A review by sarahmatthews
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Read on audio

Narrator: Helen Laser

Pub. 2023, 323pp

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I have a weakness for books about the publishing world so when I saw Yellowface popping up everywhere I was intrigued. The premise is so outlandish however that I thought I’d just be rolling my eyes and I normally avoid overhyped books. So what made me pick it up? A review from a writer I trust who loved it, and honestly, she was right!

The main characters in this dark satire are Yale college mates, both of whom are aspiring writers. After graduation Athena’s career takes off and she becomes a publishing darling while June’s 1st book doesn’t make it into paperback. There’s a freak accident, Athena dies and June takes Athena’s manuscript that’s (conveniently) been kept a secret, finishing it herself. It’s published and is a bestseler.

Kuang’s skilled, sharp 1st person narration manages to make this work and what follows is a complex story that critiques the publishing industry; literary scandals, racial tokenism and reliance on social media for marketing. Athena’s a Chinese-American writer and June’s white and as the book is about the unsung contributions of the Chinese Labour Corps in WW1, June’s given a racially ambiguous pen name. It all kicks off on Twitter when someone points out the similarities of the writing to Athena’s and accuses June of plagiarism. I’ve spent long enough on “book Twitter” to recognise the scandals the author is alluding to and, to be fair, this probably did add to my enjoyment of the book. Though with the current fragmenting of social media and the rebrand to ‘X’, the references to Twitter may make it feel very dated very quickly.

I really enjoyed how Kuang kept twisting things by adding more and more to the backstory of the central friendship so that even though it’s bluntly obvious June’s jealous and bitter, Athena’s no saint either. There are some toe-curling scenes that are uncomfortable to read, as they should be, and it’s all very heightened and exaggerated to land her points.

I thought the author showed how June’s self delusion could happen very convincingly at times, but later in the novel it did become a little repetitive and I wanted more  development of the character. This book throws up so many issues about storytelling and doesn’t offer any easy answers.