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A review by aforestofbooks
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.5
I have no idea if it is possible to review this book properly. All I can say is, it's a must read and you'll get what I mean once you've read it.
When I turned the last page, I sat there for a good minute. My brain was like "ugh, of course" and "white people don't know when to stop" and "why do they always want to twist everything so they're the victim."
This book can be so frustrating to read, especially since it is written from the perspective of a white woman who steals her "friend's" manuscript and convinces herself she hasn't done anything wrong. But at the same time, it captures the real life experiences of POC and diaspora writers so well, it was almost haunting in its accuracy.
One thing about this book, your experience reading it vastly changes if you've spent any amount of time on book Twitter or bookstagram. Because many of us have seen "book drama" happen live, when "book drama" starts to happen in Yellowface, it's so reminiscent of things you've seen or heard, it's almost funny. And if you're a POC on book twitter or bookstagram you get to see how one tweet can set everything off. All your friends and their friends are suddenly hating on someone, only to find out that they should be hating someone else, and then finding out none of us know the entire story, and everyone was slightly in the wrong, but also not really, and you're left more confused than anything else. And yet...this is such a niche book world we live in, that in the grand scheme of things it does not actually impact sales all that much and "drama" can actually hype up a book even more.
June's POV honestly gave me a mix of emotions. She's an unreliable narrator at times, and it's very difficult to tell if her perception of Athena is who Athena actually was. Yet at the same time, she reveals truths about the publishing industry that I think most people would be too scared to voice out loud, and I think is one of the benefits of having a white mc. I hated and despised June. I wanted her to go to jail. Yet at the same time, you get so engrossed in her lies and ruse, and in the hate she's receiving online, you almost begin to pity her. I think Rebecca did an incredible job creating such a complex character as Juniper Hayward.
Getting to see the ins and outs of the publishing industry was also very interesting. And honestly, as someone who wanted to publish when I was younger, and then grew up and realized just surviving life was more than enough work, I'm now a bit hesitant to enter the publishing world. It's scary seeing how focused publishing can get on POC trauma stories, and how they like to lump AOC into one big group. And as someone with no publishing experience, this wasn't surprising to me because I've heard these stories again and again. Yet, as Rebecca said during her signing in Toronto on May 14th, the book focuses on bad experiences in publishing, yet it was her good experience in publishing that allowed her to publish this book.
Also, the stairs scene...gave me chills. It was incredible.
R. F. Kuang keeps outdoing herself with every book (yes, I know I'm a hypocrite because I haven't read The Poppy War trilogy yet). But her ability to tackle different genres shows how talented she is as a writer. I can't wait to see what she writes next!
When I turned the last page, I sat there for a good minute. My brain was like "ugh, of course" and "white people don't know when to stop" and "why do they always want to twist everything so they're the victim."
This book can be so frustrating to read, especially since it is written from the perspective of a white woman who steals her "friend's" manuscript and convinces herself she hasn't done anything wrong. But at the same time, it captures the real life experiences of POC and diaspora writers so well, it was almost haunting in its accuracy.
One thing about this book, your experience reading it vastly changes if you've spent any amount of time on book Twitter or bookstagram. Because many of us have seen "book drama" happen live, when "book drama" starts to happen in Yellowface, it's so reminiscent of things you've seen or heard, it's almost funny. And if you're a POC on book twitter or bookstagram you get to see how one tweet can set everything off. All your friends and their friends are suddenly hating on someone, only to find out that they should be hating someone else, and then finding out none of us know the entire story, and everyone was slightly in the wrong, but also not really, and you're left more confused than anything else. And yet...this is such a niche book world we live in, that in the grand scheme of things it does not actually impact sales all that much and "drama" can actually hype up a book even more.
June's POV honestly gave me a mix of emotions. She's an unreliable narrator at times, and it's very difficult to tell if her perception of Athena is who Athena actually was. Yet at the same time, she reveals truths about the publishing industry that I think most people would be too scared to voice out loud, and I think is one of the benefits of having a white mc. I hated and despised June. I wanted her to go to jail. Yet at the same time, you get so engrossed in her lies and ruse, and in the hate she's receiving online, you almost begin to pity her. I think Rebecca did an incredible job creating such a complex character as Juniper Hayward.
Getting to see the ins and outs of the publishing industry was also very interesting. And honestly, as someone who wanted to publish when I was younger, and then grew up and realized just surviving life was more than enough work, I'm now a bit hesitant to enter the publishing world. It's scary seeing how focused publishing can get on POC trauma stories, and how they like to lump AOC into one big group. And as someone with no publishing experience, this wasn't surprising to me because I've heard these stories again and again. Yet, as Rebecca said during her signing in Toronto on May 14th, the book focuses on bad experiences in publishing, yet it was her good experience in publishing that allowed her to publish this book.
Also, the stairs scene...gave me chills. It was incredible.
R. F. Kuang keeps outdoing herself with every book (yes, I know I'm a hypocrite because I haven't read The Poppy War trilogy yet). But her ability to tackle different genres shows how talented she is as a writer. I can't wait to see what she writes next!