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A review by thexwalrus
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
oh my god juniper hayward is the most intolerable monster i've ever read a book about and yet i was hooked from the first page. genuinely, if you want to hook a reader, take notes from the first chapter of this book. i think it's brilliant.
this book is heavy-handed in its takedowns of white feminism and structural racism - several times i found myself rolling my eyes or going "oh, come on, you insufferable bitch" out loud at juniper's inner monologue. i definitely told her to "log off! touch grass!" at some point in the middle arc, but i don't think any of this is a bad thing. it's not often i have such a visceral reaction to a book.
i don't know enough about the criticisms brought up against r.f. kuang herself to see any similarities, but i read a particularly good review on goodreads that covers those in detail (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4816529272) and i can see why this book would feel like kuang using hayward to be like "woe is me, i was criticized too harshly" - but this didn't factor into my opinion on the book, it just feels like useful background information to have.
my biggest critique is the ending - it felt so anticlimactic.i wanted to see juniper suffer - i wanted her to really have to face the world and have everyone know she's an insufferable, racist, awful person. i wanted her to have to deal with the weight of that. but no, she gets the idea to spin herself a redemption arc - and yeah, that tracks for a white woman but it still felt so unsatisfying.
overall, it was fun! it was a book i devoured so quickly, it was full of moments that had me reacting out loud and disturbing my sleeping cat (so sorry, kahlua), and i definitely think i'll read it again in the future.
this book is heavy-handed in its takedowns of white feminism and structural racism - several times i found myself rolling my eyes or going "oh, come on, you insufferable bitch" out loud at juniper's inner monologue. i definitely told her to "log off! touch grass!" at some point in the middle arc, but i don't think any of this is a bad thing. it's not often i have such a visceral reaction to a book.
i don't know enough about the criticisms brought up against r.f. kuang herself to see any similarities, but i read a particularly good review on goodreads that covers those in detail (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4816529272) and i can see why this book would feel like kuang using hayward to be like "woe is me, i was criticized too harshly" - but this didn't factor into my opinion on the book, it just feels like useful background information to have.
my biggest critique is the ending - it felt so anticlimactic.
overall, it was fun! it was a book i devoured so quickly, it was full of moments that had me reacting out loud and disturbing my sleeping cat (so sorry, kahlua), and i definitely think i'll read it again in the future.