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jourdanicus's review against another edition
dark
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
3.5
I had heard good things about this one, but I guess it just wasn't for me... I can't tell if it's genius and I'm just not clever enough to pick up on it, or if the execution of the premise fell flat.
For such a character-focused book, the characters felt like they lacked depth and nuance. I mean, maybe that was the point, but if that's the case it made the book feel like a too-heavy handed attempt at satire. Either that or Kuang is just VERY good at writing extremely unlikeable characters.
For me there was also too much content that consisted only of the main character scrolling and reading social media... I read books to get away from that, not continue to be immersed in it for at least 50% of the book š
This book was still very readable despite the fact that it couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Again, maybe that's the point given the internal conflict of the main character, but really it just made things kind of confusing.
I did like the twist of *how* Athena died, that came as a surprise to me... But then the rest of the story felt like it dragged. I wanted more surprises!
3/5ā for me - I liked it enough to be able to finish it but not much more than that - plus an extra half a star for respect to the author in case this one just went over my head LOL.
For such a character-focused book, the characters felt like they lacked depth and nuance. I mean, maybe that was the point, but if that's the case it made the book feel like a too-heavy handed attempt at satire. Either that or Kuang is just VERY good at writing extremely unlikeable characters.
For me there was also too much content that consisted only of the main character scrolling and reading social media... I read books to get away from that, not continue to be immersed in it for at least 50% of the book š
This book was still very readable despite the fact that it couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Again, maybe that's the point given the internal conflict of the main character, but really it just made things kind of confusing.
I did like the twist of *how* Athena died, that came as a surprise to me... But then the rest of the story felt like it dragged. I wanted more surprises!
3/5ā for me - I liked it enough to be able to finish it but not much more than that - plus an extra half a star for respect to the author in case this one just went over my head LOL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
daisyfont's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Murder
dreklogar's review
dark
emotional
fast-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
4.0
I can't really comment on the representation of the publishing industry or the racism in it, but there was a question in the book that I found absolutely fascinating: how much of another person's story is an author allowed to take?
Is it okay to tell stories that you weren't a part of, but you researched thoroughly? Is it okay to tell stories that are part of your generational trauma, but didn't actually happen to you? Is it okay to take personal stories people tell you and twist them into a short story, or a book?
And looking at book events, of course, how can we know someone's credentials? We shouldn't force anyone into outing themselves to write about their identity, but that is also the only way to really know if someone is writing about events that they are personally familiar with or not.
Additionally, which events/experiences fall under "write what you know"? If I've never walked down a particular street, I cannot imagine anyone would be bothered by my mentioning that my character did. If I mention my character visited a fast-food chain and look up their menu online, no one cares if I've also tried the item.
In the story, the main character has their dub consent experience "stolen" by a writer. The thing is though, the character also makes it clear that the writer was there for them, that she supported them and helped in a time when they really needed it. The writer was a good friend, in a way that was probably emotionally draining, and then used the experience she made to write a short story. The main character does not consider if this was a way to process everything, nor if the writer had also had similar experiences that were crystalized through their talks. They just feel violated, which, considering the timing, is especially understandable.
But when would it have been okay? Was the writer expected to just keep that experience buried, forever, not allowed to talk about it even if they anonymized it? Was the problem that they gained fame over it? And how does this line relate to her also writing about Korean experiences that she is, presumably, even further removed from?
I don't really have any answers, but as a hobbyist writer myself, that was what I found most gripping about the text.
Is it okay to tell stories that you weren't a part of, but you researched thoroughly? Is it okay to tell stories that are part of your generational trauma, but didn't actually happen to you? Is it okay to take personal stories people tell you and twist them into a short story, or a book?
And looking at book events, of course, how can we know someone's credentials? We shouldn't force anyone into outing themselves to write about their identity, but that is also the only way to really know if someone is writing about events that they are personally familiar with or not.
Additionally, which events/experiences fall under "write what you know"? If I've never walked down a particular street, I cannot imagine anyone would be bothered by my mentioning that my character did. If I mention my character visited a fast-food chain and look up their menu online, no one cares if I've also tried the item.
But when would it have been okay? Was the writer expected to just keep that experience buried, forever, not allowed to talk about it even if they anonymized it? Was the problem that they gained fame over it? And how does this line relate to her also writing about Korean experiences that she is, presumably, even further removed from?
I don't really have any answers, but as a hobbyist writer myself, that was what I found most gripping about the text.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Vomit and Sexual violence
kanjichris's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
the asian american community has not forgiven june hayward
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, and Sexism
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
juliesleseecke's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mental illness, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Grief, Gaslighting, Death, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Stalking and Rape
Minor: Addiction
emmerylynn's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
4.0
Horrific narrator that I couldnāt stop listening to. Author did a great job of making me sympathetic for the protagonist while also making me despise her to the core. This isnāt my usual genre, but I was entertained (in the same way that Iām entertained by overblown celebrity gossip). Is this a bad reflection on me? Am I the problem? š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
Moderate: Vomit and Rape
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
noxdawn7's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Really clicked for me when I read this as a "book about the horrors of loneliness".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Cultural appropriation
Minor: Rape and War
one_womanarmy's review
challenging
dark
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
4.25
R.F. Kuangās Yellowface sinks its teeth into the world of publishing and the discourse on racial or owned-story authenticity through the eyes of June Hayward, a white woman who has taken the draft of a Chinese-American womanās novel and published it as her own. She will forever be haunted by this choice, a Lady Macbeth whose modern fame and inner isolation fuels her ignorance, justification, and ultimate 'demise.'. It is a perfect follow-up to Babel and the conversations on how language can be a form of colonialism.
Iāll be honest, I read this book in a single sitting. I could not look away. June's unrelenting selfishness - and yet, humanity, as we witness her relive real and painful memories of rape, bullying, and familial indifference - starts as fear but grows darker each page, racing towards its final, white savior navel-gazing end. It was like watching the first episodes of The Office....unbearable, at times. Kuang makes us sit with our discomfort, and forces us to confront our own experience as a meta audience to the public Twitter & social media unravelling - June's lies and appropriation a rainwreck that can't be stopped, just as I could not stop turning the oages.
With a sharp critique on the commodification and consumption of art in publishing and reviewing, a look at online debates, the self-aggrandizing aspects of social media, and the way artists are pitted against each other as if writing was a competitive sport, Kuang balances the real micro and macro aggressions experienced by Asian women with her own masquerade - a white woman's painful story, told by a Chinese American. The onion layers of complex publicity literary dynamics at times veered towards insider gossip, but nonetheless a wretched set of mistakes and racists errors keeps even those of us far from the publishing world's inner workings fixated on June, Athena, and a cast of diverse and flawed women until the end.
The only reason why this isn't a bit higher join terms of stars is because of the last 15% percent of the book started spiraling, specifically into an oddly criminal-thriller bent.
Iāll be honest, I read this book in a single sitting. I could not look away. June's unrelenting selfishness - and yet, humanity, as we witness her relive real and painful memories of rape, bullying, and familial indifference - starts as fear but grows darker each page, racing towards its final, white savior navel-gazing end. It was like watching the first episodes of The Office....unbearable, at times. Kuang makes us sit with our discomfort, and forces us to confront our own experience as a meta audience to the public Twitter & social media unravelling - June's lies and appropriation a rainwreck that can't be stopped, just as I could not stop turning the oages.
With a sharp critique on the commodification and consumption of art in publishing and reviewing, a look at online debates, the self-aggrandizing aspects of social media, and the way artists are pitted against each other as if writing was a competitive sport, Kuang balances the real micro and macro aggressions experienced by Asian women with her own masquerade - a white woman's painful story, told by a Chinese American. The onion layers of complex publicity literary dynamics at times veered towards insider gossip, but nonetheless a wretched set of mistakes and racists errors keeps even those of us far from the publishing world's inner workings fixated on June, Athena, and a cast of diverse and flawed women until the end.
The only reason why this isn't a bit higher join terms of stars is because of the last 15% percent of the book started spiraling, specifically into an oddly criminal-thriller bent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Racism
Moderate: Vomit, Rape, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
audioandereadergrrly's review
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I could not put this book down! I highly recommend reading this while listening to a dark academia playlist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Vomit
redvelveting's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Yellowface is a thought-provoking social commentary while being wildly entertaining. The perspective is absurd but does well to make Kuangās points on racism, privilege, tokenization, and social media. And honestly speaking, itās been a while since Iāve read a book this fast. The sheer audacity in this book is nuts but honestly it unfortunately isnāt that far-fetched and I think thatās part of what makes this such a well-written satire.
And to be clear, both June and Athena are terrible people in their own ways, which I believe ti be intentional :)))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence
Minor: Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, and Suicide attempt