Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Yellowface

Wow, just wow.

This book is a must read for everyone!

Is is a well written genius critique in which we follow the „villain“.

June is an unreliable narrator and the definition of white women tears. You are meant to feel bad for her and in conclusion feel then bad, for feeling bad for her.
This book is brilliant, shocking and most importantly of all not at all far fetched!

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tini_turtle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.25

I devoured this book in a single sitting and it got me out of an awful reading rut. Huang makes a completely despicable character incredibly engaging and fascinating, and this comes through in not only the plot but also in June's narrative voice. I love the metafictive aspects of the book, too; with the blurred lines between the book's world and reality, Huang gives a really compelling commentary on race and publishing. Even though I just finished, I *wish* I could read it for the first time again!

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heatherjchin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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nnisharajesh's review against another edition

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dark informative sad slow-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

3.75

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

This is my first time reading R.F. Kuang's book and this is something new for me. While I usually read for fun, this book is sophisticatedly written, I learned a lot about the publishing process, the book/movie process, and more.

This book is about a white woman who stole a manuscript of an unpublish book from her dead friend, a Chinese woman who had a very successful career as an author.

I love how R.F. Kuang portrayed June, how she seems so clueless about whatever she thinks and said about other races. (page 49) Most characters in this book are just naturally annoying and so untouched by reality.

Though, there are some parts where we can also see how Athena is when she's still alive. It's so heartbreaking when a story that June shared with Athena turns out to be used as a fictional story, without Athena asking for permission or even acknowledging it to June.

These are just stories that we maybe had experienced in real life. I know I did, and I can relate to certain things being said to the Asian characters in this book.

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amiably's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was absolutely phenomenal and R.F. Kuang did exactly what she set out to do. This is a personal satire of the publishing industry and how race affects it. I suspect that the author projected some of her own experiences into the book. The execution of the unreliable narrator was masterful; June is a completely racist and hateful thief. Despite this, I loved the decision to write the book through her eyes. The ending was a bit disappointing:

whose book is this, June’s or Candice’s? Does June eventually publish her pseudo-autobiography or is this the book criticizing Athena and Candice? I personally found the ending a bit too ambiguous.

I will definitely be reading more of R.F. Kuang’s novels in the future.

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eringl's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book.

I have enjoyed Kuang’s other books immensely and consider Babel one of my personal classics. Kuang is one of my few “always buy” authors.

The exploration of the narrators mind was disgusting and fascinating. June/Juniper is the last person anyone would want to be or have as a close friend.

Her descriptions of loneliness, anxiety and warped perceptions are terrifyingly spot on. The way guilt is portrayed evokes the same visceral experience as the Tell Tale Heart.

I am reluctant to admit but in the moments of extreme anxiety and despair I felt empathetic towards the narrator. Which made me wonder what does that say about me? Is it wrong that I feel empathy for someone experiencing the consequences of their abhorrent actions?

All in all, Kuang grappled with and captured the intricacies of these emotional experiences.

The way racism, consent and plagiarism were explored in this book reflect the complexity of these issues.

I typically don’t re-read thriller or horror style novels but I anticipate I will want to re-visit this book once I have engaged with the larger discussion.

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shmandy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

4.0

I honestly don’t know how to review and maybe it’s one of those books where a star rating system doesn’t entirely cover the nuance of it all.

This was incredible & also horrifying in a way that I couldn’t look away from. June is deplorable and horrid in every way you can be, making her few and far between-valid commentaries feel like a gut punch between her racist musings and her complete inability to accept her role as a perpetrator.

Anyways! R.F. Kuang is a genius, but we knew that.

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