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A review by toadies
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Lived up to all the hype. Funny, tense, tightly paced. I felt stressed the entire time and like I wanted to cover my eyes, but I also couldn’t put it down.
June is a horrible person, and it’s just insanely gripping watching all of her false pretences about herself and her actions fall away as she gets exposed. The pathological nature of her stealing and her jealousy was hard to read but you just can’t look away from it.
One of the reviews on the back said reading it was like being in a fight with a deranged clown and that’s exactly right. June’s descent into insanity (figuratively. She goes a bit off the rails but you can clearly see she’s still the same person as on page 1), the cattiness and casual betrayals in both the publishing industry and social media, it’s just fun.
The frank discussion of appropriation, tokenization, representation and the capitalistic motivations behind so much of it…it felt very real. Like when I sit down with my own friends to talk about the same topics, it comes out like this. I have a lot of thoughts that I can’t necessarily articulate right now. But I can say that the way Kuang uses June to bring up some ostensibly valid criticisms for some of the movements in the story, and tears them down without being preachy or overly on-the-nose, was really great. There were definitely still some moments that I rolled my eyes at, but many more I found both hilarious and incisive.
The actual ending is also perfect. I was thinking about how Kuang would end this story in a way that was still satisfying but not overly dramatic or anti-climactic. I’m not sure if the final plot point entirely stuck the landing for me, but the final chapter itself hit exactly how I wanted it to.
June is a horrible person, and it’s just insanely gripping watching all of her false pretences about herself and her actions fall away as she gets exposed. The pathological nature of her stealing and her jealousy was hard to read but you just can’t look away from it.
One of the reviews on the back said reading it was like being in a fight with a deranged clown and that’s exactly right. June’s descent into insanity (figuratively. She goes a bit off the rails but you can clearly see she’s still the same person as on page 1), the cattiness and casual betrayals in both the publishing industry and social media, it’s just fun.
The frank discussion of appropriation, tokenization, representation and the capitalistic motivations behind so much of it…it felt very real. Like when I sit down with my own friends to talk about the same topics, it comes out like this. I have a lot of thoughts that I can’t necessarily articulate right now. But I can say that the way Kuang uses June to bring up some ostensibly valid criticisms for some of the movements in the story, and tears them down without being preachy or overly on-the-nose, was really great. There were definitely still some moments that I rolled my eyes at, but many more I found both hilarious and incisive.
The actual ending is also perfect. I was thinking about how Kuang would end this story in a way that was still satisfying but not overly dramatic or anti-climactic. I’m not sure if the final plot point entirely stuck the landing for me, but the final chapter itself hit exactly how I wanted it to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Mental illness