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pantslint's review
- 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
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.
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.
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
- 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
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
ellisinthetardis's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
cherie17's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Stalking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
uncica's review against another edition
- 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
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:
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:
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.
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
- 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
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Grief, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs
basil_touche's review against another edition
- 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
The ending is going to stay with me, how it dawns on you as it reaches the end that
I do wish that we could have learned more about Athena, there was a lot about her family history that is mentioned briefly but I suppose that's part of the narrative; her voice was stolen from her, we'll never truly know her, mostly only how June saw her. There's so many layers to this book I'll be thinking about for quite some time. I will absolutely be checking out Kuang's other novels.
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Violence, Mental illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs
Minor: War, Suicide, and Death of parent
bookishevy's review against another edition
- 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
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars, but Athena leaves June in the dust as she quickly becomes the literary darling. Realizing she's too basic to outpace her so-called friend, June swipes Athena's manuscript, a novel about the Chinese laborers who went uncelebrated for their contributions during World War I, after witnessing Athena die in a freak accident.
While June is honest about being white, she allows her publisher to rebrand her image by changing her name to Juniper Song and taking new author photos that make her appear racially ambiguous. June doesn't see anything wrong with editing and passing Athena's work off as her own. She believes the story should be told regardless of the storyteller's race. When evidence of her thievery threatens to shoot June's star down, how far will she go to remain relevant?
How dare Kuang tackle cultural appropriation, racism, diversity, and tokenism in the publishing industry with such biting satire. And to write it in first-person? To allow the reader to delve into June's obliviousness to her prejudices and justifications for stealing Athena's intellectual property? To have her mental health symptoms be exacerbated by the guilt that haunts her following the social media fallout?
This read shows how cutthroat the literary world is. For Athena to become so successful at such a young age, she had to do some questionable things because she was pigeonholed into writing about Asian experiences and trauma. But does that make what June did okay? Or is she just a mediocre writer who believes she deserves the success of her more talented Asian counterpart simply because she's white?
This book is brilliant. Kuang gives a middle finger to the publishing industry and bookish communities who feed off of BIPOC stereotypes and trauma. Many reviewers on #goodreads are proving her point.
TW: death, sexual assault, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, racism
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Racism
Minor: Violence
amybartoli29's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racial slurs, Bullying, War, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Stalking
befrazzledenby's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying