Rebecca F Kuang has possibly written my favourite book of 2023 without it even being 2023 yet. This book was astounding in its writing and blew me away with the quick-paced, dark tone. The plot itself was brilliant: an insight into the world of publishing and social media at its wittiest.

Kuang's choice to frame the storyline from June's perspective as a white female unreliable narrator makes the nuances of the book deeper and intertwined. I spent my entire time reading the book internally screaming at her inability to understand the microaggressions (and aggressions at points) of how racism overwhelms publishing. Kuang's character building is what makes this story an unputdownable literary work of art. You witness her privilege shape her expectations in such a despicable way that I'm not sure how anyone could read this book and sympathise with her. I detested June's character and her constant need to contrast herself to those around her while believing she deserves everything, but that is what makes this book so gripping; my hatred for her made me desperate to know how her story ended and is possibly the first time I've ever wished for a bad ending for a character.

Kuang calls out exactly what needs to change in the publishing industry, while brilliantly leaving the reader to ponder the pros and cons of cancel culture and the spiralling effect that social media holds. Ultimately, this book is a must-read as it perfects the depth and nuance of exhibiting characters that we love to hate.

[A version of this review will be posted on my TikTok in the week of publication date.]

Rating: 4.0/5

This had been sitting on my "To Be Read" list for some considerable time. Although I had heard good things about it, this was always likely to be a little different to the majority of my fictional reading material, so it had found itself being leapfrogged by later arrivals that were likely to be closer to my comfort zone. I shall now make a note for my own future reference to ensure that I don't follow that path again - it has led me to miss out on a very enjoyable read for far longer than I should have done.

I have seen this billed as a crime thriller, but that strikes me as more than a little misleading. Yes, there is a crime in the form of plagiarism, but I am not sure that I would describe "Yellowface" as thrilling. That said, it is certainly compelling and a definite page-turner. I am not sure that I would have ever expected a novel set within the world of fictional writing and publishing to provide such gripping potential - but it absolutely does. The credit for that must go to the author. The lead character writes at one point, "Reading should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore." This viewpoint absolutely echoes my own and Rebecca F. Kuang is true to the word of her main protagonist. I strongly suspect I will be back for more and next time I won't leave it languishing on my T.B.R. list!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I finished reading the book a long time ago but I wanted to think carefully about what score to give it and how to do the review.

I could have given it 5 stars, but I couldn't.

Yellowface or Amarilla, as the Spanish translation will be, shows us the hidden (and dark) side of the publishing world, as well as the frenzy that exists on social networks around books. As a bookstagrammer, there are some things that I felt close to, because it is something that is seen on a day-to-day basis (unfortunately, some) so if those issues of social networks were so well portrayed, I am sure that everything that showed the world editorial and its internal ones would be very close to reality.

And no one would really be surprised.

Yellowface presents us with a very different protagonist from what I usually read in books and I think many of you will agree that she is not conventional. June Hayward is a cynical, false, liar, envious person and I could say sociopath who feels the need to be the victim in every decision-making and to make us understand that she does it with a justification and that it really is what she should do. What you have the right to do.

I read some comments that said that the protagonist was one of the worst and that is why they gave her a low score. Personally, that was what attracted me the most to the book, because we can see a totally different character from what we are used to, and I feel that the author did not want to justify the character. It was really the character who wanted us to believe that he was a good person.

But what happened to me with this book is that I feel that during the whole story he was trying to sell me something, that SOMETHING was going to happen and it really didn't. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil, but I felt that I anticipated something that didn't happen but it's not something that ruined the book for me either (hence the four stars) because I feel that what happened is actually viable, that it makes sense.

A very interesting read.

I will publish it on 2/20 on my instagram: magui.world and also on XIAHPOP (Asian culture magazine), date undefined.

Oh my god. This book is insanity from start to finish. Like not one of them characters was serious for one moment. Just terrible terrible people. They were all a bunch of leeches.

Juniper… terrible woman. Like wishing death on your “friend” is insane and then for that friend to die and the first thing you do is steal their work???? Like what’s up with that. Such a nasty person, not to mention a raging racist too. If it was one thing about her it was her consistency in remaining a delusional entitled narcissist!!!

I’ve never wanted a character to fail as miserably as I wanted junie to fail but tell me why I was lowkey rooting for her at the last stand off 🧍🏾‍♀️. Was I manipulated by her character????? I’m sitting here a lil dumbfounded right now.

Athena was no saint either but she met her maker so I’m gonna let her rest….

Candice also a lil rat, she was right but she was also wrong.

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for accepting me to be a pre-publication reviewer of this book.

Plot: june and Athena were meant to have been twin literary starts but the former’s debut flops whilst the ‘diverse’ Athena rises to fame. When she dies in a freak accident leaving June with a temptation too difficult to pass up, she steals her magus opus manuscript and passes it off as her own. But what happens when the Twitterati come after June? What will she do to keep the secret her whole future depends on hidden? No more now because I really do want you to read this book.

Where do I start with this one? Rebecca Kuang once again (the only other book by her I’ve read is Babel - incredible book btw) gives us a cross-genre, engaging novel that is proving very difficult to summarise my thoughts. Yellowface is primarily a literary book but there’s also elements of a thriller, mystery, contemporary, a horror ghost story too and it’s really amazing how well Kuang weaves these themes together. It’s also a darkly comedic satire that has genuine wit - it’s lol funny at times like Trump supporters buying and supporting a book about Chinese Labour Corps in WW1. And this is not forced one bit, even parts not meant to be humorous are at times, great! Unlike Babel, this is not the most beautifully written piece but it is equally as intriguing and pulls you forward (I read this in about 3 large sittings over 2 days which is incredible for a book this size), the pro-/an-tagonist June Hayward/Juniper Song is an extremely interesting character that is very morally grey and totally encapsulated me. I wanted her to succeed and give it to the haters - I was genuinely cheering her on at points - but also when she was being attacked I was like “hun has some pointers here” it’s amazing how Kuang wrote her and the level of detail and nuance is superb. Washington DC is also brought to life in this book with so many real-world references to the city, I was even checking places out on Google maps, that was a great addition. Similarly, Kuang’s knowledge of the publishing industry shines through and this was interesting up to a point when I found it slightly boring/repetitive where I would’ve preferred to read about other things in all honestly.

This leads me to a criticism with Yellowface in how it does get quite repetitive with the plot lines, themes and messages. I’m not saying these aren’t important as the treatment of Asian and other ethnic minority groups in the publishing industry (and all areas of life) is unfair which we should be talking about. This idea of ‘diverse’ and ‘token’ hires is a big problem that deserves discussions on where representation does matter for sure, the many sides to the argument are put forward in this book but I feel they are rehashed a few too many times. This butting heads is apparent in the Twitter discourse elements that take over a large portion, the arguments on either side, how things spiral and snowball making you wonder what will happen next and the comments on cancel culture are very interesting and enjoyable to read. However, I did begin to lose interest slightly. This is largely in part because those involved in making attacks and defending June aren’t fully fleshed out characters with back stories and personal lives but instead mere mouthpieces. June and her ‘friend’ Athena Liu are the only real characters who are more then one-dimensional portrayals of people in the publishing and reviewer industries - they have important things to say but there is a big disconnect between them and the reader. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s written entirely from June’s POV with her own judgements so this is good at furthering realising her character but yhh, something to think about.

This book is very meta. I wasn’t fully aware of what this exactly meant so with a little Googling I do agree with some fellow reviewers on this. A large part of Yellowface deals with reviewers and how books are perceived and all that jazz so it’s a little weird knowing I’m writing a review for a book about an author who is heavily impacted by other peoples reviews… brain not function right now. But yep, it’s quite strange but I do feel this is done well and certainly an intriguing plot line that we follow. This is apparent in the part when June is unsure how to end her third book which is how I think Kuang was feeling as well with this one - meta!!

The discussion on how we tell the horrific histories of humanity is extremely interesting. The book June steals and polishes about the forgotten Chinese Labour Corps involvement in WW1 was something I knew nothing about and I would very much like to read a book lie ‘The Last Front’ it sounds amazing. But then who gets to tell this story? Should it be those from Chinese diaspora communities? Or if someone (non Chinese) has the right to given they put in the research and portray it well, nuanced and with sensitivity? When questioned on this I think June’s response is perfectly valid: “…writing is fundamentally an exercise in empathy. Reading lets us live in someone else's shoes. Literature builds bridges; it makes our world larger, not smaller.” So once again this is certainly a topic we should be talking about and I can see the points from the multiple sides - definitely one to think about.

Overall, I do have some reservations with this book but it is well written and very engaging. It throws up many points for discussion (sometimes in too much detail and repetitive) that we should be having. I would definitely recommend this one and cannot wait for it to be published to see the reviews pile in, maybe there’ll be some drama too.

I am so grateful to have received a copy of this book by Rebecca F. Kuang and was so excited to read it. I loved her Poppy War Trilogy and Babel is now one of my all time favourite books….. and this one was just as good, and also so different from her other works! I love how the author is able to write so masterfully in all sorts of different genres. This novel was much lighter than her others in its writing style and yet skilfully conjured up a detailed picture in my head of all the characters and scenarios. Such an amazing read, hugely digestible as it is very quick paced and i read it in just a few settings. One of my favourite authors, and no doubt will continue and continue to be!

This is my first R.F. Kaung book. I have to say, I wasn't overly enamoured with it. It started well. Tension was built, characters were strong.
Then the tension stayed at the same point for so long it kind of fizzled out.
The last 10% of the book picked up again however the end.... was a little.... meh.

I'm so sad because I wanted to love it and I was so happy to get approved for an advanced copy from NetGalley. Unfortunately, it just didn't land right for me

Where do I even begin with this one? Yellowface is a dark satire on the publishing industry and in some ways a thriller that starts with the crime to document its aftermath. Written in perceptively breezy contemporary rom-com style, it tackles themes of racism, tokenism, the commercialisation of otherness and hurt. All this is written in the first perspective of the villain, and we get a front seat to her thoughts, feelings and motivations. Her pettiness and malice, her feelings of inequality and hurt, the way life has dealt her one shitty card after another.

And she's horrible, make no mistake; but Kuang just writes her so well that she becomes utterly real and you get this sour taste at the back of your throat that tells you yes, this was wrong what she did, but the slope was so gradual, the steps leading to her doom so... relatable, this could have been me. You inhabit the villain's mind, and what she did is horrible, and still it is to easy to see how she came to do it. The way Kuang pulled this off is incredible.

Yellowface is certainly one of the best books of the year for me, but I still did not enjoy reading it very much. Being in June's head is not an easy experience, and the book crushed all hopes I ever had of being a published author myself out of me. These are matters of my personal taste, which is why I will not let them influence my rating for this review.

Yellowface is briliant. Kuang is brilliant. I already suspected as much when reading Babel, but Yellowface has confirmed my opinion that she has more brainspace than normal people. Certainly more than I do. If that doesn't convince you to pick this up and read it, I don't know what will.

I want to thank HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for a free review. All opinions here expressed are my own.

Yellowface has made me simultaneously want to quit being a writer and work harder on my writing. It's genius in the sense it constantly balances every opinion and perspective and puts it out for you to think about. It's half an inside joke to the community of struggling writers and half an eye opener for consumers which is honestly great.

The message was written incredibly well and I was quite surprised by how the book never comes off as specifically condemning or biased. The overarching themes were great but the plot wasn't something I enjoyed as much as I would have hoped. More of towards the ending/conclusion part. The characters are incredibly dislikable which I'm sure was the point thus its objectively a 5 star but personally a 4 :)

R. F. Kuang's dry, sardonic wit churns her very own Burn Book of the publishing industry that will elicit much laughter for those familiar with the scandals and incidents she references, delivering a dark comedy many people in the industry will enjoy.

R F Kuang does it again. This book is brilliant. It balances serious, highly topical points whilst also being a fairly light-hearted novel in comparison to her other books. This is the first time Kuang has written in this genre, showing yet again her versatility. Recommend greatly.

Very different from R. F. Kuang’s previous works but brilliant nonetheless, Yellowface really solidified her as one of my autobuy authors. This was so compulsively readable, a meltdown you can’t look away from as well as an insightful critique of the publishing industry. Also the cyclical nature of bookish discourse made some of this SO funny.

Almost every character in Yellowface is problematic for one reason or another—but none are more horrible than Juniper.

And this will become, in time, my story once again

This is a book that I almost couldn't put a rating on. It's somewhere between five stars and no stars—an odd, uncomfortable amalgamation of both—as it should be. It's not fair of me to speak on the nuances of this book in relation to R.F Kuang's past, especially regarding the concerns readers have pointed out with her past stories. But I can't disregard how polarizing Yellowface is. In this context, and this context alone, I want to speak about Juniper and her story—one that is not hers at all.

What more can we want as writers, but such immortality? Don't ghosts just want to be remembered? I think constantly about Athena these days.

I sit with her ghost. I invite her to speak.

[ SPOILERS AHEAD ]

One of the qualities of Kuang's writing that I found most suffocating whilst reading was the way she so perfectly painted the satirical clown-fuckery that is Juniper and her life. Unlike Athena—Juniper is painted as human—even after she does horrible things and is a general monster to society, we learn that she herself has been through horrible experiences. But just as you get to any point in the book of trying to justify any of her actions to even the slightest degree, Juniper goes and does something that makes you want to throttle her. No matter how objectively, and morally, wrong Athena's actions were, none of those things makes what Juniper does after right. We never see Athena as human in the way Juniper sees herself as human—instead, we watch Juniper paint Athena, and all other people who are not similar to herself, as nothing more than "cute" "porcelain dolls". They can never make mistakes or grow or learn. They can only be shattered, having their pieces stolen and re-glued back together. The fact that she's a Harry Potter stan should paint the picture of who Juniper is perfectly—and that's not even the worst of it.

Without Athena, who am I?

I can stand to be a pariah. But to bend, to throw away all my savings, to kowtow to the Twitterati and prostrate myself before the taunting, smug crowd—I would rather die.

I think that there are certain aspects to this story that I may have connected to more, as a writer, than most readers may do. Whilst living in the mind of Juniper was terrifying and tiring, outside of that, Yellowface describes the terrifying realities of the publishing industry, a take that is so meta it's almost dizzying to read. But, if anything, Kuang has near perfectly captured the #writtertwt experience. The tweets, both hateful and supportive alike, were perfectly written.

All in all, this book is definitely a lot. Please ensure you read all content warnings before going in. Once you start, it feels impossible to stop.

And if anyone knows about that, it's Juniper.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

RF Kuang has managed, for a second time this year, to leave me speechless (well almost).

The story of June/Juniper and Athena Liu is very clever but also shocking, rage-inducing, funny and disturbing.

The twists and turns this novel takes will leave you wondering exactly what way can she go next (and there were lots of opportunities to spiral off into a completely different book had Kuang wanted to).

What she did manage to do was actually have me arguing with myself about the ethics and, to me, this book is all about ethics, of the situation June finds herself in the minute she puts Athena's unfinished manuscript into her bag after Athena's truly shocking death.

There's so much packed into the pages that you will be spinning while you're trying to figure out which bit enrages you most - is it the white entitlement; the total delusion June lives with; the use of the em-dash and/or semicolon (only kidding but it does make you smirk a bit when this particular bugbear of many a reader is brought up.

However, whichever way you read this book and whatever your conclusions are the only thing I can say is that RF Kuang is a fascinating writer. I loved Babel. I thought it was a masterpiece that I could happily read again any time. In Yellowface she's careered off in a completely different direction and her writing is still superb. The storyline seems simple and is anything but while her characters have the ability to change your mind about your allegiances over and over again.

Excellent. Highly recommended. Thankyou RF Kuang. I'm off to buy the Poppy War trilogy to indulge some more.

June and Athena have been friends they were both dreaming of being writers at College. But now, Athena is a highly acclaimed darling of the literary world and June is left trailing behind in her shadow.

She can't help but wonder why - Is it because Athena is more beautiful? Because she's cooler? Because her ambiguous queerness and Asian heritage make her more diverse and interesting? Does she make her readers feel clever and cultured? It can't be because she's a better writer than her.

And then one night, it doesn't matter anymore. When Athena dies suddenly after a night celebrating her latest success, June finds herself along with Athena's newest secret manuscript … but now, it's hers. And suddenly, she's a success. Okay, she might rebrand herself with a new name and ambiguous identity, but her dream is finally real until a ghost lurking in the shadows threatens to turn it into a nightmare.

"What more can we want as writers, but such immortality? Don't ghosts just want to be remembered?"

Incisive and immersive - this story is a searing statement about the erasure and othering of Asian and other minority cultures in a white-centric society. It's a blinding social commentary about race, class, culture, social media - and the line between appropriation and respect, between speaking up for someone and speaking for them.

Satirical and almost parody-like at times, this story is formed through a clever cocktail of different media forms, an unreliable narrator and a hyper-focused lens that keeps us separated from the outside world and only letting us hear the voice of one singular person. June is undeniably a detestable character - and hearing first person from the villain of the story was an interesting and refreshing choice. Of course, it's always difficult to read a story from the perspective of someone you dislike, but she invoked our morbid curiosity and made me need to know what she was going to do next. RFK nails the deep discomfort of forcing us into a relationship with a character who is toxic, jealous, hateful and ignorant -- creating murky grey areas of morality outside of the clear cut right and wrong and crafting an atmosphere of such intense anxiety it's almost palpable.

And of course, then there's the interesting irony of RFK, an Asian writer, pretending to be a white writer, pretending to be an Asian writer - admittedly it's on the nose but it just kept adding layers to the existential humour of this story. When writing as June, she writes from the view of someone ignorant and racist, who sees diversity as a threat to her and a benefit to everyone else, as an act of tokenism that gives success to people based on their skin or culture. All while as I'm sure many other people know, whether because of race, gender, disability, queerness; that tokenism is very real but it used against people to limit how loud their voices are and people will often attribute our success to this instead of our talents.

In Yellowface, June wants to justify not only stealing the book to herself, but releasing a story that is not hers to wider society - remaining ignorant to the difference between storytelling and stealing, which adds a layer of something painfully absurd and self-aware to this story. RFK writes about horrible, uncomfortable things and while there's clearly rage there, there isn't a blanket hatred and bitterness. To quote our own villain, "She has the confidence, the understated and lyrical prose necessary to tell such a heavy story without coming across pompous, juvenile or sanctimonious."

At times the style was erratic and jumpy, the narration guided and forced by a singular voice - at times this left no room for reflection or nuance as Junes voice was overpowering and overbearing. There were large sections that felt almost out of place, heated discourse and discussion on writing over twitter, goodreads, social media that almost broke the pace for me.

To quote June once more, "But what do I do with the ending Where do I leave the protagonist now that there's no clear resolution?" - the latter stages of this book felt strange to me, their absurdity reaching fever pitch, almost like it'd been taken from another writer and copied in. Whether that's a witty attempt at an ironic parallel I'm not sure, but it did leave me feeling a little alienated at the conclusion.

It took me a few days of stewing to write this review - did I like it? Am I doubting that I like it because I hated the characters? Are the clever parallels and self-referential, twists genius or too much? But at the end of the day, it lingered in my mind and made me write a review three times longer than usual because I had so much to think about. So yes, I'd say I did regardless of the stylistic choices and overpowering narration that I didn't particularly enjoy.

Either way, this is the kind of book that demands to be talked about, so if you're looking for something to start a discussion at your next book club, you've found it.

This book is vicious, outrageous and unputdownable, as Kuang addresses a manipulative publishing industry and the things authors will do to be adored.

Shocking, unbelievable and ringing true in turns, the characters are unlikeable, their dilemmas are first-world problems and the bitchiness of a modern world laid bare by the echo chamber of social media is captured in all its glory.

It's hard to know but fun to guess what effect Kuang is aiming for - is it a takedown of the publishing world, a critique of female friendship, or an exposition on the underlying unpleasantness of ego-driven creatives? It's all of them - and more.

As a thriller it reads beautifully, and I couldn't help feeling manipulated by the author as she uses many of the devices her characters claim to lay bare to develop her story.

Absolutely loved the book as it followed a razor sharp line and covered some very challenging issues with sensitivity and intelligence. And it is awfully, truly very funny - loved it!

This was done perfectly, it was witty and dark. The story kept me gripped I finished this book in less than a day. I couldn’t put it down. I’m going to check out her other work now as I have Babel on my shelf. The project feels timely, exploring the issue of tokenism in the publishing industry. I loved the references to pop culture through out. The ending was superb and very meta.

I really liked this book. It was really well written, such an interesting concept. And despite all the wrong doing on June’s part, I still felt somewhat drawn to her. I also found the development of Athena’s character really interesting since it was after she died and i really grew to feel for her. The only disappointment for me was the ending, I felt like I needed more closure.

I haven't read any of RFK's other books, so I didn't go into this novel with any expectation. I also read lit-fiction, so think that's where this book fits in rather than it being similar to other books she's written, and that's OK - let's not pigeon hole writers (which is essentially what this book is about).

I really enjoyed this read, and raced through it in two days. I enjoyed the first person and the voice of the main character - I didn't like nor dislike her, and that's what I found compelling. June was a totally normal human being making choices as she went along, and this is what I enjoyed about the book.

I also enojyed the insight into the publishing world - I know that's what people maybe didn't like - but to be honest after 35+ years of reading, I've come across most plots - and this was a refreshing read, something I haven't read before, and of course I was into it because I'm massively into books!

I thought the social media discourse in the middle was fine - and I thought it offered some interestiing commentary on the topic. The whole book is something of a social commentry and I will be thinking about some of the issues raised in this for a while.

I like reading this type of material - so I was pleasantly surprised to be offered something challenging and thoughtful rather than something that was fantastical genre wise. Happy reader here. Always happy to be challenged.

Short Version: I was blown away by this book. Sarcastic and witty, it strikes so close to the bone in places I wasn’t sure I was reading fiction. If you like books and have even a passing interest in the book industry, you need to read this.

Long Version:

This is unlike any of the authors previous work so if you are looking for more of the same, you are not going to get it. What you are going to get is a pretty dark thriller set in the world of publishing and it is nothing short of brilliant. There is a bravery to this book that we should really pay attention to.

Plot:  Full of surprises, the plot often goes in directions I didn’t see coming. Not twists exactly, more like layers that are uncovered in interesting ways. I really like the way the plot was handled, it stays coherent throughout. There is so much of this book is rooted in reality and it draws in to the open things we all know happen, particularly on social media.

Characters:  The characters are what makes this book. They are all lively, engaging and realistic. I guarantee there will be characters (or elements of characters) that you have encountered and I love when characters are that fleshed out. You definitely get the sense each character has their own story that just happens to intersect where we can see it.

Settings:  Pretty much background only, there is enough description to give scene setting but it never gets too much or gets int he way.

Prose:  Flows beautifully, nothing jarring.  

Pace:  Swings like the pendulum of public opinion. Pacing matches the beats of the story perfectly throughout.

Ending:  Very satisfying, no complaints from me :)

Who would love this: Anyone even peripherally involved in booktwitter needs to read this, anyone who likes a good, dark thriller.