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A review by rooree
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Loved this book. A break in genre for me (tend towards fantasy fiction).
Spoilers contained.
Loved the writing style and the way the characters were written. Did not 'fall in love' with any characters and feel that's the way it is supposed to be. It is a bitter story of the difficulties of navigating the publishing industry, toxic social media, and of white priviledge. White author steals work of another Chinese author (who died), 'polishes it', and makes it big. But wracked in some level of guilt and anxiety, the story tells of the journey towards being found out. Through social media she gets accused of plagerism and gets attempted bribed by someone who thinks they know what she's done, she calls them out and threatens to expose them for the bribary, so they go away. Then she gets stalked by another social media identity which makes her go a bit nuts thinking its the ghost of the plagiarised author and, entirely predictably, admits the theft on tape. They fight over the tape, she ends up injured.
All this is done quite well as get wrapped up in angst and left rolling eyes that she didn't see it coming, its a classic troupe, but that's the point. Thought I was going to be disappointed by a finish that drops into a cliche, but nope, finishes so cleverly and unexpectedly with a cynical 'boring reality'. She will be exposed by the stalker but leaves the suggestion she will ultimately turn it around and obfiscate truth claiming the victim and ends with suggestion likely will get away with it and come out on top because of white priviledge. Loved it. Doesn't shy away from complex world issues, writes with reality. Several challenging themes raised. Dealing with anxiety, procrastination and writers block, toxic social media, families who don't understand the creative arts, priviledge, racism, counter problems from being trapped within 'tokenism', sterotypes and money, power/fame/importance. One of my top reads. Worth a 5 stars, would strongly recommend.
Spoilers contained.
Loved the writing style and the way the characters were written. Did not 'fall in love' with any characters and feel that's the way it is supposed to be. It is a bitter story of the difficulties of navigating the publishing industry, toxic social media, and of white priviledge. White author steals work of another Chinese author (who died), 'polishes it', and makes it big. But wracked in some level of guilt and anxiety, the story tells of the journey towards being found out. Through social media she gets accused of plagerism and gets attempted bribed by someone who thinks they know what she's done, she calls them out and threatens to expose them for the bribary, so they go away. Then she gets stalked by another social media identity which makes her go a bit nuts thinking its the ghost of the plagiarised author and, entirely predictably, admits the theft on tape. They fight over the tape, she ends up injured.
All this is done quite well as get wrapped up in angst and left rolling eyes that she didn't see it coming, its a classic troupe, but that's the point. Thought I was going to be disappointed by a finish that drops into a cliche, but nope, finishes so cleverly and unexpectedly with a cynical 'boring reality'. She will be exposed by the stalker but leaves the suggestion she will ultimately turn it around and obfiscate truth claiming the victim and ends with suggestion likely will get away with it and come out on top because of white priviledge. Loved it. Doesn't shy away from complex world issues, writes with reality. Several challenging themes raised. Dealing with anxiety, procrastination and writers block, toxic social media, families who don't understand the creative arts, priviledge, racism, counter problems from being trapped within 'tokenism', sterotypes and money, power/fame/importance. One of my top reads. Worth a 5 stars, would strongly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Racism