Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

108 reviews

brogancha's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Vomit, and Sexism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Rape

alphabetmafiamember's review

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Vomit

Minor: Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death of parent, and War

pazfauxster's review against another edition

mysterious 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

3.75

A speculative and engaging read revealing the dirtier sides of the publishing industry with a generous shelping of commentary on modern social media culture.

The book was very insightful and I liked how real the characters were. On the one hand, not a single one of them seems very likable. On the other hand, sometimes you catch yourself empathising with one or the other, then halt and think: they're kind of a horrible person, though. Does that make me a horrible person, too?

It tackles the racism and the capitalistic greed of publishers, and it's also speculative and keeps you on your toes. After reading (or, rather, listening to) the book, I stumbled upon the author's instagram and couldn't stop thinking how much of this stuff she had to experience firsthand.

Whenever I see a book trending on tiktok now, I will wonder if the author will once commit a social faux pas that will send their entire career tumbling down. And perhaps it's a cruel thing to think, but so is the publishing world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

jessife's review against another edition

challenging dark lighthearted 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

3.0

Read this in two days, found it pretty gripping. It has its flaws but overall I found it thought-provoking in its expose of micro-aggressions, and was interested in the insights into the publishing industry. Having a very unlikeable narrator could be jarring 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Rape, War, Xenophobia, Grief, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Racism, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

sarasbookmark's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Death, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, War, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

marina_michelle's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Bullying, Rape, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Grief, Xenophobia, Racism, Cursing, and Vomit

Moderate: Stalking and Classism

Minor: War and Colonisation

britbreeze's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Death, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Mental illness

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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

5.0

I hope R.F. Kuang had as much fun writing this as I did reading this! 

R. F. Kuang is a master of language. This book had everything I love about a very fast paced read. She hooked me from the very beginning with the death of Athena and I was here for the thrilling ride of June Hayward. The ending even keeps you guessing. She has a way with toying with perceptions that is just delightful. 

I am not so slowly making my way through her catalogue and I have not been dissatisfied yet. This a refreshing way to take on the racial challenges within the publishing industry. 

Any book that I can’t put down in three days deserves nothing less than 5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing and Rape