I cannot adequately say how much I enjoyed this book, which deals with the ups and downs of friendship as much as being a frenemy and the repercussions of doing what you want. Athena Liu is a literary wunderkind, her work celebrated and critiqued the world over, but her friend June Hayward is not so much on the literary periphery as banished to the back of the bookshop. No one wants to read what June has to say and she’s achieved modest success (very modest). When Athena dies in an accident, and June is there, she makes a split second decision… and steals her friend’s unpublished manuscript. It’s not long before June’s new book – now written as Juniper Song – is making headlines and she is a star. But not everyone is convinced of June/Juniper’s greatness, or talent, let’s be honest. When success is stolen, is it really that sweet? You’ll be surprised by the novel’s twists but it’s a great read and one that’ll stay with me this year.

An insightful delve into the world of publishing, which is always interesting to any bibliophile. Absolutely loved it and raced through it. Brilliantly written with excellent character build and development. A must read!

I did not know what to expect from Yellowface but I was not expecting to love it quite so much.

The book follows June, who after her ‘friends’ death, steals her latest manuscript passing it off as her own. The continuing story spirals out of control.

The story takes a look at the very dark aspects that can sometimes crop up on social media. It also gives a great look at the publishing industry which is really enlightening.
But also delves into mental health and loneliness.

Honestly there is just so much to love about this book.

June and Athena were both Yale students and both dreamed of becoming writers, though only one of them really succeeded.
June is quite jealous of Athena, but they have kept in kept touch and during one of their catch ups, they go back to Athena’s flat, and June witnessed her death.
This spirals in June stealing the manuscript Athena was working on, and publishing it as her own. What would the Chinese community make of it, since June doesn’t have any Chinese heritage? At some point, June even believes she is victim of reverse racism.
What a brilliant read, this is satire at its best touching so many topics: from racism to cultural appropriation, diversity in the publishing industry.

Yellowface follows June Hayward, a struggling author, from the moment before and after she steals the work by her fellow author, and behated friend, Athena Liu. You follow June as she struggles emotionally and morally with her choice, how she tries to internally argue that it isn’t theft but rather a way of bringing Athena’s work into the world — bettering it as it hadn’t been finished before Athena suddenly died.

It’s an interesting exploration of human nature, how we try and rationalise obviously bad behaviour and decisions, and how easy it can be to continue with a lie when there is a safety net all around the colour of your skin. June does not, at any point, outwardly say that she stole it but there are moments where even the publisher must have doubts and instead of questioning her, or outright removing themselves from her, they aid her by having her seem ambiguously Asian. Yellowface also explores the publishing industry, how ruthless it can be and how certain aspects of it absolutely disregards what is morally correct as long as there is a monetary benefit — I don’t know much, or anything really, about the publishing industry but I imagine it’s pretty accurate.

I think, as a white person, that this book was an interesting example of how white people can have a tendency to see marginalised people as a threat when they have even an ounce more visibility than a white person. There are continuous comments by June Hayward, and other white characters, on how marginalised people have it easier and that it’s hard to be white in the industry as “you are just like everyone else”. You don’t stand out. You aren’t interesting. But, and Kuang makes a point of this, marginalised people are just seen as their ethnicity and not as a person and that’s pointed out several times in the book. It’s a very on point commentary, as I’ve definitely been witness to this rhetoric from fellow white people throughout my life and I know some people feel that Kuang is very on the nose with a lot of these comments. I don’t really think so, I think it’s just pretty accurate.

Of course Yellowface is also, at times, an exaggeration. The characters seem like caricatures at times and they are very very expressive in their behaviour which seems almost comical. But sometimes to get your point across, that’s just the way to go. I thought it was a fun aspect of the book and it made for an intriguing book — you’re stuck to the book, turning each page, waiting to see if June Hayward will be exposed or if she’ll get away with it all.

I’m blabbering on, but I REALLY did enjoy Yellowface and I thought it was an interesting book. It’s nearly midnight as I write this review and I’m half asleep here, but you gotta get your thoughts on paper when you’ve got them lmao so yeah, Yellowface is a great read. The only thing I didn’t particularly like was the ending. It happened too fast, it was too abrupt and that’s a shame. But otherwise, I enjoyed every moment I spent with the book.

This was the first book I read by Kuang, but it is definitely not the last one. I already have Babel sitting on my shelf, so I’m interested in seeing how her writing is in that versus this one as I know this one is a lot more “accessible” in its prose.

Such an intriguing read – the ethics of whether The Last Front, the fictional book that protagonist June Hayward/ Juniper Song publishes, is truly her work given that she stole the first draft from a deceased college mate, are so grey they might as well just be black. And yet I could not stop reading how June tries to convince herself that her actions and subsequent consequences that then snowball are justifiable. R.F. Kuong expertly weaves June’s paranoia that she will be discovered with the modern juggernaut of social media and “cancel culture”, which all feels incredibly current and of the moment. Not being a published author, I don’t know how realistic the depiction of the publishing industry and associated processes are, but what did ring especially true for me was June’s addiction to the spotlight and accolades. Not an especially sympathetic or likeable character, there are some seriously questionable ethics around cultural appropriation and also her theft of ideas. This really reminded me of Beautiful Creature, with June living a life not really hers and unearned. I had the same feeling of discomfort at the plot and June’s dependence on people’s approval here but just engrossed as I wanted to find out how she could possibly get herself out of the giant sinkhole with minimal destruction. The book left me hungry for more R.F. Kuong with her smart and assured writing style and even more convinced that life as a writer is not for me…

I love books about the inner workings of publishing, as I think most people who are involved with publishing do, and this idea is *perfect*: it's about the plagiarism scandals that have rocked the book community for years, crossed with the conversation about racism in publishing, cultural appropriation, and who can authentically write stories rooted in specific identities and cultures. It's a tough read - the protagonist is consistently awful, very openly racist both specifically and generally, and you're certainly not rooting for her but I definitely wanted to find out how it was going to end.

I’m a little torn about my feelings towards the book. Had it come from a new writer, I would have thought it was really interesting and a bold story to put out there. However, as the book was written by R F Kuang, I’m a little disappointed. I thought the book would be more. Having read Babel where I had to take moments to just sit with what she’d written, I expected this to be another literary genius. There’s nothing wrong with the story but it just feels lacklustre compared to her other work. I also don’t care for pop culture references. The ending was the most frustrating. I checked twice to make sure that was all there was. It was unsatisfying. Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy.

R. F. Kuang has some it again. Like with her previous books, I could not put this one down. I’m convinced Kuang can write a book in any genre and it will be a hit. A necessary book which reflects on the publishing industry

There aren't enough words to describe how much I enjoyed this book!

Like all of Rebecca F Kuang's books, it's insightful, eye-opening and a must-read.

The book follows two friends who are writers, June Hayward is a lecturer and struggling with getting their work published, Athena Lieu of the most successful writers of the time. They meet for drinks and whilst it's clear that there is jealously from the success of her friend, June finds she can't end her friendship with Athena. Then suddenly, Athena dies and June runs off with the manuscript of Athena's new book. June publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.

The book highlights the toxicity of the publishing industry, cancel culture, toxic relationships, white privilege and racism. All of which have been incredibly well-written.

I don't want to say any more, as it's such a powerful and impactful read that you really need to experience it for yourself!

Rounding up to a 3.5

Firstly, thank you to HarperCollins for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I have not read R.F. Kuang's previous work because the genre's were not in my typical interests, but Yellowface's blurb really pulled me in. I immediately requested an ARC after seeing it. I wasn't let down reading Yellowface, but I wasn't wowed either. Kuang is a great writer. She uses simple prose in this book and I really loved that. I also think she did a great job giving a P.O.V. of someone she wasn't. To me it felt very realistic. But as a Black reader I'm realizing that this type of story, white people stealing, hurting, bullying people of colour, just doesn't work as a thriller to me. Due to my real life experiences, it's just overly predictable and nothing came as a shock to me. I also think I would have enjoyed it more if it was comedy instead of a thriller, because I think comedy would have been a great medium to get the same message across. Overall I wouldn't recommend this but I wouldn't tell anyone not to read it either.

An interesting read the characters were okay I didn't love them and the story was intriguing, even though I found it really hard to get into.

I really wasn't sure what to expect from the short synopsis on this book but that also made me incredibly curious and so I had to read it to find out and I'm very glad I did as I really enjoyed this story.

This was a good read that explores a lot of themes and informed me about some of the worlds history that I'd never heard of before. It was good to learn something new and to follow June dealing with Athena's death and everything that happened after that. Yes, there are things she probably shouldn't have done but could we all say we wouldn't have done the same in the same situation?

It was fascinating getting a glimpse of what authors go through in getting published and then what can face them afterwards also. I am very grateful that so many do as I have had many hours of enjoyment reading thanks to them.

Great thought provoking book. Enjoyed it from start to finish. Would definitely read more from this author.

Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang is a novel about an author (June) who, after her friends (Athena) death, decides to steal her unpublished manuscript and gets it published as her own. As soon as the book is published there are people who do not believe that June wrote the book butdid in fact steal it, but June is determined to not lose her newfound success after the failure of her initial attempt to get a novel published.

Whilst I dont condone what she did, part of me feels a little sorry for June as she seems to have low self esteem and noone she can really turn to. Aside from Athena she does not have any friends, while she is somewhat dislikeable, this makes me feel sad for her as I know how awful lonliness can be. I think part of the reason she decides to become an author and in turn to steal Athenas book is if she can't get love aand affection from the people in her life then she can get it from publishers, fans etc.

This book also confirms how toxic and completely awful social media can be and how so many people are willing to say the most disgusting things to people they have never even met.

I will definitely be recommending this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really loved the book so much. It tells so much about the literature world, about our world. How lonely and hard it is. It gives insight into racism without being too hard on the reader. And it makes you laugh about all the madness.
Thank you for this book. I am looking forward selling it.

Hmm... I was mighty uncomfortable while I read this book, the intended dislike ability of the characters was an achievement, we ticked that box. This story was very cut throat and dog eat dog.

Whilst it was an uncomfortable read, I can see this is something that may occur in publishing, there are people who will do anything to get what they want, that's life. I didn't get all the jokes, so the humour was a little lost on me, and I felt at times I was being pushed into what the author wanted me to think or feel as if her voice was willing it, but is that just good writing?

I wasn't a fan of Babel, but I read this with a gripping uncomfortable feeling and I thought it was well written.

3.5 stars

Delving into the publishing industry, taking on white privilege and millennial attitudes, this is a stunningly complex, uncomfortable and razor-sharp satirical book.

Not the easiest of reads and I disliked every character….but I’m pretty sure both of these things were intended by the author!

So pleased to have read this. Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for my advanced review copy.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.

Of course, this is only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean everyone will have that opinion.

I’ve only read „Babel“ by R.F. Kuang so far, and even tho it had some length, I still loved it. I’m a bit anxious about starting „The Poppy War“, so I decided it would be a good idea to pick up „Yellowface“. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC.
„Yellowface“ is difficult to fit into a genre box for me. It’s not a thriller or a mystery, but it still has some of these elements. I would consider it fiction, but I often had the feeling, that it wasn’t fiction and more non-fiction. Overall I would say it’s a very interesting satire which comments on the publishing industry, social media and discrimination.
As a book blogger myself, I’ve noticed my fair share of social media commentary about authors and fellow bloggers. I liked that in „Yellowface“, I got the other perspective.
When I first started the book, I was sure that this would be a 5+ star read for me and that I wouldn’t stop raving about this book to my friends. That was exactly the case until I hit the 50% mark. Please keep in mind, that I had an ARC for it, and I got it in January, so things are still up for change until the release date. This critique is based on the ARC that I’ve read.
I have three critical points overall for the novel:
First, I found it a bit much Twitter discourse in the middle. I understand why it was necessary, but it wasn’t just for my taste.
Second, there were way too many Harry Potter references (five if I remember correctly). It’s always used in a context that I can understand that it’s used (fanfiction writing when younger, successful idol), but I still think that in 2023 we don’t have to mention JKR, especially with her worldviews.
And lastly: I found the ending a bit lacking. I didn’t expect a plot twist, but after finishing it, I was just sitting there and thinking: „This was it?“
Overall I think that „Yellowface“ is a good read, and I was easily sucked into the story. I would recommend it to a friend, but tell them beforehand about my critique points.

Please note that these are not all the warnings for the book but just some that I remembered, while writing this review, and that these could contain spoilers for the book:
Trigger warnings: mention of rape, racism, discrimination, anxiety attack, suicide, death (on the page), blood, attempted murder, stalking

Conclusion
It’s an interesting satire, which comments on the publishing industry, social media and discrimination.

Published first: On my blog (https://paulajosina.wordpress.com/) on the 10th of April 2023

“What is an author without an audience?”

June Hayward is one of the most unlikeable characters I have come across, and normally that has an huge impact on my enjoyment of the book. Not so with “Yellowface”. June’s unreliable narration makes for compulsive reading and wow, did she make me think and debate the questions raised in the book until my head spun. From first glance, you’d think this is a book about plagiarism but it’s so much more than that and I spent a long time thinking about the issues raised in the book - the unconscious bias and overt racism in publishing and beyond. .

This book will certainly make you think in a way you haven’t before. It would generate a fantastic book group discussion.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted @herheadinherbook on 10th April.
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