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kaiyakaiyo 's review for:
Yellowface
by R.F. Kuang
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was… fine! in a positive direction I think
it started a lot of cool things and opened a lot of discussions on art, ownership, cultural appropriation. It made me laugh A LOT, which was a pleasant surprise. it managed secondhand embarrassment without complete cringe; very skillful. the publishing aspect added a fun new layer of Capitalism Ruins All; nice to know yet another industry is even more soul-sucking and poisoning than you thought. this book was enjoyable! entertaining even. I think it is well-written.
ultimately though, to me, this book felt… less than its reputation. It is not Kuangs fault that (mostly white) people chose to hype this book over the last 2 years as cutting, as vicious, as eye-opening, but frankly it deals with a pretty moderate depiction of a white person taking yet another thing that doesn’t belong to them with fade to black consequences, with a side of very run-of-the-mill internet culture exploration. I don’t mean to be unkind— I think there is a lot of careful storytelling and character development done. This book is more nuanced than I can fully address in an off the cuff couch review. it’s just that nothing in this book was very shocking or moving with regards to its conclusions on race, authenticity, “cancel culture” (I hate that phrase but here we are), white tears, or how money and place of birth touches all of those things. I am being unfair and conflating marketing & product placement with content, but I just expected a little more from a book that got so much press for titillating. A little more violence, a little more consequence than secondhand Twitter rants, a little more devolution of the white woman before she inevitably cockroached back into print. something! the second half of this book fizzled instead of accelerating
In a weird way, this book felt a bit like the Barbie movie did. Lauded for its themes, but in essence: Great for entry level folks that had never engaged with the topics, but ultimately sort of a speedrun review for many, especially women of color that have breathed on planet earth & been on the internet in the last 5-10 years. nothing surprised or challenged me about this book. if I were white, read a bit less, a man; maybe this would have me shook but as it stands I’m a bit underwhelmed. white women having audacity and the institutions that both exacerbate and empower them are well-known entities to me. Frankly im not all that smart or well-read, these are just really ground-floor points. I expected something to chew on, but didn’t leave with much
the internet culture bits felt… very white millennial internet. Find me on tumblr sort of internet. another review said the depiction of the internet would date this book to future readers, and I would argue it kinda already has. It just felt… clunky. but maybe that was from the older white woman perspective? or maybe Bookinternet is dated in general? I don’t interact with many authors online to know, so I’ll give some allowance for that.
this book was definitely fun to read, and I really liked reading from the perspective of someone truly, actually unlikable in a way that you can’t fanon away. What this book lacks in bite and in letting itself be more than moderate, it makes up for in characterizations. June is an evil bitch and an everlasting leech-cockroach; every page was trying to find out how much victim juice she cut your drink with. The publishing folks are nightmarishly corporate, sickeningly polished. Kuang is superb at making real, annoying, cloying people. if the commentary matched that freak, I would’ve loved this book! unfortunately, it did not, so I finished the book and was like. ok.
I see why white people and book clubs and list makers were impressed with this book, and I think in a way that is exactly the sort of thing Kuang was poking fun at. So maybe she gets the last laugh?
it started a lot of cool things and opened a lot of discussions on art, ownership, cultural appropriation. It made me laugh A LOT, which was a pleasant surprise. it managed secondhand embarrassment without complete cringe; very skillful. the publishing aspect added a fun new layer of Capitalism Ruins All; nice to know yet another industry is even more soul-sucking and poisoning than you thought. this book was enjoyable! entertaining even. I think it is well-written.
ultimately though, to me, this book felt… less than its reputation. It is not Kuangs fault that (mostly white) people chose to hype this book over the last 2 years as cutting, as vicious, as eye-opening, but frankly it deals with a pretty moderate depiction of a white person taking yet another thing that doesn’t belong to them with fade to black consequences, with a side of very run-of-the-mill internet culture exploration. I don’t mean to be unkind— I think there is a lot of careful storytelling and character development done. This book is more nuanced than I can fully address in an off the cuff couch review. it’s just that nothing in this book was very shocking or moving with regards to its conclusions on race, authenticity, “cancel culture” (I hate that phrase but here we are), white tears, or how money and place of birth touches all of those things. I am being unfair and conflating marketing & product placement with content, but I just expected a little more from a book that got so much press for titillating. A little more violence, a little more consequence than secondhand Twitter rants, a little more devolution of the white woman before she inevitably cockroached back into print. something! the second half of this book fizzled instead of accelerating
In a weird way, this book felt a bit like the Barbie movie did. Lauded for its themes, but in essence: Great for entry level folks that had never engaged with the topics, but ultimately sort of a speedrun review for many, especially women of color that have breathed on planet earth & been on the internet in the last 5-10 years. nothing surprised or challenged me about this book. if I were white, read a bit less, a man; maybe this would have me shook but as it stands I’m a bit underwhelmed. white women having audacity and the institutions that both exacerbate and empower them are well-known entities to me. Frankly im not all that smart or well-read, these are just really ground-floor points. I expected something to chew on, but didn’t leave with much
the internet culture bits felt… very white millennial internet. Find me on tumblr sort of internet. another review said the depiction of the internet would date this book to future readers, and I would argue it kinda already has. It just felt… clunky. but maybe that was from the older white woman perspective? or maybe Bookinternet is dated in general? I don’t interact with many authors online to know, so I’ll give some allowance for that.
this book was definitely fun to read, and I really liked reading from the perspective of someone truly, actually unlikable in a way that you can’t fanon away. What this book lacks in bite and in letting itself be more than moderate, it makes up for in characterizations. June is an evil bitch and an everlasting leech-cockroach; every page was trying to find out how much victim juice she cut your drink with. The publishing folks are nightmarishly corporate, sickeningly polished. Kuang is superb at making real, annoying, cloying people. if the commentary matched that freak, I would’ve loved this book! unfortunately, it did not, so I finished the book and was like. ok.
I see why white people and book clubs and list makers were impressed with this book, and I think in a way that is exactly the sort of thing Kuang was poking fun at. So maybe she gets the last laugh?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Toxic friendship