survive the public opinion but it did become repetitive at times with the cycle of publishing plagiarised work again. I thought that Candice would make a return but not with such a personal vendetta and instead with a more righteous attitude but I understand why this was the case. I originally thought June would commit suicide but I understand now that she was way too egocentric and stubborn for that and the idea of her making herself the victim and continuing in her ways makes more sense. Sometimes the author's self-inserts become a bit too much and I couldn't separate fact from fiction which was a bit confusing and made me uncertain of the author's message regarding that.

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