jguerrera77 's review for:

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

3.25

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

In an effort to keep a new reader in the dark, I will be including the rest of my review in spoiler tags so you can go in blind

I wish the bitchiness of our MC was leaned into more. Does she suck? Absolutely. What gives me pause is the attempt at giving her redeeming qualities. She feels bad about plagiarism, but it's clear she has a penchant for it. Lean into it. Gaslight the audience. Make them feel like they're bad for judging her choices. It felt a lot like a teen drama a la Pretty Little Liars or The Vampire Diaries. So much mellow drama. I don't regret reading it, but also not my first choice in a stack.