Coming off the back of Babel, one of THE books for 2022 a quasi thought piece/satire about the publishing industry, racism and cancel culture came right out of the left field or the right wing depending on your political leanings.

Yellowface is a considerable departure from Kuang’s historical speculative fare and this style does suit her incredibly well. The book is built like a tea spill YouTube video and is incredibly bingeable. In the unfortunate hours consumed by work I spent a good deal of time thinking about what would happen next.

Ultimately this book is a touch too long and a tad lacking in nuance, everything feels incredibly on the nose. There are several sections that talk about the writing process especially about writing endings that feel more like an attempt to break the fourth wall - it this were a TV show you know Juniper would be looking at the camera.

I’d love to see Kuang return to contemporary fiction in the future for sure. Yellowface isn’t exactly a misstep it’s just not as solid as her last offering which is fine - sometimes you just have to write a book, you know?

My first book by this author and I was very intrigued by the blurb. Yes, it's well written and the characters well crafted. I did actually quite like Juniper. not sure why but I did. The other characters were totally loathsome and shallow which I suspect was part of the book
But.... possibly cultural differences were too marked, maybe the pace was just a little too slow-don't know. Just fell a bit short for me

I recieved an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Babel is one of my favourite books of all time, so yellowface was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. Although not as good as Babel, yellowface is brilliant in it's own way. Quite different from Babel in tone, this satirical literary fiction/thriller gripped me from the first line. Full of thrilling plot twists and a satisfying ending, it's sure to be one of my favourite reads of 2023. Yellowface deals with important issues such as plagiarism, racism in the publishing industry and cultural appropriation. It also offers a glimpse at the inner workings of the publishing industry, something which fascinated me. R. F. Kuang has written a brilliant unreliable narrator. While following Juniper Song's initial rise to success and her subsequent descent into madness, the reader is confused whether to feel furious about her attempts to justify her actions or feel sympathy about her. With yellowface, R. F. Kuang has officially cemented herself as one of my favourite authors of all time!! This is a book that'll continue to haunt you days after you've read it!

This novel was an absolutely biting satirical yet honest take on tokenism and being an ethnic minority in the writing world. I recognized many of the scenes, though they were luckily played up for the dramatics of it all.

Okaaaay, I never wanted this book to end. So original and clever, I didn’t know what twists to expect at all! Obsessed isn’t even the word

A biting satire targeting the publishing industry and book reviewing community. Every single character is majorly flawed, especially June, the protagonist, and yet the author manages to make us see things from her perspective which can be an uncomfortable experience! Looking at racism, appropriation and plagiarism among other difficult topics, this book shines a light in some of the darker aspects of publishing and cancel culture.

I flew through this book and on the brief occasions I had to put it down I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

A complete change to her previous fantasy works, but still with incredible writing, I know this book is one that divides opinion but for me it was an easy 5 stars.

Yellowface: R.F. Kuang Writes a Meta, Mighty, and Merciless Dark Satire

June Hayward is a struggling author whose debut novel flopped —the first print reduced by half, book tour stops cancelled, and a second printing out of question. On days when she’s not frustrated with her agent for showing little support, her editor for being disinterested, and her publisher for not having faith in her, she navigates her acquaintance with Athena Liu: a successful Asian-American bestselling author. Acquaintance because their friendship is more incidental, merely convenient. Both were in Yale; both are in DC. Plus, June isn’t shy of thinking the worst for her friend (”and I’m drinking to dull the bitch in me that wishes she was dead”) and suspects Athena likes her company precisely because she isn’t a competition.

Regardless, Athena does invite June to her apartment one night to celebrate a movie deal for one of her novels. It’s easy to be jealous; after all, Athena is everything June isn’t —and everything, according to her, publishing loves: attractive, cool, and ‘diverse’. June repeatedly reminds herself to “be happy for her” despite feeling that universal envy, and even clarifies it specifically for writers “People always describe jealousy as this sharp, green, venomous thing. Unfounded, vinegary, mean-spirited. But I’ve found that jealousy, to writers, feels more like fear.”

The celebration included drinking and making pancakes. Right there, accidentally, Athena dies. And the drama begins: June steals an unpublished manuscript from her desk, works on it, and sends it to her agent. It doesn’t take long for the stolen manuscript, a historical novel of the Chinese Labour Corps —the Chinese workers recruited by the British Army to serve in World War II— to impress the agent, and the ball starts rolling. A pseudonym (Juniper Song), an ambiguous author photo, a bidding war, an indie publisher with a six-figure deal, and an impressed editor who suggests taking out many things to make this book feel less like a ‘tragedy porn’. What was Athena’s text —an “embarrassingly biased” story where the “French and British soldiers are cartoonishly racist”— is now a final version (with an added love story between a white woman and a Chinese soldier) that is no longer just an unfiltered recounting of a painful period but a “universally relatable story”.

As the journey proceeds, objections from a Korean American editorial assistant infuriates June; and as the book reaches shelves, June continues to play on the grief of Athena’s death, making her the ‘dead muse’. And when an accusation from an anonymous on social media builds up the fear, her desperation builds up too. It’s easy to not like June Hayward; as she admits herself: “I know what you’re thinking. Thief. Plagiariser. And perhaps, because all bad things must be racially motivated -racist.” But Kuang makes sure to boil her cannibalistic jealousy and immense insecurity in a pot of personal experiences and broken dreams —giving her more (even if just a little) than her many flaws and repeated offences.

Kuang does the same for Athena Liu. The token Asian American author picked as a winner by publishing wasn’t so perfect. June unravels her too —even if that’s done mostly to justify her own attitude. From Athena being irritated by admiring Asian American writers who clustered around her (Highlander Syndrome) to being Korean but having written Chinese characters; from playing on intergenerational grief of others in and outside the community to displaying the struggles of her immigrant mother (who June notices can speak pretty fluent English).

Yellowface is all about the gray. It exposes the hypocrisy of many but does it through a flawed white author’s lens. It conveys the tokenisation of people of color in publishing but does it through a frustrated white author’s lens. It exhibits the jaws of social media but does it through a preyed white author’s lens. The lens forces you to often shift your eyes, but there’s a strong transparency that doesn’t let you close them.

The drama plays against the backdrop of the industry and social media —one as a necessary evil and the other as an unforgiving jurist— “reputations in publishing are built and destroyed, constantly, online.” The hungry hands behind the scenes and the angry avatars on the screens are repeatedly revealed. Sometimes through June’s crash course on virtue signalling disguised as Internet etiquette: anti-PRC but proChina, gaining followers with #BLM and #FreePalestine in their bios, I Stand with Hong Kong, etc. Sometimes through the backlash she receives (sensitivity readers, cultural appropriation, and problematic) and sometimes through the pressure she feels to bring a second book in time.

For many readers who are familiar with Book Twitter, this is a strong dark satire. For some, the joke’s on you. Yellowface doesn’t hesitate. Not when the industry is shown to reduce Athena to a “set of marketing and publicity points, consumed and lauded by fans who think they know them”. Not when she’s manifested as a ‘champagne socialist’ —clearly commenting on many people of color who have weaponized social justice language for convenience. Not when some excitedly tear down individuals. Not when the vitriol suffocates June; not when she loses all sense of security; not when she’s quick to point out that most authors who do successfully jump out of a scandal are white and male —a subtle self-victimisation as a white woman.

I’m not personally a fan of finding an author’s similarities with their characters because I think it inevitably leads to negative association too, but there is no doubt that Kuang’s experiences reflect in this story. The impact of a career that depends on impressing the industry and satisfying the readers, and staying relevant and distant while you write another piece waiting to be judged by them again, is definitely as breathless as Yellowface. Basically, Kuang is right when she says in an interview with The Bookseller: “I could not have written [this] as a debut writer.”

She is also right when she says, “I will never do the same thing twice”, because honestly, a single book of such concentrated negativity is enough. Especially when it’s held together by bitter truths. I read Yellowface in a single sitting and highly recommend it. It’s meta, it’s mighty, and it’s merciless. This dark satire is a mirror of publishing, plagiarism, and pessimism polished with desperation & dreams—driven by social media and sad realism.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review this book.

I have a small problem with thought provoking stories that deal with societal issues - I believe I'm not clever enough to articulate my 'intellectual adult reader' opinions and therefore should stick to saying what I felt while reading a book and just go. So, please don't judge me for the below and just read this book because Yellowface is an amazing and unputdownable read.
You can definitely feel Kuang's own voice seeping through the pages of this book. Before reading Yellowface I had a very generic idea of how the publishing world operates and I'm ridiculously happy that Kuang has lifted a heavy curtain of this toxic industry for all of us to see what's behind it.

Thank you for the ARC Netgalley and HarperCollins UK.

An important, frustrating and entertaining read that boldly confronts sensitive topics in a no nonsense manner.

I'm a massive Kuang fan, and have enjoyed all of her work and this book was no exception. Although this is easily a one or two sitting read, I really struggled to get through this book, not because it was a difficult read or poorly written, in fact quite opposite, it had my blood boiling throughout more or less the entire book. Juniper is so exceptionally unlikeable and frustrating, but that is what makes this read so intruiging, on an added note I have never annotated as much as I did throughout this book.

There are so many layers of complexity to this book, so many things it speaks and the nuances may for some become jarring, which is why I imagine that the opinions of this book will perhaps be quite polarising. My take on it is whatever you think about Kuang, her subjects matters, the meta aspects etc. It's an important read and above all an entertaining one that confronts so many issues with our modern day society head on and without any excuses. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it awoke a dormant rage and frustration at the actions and behaviours of the characters and the fact that it is such an accurate reflection of reality which should if you are a white person have you reflecting over your own behaviour, attitudes and micro aggression towards the people around you. I think Kuang's writing is so important and it was a pleasure to read this book.

WOW. This book was amazing !

In French :
Je m’y attendais venant de cette autrice, mais je suis impressionnée de la critique générale sur l’édition (avec un p’tit pique pour l’édition francophone) et toute l’histoire de vol de manuscrit. Wow j’ai encore du mal à trouver mes mots tellement c’est juste dingue ce que je viens de lire.

My first book from R.F Kuang. I really enjoyed it. This was fast paced and the perfect book to get me out of my reading slump.

The story reminds me of movies from a Bollywood director who shows you the nitty gritty of such professions that look amazing on the outside but behind closed doors it’s nothing but full of issues that can problematic.

There were so many good quotes in this book and I can’t wait to own a copy. Now I’m even more excited to read Babel

This is the first book by RF Kuang I have read, and it’s a real page turner. It is excellent fun and I ripped through it in a couple of days. It’s also wincingly familiar - in an enjoyable way! - to anyone who’s spent even a little bit of time on Twitter. I expect this to be popular this year!

I haven't read Babel (though I'm tempted to now) but I thought this was a fantastic satire on the publishing industry, cancel culture, social media, racism, and class. I'm not sure how this novel will age but that's not really the point. This is a furious novel that concerns itself with the excesses of identity and authenticity within the book industry. I don't know enough about how her last book was perceived but as a standalone this is a really interesting dissection of these issues as well as being a fast-paced and well characterized thriller.

*spoilers*

Yellowface was a truly insightful story into the publishing industry, racism, cultural appropriation; and how social media can warp and manipulate the people.

R.F Kuang's ability to create unreliable main characters is unmatched. From the beginning of the story, I felt as if I already disliked June - her obsession and jealousy towards Athena was incredibly evident yet she somehow tried to convince readers that her envy was enough to hate on Athena and her success.

I enjoyed the dynamic between June and us, the reader, it felt like when she was trying to persuade the reader to understand her reasoning behind stealing Athena's ideas and words, she was also trying to convince herself of the same.

Even though Athena was only in the book at the very start, she felt very present throughout the book and weighed as heavy on the reader as she did on June's life. June mentioned that she never perceived Athena and her to be that good of friends while she was alive but in telling the world in interviews and through social media it was as if she was deluding herself just like she was manipulating the public.

While June made some good points in the story as to why she should be allowed to write books about any worldly historical event, the way she marketed herself in the media to appear more "Asian" (changing her surname to Lee, taking author portraits that made her look "more Asian", not denying that she wasn't Asian when someone would indirectly mention it) made her an even more dislikeable character. Even her marketing team who were grasping at straws to make her seem as cultured as possible makes me wonder how much of authors' backgrounds are just an inflation of the truth.

I liked that there was still an underlining plot to the story that finally comes to a close with a little twist at the end; although I must admit, slightly predictable. Watching June slowly unravel and become more disturbed and unhinged as time went on, reflecting the genuine impact of social media hate, was honestly satisfying for someone like myself who disliked her. I understood her as an ambitious woman trying to succeed in a highly competitive environment but her actions were misguided and inappropriate. Her greediness was what made her prosperous but was exactly what led to her downfall.

As someone who isn't as familiar with the publishing industry, it was fascinating to learn more about the book process; from what authors go through to write a book (the writer's block, the gruelling affair of pumping out new ideas one after the other, etc.); the marketing and advertising; and how all the different job roles apply their area of expertise and skill into trying to make a book as successful as possible.

Social media's influence on people is heavily accentuated throughout this story. There will always be masses of people who can dictate your status in the media. People will constantly either love or hate you and there is no in between. This is shown when June first posts her story (or should I say Athena's story) and even at the very end when she figures out how to control people's opinion of her online.

In closing, the book was just another demonstration of R.F Kuang's incredible talent and it was an incredibly enjoyable read.

Loved it
On soooo many levels
Like seeing all sides
Cringing at the errors in her adapted text
Also seeing the fall out and how fearful we can be to ask questions or get feedback on our thoughts
Saw from all angles and liked it a lot
Will read this author again
Four stars rare for me but just felt was a really good book with a devious ignorant lead character but also has a sense of compassion at how we can get tied up in knots about all things cultural and actually we shd try make it safe for people to ask questions and not make assumptions
Both the characters cd steal mislead and all characters were flawed
Ty netgalley and publishers

Genre: thriller, literary fiction
TWs: mentions of rape, descriptions of death, racism, panic attacks
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩? 📒
‘Yellowface’ is a novel about June Hayward, who steals the just-finished manuscript of her successful friend, Athena Liu, after Athena's sudden death. June edits the novel and sends it to her agent as her own work, becoming a best-selling author. However, June's success is threatened when evidence emerges that she stole the manuscript, and she must protect her secret at all costs.

𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 💭
I read this as an ARC, so I pretty much went into ‘Yellowface’ without knowing much about it. And I honestly think that’s the best way to approach this book. *Because* I didn’t know what this book was about, I was extremely shocked when June stole Athena’s work and published it as her own.

‘Yellowface’ is the first R.F. Kuang book I’ve read, and immediately after reading ‘Yellowface’, I went out to buy ‘The Poppy War’ – R.F. Kuang’s debut novel. Why? Because I just LOVE the way she writes. R.F. Kuang’s writing is so captivating that you cannot help but continue reading what she has to say next. The narration in this book is done very well, perhaps one of the best narrations I’ve ever read. June is a questionable narrator, yes, but an entertaining one nonetheless.

The way R.F. Kuang intertwines the topics of racism, Chinese history, diversity and cultural appropriation within the plot is masterfully done. There were moments when I had to put down my Kindle and just reflect on what the hell just happened.

The way the narrator directly refers to the reader creates a sense of chilling intimacy – as if the narrator is right beside you, trying to convince and justify to you that she has done nothing wrong.

I also feel like Juniper Song is someone we all don’t want to be, yet we all secretly are. I mean, shouldn’t we all feel genuinely happy when we witness the success of our friends? Yet, as much as we try to suppress and not admit to this, we do feel a pang of jealousy before the happiness. We do wonder, ‘Why isn’t that me?’ – difficult to admit, but I’m 99% sure that we’ve all felt this way before.

All I can say is I cannot wait for R.F. Kuang’s next book and I highly recommend ‘Yellowface’, which is out on 25TH MAY 2023!

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and HarperCollins for this advanced-reader copy, in exchange for my honest opinions. 💫

I was looking forward to reading this book and I thought I would really enjoy it, having read Kuang’s work before. Is it well written? Yes. Are any of the characters likeable - no, but that is one of the strengths of the plot. Do we have a satisfyingly unreliable narrator. Yes. Did I read it quickly to find out what happened? Yes. Is this an important book which raises issues that need to be addressed? Yes. And yet…..and yet, it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

3 ⭑
this is so difficult to review, on one side i liked it and on the other side not. this was my first book by r.f kuang so i was really excited to read it but sadly it couldn’t reach my high expectations. The pacing in the book felt really slow and the ending rushed. i wish i would’ve loved this book.

but thank you netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did really enjoy this book and it is a really good thriller. However at times I found the main character exhausting to read from (I know this is kind of the point though). I got so frustrated with her actions and decisions but that's exactly what was supposed to happen, Overall really enjoyed this.

Thank you so much HarperCollins and Netgalley for sending me a copy of Yellowface.

I immediately fell in love with this book. As someone who has friends in the publishing space, I did find the insider knowledge quite funny and relatable. And perhaps that can be alienating to people who are completely outside of that space.

I thought it was a brilliant inspection of race and privilege. As well as what it means to be an ally, an author and successful.

I love an unlikable main character but June may have taken the biscuit.