Reviews with content warning for Rape - Yellowface

Berawal dari keisenganku waktu berkunjung ke Perpustakaan Cikini. Saat itu aku udah berencana untuk pulang, tapi entah kenapa rasanya masih mau ngelilingin rak favoriteku dan nemuin Yellowface berdiri dengan anggun di sana, sisa satu-satunya.

Aku lantas mengambil buku itu dan mulai baca. WOI gila gak kerasa karena page turner banget. Terjemahannya juga enak dibaca, asik banget karena beberapa kali diselipkan kata gaul, terus alurnya untukku matang dan jelas. Premis yang disajikan juga sangat menarik!

Kepergian Athena yang terjadi tepat langsung di hadapan June, lantas tidak membuatnya takut atau khawatir. Yang Ia lakukan adalah mengambil naskah buku baru buatan Athena dan mengubah isinya, lalu mengirimkannya ke penerbit. Berkat itu, June menjadi terkenal dan karyanya yang termasuk ke dalam best seller. Popularitas yang Ia miliki kemudian terancam menurun bahkan rusak karena banyak yang mencurigai June.

Aku akui karakter June dan Athena dalam cerita ini, sama-sama ngeselin. Aku gak membenarkan sikap mereka, tapi ya namanya persaingan dan iri dengki itu huh melahirkan masalah baru yang lebih kacau.

Lewat buku ini aku jadi dapetin beragam insight terkait industri penulisan serta penerbitan. Aku juga jadi tau nilai-nilai sejarah yang berkaitan dengan peperangan meskipun tidak dijelaskan secara detail. Isu yang diangkat dalam buku ini juga gak biasa buatku karena berkaitan dengan plagiarisme dan rasisme. Buku ini juga menyajikan unsur horror yang cukup bergidik ngeri karena June kerap kali dihantui arwah Athena serta halusinasi lain yang dialami. Ditambah unsur-unsur mistis lain yang membuatku penasaran siapa dalang di balik peneroran.

Sayangnya, aku ngerasa closing konflik dan akhir dari cerita ini tuh abu-abu dan gak dijelaskan secara jelas. Jadi bikin bingung dan berasa terjun payung. Still, buku ini tetap menarik untukku karena aku bisa menyelesaikannya dalam kurang dari dua jam dan dibuat greget!

Content Warnings

sophiesbookshelf2's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Interesting and well written. It gets you right into the story and the development of June's inner thoughts and emotions were so intriguing, especially in her inevitable decline. I listened to the audiobook which was well read and honestly felt like I could've listened to more.

Content Warnings

brogancha's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.5

Content Warnings

builtoutofbooks's review

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dark tense medium-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

I’ve never been so motivated to finish reading a story with such an obnoxious and delusional protagonist. Incredibly clever premise for a book that is executed quite brilliantly.

Content Warnings

cadigits's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I really like this book. I haven’t read anything similar in plot. I thought it was very fitting for this time, I didn’t like the ending so much. But I think it just goes to the fact that the main character will do anything but admit wrongdoing and let that be it.

Content Warnings

boba_n_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Do you want to hate every main character (except Mrs. Liu) and question what's morally right and wrong? Read Yellowface. This satirical take on the publishing industry is every bit as fantastic as you've heard. R.F. Kuang uses a largely unlikable first-person narrative to question diversity, racism, cultural appropriation, and society at large.

June Hayward and Athena Liu have been "friends" since undergrad and have bonded over their writing aspirations ever since. However, Athena has been wildly successful, and June has... not. When June watches Athena die in a freak accident, she does what any self-preserving author would do: steal Athena's unpublished manuscript, of course. No one has seen this masterpiece yet, so June decides to do the kind thing and make sure Athena's experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I is published... but June says that she is the one who wrote it. Without any outside assistance. She even lets her team market her as "Juniper Song," which does end up confusing some people when it turns out that June is white. All of this leads to the largest rollercoaster of June's life where she experiences the highest highs and the lowest lows.

There were times I laughed at June's ignorance and others where I cringed where she used her privilege to act as a victim--especially when she starts to become alienated on social media. The book hosts such a complex narrative that it will leave you questioning your own allegiances.

As a white person, I felt as though this novel helped touch on important topics that need to be discussed. How far is too far? Where do we draw the line? How do we live in a morally gray world that years to place us in black and white? One of the biggest questions I took away from Yellowface is: who is able to tell what stories? Is it right for a white person to write about the experiences of people of color? Is that really their story to tell?

Read this book. If you've been even slightly interested by it, just read it. It's well worth your time to explore the nuance beyond these important topics. I tip my hat to you, Ms. Kuang, for the masterpiece you have created.

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