Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Yellowface

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

647 reviews

staghunters's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad 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

4.5

Solid read! A very nice switch-up on unreliable narrators by putting it in first person and, though this is a guess, that narrator being someone a number of readers that pick this book up may find quite unsympathetic. Kuang is very great at using June's words against her; confirming assumptions that reader might already have had of her while still not acknowledging the escalation she is putting into motion. A lot of stuff is implied between the lines, or simply by total absence. I don't think the latter can be considered a flaw on Kuang's part. I thought it very telling that the

increase of alt-right people in June's audience was brought up by her agent and then barely acknowledged beyond sale profits

to be very telling of June's character.
The last couple of chapters make this an appealing book to re-read, and I might do that at a later time. Very meta, but in the way that makes sense.

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corrieroe's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

4.0

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natlwlyn's review against another edition

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dark informative 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

4.75

i've been putting this book off for a while but i've finally managed to pick it up. i can't rate it a '5 stars' simply because june is unbearable at times and i've had to put the book down, stand up, and take a deep breath before continuing.

that being said, june is meant to come off as unlikeable. right from the start, she is written to be this insufferable, seething with jealousy, and overall filled with self superiority, kind of character where she's just easy to hate! (+ she's an unreliable narrator from her biases & personal vendetta against athena) but at the same time, i can't get myself to actually HATE her. her character is complex and can't simply be watered down to being this unlikable character. her strings of thoughts; her background; her traits; are all humane and realistic to me (and in a way makes her relatable)

moving on to athena, i thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she isn't 100% a saint either! she has her wrongs as well. june describes her as (also) a thief; taking people's words for her own benefit (such as june's experience with SA). but that still doesn't justify june's actions! june is still a problem!

rf kuang's narratives on june spiraling into madness as she's slowly haunted by the ghost of athena was exceptional! it can make you feel as if you're inside her mind going through these episodes as well ...

i feel that this book brings lights to the ugly side of book publishing and how books that we've read was made. i think it's interesting to think about the backstage when producing these books and it makes me wonder if there are actual cases like these.

all in all, it makes me want to pick up another rf kuang book!

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vaykay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-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

4.5

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katelynnelawson's review against another edition

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funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I genuinely couldn’t put this down. Got me out of a major reading slump. Darkly funny and borderline thrilling. If you’re chronically online in the book sphere, you’ll more than get it.

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