Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

54 reviews

espereads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

rubellaface's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Talk about an unreliable narrator... 
This book is triggering, fascinating, and has messed me up for the foreseeable future. 

Highly recommend to anyone who has been vilified by white fragility or would like to be taken on a wild ride by an unreliable narrator. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Racism, Violence, Rape, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Sexism, Mental illness, Cultural appropriation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Colonisation, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Hate crime

adrienneb18's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

The protagonist was so awful that it all of her decisions, which started as shocking horrible, felt redundant and impossible. June’s dedication to maintain her lie, especially as the stakes generally stayed the same throughout the book, began to feel repetitive. This book felt like a car crash you couldn’t help but watch because it was so awful to see, but more cars kept piling up to the point where it felt absurd and, ironically, lost interest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

wilybooklover's review

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, Classism, Rape, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: War, Death of parent, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Islamophobia

rainbowarpaint's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

rorysilk's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

clovetra's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and War

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.75

R.F. Kuang has done it again. A fantastic piece of literature, Yellowface dives deep into a multitude of themes ranging from the idea of who is allowed to tell what stories, imposter syndrome, the responsibility of an artist and how their work is interpreted, and many, many other things. For those who might've been unsure about Kuang or didn't like her past works because of her tendency to be on the nose about her themes, Yellowface feels like a direct response. With Yellowface Kuang seems to say, "You thought I was too in your face with these themes? Well, I'm going to write an entire novel centered around that feeling. You won't be able to turn the page without running into the main theme of this book."

I think I read an interview somewhere, where Kuang talked about her inspiration for Yellowface. and how part of it came about because she was worried she was like June, stealing something she wasn't meant to have. As I read the book, I saw Kuang's anxieties reflected in both Athena and June's characters. With Athena, it's easy to see how she might relate to the sudden push into stardom at a young age, as well as being tokenized for her identity as a Chinese American. While June may represent Kuang's imposter syndrome, of feeling like a fake as she gains all this attention for her work while other Asian American authors perhaps struggle to gain recognition. This novel is definitely the most personal of hers out of what I've read.

As for the meat of the book, I cannot believe how well the characters were done. Especially June and Athena. June is fantastic as a villain protagonist and Kuang does a great job at lulling the reader into feeling sympathy for her even as the next sentence will make you revile her. So much of this book really felt inspiring as a writer, because there is so much that you imagine could've happened, instead of what did happen. As the reader, I constantly was questioning June's choices and thoughts, why did she do what she did? Why does she feel the need to continue this lie? June's character really makes you question the world around you and your own feelings and choices. What is your own personal motivation for the things that you do and say?

As for Athena, I was wondering so much who Athena was behind the person that June thought she was. All we get is a little bit of her in the beginning, from June's perspective of course, but the rest of her is pieced together from all the other characters in this world. I really enjoyed though, how neither character was perfect. Theoretically, Athena was the hero to June's villain, but Athena wasn't a perfect human being. She had flaws, she made mistakes. How much of her flaws were real and not just formed from people who didn't really know her, who knows? But Athena was human like the rest of us and it was amazing how Kuang could shape a character that only technically existed in the first act. 

I will say, as much as I loved this book, I will not be giving it 5 stars. I can't really articulate why. Perhaps I just wasn't that satisfied with the ending, or a few of the more modern references were awkward and didn't fit the way Kuang thought they would. It's still a fantastic book, don't get me wrong. I think a lot of people should read it, even if they know nothing about publishing. It just isn't a 5-star for me. In any case, this review is getting too long so please, check out this book! Especially if you may not have liked Kuang's books in the past, this may finally be the book for you. I am definitely interested in what Kuang will explore in her next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Death, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Bullying, Grief, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Classism, Stalking, War, Death of parent, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit

Minor: Suicide and Abandonment

There is a Major Knives Out spoiler on page 186 in the middle of the last paragraph, just so others know!

madisonfrank's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Cursing, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Stalking