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issy_jacob's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Death of parent and Self harm
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
gena10's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism and Death
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
dbb523's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Racism
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
alphabetmafiamember's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death of parent, and War
k8lynn'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
also, reverse racism is totally not a thing.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
thequillhand'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
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
Minor: War
fashi0nablefr0g's review against another edition
- 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
0.5
The second half of the book was incredibly rushed. There was no "plot twist" in the end, no sort of redemption or even real downfall of the main character. The cycle continues and you finish the book with no new ideas or knowledge, nothing to show other than time you wasted reading it. The final 50% was just a series of "shocking" events shoved in one after another, the author desperately trying to link them together to add depth after a flat first half. The only thing that kept me picking up this book was the desire to get it over with, but it was very nearly one I didn't finish.
Graphic: Death, Bullying, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Vomit, Violence, and Sexual assault