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A review by trashlie
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
tense
medium-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
Figuring out how I want to rate this book feels difficult. This one wound up taking me longer to get through, and I think it's largely in part because of just how terrible and audacious June is. At first, I didn't mind it; that is the whole point of her character, after all. This is a piece of satire and I didn't exactly expect her to come aroun and have any character development by any means, but also at some point, I found myself just SO weary of her. The total lack of accountability, the constant justification, the parade of racism and racist rhetoric, etc. So much of it is also SO on the nose - which again, I think makes sense because this is so much a satirical piece - but in a way it starts to wear down on you. Maybe if I'd managed to read through it faster it wouldn't bother me as much but at some point it felt like I was drowning in June's trash?
It wasn't just her casual racism, of course. It was how intrinsicallyit tied into her sheer sense of entitlement, her unjustified enormous ego, her instiable envy and jealousy, and, again, her absolute lack of accountability. Nothing is ever truly her fault, everything is ever fair, it's all because she's white and "not diverse" enough, it's because no one think she's "special". She has to audacity to take her friend's writing as her own and insist she made it better, that it could never have shined without her, like she's not the one who struggled to make a splash in the publishing industry. She's so consumed by her envy, coveting everything Athena has, without ever making the attempt to work for it herself, that she remains forever in her shadow. If she'd ever expended the kind of energy she spent hating someone she insisted she loved into actually working on books, maybe she'd have gone somewhere - if she actually had the creativity for it, which the book goes on to make me think: DOUBT.
To be honest, had this been an AMIA post on reddit, I'd be choosing "ESH (everyone sucks here)". Not one of these characters ended up endearing themselves to me! And again, I get that this is revealing the darker underbelly of the publishing industry, the desperation of trying to make it in a notoriously competitive industry, but oh my GOD the line really starts to blur when trying to understand anyones' relationships, anyones' motives. This book largely felt like it was trying to gaslight me, except June didn't have that much power over me, but it didn't mean she didn't make a very valiant effort.
What I do really enjoy, though, is the commentary on the publishing world, and while this is clearly centered on a heavily-biased, problematic main character who refuses to see herself as the villain in any scenario and always plays the victim, it sheds really important light on diversity in the industry, especially regarding voices, and who gets deals and who can get away with what, and who is the most likely to end up literary darlings for what kind of effort. What kind of books and voices are publishing houses willing to sell? How much will they try to butcher your voice in order to enusre it will be relatable enough to everyone. Kuang clearly has a commentary in here about Own Voices, so my biggest critique doesn't really have a place here, but this is all clearly centered on Asian-specific voices, and we don't get a lot of commentary on the difficulty for other Own Voices, so I can't entirely fault her here. This is clearly written to illuminate an Asian-as-a-group specific issue, rather than the over all issue as it affects all marginalized groups trying to publish.
I think there's also a good commentary to be found in the view on the twitter book community, and the extremes that it can go to - which is not to say that I think June should never have been called out, because in this fictional scenario it's set up where we know June's vicious attacks have been largely warranted, but it does also illuminate the way rumors lead to forest fires without adequate proof a lot of the time. But at the same time, it isn't trying to create a narrative that we must always remain silent until innocent is proven guilty, as much as, I think, demonstrating the way the extremes both wildly swing in performance. It captures the kind of cesspool that is created from these kinds of scenarios - especially to the extent that the people who are creating these call outs are critizied and sometimes ignored until something more substantial comes out - the willingness to ignore marginalized voices talking about important issues so to not be inconvenienced, until you cannot ignore the issue.
There's so many audaicous moments in reading this, even regarding the publishing industry. The kind of editing requests asked of June regarding what was originally Athena's book - a story that clearly had a purpose, had meaning - and June's willingness to chop these pieces out, to reduce it to a white savior story and defeat the entire purpose of this book. The subtle quips about how there's no issue with unlimited white authors during a publishing season, but there's always a limit on how many marginalized authors they work with, or how many "diverse" books they publish in any one season.
But most frustrating remains the way June continues to cling to "her truth" in the face of The Truth, and the hoops she leaps through to justify things. In the beginning, there would be moments where I'd start to feel a shred of empathy for her, but then she'd turn around and remind me exactly why I can't stand her lmao. And to be fair to the writing, she is so well written to make me hate her; she represents the kind of person too many of us have actually known, puts into the words people used to keep in the minds and now boldly state outright embolded by the rise of racial violence. I'm typically not a fan of first person POV but I give it to R.F. Kuang, it certainly is immersive and really settles into June entitled as hell, endlessly envious, unbearable piece of trash Hayward. But having to stick with her for so long has made ME feel a particular way towards her and I think it's safe to say I am glad to be done with June Hayward. May she rot in misery.
It wasn't just her casual racism, of course. It was how intrinsicallyit tied into her sheer sense of entitlement, her unjustified enormous ego, her instiable envy and jealousy, and, again, her absolute lack of accountability. Nothing is ever truly her fault, everything is ever fair, it's all because she's white and "not diverse" enough, it's because no one think she's "special". She has to audacity to take her friend's writing as her own and insist she made it better, that it could never have shined without her, like she's not the one who struggled to make a splash in the publishing industry. She's so consumed by her envy, coveting everything Athena has, without ever making the attempt to work for it herself, that she remains forever in her shadow. If she'd ever expended the kind of energy she spent hating someone she insisted she loved into actually working on books, maybe she'd have gone somewhere - if she actually had the creativity for it, which the book goes on to make me think: DOUBT.
To be honest, had this been an AMIA post on reddit, I'd be choosing "ESH (everyone sucks here)". Not one of these characters ended up endearing themselves to me! And again, I get that this is revealing the darker underbelly of the publishing industry, the desperation of trying to make it in a notoriously competitive industry, but oh my GOD the line really starts to blur when trying to understand anyones' relationships, anyones' motives. This book largely felt like it was trying to gaslight me, except June didn't have that much power over me, but it didn't mean she didn't make a very valiant effort.
What I do really enjoy, though, is the commentary on the publishing world, and while this is clearly centered on a heavily-biased, problematic main character who refuses to see herself as the villain in any scenario and always plays the victim, it sheds really important light on diversity in the industry, especially regarding voices, and who gets deals and who can get away with what, and who is the most likely to end up literary darlings for what kind of effort. What kind of books and voices are publishing houses willing to sell? How much will they try to butcher your voice in order to enusre it will be relatable enough to everyone. Kuang clearly has a commentary in here about Own Voices, so my biggest critique doesn't really have a place here, but this is all clearly centered on Asian-specific voices, and we don't get a lot of commentary on the difficulty for other Own Voices, so I can't entirely fault her here. This is clearly written to illuminate an Asian-as-a-group specific issue, rather than the over all issue as it affects all marginalized groups trying to publish.
I think there's also a good commentary to be found in the view on the twitter book community, and the extremes that it can go to - which is not to say that I think June should never have been called out, because in this fictional scenario it's set up where we know June's vicious attacks have been largely warranted, but it does also illuminate the way rumors lead to forest fires without adequate proof a lot of the time. But at the same time, it isn't trying to create a narrative that we must always remain silent until innocent is proven guilty, as much as, I think, demonstrating the way the extremes both wildly swing in performance. It captures the kind of cesspool that is created from these kinds of scenarios - especially to the extent that the people who are creating these call outs are critizied and sometimes ignored until something more substantial comes out - the willingness to ignore marginalized voices talking about important issues so to not be inconvenienced, until you cannot ignore the issue.
There's so many audaicous moments in reading this, even regarding the publishing industry. The kind of editing requests asked of June regarding what was originally Athena's book - a story that clearly had a purpose, had meaning - and June's willingness to chop these pieces out, to reduce it to a white savior story and defeat the entire purpose of this book. The subtle quips about how there's no issue with unlimited white authors during a publishing season, but there's always a limit on how many marginalized authors they work with, or how many "diverse" books they publish in any one season.
But most frustrating remains the way June continues to cling to "her truth" in the face of The Truth, and the hoops she leaps through to justify things. In the beginning, there would be moments where I'd start to feel a shred of empathy for her, but then she'd turn around and remind me exactly why I can't stand her lmao. And to be fair to the writing, she is so well written to make me hate her; she represents the kind of person too many of us have actually known, puts into the words people used to keep in the minds and now boldly state outright embolded by the rise of racial violence. I'm typically not a fan of first person POV but I give it to R.F. Kuang, it certainly is immersive and really settles into June entitled as hell, endlessly envious, unbearable piece of trash Hayward. But having to stick with her for so long has made ME feel a particular way towards her and I think it's safe to say I am glad to be done with June Hayward. May she rot in misery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship