Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for proving me with a copy of this book.

R.F. Kuang does not cease to amazing me with her fantastically thought-provoking writing. A complex discussion of race and the exploitation of Asian history by western society, Yellowface makes a thriller out of a very real issue. I thoroughly enjoyed and found myself enthralled by the way this book talks about intellectual property and the very thin line between inspiration and plagrism.

After barrelling my way through Babel last year, I expected great things from Yellowface and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed by this work and loved it even more. I’ve never read a book where the narrator/main character is not only incredibly unreliable but is actively doing bad things. Getting a view of June’s actions and their reasoning in a first person perspective, while picking apart every thought she has made this an intricate and fascinating read that I struggled to put down. In a book where “good people” are few and far between, Yellowface makes you consider how even the person in the right can also be in the wrong in other situations.

I enjoyed this a lot – definitely one for people who work in publishing or are at least very active in the book world but iI wonder if it relies a little too heavily on a knowledge and investment in publishing for it to be relatable to the average reader. It's pacy and smart and cutting, and a little shocking that a publisher is actually publishing it given how forensically it unpicks and eviscerates swathes of this industry. There are times, like others have said, that I felt it was a touch heavy handed and obvious in its criticisms and that the ending felt a little melodramatic, but overall an enjoyable satirical thriller that I'd recommend.

4.5 stars

Juniper Hayward has always been jealous of Athena Liu. After meeting and becoming friends at university, Athena’s career as an author took off, while Juniper’s debut book did not get the attention that she believed it deserved. After witnessing Athena’s untimely death, Juniper steals a manuscript of Athena’s unpublished work, and publishes it herself.

I loved the pacing of this book. From the beginning it really captured my attention and took off. I was completely invested in the story, and remained so throughout. I was particularly gripped by the final act, which took on a more mysterious and creepy nature.

The characters, while incredibly dislikable, were impossible to stop reading about. The entire novel is told with Juniper as a narrator. Juniper is awful throughout the book, but was so complex. She knew that what she was doing was ethically and morally wrong, but continued to try to justify her actions to herself, and to the reader. It was interesting to see her thought process, and I thought her personality and actions were entirely believable.

Kuang also highlights the injustices in the publishing industry throughout the book. I found this fascinating to read, and enjoyed the very realistic twitter discourse that took place, but I wonder whether someone who is less invested in the publishing industry would find it as compelling as I did.

Most of all I enjoyed how Kuang tries to manipulate you as a reader. Using Junipers voice, she attempts to make you sympathise with her, whilst also making it clear how racist and immoral Juniper is. Through Juniper, Kuang highlights the subtle biases and racism that people hold. There were some obvious instances of racism throughout the book, but Juniper also displays constant microaggressive behaviours while constantly reassuring herself that she isn’t racist, and that she has earned her success. I think this is applicable to every area of society, but was particularly interesting to read in the context of publishing.

I didn’t love the pop culture references in the book, particularly those referencing JKR. I felt that these dated the book and could have been left out without losing anything.

I feel like saying I enjoyed this book would be the wrong word, but I would definitely recommend it. It was painful to read at points (I had so much secondhand embarrassment from Juniper’s actions), but it very much worth it.

Content Warnings:
death, racism, panic attacks, rape, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts

Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing an eARC in return for an honest review.

"The truth is fluid. There is always another way to spin the story; another wrench to throw into the narrative."

June Hayward is supremely jealous of her friend, Athena Liu. Athena is just 27 but has published three mega-hit novels straight out of college, has a long list of award nominations, and has a Netflix deal. June is herself a published novelist, but her debut failed, and now she teaches, dreaming of the day when she, too, will be a famous author.

One night, Athena dies in front of June in a freak accident. June does the unthinkable – she takes Athena's first draft of an unpublished manuscript, which no one has seen. It's a rough copy only and June convinces herself that she's somehow doing Athena a favour, passing off her friend's work as her own, by rewriting and re-editing it until it's a masterpiece. June becomes Juniper Song (her second name is conveniently Asian-sounding) and she becomes adept at defending her 'decision' to write a story about the discrimination faced by Chinese labourers from the British during WWI, despite not being Asian.

Then, a storm breaks. Someone on Twitter accuses Juniper of stealing Athena's work, and instead of fizzling out, it becomes a massive story. Suddenly, Juniper is the talk of the publishing world, for all the wrong reasons. Her delusions about why she deserves her success (she rewrote the novel after all, surely it is HER work now?!), continue to grow, even as her anxiety attacks begin to paralyse her.

This novel is a brilliant, biting look at the erasure of Asian voices (actually, many diverse voices) in literature, partly through racist publishing gatekeeping (you can only have one particular diverse voice per season, one publisher in the book is accused of suggesting). June/Juniper's actions are so shocking they are hilarious and repulsive in equal measure. Her arguments defending her actions to herself become increasingly irate: why should she be punished by 'reverse racism', for example?

'Yellowface' takes a razor-sharp look at publishing and how rigged it can be. Of course, RF Kuang herself has been a major success, just like Athena, while still a student. So, she has the perfect insights to write a story so critical of publishing. The book is disturbing, witty and incisive. It's a far-remove from the fantasy novels the author is famous for, but it shows her brilliant range.

This book has to be one of the best I have read in a while, it teetered in that tedious category between a high 4 star and a low 5 star, the rating changing multiple times. I love her writing style, and everything about the book which made it so thrilling to read in a few sweet days. Even though I read it back in March, I’m still thinking about the power her writing truly holds. I don’t think I’ll ever read a book like this one again, and it’s one that will mean something to hundreds upon thousands of people. The ending however kind of let the book down, I was left wanting more which was probably what was intended, but it felt almost unfinished….still would recommend though!

Incredible. Absolutely unhinged in the best possible way. I just inhaled it. A searing look into the mind of a character you love to hate. I was gripped throughout. June, after stealing the manuscript of Athena, her friend was still completely delusional and entitled in a way that was fascinating to read and I am in awe of the author for being able to craft this story.

This was absolutely gripping! As someone who works in publishing and is present on BookTwitter, I thought this was such a fascinating read – a lot of the topics brought up are very important, very nuanced, and often overwrought online. Although perhaps because of both of those things (working in publishing and knowing about BookTwitter), and because it was written in first-person present, at some points I think it felt like a long essay or article rather than a novel? It sometimes felt a little heavy-handed, like an obvious critique. But I loved that Kuang decided to write from June's point of view, automatically making the reader a little more sympathetic to her than they would have been had it been from another perspective or in third person. I think Kuang's writing and pacing is brilliant too – I found this truly impossible to put down, sneaking my kindle out whenever I could.

If you come to this book with the idea of finding something similar to Babel or The poppy war, you will leave very disappointed. Although it has similarities in terms of social commentary, the controversy of the story and its approach to the issue of racism, in everything else it is unlike anything the author has written before.

It's packed with plenty of dark humor and suspense. But even in the moments where she masked an awkward situation with a joke, you could feel how unsettling it all was. The author obviously wanted us to read those flaws in the industry, she wanted to expose that not-so-pretty side, and she didn't hold back in doing so.

How can I describe the protagonist? She's horrible, but she's supposed to be like that. When I started reading, without even having a clear idea of the type of book I was going to find, I thought she was insufferable. I didn't want to read this character so consumed by jealousy, so superficial and pretentious, whose arrogance is so infinite that she really convinced herself that what she did wrong was in fact right. I just recommend being patient with her. It will be a shock at first, but that's how the character is supposed to be. She is not a heroine, she is not a character that you’re supposed to like. It is the representation of what competition and jealousy can do to a person.

Don't expect a lot of dialogue. The book works as a sort of monologue, something I've rarely seen used successfully in a thriller, but here I thought it made the pacing fantastic.

Overall, the entire cast of characters is quite questionable and unethical. I confess that it was not very credible to me that there was not a single person with noble intentions in the entire book, but I understand that it is precisely the message that the author tried to reflect.

If I have to point out something negative, the parts where she went into a lot of detail about the publishing world and its not-so-nice side were boring to me at first, because it's not something that interests me. But as soon as the story starts to develop a little better, it started to catch my eye and I enjoyed it a lot more. I also found the ending somewhat predictable and a bit anticlimactic for all the tension that builds as the story unfolds.

Yellowface is a pretty dark and unique social satire. Expect to feel uncomfortable reading it, that's the point of the story. But it's as awkward as it is necessary and I couldn't recommend it more.
I can't wait for the book to be released and to see all the controversy that is going to erupt around it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you have read R F Kuang’s other works then throw away what you think this may be like. This is a completely fresh story in a different genre from her usual, though beautifully written as always. The synopsis for the story is excellent at having you intrigued. Yellowface is addictive, much like Junie’s stealing. It’s easily read in one sitting, the story is suspenseful and from the first couple of chapters you are hooked.

It is full of dark humour and had me cursing out loud. This woman, was honestly infuriating. Junie, June, Juniper, a different person for each situation has had flop after flop in her literary career all while watching Athena blossom and handed six figure publishing deals. Her jealous, literally, knows no bounds.

An excellent story focussing on jealous, loneliness, social media and the publishing world.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance.

Kuang writes it, I read it. She may be younger than me, but I literally want to be here when I grow up. This dark satire and social commentary was a nice deviation from the fantasy she’s known for and I think she really knocked it out of the park. Every single character in Yellowface was terrible, especially the protagonist. But the first person POV really shined her and getting inside June Hayward’s head was a hilarious treat. As someone who enjoys the horror genre, there’s truly nothing like being in the head of a truly delusional protagonist. I loved the meta commentary about the ins and outs of the publishing industry, probably my favorite part actually. And even though I normally don’t like pop culture references, it made sense and really worked here. I also liked the ending! Overall, this book was smartly written, unique, and shined a light on a lot of modern racial and societal issues. Highly recommend to anyone who loved the movie Heathers growing up because, dark satire fans, this one is for you. I also think you have to be a bit curious or care about the world of publishing to really appreciate it.

I mostly enjoy this; I loved the insight into the publishing industry and the problems within, and Kuang's beautiful writing - which I first experienced in Babel (that was one of my favourite reads of last year). But it was a little strange.

Kuang has managed to write mostly delusional, racist ramblings of a clearly troubled woman, so well! Most characters were a little despicable for different reasons, and reading about their actions gave me anxiety and second hand embarrassment - in a good way. It was at times ridiculous, and a little too over the top for me. The reveal towards the end also left me wanting more, and was no surprise at all unfortunately.

But overall this was a truly immersing and complex story, exploring racism and white people profiting off of people of colour, loneliness, depression, addiction to social media and the consequences of questionable/unethical actions.

I really enjoyed this book, i loved the writing style and the characters. Unlike anything i have every read and i don’t think i will read quite anything like this ever again.

I have such mixed feelings about this book- I both loved it and wanted more from it in equal measure. This book is certainly very very different from Kuang's other titles and I was really intrigued to see how this one would stack up (for reference Babel is definitely one of my favourite books of all time). One thing I would say is that this book is certainly brave in calling out different aspects of the end to end journey of a book from both the angle of the publishing industry but also down to us, the consumer.

I thought the book was eerily dark in how real it also felt, I think the online world we now live in was so well written into this book that it became quite eye opening just how quickly things can just spiral when the whole world has access to you. In terms of concept this book worked so well for me, and even now a couple of weeks after finishing this one to sit and write this review I am thinking of how good the concept is and how easy it would be for aspects of this to happen and us be none the wiser. I also think it did a really good job of walking that fine line of how being in the public eye (either for the right or wrong reasons) can be both exhilarating and annihilating in the same breath- I liked that the highs and lows were balanced throughout despite everything else going on in the story.

The MC in Yellowface is certainly an unreliable morally grey narrator and at times the writing style felt almost like an inner monologue and a little clunky and because of that I found it quite hard to connect to any of the characters.I think in the mid section when much of the book is focussed on what is happening online it’s hard to distinguish which parts of the chaotic writing are intentional and if some of it isn't as it did appear to steal something from the story at this point?

This book centers very much around the racism/xenophobia/pretty privilege of the publishing industry and I thought the way that it was explored was really thorough and eye opening. I thought having unlikable characters that almost jumped on their privilege to then succeed was a powerful message and was so much better than just telling us that it happens- we know it happens but seeing it unfold with very little conscience was definitely a powerful thing to experience within this book.

I couldn't help but think that this book was lacking a bit, I don’t know how much of the publishing world would feel represented in this book as it felt very black and white in terms of super successful or someone having no success at all- I understand that writers are told to write what they know but I’m not sure if this was maybe too close to what Kuang knows and maybe (this is probably more of a me problem) a lot of what was written I found myself relating back to what I know of Kuang’s experiences from interviews that she has done. I think as someone outside of that world I found it insightful but I think the scope of the experience explored was perhaps quite narrow if I was making a judgment from the inside. I am really intrigued to see the reviews of people from within that world when this book releases- it's certainly a conversation starter, one that hopefully brings about a positive change. However I think for the purposes of this book at times it almost came across as though I was being told what to think, or being given just that little bit too much.

I think I would have liked to understand Athena and June more, they had a toxic friendship for sure but I think I would have liked to have read more on that, Athena seemed like the type of problematic character that I love however I didn't feel that I really got to know her and the intricacies of who she was and I think it would have made me connect to the book more- although maybe in doing that I would not have felt so invested in June’s side of the story,

I did not like the ending of this book at all, it was such a shame because it had allll of the tension build up and then just fell at the final hurdle with an overdramatic ending that just completely pulled me out of the story.

Overall I thought this book was intriguing and the concept was great, thought provoking even but the execution was just a little too clunky. Maybe I am being wrong to assume so much of this was Kuang’s actual voice in knowing this is the industry that she works in, but I just couldn’t help it and that really took away from the book for me. I adored the sophisticated thoughtful tone of Babel so much that I expected to find a similar tone here which just wasn't the case (although I understand this was a new territory for her to explore and kudos for doing that!). This book is definitely one of those books that had me rushing to read reviews as soon as I was done, I can’t wait for publication to see all the conversations around this one.

*Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and of course the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review

Thankyou NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for a free E-arc in exchange for a honest review.

I dont even know how to articulate about this read. To say i enjoyed it is a stretch as absolutely zero characters are likable however i just couldnt put it down. The topic of cancel culture and racism is very current at the moment and i thought the book covered it all really well and was extremely well written!

I did feel uncomfortable reading this... pretty much all the way through... and i think that was the point of it as it really parallels how i feel when i can see these sorts of things happening on social media in real life!

This is another fun page-turner from Kuang with a more serious underpinning of race, writing, social media and the publishing industry. There's almost a kind of 'As You Like It' play of identities as Kuang writes through a white narrator who allows herself to be perceived as having Chinese antecedents - June Hayward's 'passing' as Juniper Song, where she uses photos of her usually pale skin tanned and squints her eyes, is funny for its ridiculous offensiveness.

As the book progresses, though, June becomes more and more unhinged leading to a horrible example of spite at a workshop for undergraduates that she's teaching. Increasingly, we want her to be exposed.

At the same time, Kuang doesn't let Athena Liu entirely off the hook either with her vampiric mode of sucking up other people's stories. And, along the way, this skewers both the publishing industry which may have gone from white to 'diverse' in a way that almost fetishes race, allowing in non-white writers as long as they fit a narrow category of writing about 'immigrant' and racial issues; and the sub-industry of bookish social media... including our very own GoodReads!

Because this treats serious issues in a light-hearted mode (not that Kuang doesn't take them seriously, just that this isn't an earnest book), this isn't quite as satisfying as a more serious exploration of the topic but it's its very accessibility and surface frothiness that makes it such fun.

Yellowface is a brilliant and a well-crafted middle finger to book publishing.

Unlike any of her earlier books, Kuang has laid bare the dark and often glossed over side effects of working in the book publishing industry.

If you were expecting anything close to Babel or The Poppy Wars you are bound to be disappointed. What you get is Kuang's evolved writing in an absolute page-turner!

I could not decide where Athena's writing began, Juniper's ended or Kuang's personal opinions surfaced. Multi-layered, nuanced and spooky all at once!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

You can find me talking about this book on the podcast, 'Oh My Lit!'.

I loved this. I loved this so fucking much.

At this point I am sure we as readers do not deserve Rebecca’s writing and books.

The experience of reading Yellowface is the same as reading for four hours unhinged booktwitter’s posts, it was lovely.

It is a very meta-book. I do not suggest reading this book if you are not interested in the publishing world and all its absurdities. It is clear Rebecca had fun writing this book, in which she could put everything she hates about the publishing world, authors, editors, readers etc. It is not just bashing. June’s biased pov puts an interesting filters on complex and contemporary themes.

The main character is unsufferable as fuck, but in the good way. She is quite complex. Oh I wanted her to fail. Badly. But her drive, her motivation, how she was reacting to the CLEARLY TERRIBLE THINGS she was doing (stop, please fucking stop) and to the consequences of those terrible things, were so realistic I was electrified.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, because RF Kuang is RF Kuang, but I loved the complexity of all the characters, Athena included.

I know that this book won’t be appreciated as much as Babel or The Poppy War. It is surely a peculiar book, difficult to love, with dark satire on a niche topic.
Personally, I don’t think the concept could have been executed better.

R.F. Kuang can not write a bad book. I absolutely loved this, everything about it was perfect. Every single character is morally grey yet you are rooting for June in a strange misguided way as Kuang makes you feel very mixed about her and other characters. I loved the humour and pacing of this, it was very fast and jam packed with suspense and with June's tribulations shocking you at every turn. I cannot speak highly enough about this it was just so well written I was completely absorbed it was unlike anything I've read before. I strongly recommend this.

When her best friend, Chinese-American literary darling Athena Liu, dies in a freak accident, the decidedly white June Hayward sees her chance to become the author she’s always dreamed of being. Because Athena’s just completed her latest novel, and nobody knows it exists except June…

Yellowface is the first novel of R.F. Kuang’s that I’ve read, and I’m not especially familiar with her except to know that she’s been very successful at a relatively young age. So I was very interested to see her satirical take on the publishing industry, and I was not disappointed. This book is juicy, scandalous and fun, and June is a perfect love-to-hate-her anti-hero. Her deplorable behaviour and total lack of self-awareness is hilarious, and yet there were times I felt for her, too.

In Yellowface, Kuang shows us what it’s really like to be an author in the time of social media, sales targets and diversity quotas, and some might say it’s her opportunity to get a few things off her chest. But ultimately, I think she’s just having a lot of fun. A ballsy and entertaining book, which asks many interesting questions

Yellowface will be released in the UK on May 25th. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Yellowface was highly anticipated by me as a huge RF Kuang fan. With Yellowface, what you see is what you get. RF Kuang, as referred to "R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable."

The pacing of this book is fast and things move so quickly, but where Yellowface truly succeeds is by making June an almost sympathetic protagonist. The key word is almost. She's certainly not sympathetic in the way that she steals Athena's work so unabashedly and changed the manuscript while refusing to acknowledge her misdeeds. Everyone is out to get June, and it comes through in her narration.

Admittedly, it took longer than expected to finish this only because I hated June so much. I had to read this in chunks because being in June's head was so very frustrating and it's almost eery about the way Kuang can magically transport you there.

Kuang gives June several opportunities to stop and take a look at herself and her actions, but somehow, June mentally gymnastics her way into being "guilt-free" (not).

It's truly frustrating reading this book because while it is satirical, it's not so far off that you can't imagine people actually saying and doing these things. With Yellowface, Kuang set out to expose the highly flawed publishing industry and I think she succeeded.