Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

666 reviews

fashi0nablefr0g's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

0.5

The first half of this book was extremely difficult to read, in that the characters are immediately established as impossible to like or sympathise with. It was slow, and felt like a lesson on how books are edited and published. I disliked how the author is so pushy about the main themes — there is one "correct" way to look at the themes in this book, but the author doesn't let you decide that for yourself. It's like they want you to think a certain thing, but don't trust the reader to infer that, so they constantly spell it out and shove it down your throat. The lack of any redeeming qualities in the main character makes it impossible to feel any sympathy whatsoever, so you feel disconnected from the book the whole way through. The dead author Athena feels like a self-insert or something.. the main character hates her, and always describes how perfect and successful she was, and she was jealous of Athena, but finds no fault in her — this is so unrealistically portrayed that it is painful to read. I also struggled with the pop references jammed into each paragraph of this book. Normally I'm not a fan anyway, but it was overdone in Yellowface. I understand how it was meant to feed in to the story, but it's "current" references could've been omitted and the book would've maintained a shred of timelessness.

The second half of the book was incredibly rushed. There was no "plot twist" in the end, no sort of redemption or even real downfall of the main character. The cycle continues and you finish the book with no new ideas or knowledge, nothing to show other than time you wasted reading it. The final 50% was just a series of "shocking" events shoved in one after another, the author desperately trying to link them together to add depth after a flat first half. The only thing that kept me picking up this book was the desire to get it over with, but it was very nearly one I didn't finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Vomit, Violence, and Sexual assault

lprice0714's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

halaurll's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

I couldn't put this book down. Complex, topical, and twisty, this is a great example of a compelling book with an unlikable narrator.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

amandaboyer's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Racism, and Death of parent

melniksuzuki's review

dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault

Minor: Xenophobia, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Islamophobia, and War

bessadams's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

willow_axolotl376's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual assault, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

katrinalamothe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Slavery, Emotional abuse, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Vomit

Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

a1s2h3's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Minor: Sexual assault

rosa_lina96's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

Wow. What a book.

To start- I'll reiterate what other people are saying about the book, which was that it taught me a lot about the nature of the publishing industry and just how cutthroat it seems to be. Several of the points that June makes through her narration (I can't definitively say whether they're true or not, given that June seems to be a terribly unreliable narrator at best, but I digress) seem to be poignant reflections on the author's own publishing journey, or details that were gone over in the few publishing classes that I took throughout my university years, and it's a nice change of pace to see a book that isn't afraid to shy away from the issues surrounding the publishing industry and exactly how they can affect potential authors.

I have to admit that I almost read this book in one sitting. It was impossible to look away from, like some kind of car wreck that you know is awful but you can't take your eyes off of. June is not a likeable protagonist by any stretch of the imagination- she's apparently incapable of critically thinking about her own actions for how much she bemoans them, she's blatantly racist despite insisting that she's not (pro tip, June, if you have to actively confirm the fact that you're not racist you might be at least a teensy bit racist), and she's privileged to the extreme- and yet her narration was somehow compelling enough to make me want to continue, despite the fact that she's probably one of the first narrators in a book that I've utterly despised. At certain points in the beginning, you could probably be forgiven for thinking that her motives sound somewhat sympathetic, but as the narrative goes on and she holds on tighter and tighter to the self-serving narrative that she's conjured up to excuse her own plagiarism and racism, you find yourself wondering exactly how far she's actually willing to go to try and hold on to her ill-deserved fame. It was gripping, in an extremely dark and twisted kind of way. 

The star rating would be even higher had the book not taken kind of a weird dip into semi-horror territory near the end- something which I didn't think flowed very well with the rest of the plot's progression, but maybe that's just me- but as it is I'm still going to be sitting with this book's message for a long time after reading it. Highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape