A review by kaylamoran
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

dark 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

4.0

This is my least favourite work by Kuang so far.  Which isn't to say it's bad, I loved it.  I'd read her grocery lists.  It just left me wanting a little more.  She said it was the most unhinged thing she's ever written, and maybe that's why I was expecting even more crazy (not that it wasn't, it was.  But I can't help but feel that Rin is more unhinged).
Kuang is SO GOOD at writing the descent to madness, and she does it again well here.  The slow questioning of reality, and everyone's motives.  Feeling like everyone is out to get you.  The walls closing in.  It's a bit heavy handed here, but it's a satire and its meant to be. 

June is supremely unlikeable, and she's supposed to be.  June is meant to be an entitled white woman caricature, but Ive genuinely met people who think and talk like her.  At points in the book I physically cringed at her.  Honestly, almost everyone in this book is unlikeable.  I didn't like Athena either, and I'm not sure I was supposed to.  I liked that she wasn't an angel, and stealing was STILL wrong.  Victims don't have to be good people either.

Overall, I loved it.  It would be just about impossible to read this and miss Kuang's point.  She's incredible and I'm going to continue to gobble up everything she releases.
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