Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Yellowface

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

788 reviews

nickysbookcorner's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

5.0

💬 This industry is built on silencing us, stomping us into the ground, and hurling money at white people to produce racist stereotypes of us.

I loved that this book was told in the view of June Hayward, a white woman, who stole Athena Liu’s, her casual Chinese friend, manuscript about Chinese labor workers. This book was deep, thought-provoking, and at times uncomfortable. June’s character was definitely unlikeable and delusional. The story was like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from.

I also enjoyed small details thrown in the book about how the publishing world works.

Content Warnings

kenstelting's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

3.0

Content Warnings

esther6mw's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I found this book really hard to understand. Not because of the language or deep thinking but because it didn't seem to go anywhere.

The plot was predictable - I kept waiting for a twist that didn't happen.

Content Warnings

bibliomich's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark 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

5.0

This was brilliant. I've read a lot of the criticism of this book. I've read a lot of the praise. I'm just here to say that this book worked for me. I enjoyed it more than Babel, even though I feel like Babel is generally viewed as Kuang's strongest work. I loved the insight into the publishing industry (and the accompanying biting satire). I loved the way she confronted racism, both through her ignorantly racist narrator, as well as through micro- and macro-aggressions from other characters. It is all so uncomfortable to read in a way that I found really clever. And I loved the plot arc. This was a thriller that was totally unlike the typical true crime type of story that I'm more used to reading. This book was compulsively readable, horrifying, and deeply, darkly funny.

Content Warnings

liloopie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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

4.5

It's interesting to read the train wreck of the main female protagonist - Juniper Song, as she takes what is not hers, feels that she is s justified in her actions, and then wants to cry fowl when it given back to her. Kuang knows how to make her readers have a visceral reaction to the "Karen" aka Song. I gave the book a 4 stars rating because 1) I felt like the book could have been a few chapters shorter because the main character's voice kept stating the same things repeatedly, and 2) the ending was not that great. It felt rushed and like Kuang didn't know how to wrap it up, thus it fell flat for me. Nonetheless, I will say the book will spur a lot of discussion in a book club.

Content Warnings

lotoblanco's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.75

Content Warnings

lambclown's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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

this was my first foray into satire and ive never read a book where the narrator is so incredibly detestable. i was gripped the whole time. also, the audiobook reader had a did a great job portraying junes snarky, self righteous tone!

Content Warnings

amandam71's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative tense medium-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

4.75

Content Warnings

meggomyeggo1210's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

Content Warnings

malvika_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

This book was really mind boggling. The crux of the story is incredibly interesting, it’s a unique plot. But the whole time I felt I was being brainwashed, which I think was the point, but also was frustrating.

Content Warnings

More...