This was nothing like I expected it to be! I read this is one go. It was very easy to read. The writing style is very different to R F Kuang’s other work. The characters are morally grey, two faced , self centred and manipulative. Things were going wrong after ever turn after Athena’s death. why am I rooting for such a horrible character; this is what is made to happen !!

Yellowface is a real rollercoaster of a novel, and there were times I couldn't decide whether I loved it or hated it.

As a literary exercise, it's compelling; with a distinctive and flawed narrative voice and forays into metafiction, the whole thing drips with dark humour (Kuang skirts round satire, never quite mastering the art). There's nothing so uncomfortable as white justification, and Kuang uses that to great effect.

However, this is a story deeply rooted in the world of publishing and book Twitter, and if that's not your world (as it won't be for most readers), then it's difficult to understand or care about Juniper's obsession with it. The repeated use of social media screeds as key plot points is heavy-handed and irritating, and it actually detracts from some of the racial discourse that underpins the story. It's like half the action takes place in this echo chamber which is alienating to many current readers and is also going to get dated fast.

Yellowface has a clever, compelling premise, but it's often a very frustrating read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨~ 4.9 stars
•••
WOW WOW WOW - I looooved it - this literary thriller was to die for! It’s twisted and laced with dark humour.
•••
Yellowface explores racism, cancel culture, tokenism and lacking diversity in the publishing world from the perspective of a white woman. It follows main character June as she navigates the world of publishing; an aspiring author desperate to make it big like her best friend (and the object of her envy) Athena, June makes you question just how far one person is willing to go for success.
•••
Kuang managed to create a main character I both hated and desperately wanted to see succeed so that I could witness the chaos that ensued after her victory! June was morally grey and there were a lot of moments where I found myself squirming at her covert racism.
•••
I saw some reviewers upset by Kuang’s different style in Yellowface compared to other books, but I’ve never actually read anything by her so I came into this with fresh eyes and adored it.
•••
I’ll admit that there were a few too many pop culture references for my liking; if I read this book in five years time I’m going to struggle with some of them for sure. At the same time though, I get how topical a lot of the issues are right now and the book is already SO meta (booktwt, booksta & goodreads are mentioned a lot) that I kind of understand the decision to include so many contemporary allusions.
•••
Honestly, I couldn’t stop talking about it with my housemates, I had to keep filling them in on what was happening because I just felt like I HAD to discuss it. It even triggered an interesting discussion on cancel culture and the different perceptions of race in the UK and US.
•••
I usually judge books based on artsy language, but I can’t hear - I loved Yellowface BECAUSE of its speed and ease of read. It wasn’t QUITE on the level of my faves, but it was SO close because it was consistently gripping & I can tell I’ll be thinking about it for months to come.
•••
Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for this ARC - Yellowface is out May 2023.

This book is amazing. It is current, relevant, and observant of the toxic mess that is social media. This is a book that touches on so many issues around race, culture, and appropriation. I enjoyed the narrative as it challenged our perceptions of the first person being the hero. June Sang falls foul to temptation and karma returns to haunt her guilt. I was fixated on this story and couldn't put it down. My own concerns would be that some readers may struggle to understand the narrative and some of June's unconscious/conscious bias. However, this is a novel that everyone should read. It is very readable with an engaging structure. Kuang knows how to tell a story and uses clever twists and turns along the way..

Yellowface is a masterful commentary on our current social climate and the power of social media. It is so well written and so gripping that you can't stop reading. Kuang expertly writes from a perspective not her own to keep the reader guessing - is this Kuang's ideals or is it the main characters'?

This is...an interesting one. I'm in two minds about it.

Yellowface is unlike any of R.F. Kuang's previous books, and I think it's important for established fans to know that going in. Where Kuang's previous books are known for their intensity, Yellowface is a book that reads incredibly contemporary in comparison, with an easy writing style and clear satirical take on modern conversations. This is a book taking us on a tour of all that can be deemed problematic in the publishing world as well as the online book community, designed to be read in one sitting and received like a drama-spill session.

In many ways - especially as an online book reviewer myself - it was satisfying to see all laid bare. The topic of cancel culture is always one that seems fraught, and Kuang effortlessly navigates the racism arguments and their reception in the industry. Many will find it interesting to see just how much is at stake when it comes to social media and its effect on the industry, and it's sure to have people wondering if this is a positive or negative thing.

As entertainment however, it took me awhile to read this one purely for how tiresome it felt to be in Juniper's head during it all. The plot cycled through circles of the same issue in various forms, three or four times in the space of a few hundred pages. While I can understand the urge to show it as a relentless cycle of events, it almost felt blasé to rattle through said events without much insight into June's emotions and thoughts. Maybe it was just not the aim of this book with all its satire, but after knowing Kuang is capable of portraying an intensity of emotion and not seeing that translate across to this book...I was kind of disappointed. It was hard to get behind Juniper's mindset through it all.

I think many will love this one for its short, snappy look through the perils of twitter discourse and the publishing industry. Personally it felt tiresome - though maybe that's the point? Either way, I'd warn established fans to adjust their expectations somewhat, as this is unlike anything Kuang has published before.

On a positive side - I finished the book, but it is with a big sigh and general feeling of 'Meh'. The book starts off at a cracking pace; there is a death, a moral dilemma and two intriguing characters. Then things take a turn. I felt I was just on the edge of being lectured about race and society, for which there is a time and place, but I was did not know if it was me at fault, the characters, society in general or the publishing world.

There is then acres of naval gazing via social media - I think we can agree by now that is not a healthy thing to do.

Then the tale takes a turn for the really weird, a digital haunting. Now I was all onboard for this, there was a mystery, the main character is being driven slowly mad and the tension was building. Maybe the author got bored, maybe they could not find a satisfying way out of the situation, maybe they did not go to the writing workshop - whatever happened the plot deflates and after a couple of rambling paragraphs the book ends.

All in all not for me.

I recently read Rebecca F Kuang's new fantasy masterpiece, Babel, so I was very excited to read something else by her. Yellowface is so completely and utterly different to Babel that I'd have had trouble believing it was by the same author if I hadn't heard her talk about it at a Babel event in Toppings Edinburgh.

That's absolutely not a criticism though. If anything it shows that this is an author with incredible range, able to adapt her style and approach to the story she wants to tell. With Babel that was an epic story about language and colonialism, identity and etymology;. With Yellowface it is a searing examination of the publishing industry.

No one gets away unscathed either. There are the fickle, jealous fellow authors, the ambitious new debuts, the opiniated, bitchy assistant editors and disinterested agents. There are the bloggers, feeding on drama, and the family members who don't really understand but are vaguely supportive. There's the dangers of reading Goodreads reviews and the thrill of a Kirkus starred review. Rebecca Kuang has really pulled the curtain back in this book, exposing how bestsellers are more often than not created by a team who decide which books and which authors are going to have a massive impact and which ones are going to slump quietly onto bookshop shelves to gather dust. It's witty, incisive and oh so accurate. And at the heart of it is Twitter and the social media book world's love of drama. We see the devastating effects of Twitter pile=ons, from the first, quiet tweet that gathers speed and traction, the bloggers and authors weighing in on both sides, the messaged threats and support, then the media picking up the story and throwing it haphazardly onto front pages. We see the anxiety and fear it causes, and that self-destructive impulse that has us constantly reaching for our phone to see what people are saying about us when we know fine well we should block, lock and walk away from it all. We see publishing's love of diversity and what that actually means for authors involved.

At the centre of it all is Junie. An author who didn't exactly set the world on fire with her first novel, only to have a potential bestseller fall into her lap, written by her best friend, an award-winning novelist she just saw die. With Junie and through Junie we see it all. We see those early hopes of a published author, and we see them dashed when the industry does what it always does and picks its winners and its losers before they ever see a printed copy. We see the dizzying whirlwind of success, and the implications of those social media controversies. We share in her fears and anxiety; what if her secret comes out? What if this whole house of cards comes tumbling down?

One of the cleverest elements of this novel is it gives us the room to make our own mind up about Junie. She justifies each and every one of her actions, to herself and to the reader. Her conviction is strong enough at times to make her believe that she's only ever done the right thing. But is it enough to convince the reader? I love how we can each decide that for ourselves, in this morally grey area. Yellowface is dark, clever and brilliant!

A novel about publishing so realistic that I can taste the warm white wine at the launch party.

Yellowface is a detailed and fascinating portrayal of the publishing industry, exposing the dark unseen depths and exploring the issue of race within a literary window.

The writing was gripping and moving, with constant twists and turns to constantly make you think and wonder what could possibly go wrong next (because let's face it, this book is a train wreck from beginning to end). As it is told in the first person, we really get to the depths of the main characters two-faced and satirical nature. And no review would be complete without that Babel easter-egg so cleverly woven into another definition entirely.

The main focus is the main character, June, and her constant envy, bordering on feud, with Athena. Her morally grey character shines bright as we slowly learn more about the origins of these rivals and maybe start to feel pity for how she let it get to this stage. Her revelations about her relationship with Athena towards the end really pulls the story together and helps you see how twisted emotions can get when left unchecked.

This book is advertised as a thriller, but its so subtly built throughout the story. When you begin reading, it's very LitFic, as we simply follow June's life following the trauma of the opening chapter. But slowly, gradually, the dark, ghost-like thriller narrative weaved its way in and came to a climatic showdown.

I will admit, the ending feels very abrupt, but it haunts you for hours afterwards. The whole book portrays the realities of publishing and writing (the feuds, the jealousies, the prejudice) that is often behind the scenes. The final pages, leading to that abrupt conclusion, almost feels like a way of saying, these feelings portrayed never really end, the story comes around again as the publishing industry pushes out the next big thing and social media reacts and distorts and fuels the fires, and it is down to the individual to just stop reading it.

All said, another powerful novel by an author implementing her work as a permanent fixture on my shelves.

Yellowface is a quick and addictive read which is let down by a saggy middle section which literally loses the plot.

Athena Liu is the latest literary darling, an Asian American writer with the world at her feet. Unfortunately she is killed by a pancake (I can think of worse ways to go) and her white friend June steals her latest book and passes it off as her own, casually attempting to imply Chinese heritage while she does so.

I loved the first third of the book, the set-up is great and there are plenty of fascinating insights into how publishing works. But some time around the halfway point, the book stops feeling like a novel, and the plot slows to a halt, as the author instead deep-dives into why social media is such a hellish shithouse. The ending feels a little bit like an afterthought, produced after the author had gotten everything she wanted to say off her chest.

Nonetheless, Yellowface is thought-provoking and illuminating and when the characters, rather than the author's frustrations, take centre-stage, it's also enjoyable.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this eARC.
Rebecca. F. Kuang’s debut litfit offering is a look at diversity and racism within the publishing industry. The story follows a white author who steals an unpublished manuscript from an Asian American author after a freak accident leads to her death.
I love the way Kuang has an ability to tell such different stories with each project she takes on, whilst keeping a narrative voice that is uniquely her own. Yellowface gave an interesting, if not brutal, insight into the publishing industry and the injustices faced by marginalised authors. It was witty, fast paced and impossible to put down. It was a book that was as uncomfortable to read as it was utterly brilliant and morbidly funny. Just based on the premise of the book I was able to open up a number of interesting conversations with students and a number of them are looking forward to reading it upon it's publication.

Since I reading those 10-page New Yorker articles about literary-writer-drama is a guilty pleasure of mine, I was excited to get an advance review copy of Yellowface, which promised me several hundred pages of the same.

It seems like a book the author wrote on a dare over a long weekend. It’s a novel where every choice the protagonists make is the worst/most racist one available, everyone behaves crappily and no one gets a happy ending (but nor do they get a good comeuppance). As satire it’s heavy-handed and unsubtle. I personally found it entertaining but workmanlike, though Kuang is a super-versatile writer for pulling this off after cutting her teeth in dense fantasy epics. I was compelled to keep reading, just to watch the slow fallout from June’s initial attack of sticky fingers.

The problem is: those New Yorker features about backstabbing, thieving MFA cohorts are so addictive and TRUE…how can fiction measure up?

Brilliant! Entertaining, thought-provoking, challenging... the writing is fast, clear, involving: the narrator is morally challenged (and challenging!), persuasive, obsessive. The story is riveting, encompassing as it does the very nature of writing, the role of the original idea v the draft v the final version; the ghost writer v the name on the cover; the publishing world in the times we live in as regards diversity, gender, voice, visibility, accountability...

I read Yellowface compulsively. This is a wonderfully realised artefact which makes you think deeply and manages to do so many things at the same time: to tell the story of a fraught friendship, of a writing rivalry between two ambitious young writers: the successful Athena Liu and June Hayward, and the messy story of a draft of a novel based on historical fact (the Chinese labourers that worked for the Allies during WW1 and have been largely forgotten) which will be stolen, appropriated, rewritten...

The title kept nagging as I read in a myriad ways... this is one of the key pleasures of this book. The issues are dealt with in real terms with events that require reflexion on the part of the reader. Everything is far more complex, ethically and politically involved, than first appears. The text is ultimately a critique of simple thoughts and answers, of tokenism, of a market that will profit regardless. The end was tremendously impressive, didn't let the whole fall as it is often the case....

A wonderful literary thriller which I am grateful to have read via a gifted ARC from The Borough Press and NetGalley.

This absolutely blew me away. I knew Rebecca was a fantastic writer, but this left me reeling with tons of different emotions. I loved how through the main character's thoughts and feelings you got to really understand the layers of the story. Just thinking about it makes me want to reread it again. I felt disgusted and creeped out of my skin at some parts, I still can't get over the twists and turns, it was so well done.

Yellowface is a gripping, darkly funny satire. Especially for those who have the pleasure (or displeasure?) to be embedded in the publishing industry. It follows June Hayward--a white woman who craves 'deserved' validation for her literary merits.

This desire leads June to impulsively steal the unpolished draft of Athena Liu --acclaimed Asian-American author--on the night Athena dies. 'Inspired' June revises the draft, and then submits the work to her agent as her latest project.

From there, Yellowface takes us steadily through the rapid ascent of June Hayward (now writing as Juniper Song). R.F. Kuang writes June's character excellently, making June's actions understandable and plausible when set against her ideological and moral compass. What I particularly enjoyed was how R.F. Kuang balanced June's reprehensible actions against the imperfectness of the publishing industry. The effective way at which she did this was compelling.


This was an accomplished literary fiction debut and I look forward to more from her!

in all honesty, this is my first r. f. kuang book so I genuinely had no idea what I was getting myself in for.

in a nutshell: white, less successful author june steals a manuscript from dead, more successful asian author athena liu.

this book is a satirical take on the world of publishing and how social media outcries play a huge part in this. the themes of race, discrimination, prejudice and privilege are prevalent throughout the novel, with r. f. kuang at the beginning consistently comparing the main characters together through the eyes of june to create a written rivalry between the two, rather unlikeable in my humble opinion, personas.

“Athena–a beautiful, Yale-educated, international, ambiguously queer woman of color–has been chosen by the Powers that Be. Meanwhile, I’m just brown-eyed, brown-haired June Hayward, from Philly–and no matter how hard I work, or how well I’ll write, I’ll never be Athena Liu.”

(i just had to share this quote because it reads like a 2012 YA dystopian novel and I found that rather funny)

the writing is incredibly fast paced, but not necessarily in a bad way. because of this, i feel like we don’t actually get a deep dive into any of the characters except for june who just comes across as self righteous and jealous, not to mention narcissistic and downright racist (it is fun to read about her suffering after coming to terms with what she’s actually done and how she’s done it to get to where she is now). her blatant racism is an uncomfortable read, some of her thoughts making my eyebrows raise up so quickly i think they’re about to take off. she acts like a god amongst asian voices and thinks she’s better than everyone else. she’s just a really, truly unlikeable character. not one redeeming quality. but we’re meant to not like her and r. f. kuang portrays this well.

social media plays a huge part throughout the novel; take a shot every time twitter or instagram is mentioned and you won’t finish the book. not just twitter and instagram; goodreads, online blogs and reviews, each one r. f. kuang takes a jab at through june and it’s here where i think she is just venting her frustrations about the online world and using june as a vessel.

all in all, it was a rather infuriating read given how exasperating june is however i really enjoyed this. the novel is incredibly frustrating at times, sure, but i loved the fact i could despise june. i will definitely be deep diving into more r. f. kuang novels in the future!

Yellowface is a brazen, bold, unapologetic look at the publishing industry, entitlement, appropriation and racism and even social media as we follow Junie, a bitter, jealous young woman who, following the death of her somewhat friend Athena, takes her most recent manuscript and acts as if it is her own. The book, The Last Front, becomes a huge success before controversy hits, first in heated discussions over whether a white author should publish Chinese history, and then the rumours start that Junie didn’t write this book at all. What follows is a satirical, intense story that takes many twists and turns.

I’ll admit, I don’t necessarily know how I feel about this book. I really appreciated the insights into story writing, publishing, promotional campaigns etc, as someone who only sees the end product it was interesting to get this glimpse into the pressures, the frustrations and the complicated process of producing a book, a successful book at that. Also as someone who has various social media formats and follows authors and bloggers, I have seen many outraged discussions, authors called out (whether justified or not) and the frenzy that ensues in threads, the PR prepared apologies, the comebacks that definitely should have come from a publicist, so this book coming from a different viewpoint was fascinating. I suppose what helps make this book so real in this sense is also a little what I struggled with, in knowing an established author, with a very successful series and upcoming hyped book, with a very prominent social media presence, made it difficult to separate the author and the book.
While this book is satire in how intense it is, it’s been marketed as funny and I didn’t see the humour. Again, is that humour if you’re in the industry and can identify with experiencing elements of the madness of the process and environment? Possibly. There are some twists (although I’ll admit I saw them coming) and developments that are rather intense (a confrontation near the end comes to mind), insights and quality research into WW1 and this is a short, easy read that is very engrossing and ‘juicy’ to delve into in 1 sitting.

This isn’t a subtle book, it tells you how to feel and there is no ambiguity over right or wrong, there is no white ally in this book, Junie is insufferable and enraging, there is no debate on that. The racism is blatant, near every character demonstrates this, and yet it is never looked in the eye, you just spend the pages in the head of a racist self pitied to her own circumstances and fueled by her own ignorance and prejudice. And I can’t criticise this book for that because let’s not pretend that white people regularly have that moment of unguarded self reflection and look directly at their own ugliness and ignorance and vow to change and contest our privilege. We are inherently defensive and Kuang is not hesitant to challenge her readers which I hugely respect. Add to that the balls it takes to publish a book about how racist the book industry is/can be, Junie seems a dialled up character for sure, and yet I can’t say the world doesn’t have Junie’s walking through it. I would have loved for there to be character development and growth, some element of hope, but this feels naïve to wish for. I do wish we had got to know Athena better, her inner workings, her conflicts, I found her fascinating, and the interactions between her and Junie also.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review

A highly enjoyable read I loved the setting in the world of publishing book bloggers and social media .I particularly enjoyed the fact that I wax a book Blogger reading an Advanced review copy on NetGalley it almost felt like I was a character in the story
The book is fast paced and exciting I felt like I was reading metaphorically from behind the sofa as the story progressed and we were drawn deeper into the world of plagiarism
The characters were believable and the reader is quickly immersed in the story seeing the inevitable before it happens .No don’t do it we shout in our heads but really we mean go on steal the book let’s see what happens
The book concentrates on the nastier elements of social media rather than the kinder book twitter I am personally exposed to .The constant reading and rereading of reviews must be hard for authors to resist
The story looks at racism against Asian characters and the touchy subject matter of writhing Chatam who are not the authors racial group ,I know this is very topical and divides opinion
I have to admit I didn’t adore the ending I felt it rather fizzled out after biting so brightly early on to stretch a metaphors
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk on 23 May 2023 by Harper Collins Uk

June Hayward is desperate for success as an author. She’s longing to achieve that perfect trifecta of huge commercial gains accompanied by high-profile literary prizes and a legacy on literature for generations to come.

So the sudden death of literary darling Athena Liu, leaving behind an unpublished manuscript, presents in itself an… opportunity.

June is convinced that if she were a little more ‘diverse’, rather than a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl from Philly, she’d be a lot more successful. She’s obsessed with and deeply resentful of Athena, both during her life and after her death. The manuscript Athena leaves behind tells the little-known story of the Chinese Labour Corps, the Chinese workers recruited by the British Army in the first world war. And June knows she’s hit the jackpot, and frantically begins to put her stamp on it. This might be the book to catapult her into the recognition she feels she very much deserves.

‘I’d somehow absorbed all the directness and verve of Athena’s writing. I felt, as Kayne put it, harder, better, faster, and stronger. I felt like the kind of person who now listened to Kanye.’

Her agent loves it, of course, and a bidding war ensues. Ironically, Athena’s words are stripped down to be made more palatable for the white reader: racist epithets (authentic to the deeply racist period) are removed, June slices out a chunk of characters because she can’t get the names straight, the white baddies are turned Chinese. And the audience laps it up: June hits meteoric success. She publishes under the name ‘Juniper Song’ (Song being her middle name from a hippy mother), complete with an ‘ethnically ambiguous’ author photo on the book jacket.

But the threat of someone finding out the truth about the book’s origins plagues her day and night.

It’s a biting and deliciously dark story, satirizing the publishing world in a very on-the-nose way (but that’s precisely the point). This one is definitely for the publishing nerds among us, so be prepared to tear through a lot of June reading her own Goodreads reviews and searching for her name on bookish Twitter circles. She’s an utter narcissist and can’t avert her gaze, even as she’s ripped apart on the internet and everything teeters on the brink of catastrophe.

Of course, we’re not supposed to like her. She’s brazenly discriminatory against the Chinese community as she continues to profit of the story, disparaging ‘funny-smelling’ Chinese food, moaning about Chinese elders not speaking in English, deciding she can suffer through a reading at a small-town Chinese American Social Club by imagining ‘the optics of an Instagram post of me eating catered Chinese food, surrounded by admiring Chinese fans.’ And yet, as insufferable as she is, you can’t stop invested in how her story will play out.

I sunk my teeth into this and couldn’t put it down: it’s very fast-paced and hardly drops a beat (the ending is a little nuts, but weirdly it worked?) and one of the best books I’ve read this year. I can’t wait for it to be published so I can hear the rest of the commentary on it (it will all be rather meta).

With thanks to HarperCollins for the advanced copy. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang will be published in May 2023.

I will update the review with a link to our blog closer to publication date.
I'd like to thank the publisher HarperCollins and Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review