Review by tm400 - Yellowface

tm400 's review for:

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

4.0

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i absolutely love when the main character is just a shit person with no redeeming qualities & this book definitely fulfills that. it was so aggravating to hear this whole story from june’s perspective because she insists the entire time that she didn’t do anything wrong when she is, in fact, making every wrong decision possible. FULL of secondhand embarrassment. FULL of facepalm moments. FULL of the very racism she swears up and down she’s not participating in.
the narration style made it SO easy to read, just page after page after page. i thought i was making it up at first, but i found that kuang made the narrator parrot certain words that she saw in a review, heard from a different person, etc. i thought it was a clever and subtle nod to the THIEF 🫵🏻 aspect of the story

it was nice to see june get her karma by the end but also so aggravating to read the last chapter but also thats exactly what i’d expect of her anyway so like-

great novel, not my favorite by the author however. loved its readability but i didn’t find the ending (

stairs part and candice’s memoir

) very realistic- maybe that was intentional? but i did find june’s reaction to it incredibly on par with what we had seen from her throughout the book
anyway racists are insufferable! i’m giving this 4/5 stars

Content Warnings