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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. Kuang’s 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 woman’s 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.
I’ll 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.
I’ll 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: Rape, Vomit, 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 Kuang’s points on racism, privilege, tokenization, and social media. And honestly speaking, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book this fast. The sheer audacity in this book is nuts but honestly it unfortunately isn’t that far-fetched and I think that’s 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: Death, Racism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
When I say you need to read this book, you need to READ this book. I literally just finished this book and I am still so speechless.
If you’re familiar in the bookish community, you most likely heard about this book in some capacity since its release this past Spring. Yellowface has been on my radar for months and I was so excited when I heard that this was one of my book club picks. With all the accolades this book has received, as well as being selected as a Reese’s Book Club Pick, I can say without a doubt that this book is worth all the hype.
This book is addicting in every way and I had such a hard time with putting this book down. I really liked how this book serves as a mirror to the biases currently found in the publishing industry and I would recommend this book if you want a novel that dives into those issues. Additionally, with its narrator (June) being one of the most unreliable narrators in all of literature, Yellowface is a wild ride of one woman’s length to maintain her status after stealing her late friend’s unfinished manuscript and publishing it as her own. In no way is June a likeable character in any sense (as with for almost all of these characters). At the same time, June is such a master manipulator and you will just know that you can never be certain if she feels any remorse for her actions in the book or if anything she said in her accounts are true.
That being said, if you haven’t read this book already, you need to do so as soon as possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism, Suicide, and Islamophobia
m3gs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
abicaro17's review
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
God this book was unbearable. I will say first off, that Kuang has a beautiful writing style and the base of this book is really interesting. That being said, the execution of said base is god awful. Juniper Song Heyward is a jealous, manipulative, vindictive, racist, bitch. She spends the entire book a plagiarist who attempts to convince the reader she's a victim somehow. June continuously uses racist language and defends her actions by blaming Athena for being more talented and likable. Every word that came out of her mouth made her less likable. The plot is unbearably slow. You spend like 80% of the book reading tweets. Why? Who knows. I considered DNFing so many times it's a miracle I finished at all. I would recommend this to someone only if I hated them. Brb while I go cleanse my aura of this nightmare.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
dsalazar's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I expected this book to be really good and all my expectations were met. Kuang’s story telling and writing style were compelling and brilliant. For most of the story, I couldn’t put the book down, especially at the start.
This reminded me of The Curse on Hulu with Nathan Fielder, Ben Sadfie, and Emma Stone, where everyone (including the audience) is in on the joke except the main characters. I especially liked that the whole plot revolved around the writing/publishing industry and how vicious it can make a writer. It felt like I was reading a fictional story but also questioning which parts came from Kuang’s lived experiences. This added depth and intrigue as I learned more about a failed v. successful novelist’s journey.
Aside from the language and pacing, diving into Junie’s psyche felt like watching that recent Golden Globes host flop horrendously. It’s as if I simultaneously hated her, needed to understand her more, wanted to stop reading cause of the overwhelming cringe, and pitied her.
Plot-wise, it was enough of a glimpse into Junie’s life, family, and background to move the story along but not so deep that I would get bored or lost in the details. There was just enough to bring me into the story and Junie’s head, which made this a fairly easy read. I do think the ending was a bit predictable but only insofar as (I think) Kuang intended. Any readers will enjoy this even more if they are super online and have used Twitter. Iykyk
Anyway, I loved it and everyone should read it!!
This reminded me of The Curse on Hulu with Nathan Fielder, Ben Sadfie, and Emma Stone, where everyone (including the audience) is in on the joke except the main characters. I especially liked that the whole plot revolved around the writing/publishing industry and how vicious it can make a writer. It felt like I was reading a fictional story but also questioning which parts came from Kuang’s lived experiences. This added depth and intrigue as I learned more about a failed v. successful novelist’s journey.
Aside from the language and pacing, diving into Junie’s psyche felt like watching that recent Golden Globes host flop horrendously. It’s as if I simultaneously hated her, needed to understand her more, wanted to stop reading cause of the overwhelming cringe, and pitied her.
Plot-wise, it was enough of a glimpse into Junie’s life, family, and background to move the story along but not so deep that I would get bored or lost in the details. There was just enough to bring me into the story and Junie’s head, which made this a fairly easy read. I do think the ending was a bit predictable but only insofar as (I think) Kuang intended. Any readers will enjoy this even more if they are super online and have used Twitter. Iykyk
Anyway, I loved it and everyone should read it!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol
glassflowrr's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
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
3.0
I love that Kuang pulls no punches in her writing and this felt like an escalation of that trait. Her characters are over-the-top but feel grounded in what's most likely real experiences the author has had in the industry. June oscillates wildly between gut-wrenching guilt and extreme narcissism in a very compelling way. I finished the book in one day.
This book does suffer from Kuang's typical pacing issues in the third act and leaves some threads a bit under developed, but overall a strong read and highly recommended if you already like this author.
This book does suffer from Kuang's typical pacing issues in the third act and leaves some threads a bit under developed, but overall a strong read and highly recommended if you already like this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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
R.F. Kuang- ‘im gonna make a character so unlikeable’
The pacing threw me off a bit but i got to hand it to her for writing such an impressively hateable protagonist
The pacing threw me off a bit but i got to hand it to her for writing such an impressively hateable protagonist
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Vomit, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship