Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

17 reviews

yipt's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racism and Medical trauma

selkiesight's review

DNF due to graphic description of incident/event in first chapter.  (Not a criticism of the book. I did not read trigger warnings and would not have known that I would react this way if I had read them.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Very detailed and disturbing description of a character's

death by choking on food and the desperate attempts to save her life.

angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.5

Um, this book??? IS SO CRAZY. This story takes “delulu girly” to the most insane level. GIRLY!! IS!! DELULU!!

Although my review may be full of basic bookish rambling about the perpetual spiral of the so-called delulu in regards to the main character who is a writer, the writing in this book by the witty R. F. Kuang is so sharp, timely, and addictive that you certainly feel like you’re delulu too. (Okay I’ll stop using that word now.)

So this novel is basically a ridiculously well-written reddit thread of “AITA for stealing the manuscript of my dead Asian friend and passing it off as my own since I’m a woman, but I’m also very much a cishet white woman?” 

GIRLLLLL. Kuang crafted such a punchy, visceral novel about race, loneliness, envy, and the pros and cons of the publishing industry. I was glued to every page, almost like watching a train wreck. It’s like, chapter after chapter, our white MC (June) goes deeper and deeper into her web of lies and you’re like “there’s no way she gets away with this” in a non-Scooby Doo villain kind of way, and then SHE DOES!! She just keeps at it!! The secondhand embarrassment and utter frustration was so real, especially in the way that could absolutely happen in real life, which is messed up but also shows the reality of diversity in today’s society—not always as advanced or progressive as we perceive it to be when it’s not directly related to us. This narrative was such an interesting piece on how far someone will go to save their reputation, when said reputation is a fabricated construct in and of itself. Fascinating.

Parts did remind me of “American Fiction”, which is another great example of the assumptions made about POC writers, just in a sort-of opposite form. In any case, I highly recommend both. 

TL;DR June Hayward is kind-of the Hannah Horvath of this story, but somehow even worse. If you liked HBO’s “Girls” for the writing and not for the characters, this book is for you.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Alcohol, Self harm, Death of parent, Abandonment, Murder, and Suicide

threeundertwopnw's review against another edition

dark funny 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

The ending was a bit disappointing. Reading this book gave me anxiety in the same way The Talented Mr Ripley did. A hilarious and sad satire of the publishing industry and the brutality of social media. The main character is simply the worst. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Death, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

espereads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

emily_journals's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

I really liked and appreciated the themes explored in this book, but the execution and construction fell somewhat flat for me. I still overall enjoyed the reading experience, but there were a few elements I wish has been fine tuned a little more. 

The main thing I had an issue with was the pacing. There was a good chunk in the middle of the book that I was getting bored and finding my mind wandering as we're waiting for the next plot point to come and I wish some of the rambling that the main character does on the same points over and over again had been trimmed a little more. Then the ending felt really rushed to me and some of the character choices in the climax and end of the book felt really rushed and unexplained, so I think some of the middle could have been trimmed and the end could've been expanded a bit to make the pacing more consistent throughout the whole book without risking the book getting too long. 

What really shines through in this book is the character work. Kuang does such a masterful job of creating such hate-able and authentic characters. Kuang does a really good job of especially highlighting how awful and racist June is, but writing June's internal monologue in a way that she almost convinces you June might be doing this all unintentionally. This book is also such an insightful look into and criticism on the publishing industry and what a dumpster fire it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Toxic friendship

zara89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent

radfordmanor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Rape, Toxic friendship, Death, Racism, and Stalking

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

Yellowface is wry social commentary meets laugh-out-loud satire meets genuine horror with a psychotic break thrown in for good measure. I loved it. For bookish folks who enjoy sardonic commentary on the publishing industry, this is a book to be inhaled - all the little sly digs at various media personalities, authors and other public figures made every page feel like a new reveal. I particularly loved the use of an unreliable first-person narrator and the complexity in how both June and Athena are fleshed out for the reader. Kuang resists easy stereotypes (except where they're impossible to avoid, because white women certainly aren't unpredictable) and constantly rides the edge between just right and too far, making even the most absurd moments feel believable. If you love a slow descent into madness that excoriates book publishing, white feminism and Western media more broadly, Yellowface is an excellent read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Stalking

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Medical content, Sexism, and Vomit