Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

553 reviews

sareidle's review

dark 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Racism

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

purplemuskogee's review against another edition

dark lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had wanted to read this book since it came out, and I am so pleased it did not disappoint. Rebecca F. Kuang is incredibly skilled at weaving many, many themes - cultural appropriation, representation, plagiarism, friendship, internet trolling, cancel culture, intellectual property, the publishing industry, theft... - without making the book feel too cluttered or trying too hard, which is sometimes a risk with books that feel very anchored to their era. This one is definitely anchored - the themes, the Twitter messages, the fear of being cancelled - but it felt light, compelling, engaging. I loved the characters being all unlikeable, including the victim of the story, beautiful and talented writer Athena, a vampire who steals everyone's traumatic experiences to turn them into her next bestseller; and I liked its commentary on cultural appropriation and intellectual property: when is inspiration plagiarism? (Probably when you have to steal a manuscript from a flat where your friend just died). Many authors of the past are incredibly problematic and it is brushed aside - we still love Virginia Woolf despite the antisemitism, we still read Poe despite the child marriage. Authors nowadays being online and reachable more easily means they are somewhat more accountable - it is also "easier" to ignore past authors' problematic stances when they were usually government policy, although I am not convinced that makes them excusable. 
I loved this novel, and I loved its themes and tone, and I am so glad I read it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Toxic friendship

pantslint's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

4.5

I'm a sucker for books with unreliable narrators and unlikable protagonists, and Yellowface is a fun combination of both. I think June's characterization was done well—this bitch is capital-R Racist—though sometimes I felt that Kuang made her likability (or lack thereof) so obvious to readers.

Like, June felt so cartoonishly racist at times and I couldn't do anything but just laugh at how much of a hater she is. I mean, c'mon.

Justifying her plagiarism as "reparations" (Ch. 3)? Her rant about how the Chinese characters all have the same last names (Ch. 4)? The "heartwarming illustration of Chinese virtue and honesty" narrative she inserts, about the Chinese laborers gifting money to a poor French family (Ch. 4)? Being surprised at every Asian person's "good English?" Describing Chinese food as "pungent" over and over again?

There's so much more; I feel like I'm writing out Luther's 95 Theses at this point.

I'm sure Kuang writes June so obviously gross because white readers have feel like they're separate from her June, right? This text is so meta. I wonder what kind of things Kuang had to concede and exaggerate to get something like this published.

I have thoughts on Athena too... though I think I'll explore it another time.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Cursing, Gaslighting, Vomit, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Genocide, War, Medical content, Classism, Abortion, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

lightscamerazaction's review

dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Toxic friendship, and Stalking

kschuster's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I always am cautious when reading a book about writing a book... But this felt like an original take on an established trope.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death, and Racism

gena10's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

cherie17's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

uncica's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective 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

I wanted to love this book soooo much, especially because Kuang is an amazing writer.

It started off as a 5-star read - very unique and different - but I liked it less and less as the book progressed. I'm not sure if it was the book's fault, but I entered a massive reading slump, so I struggled to finish it over the course of a whole month, even though it was a fast-paced read. 

What I liked:

I liked that the MC is straight up immoral in a sea of morally questionable characters. Her constant ability to find an "excuse" in order to "justify" plagiarizing her friend's work

(over and over again)

through blatant racism made Yellowface very thought-provoking. Kuang definitely made me reflect on my own biases.

Another intriguing aspect of the book is that it shows us how the writing and publishing process works on the back end, and just how competitive it can be.

Yellowface made me chuckle a couple of times, though the humor was mostly dark.

What I didn't like:

After a while, the book became repetitive, in my opinion, and I could pretty much predict what was going to happen next. That being said, I still don't know how I feel about the ending - don't love it, don't hate it. Since Kuang decided to go with

Athena's ghost

in order to expose Juniper, I almost wish she leaned fully into the narrative and made the book more

fantastical. (Note that I have a high preference for fantasy books, so I'm very much biased here.)

I just find the ending a bit anti-climactic given all the build-up.

Another thing that poked my eyes was that Kuang used the same quote about translation in Babel. Yes, the quote did fit in Yellowface, but I just did not like the recycling. 

Otherwise, I do recommend you read Yellowface if only for Kuang's brilliant writing style. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Suicidal thoughts

foresturken's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Grief, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs