I read this book faster than I've read a book in a long, long time, and I've been sitting on it, trying to figure out how to review it. I feel like this is a book that's so meta (and centered on reviews!) that reviewing it almost defeats the point; I almost feel like I'm becoming a character in the book by trying to review it. It makes my head hurt. I'm going to try to not think about that part.

I loved this book, but I'm not sure I liked this book, if that makes sense? The experience of reading it was physically breathtaking, and Kuang is so sharp and brilliant and has such a clear narrative voice. Reading it was an experience of questioning my own biases and complacency, and, as someone who is sort of peripheral to the publishing industry, fascinating to watch from the inside (?). The first third to half of Yellowface is its strongest, and it does at times feel like a short story that got stretched into a novel (a really good short story! but I wondered how long it could sustain its conceit). I think Kuang pulled off the ending, but I do understand criticism I've seen saying it was a bit fast or abrupt. I've joked that Yellowface feels like a (very good!) book-length subtweet; Rebecca Kuang continues to be a mad genius, and I'm terrified of her in the best possible way.

R.F Kuang 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Everyone walks so she could RUNNNN.

God how can i process everything in this book. I don’ know how to breath. This litfic book is sooooo amazing, aside from her first litfic book, i know i can trust Rebecca for breaking my tears down!! RTC I CAN’T REVIEW WHILE MY MIND IS DESTROYED. Can’t wait for it to be released! I need the physical book asap for annotate my feelings at it 😭😭

I read Yellowface right after Babel and like Babel, it is a fast-paced and addictive book to read. I was reading this on my phone while walking home from work because I could not put it down. A completely different genre though, Yellowface is a contemporary literary book that devels into all the racist bullshit that comes in the publishing world and its intersection with social media. While I enjoyed Bable more this was still a very entertaining critique on modern publishing and if you like keeping updated on drama in the book world, then you’ll probably enjoy this as much as I did. It feels like a dramatisation of the American Dirt scandal (a book referenced in the story) but taken to the nth degree. A white writer steals the manuscript of her dead friend, a famous Asia author, edits and publishes it as her own work. A pretty fantastic concept that R. F. Kuang pulls off in her signature breakneck style.

June is a terrible person filled with envy and will literary steal from the dead to get the acclaim she feels she deserves. While she is awful it’s quite entertaining to be inside her head. It’s amazing the number of flimsy excuses she comes up with to justify her plainly unjustifiable actions. One of the most painful parts is watching June and her editor rip apart Athan’s manuscript, adding racist scenes to make the few white characters more sympathetic and binning backstory for the Asian main characters. It’s a complete travesty and hearing their reasoning behind them makes it so much worse.

Just like in so many real instances of book drama in the real world, June faces online backlash that steadily gets worse and worse. It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for her as people go to insane lengths to attack her and she deals with a mountain of online hate. But then she’ll double down on her shitty behaviour and you want to join in on the hate. She continues to take no responsibility even when the alt-right start to defend her. At the end of the day, she like so many of her real-life counterparts is generally fine after all the drama. She has been traumatised by the mass amount of hate she received but she’s never dropped from her publisher or agent and has enough money to live comfortably. It speaks about the ongoing debate of how the book community should react to authors like June. Is traumatising them online even helpful and does it change anything about how such stories are dealt with by publishers? It’s notable that no one at June’s publishers faces any of the backlashes that June does despite having the same mindset if not worst. The people who decide what to publish and what books to promote are not held accountable and in fact, the one person who does try to push back against the racist content in June’s book is the only one to receive any punishment.

Yellowface is a book I can’t stop thinking about and even if you love or hate it, I doubt you will be able to either. It’s a short quick read and anyone active in the online book community should check it out. Thanks to the publishers for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book enraptured me. I was sucked in from the get go and knew it would be a 6 star (yes it deserves this special rating as an all time fav) the moment I read the first page. This is an edge of your seat, fast paced, literary thriller filled with atmospheric tension and anxiety. The story details the inside outs of the publishing industry in a fascinating manner, exposing its dark underbelly and exploring issues of race in a literary context. I felt like I was reading my soul and my deepest concerns surrounding racism as a POC were being broadcast to me.

The writing style was phenomenal and so gripping. There was never a dull moment, with twists and turns at every corner. The story is in 1st person, and it was really exciting to see Kuang experiment with this pov and satirical narrative tone which felt so vastly different to her other works. There were only a few similarities in the writing to her other books- distinct ‘acts’ in the story, being in the pov of a morally grey fmc who craves validation (June is reminiscent of Rin in that way), the inclusion of a model genius archetype character who isn't as perfect as they seem (Athena loosely reminds me of Altan in The Poppy War), and of course, the little Babel Easter egg.

I loved the commentary on the trendiness of 'diverse' lit and the fashionability of POC cultures in today's society. The hypocrisy is that these cultures have to be distilled down to cater to the white majority, or it won't be accepted and appreciated. Kuang directly shows that when writing about racism, its painful bleak realities have to be stripped away and literally sterilised to become palatable media for white audiences. These themes are something I deeply resonate with and were a subtle thread that I connected to in Kuang's debut trilogy, The Poppy War. Reading this felt like an expansion on what I so deeply enjoyed in The Burning God. The way Kuang unflinchingly narrates these brutal truths is utterly captivating. I massively enjoyed the small details put into emphasising the careful balance between exotic but 'whitewashed' that many POCs feel forced to adopt in order to assimilate.
*Athena Liu is, simply put, so fucking cool. Even her name–Athena Ling En Liu– is cool; well done Mr. and Mrs . Liu, to choose a perfect combination of the classical and exotic. Born in Hong Kong, raised between Sydney and New York, educated in British boarding schools that gave her a posh, unplaceable foreign accent*

Kuang does a magnificent job at highlighting many sinister aspects of the publishing industry, including the need for more POCs in publishing companies and the lack of support many young debut authors receive which often sets them up for failure. I loved how she illustrated the dangers of having white people write the struggles of marginalised communities on their behalf. I was disgusted and horrified at the way June treated Athena's work and the casual, self-justified manner in which she went about it- not even realising how she was ravaging the voice of a poc and diminishing her people's suffering in order to sell a story. Her white saviour complex made her feel entitled. Every vivid detail was harrowing to read. It was honestly gut wrenching at times, I wanted to cry.
*I do think we’ve made the book better, more accessible, more streamlined. The original draft made you feel dumb, alienated at times, and frustrated with the self-righteousness of it all. It stank of all the most annoying things about Athena. The new version is a universally relatable story, a story that anyone can see themselves in.*
It made me angry. A minority people's struggles and trauma are NOT meant to be 'universally relatable'. It felt so unjust, I wanted to scream. The small details Kuang used to show how June altered the manuscript to suit white sensibilities, thereby showing her inherent racist perspective were powerful.

It was unsettling to be in the pov of an indirect and casual racist, but immensely intriguing. I loved the morally grey characterisation of June, it was undoubtedly my favourite part of the story. I really enjoyed seeing her greedy and mildly sociopathic thought processes. Every instance where she deviously outsmarted someone was *thrilling*. Kuang is so skilled at writing unlikeable characters in a way that is humanising and endlessly entertaining. They don't feel like evil caricatures- they feel real and are compelling. June is fake, childish and doesn't accept responsibility. Her inferiority complex, narcissism, preoccupation with what people think of her and propensity for wallowing in self pity are her biggest character flaws. She's unhinged, delusional and often depressing to watch, but in the best way possible. She is ruthless and cunning. If anyone can make a racist character seem nuanced and enthralling to read about, it's R.F. Kuang. I also appreciated how Kuang inserted small details about her character to set up and foreshadow her downward spiral.
*But that’s what I need right now; a child’s blind faith that the world is so simple, and that if I didn’t mean to do a bad thing, then none of this is my fault.*

Another one of my favourite parts of the story was the relationship between June and Athena. It was disturbing, obsessive and messed up in the most intriguing way. Theirs is a surface level friendship born out of mutual convenience with June's insidious, jealous rivalry boiling underneath. To the reader, Athena's true character is a mystery due to the unreliability of June as a spiteful narrator. She is so insecure from comparing herself to Athena; the only way she can achieve literary success is to cannibalise Athena's work through impersonation. I found this dynamic absolutely fascinating. I know that perhaps all of us can relate to enviously admiring someone else's success, being unable to fathom their lifestyle and the dedication it took for them to achieve it. We have all felt a sense of inferiority and a desperate desire for acceptance from our peers; we want to be seen as impressive and important. Reading this book felt both like a cautionary tale and an indulgent romp into the biggest fantasy one has- finally being able to understand what makes a successful person so 'special' and living their experience. I love the trope of breaking down a successful and well admired character to their bare bones, examining their hidden flaws and realising that they are not as perfect as they seem (major Altan vibes, it's why I love him as a character so much). Kuang did an amazing job of this in The Poppy War and I was similarly intrigued by Athena like I was obsessed with Altan.

The queer subtext in June and Athena’s relationship added another layer of complexity that was fascinating. You know the saying- you don't love them you want to be them? In June's case it's the opposite. She desperately wants to be Athena, but her obsession is so perverse that it almost seems *to me* that she wants her too (that's just my interpretation though). The power imbalance Athena had, their mutual need for validation from each other and the world- I adored it. I have a penchant for reading about twisted relationships, so I *relished* the moments of the narrative that focused on them together.

June as an unreliable narrator was captivating. I love this trope so much and it was executed really well. As the reader, we are left to speculate about Athena's personality. There are hints here and there of her own insecurities and flaws, but we can't be certain unless our theories are confirmed by an outside perspective to June's. Kuang does an amazing job of creating these subtle hints through June’s vitriol and confirming them by introducing other people's opinions in the narrative (e.g book bloggers, mutual acquaintances). I loved the commentary on Highlander syndrome, and Athena's potential internalised racism. It is a sad reality that women, particularly those of marginalised communities, are pitted against eachother to fight for the same spot. Those who have achieved success like Athena refuse to pave the way for others in their community and become resentful. Kuang wonderfully explores how westernised POC can view their own culture from a white perspective, which is damaging to the community. Wealthy, well educated western diaspora writing about traumatic histories of working classes from homelands they've barely visited is a potential issue. This book raises so many difficult, complex questions on writing diverse characters. *“Who has the right to write suffering?”*
Should white people be criticised for not writing diverse characters? Is it right for white people to write about the traumas of war and colonialism from the perspective of marginalised communities? At what point does including representation change from respectful appreciation to exploitative appropriation? Do the privileged POC who have no more experience with suffering than white people have more of a right to write these stories? There are no easy answers.

The choice to include consistent pop culture references felt purposeful. It helped cement the story in reality, emphasising the unsettling atmosphere in the book- it is as if this story could happen in real life at this very moment. I feel that it also highlights the fleeting nature of success during an age of cancel culture and the damage social media can cause on careers- pop culture references are similarly short lived but memorable.

The exploration of the effects of social media on authors’ careers was brilliant. Kuang portrayed the relentless pack mentality of cancel culture with complexity and detail through exploring Twitter discourse, Tiktoks and YouTube videos. The second act is a rapid rabbit-hole of online bullying and criticism spiralling out of control. It was intense and incredible and I felt so stressed. I honestly empathised with June, despite hating her actions. I felt anxious and *guilty*, as if *I* was the plagiarist.

As a whole, this book is rich with the numerous themes it explores.
*Perhaps that’s the price of professional success– isolation from jealous peers.*
Plagiarism is obviously a significant theme. A running thread throughout the story is how writers borrow from and inspire eachother, which can be a necessary part of the process. Writing is an exercise of collecting treasured moments rather than creating. Nothing is truly original, ideas are built upon and shaped.
On another note, an unexpected theme that I thoroughly enjoyed was of tense mother-daughter relationships, and I wish it were explored more in the narrative.

The last act of the story was bizarrely terrifying to read. It all felt very meta and definitely gave me Scooby Doo vibes.
*The first two thirds of the book were a breeze to compose, but what do I do with the ending? Where do I leave my protagonist, now that there’s a hungry ghost in the mix, and no clear resolution?*
I felt that the ending was perfect in how ridiculous and fitting it was.

I was surprised at some of the negative reviews on Goodreads (yes it felt very ironic and meta when I read them). The reviews often criticised the didactic viewpoint and unsubtle exploration of the themes. I think the general consensus from readers of literary fiction is that they don't want to be spoon fed the messages they should take away. As a fantasy author, R.F. Kuang revolutionises the genre with her insightful examination on themes of racism and imperialism. In Babel, her lack of subtlety in discussing these themes feels raw and visceral. In a piece of literary fiction however, perhaps the same persistent voice doesn't fit the same way. I however, personally really enjoyed it, but I also feel the criticism is valid.

In conclusion, I truly believe this is a masterpiece. Kuang critiques the publishing industry for its inherent nature of comparison, envy and desire for upward social mobility. She comments on how the childlike, wondrous pleasure of writing is often removed due to the ruthless nature of the industry- from the potential lack of support for young writers to the malicious nature of internet trolls picking you apart as a person, not just your craft. She portrays issues of racism in the industry with brutal clarity. It is clear how Kuang's passion for writing shines through. Ironically, this book made me want to work in publishing, or to start writing; I want to experience the same magic of being able to tell a story.

The first half of this contemporary story I devoured with delight - although I wondered at times how all the detail about the publishing world would resonate with readers not from that world. The characterisations of Athena and June were deftly done and the spiralling of the story left me gripped. The second half however tailed off for me somewhat. The messaging was slightly repetitive and the denouement was a little bit underwhelming. That said it's a book I highly recommend. The writing and pacing was spot on and I raced through it. It's a page turning part thriller and part contemporary and very timely commentary on the issues of diversity and social media.

I absolutely gulped this book down, but the ending felt quietly unsatisfying.
Every character (except perhaps for Athena's mum) was just so awful - I feel that this will make there a firm demarcation between readers who enjoy reading Yellowface, and those who don't. Although I didn't sympathise with June, I was nonetheless riveted by her story.
This is a very on-the-nose book, and not always subtle - the last quarter of the narrative, in particular, was less strong for this. The final sections of the book felt more chaotic, and like you were being bludgeoned with the point Kuang wanted to make. The references made throughout the book also feel chosen for impact - they will date quickly, but I feel that that may be the point (matching the flash-in-the-pan nature of success in the publishing industry).
I don't think that this is a book which I'll re-visit - at times it was an actively frustrating reading experience, however it was intensely interesting and engaging all the same. It was utterly gripping, and I will continue to immediately read R F Kuang in any genre!

Yellowface being Kuang’s first entry in the literary genre sparked a lot of excitement and anticipation. I had very high hopes going into Yellowface and while most were met and exceeded, some were not.

Our main character, Juniper Hayward, is meant to be an extremely unlikable character. June is a self-righteous, narcissistic racist which we learn from the beginning when she steals her freshly deceased friend’s work in progress to pass off as her own. Kuang does a good job of making her audience despise June throughout the novel but at times the feeling of dislike turned to annoyance when the level of frustration caused by June became too much.

I enjoyed June’s motives for stealing the manuscript unraveling throughout the novel and while none justify her actions, it was still interesting to learn some of the back story of what would lead someone to think they had a right to steal someone else’s work.

The pacing of the novel was good and I enjoyed the flow of Kuang’s writing. It was somewhat simpler than her fantasy writing but I think it worked quite well for what Yellowface is.

I found the ending to be a little underwhelming with a build up that didn’t really lead to much. Overall, I did quite enjoy Yellowface and would be interested to see where Kuang goes next in the literary genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The thought that would not leave me head while I was reading Yellowface is "wow, this book is genius". In Yellowface, R.F. Kuang manages to compress a bucket load of social commentary into a fairly mundane tale of a white woman stealing her Chinese friend and colleague's book. Anyone with some familiarity with the world of books and publishing will find reference to many recognizable events and processes, be it Goodreads or Twitter drama.

In Juniper "June" Song Hayward, we have a righteous, unapologetically bad unreliable narrator. At times I felt myself rooting for her despite my horror at her actions, which highlights how well she's portrayed. I marvelled at her sheer confidence in sticking to the lie, a hallmark of her privilege.

Another thing I love about Yellowface is the characterization of Athena. On the one hand, the entire book is an exploration of the ethics of stealing a dead writer's work and allowing it to live on. But we also see that many of the characters in Yellowface have purely selfish reasons for their opinion on the situation. In fact, Athena is presented as an unlikeable figure and, similar to June, we root for her work in spite of her character. I especially liked the hidden layers and her relationship with her family, which formed a dark undertone left unexplored.

My one major dislike, after thinking on it a little, regards the ending. I felt like the resolution was quite abrupt and deserved more development in the way that June was developed in her journey. It didn't seem like the ending did these characters justice given how brilliant the rest of the novel is. And as for the major twist, all I can say is that I predicted it well in advance.

As I was reading, I was reminded of recent controversies involving plagiarism and cultural appropriation, which makes this book all the more relevant. Through the characters we're shown different aspects of the publishing industry, hardships faced by those in various positions. Yellowface is a timely and multifaceted exploration of the publishing industry and what lurks beneath its shiny veneer.

This was a very ambitious genre switch to literary fiction for R.F Kuang and I must say I haven't read anything like it. The closest comparison in style that I can make is The Other Black Girl.

This book really invoked so much anger in me, the protagonist is honestly one of the most narcissistic I've ever read. She's defo one of those I'm not racist but full of microaggressions kinda white women. It was interesting to read her point of view.

Anyway, I read it in one sitting. I found the plot very gripping and I just really wanted to know how it was going to end. It is left quite open to be honest, which I was expecting from literary fiction so not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall I'm very impressed and appreciate the criticism of the industry.

I inhaled this book and read it feverishly in three days during any spare moments I could find. I have never read anything by Rebecca F Kuang before. However, drawn in by the provocative title, I was keen to read her first foray into the world of literary fiction. After reading and loving Yellowface, I'm ready to read anything this author writes. I've already pre-ordered her next book Babel and downloaded The Poppy War, the first in a fantasy trilogy, despite fantasy not being a genre I typically read.

The satire in Yellowface is exactly my kind of humour; Kuang is merciless in her scathing attack of the publishing industry. The whole story is told from the perspective of June Hayward, a white writer whose debut novel's reception was underwhelming to say the least. When her friend Athena, a Chinese-American woman, whose books have been huge commercial successes, dies, June decides to steal her newly completed manuscript and pass it off as her own. The split-second decision she takes to steal Athena's work has some pretty terrible consequences for June but it also sets in motion a series of events that expose the hypocrisy and nepotism of the publishing industry.

Social media and its role in either elevating or utterly taking down an author is explored extensively in this book. Some may argue that references to apps like Twitter, Instagram etc. will, in time, date this book and cause it to lose its relevance but I disagree. The form and speed through which literary darlings can be crowned and then unceremoniously deposed may have changed with the advent of social media but it points to an enduring truth in publishing - only a select few are chosen to succeed and as rapidly as they rise to fame so too can they fall out of favour. Kuang's treatment of so-called "keyboard warriors" shines a light on the worst parts of human nature which come to the fore when we have a keyboard and an avatar to hide behind.

There was so much about this novel I enjoyed - June is perfect as the unreliable narrator you love to hate, so utterly clueless is she about her own failings. Kuang's commentary on race, publishing, tokenism and the court of public opinion is compelling to read and challenged my own behaviour as a consumer of literature and an aspiring writer myself.

Reading this book raised so many questions for me: Who gets to tell which stories? When do we cross the line from taking inspiration from something to plagiarising it? When do we go from being moved by someone's story to stealing it? I know I will think about Yellowface for weeks and months to come. I'm just sad I have to wait until May 2023 (when the book is released) to talk to more people about the themes it confronts.

My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an e-arc and the opportunity to be an early reader for this fantastic novel.

Absolutely fantastic and worryingly gripping from start to finish, I feel like a *lot* of readers (there, often, hopeful writers) will find themselves uncomfortably relating to a lot of the publishing/writing - related satire in this novel. By being brutally honest, Kuang also is disturbingly accurate, and the intricate themes of racism, social media and, again, the publishing industry as a whole, are so sincerely depicted that novel almost reads like a genuine confession/memoir. I was completely hooked, Junkie’s voice is bold, real and entirely immersive, and the only way for me to move on from this is to read everything else that Kuang has ever written.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the privilege. I feel like so many readers, authors, publicists, influencers, etc. will find a piece of themselves in this book, for better or worse…

Inventing Anna meets Crazy Rich Asians with everything in between… could not put it down

This is a brilliant read that explores so many topical issues, the toxic world of twitter and social media, race and the pressure people place on themselves to name but a few. I loved the insight to the world of publishing.

We see characters who are wholly developed we see their good and bad side, no one is a paragon here. In fact they are all quite horrible but brilliantly horrible.

Junie tells us the story that spans over a few years, it moves quick, she descends into what I can only describe as a mental health breakdown that I think has been coming a long time for her, she has let her jealously, pettiness, self delusion and trauma turn her into a poor me sort person with I deserve better, it is not my fault, bla bla narrative … dare I say a Karen!!! This makes her do unforgivable things yet as I reader you do start to root for her. As she tells the story you see she is much more than just a Karen. I actually found myself giggling at the end she still had the spark and self belief of a only true narcissist can have, very much of the snowflake social media era.

Her story highlights the many issues around race today and explores some uncomfortable truths.

The story itself is excellent what a interesting concept that is well paced, plotted well and keeps you very much interested to the end.

It is a thriller but not as you know it, it is a very contemporary commentary character driven piece as well being intertwined with slightly amusing dark satire. I can’t express enough how clever and well written it is. I will be seeking out the authors previous work.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC

Wow. There's biting satire… and then there's Yellowface. In this pacey, twisty novel, no one survives unscathed. The entire publishing industry is pilloried, plus wider society and the way that racism is woven into every sphere.
At times it's pretty painful to read - but that's the point - and at other times it's painfully funny. I loved how June/Juniper's blind ambition and complete lack of self awareness were portrayed - and the build-up of her paranoia as these traits are pushed to their ugly, logical conclusion.
Despite it being a very contemporary commentary, it almost reminded me of a vintage Hollywood/Ealing comedy because of the the relentless progression of things going from dire to worse. You're thinking, 'No, surely not, no... just don't...' And then she does.
I suspect it might be of more interest to people who know or have an interest in the publishing world than some mainstream readers. And that it will push the buttons of many a Twitter keyboard warrior, which will be very Meta indeed...

4.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley UK for sending me the ARC. This is my honest review.

T/W – racism, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, racial slurs against Asian people.

I have so many thoughts about this book but I want to start by saying that as someone who works in publishing, this is truly a treat. I am still new to reading and reviewing literary fiction but lately, I have realised that I really enjoy it.

Genuinely I can’t remember the last time I have been this consumed with a book in recent times. Every time a specific editing or marketing process was being discussed from the author’s perspective it was always a moment of recognition. That made this book infinitely funnier. As you can tell from my rating, I have overwhelmingly positive thoughts but towards the end of this review, I will also talk about some things I didn’t enjoy as much.

The book starts with such an interesting and promising line that I was instantly gripped. I love books where we are pushed into the thick of it from the get-go. The pacing of this book is perfect. At no point did I feel like the book was lagging or rushing. I feel like Kuang really knows how much information the reader needs and I have noticed this with all of her books till now.

The plot went so absolutely amazing for the first 70% of the book. I did not want to put the book down, I could not put the book down. That does slow down a little in the last 30% but that’s not to say that the end sucks. The dark-satire aspect really did shine through in the story. I also could not help but notice that Kuang has put some of her own life into some of the characters and that is so interesting to me!

The story is very very very meta. That’s not necessarily or entirely a bad thing but this is where some of my less favourite parts come in. There’s a quote in the book that goes – “I’ve written myself into a corner. The first two thirds of the book were a breeze to compose, but what do I do with the ending? Where do I leave my protagonist, now that there’s no clear resolution?” I just feel like that’s exactly what happened with the writing of this book.

I was very slightly disappointed while reading the climax and the ending. Not because it was predictable or boring but because I felt like it came out of nowhere and not in a clever way. The ending felt a bit like “that’s it???” to the point where I was convinced that I had only gotten half of the ARC. I do understand that had she continued after the ending, the story would have just gone in circles. Still, I feel like it could have landed better. Since this book is not out for another year there is a good chance they will rework the ending.

Mostly, I am just very excited for this book to come out. As far as first ventures into literary fiction go, I think this was a brilliant one. Can’t wait to see what the final cover looks like! For now, let me wait eagerly for Babel.

This was not what I expected when I started reading this.
The book OKAY at its best!
I haven't read TPW trilogy, so I'm not acquainted with RFK's writing.
Her writing is good, but it feels 'forced' somehow.

More addictive than a true crime podcast, this novel is the most gripping thing I’ve read in ages. Part satire and take down of the inner workings of the publishing industry and part commentary about racism in the literary scene. As a writer and someone who is fascinated by a Twitter storm and online dramas, this was the perfect novel for me. It felt so authentic and current, combined with thriller style plotting - this was a compulsive 5 star read.

Content warnings: racism, death

Easily one of the best books I’ve read this year so far! Thank you HarperCollinsUK and NetGalley for the e-ARC. “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang comes out 16.03.2023.

“Yellowface” follows June, a white writer who decides to steal a manuscript from her much more successful Asian writer friend, Athena. After witnessing her death, June edits Athena’s manuscript and publishes it as her own. What follows is a satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of ‘diversity’ and ‘representation’, especially in the case of Asian women writers, and the power dynamic between white women and women of colour.

I can’t stop gushing about this book to everyone! While I’ve seen some say its commentary on race and publishing felt a bit heavy-handed, I don’t fully agree with that assessment. To me, June’s character is satirical but not cartoonish, and I think the more subtle hints at her beliefs in the narration make this book genuinely exceptional - her obviously wrong behaviour is a logical conclusion of commonly held and defended beliefs. I found the commentary in “Yellowface” to be very nuanced, too, especially with the discussion of the ethics of Athena’s own writing. Kuang’s coverage of the subject of racism in publishing is multi-dimensional and incredibly well thought-out and executed.

I also found the book to be extremely readable - despite starting it while still in a reading slump, I absolutely flew through it in a matter of days. While I often complain about book endings, I actually found the resolution of “Yellowface” to be satisfying and, once more, a logical conclusion to the story and June’s character. It’s an engrossing and nuanced novel that I can’t stop thinking and talking about since I finished it - I absolutely love everything I’ve read from R.F. Kuang so far and this book is no exception.

I really struggled to rate this one. The writing, I thought, was brilliant - seemingly effortless, subtle, very clever and very funny at times. I loved being inside June's head, in a cringy way, and couldn't wait to see what happened after she put her dastardly plan into operation.

The satire on modern culture in general and the publishing industry in particular was very well done. Virtue signalling, pack mentalities and the terror of being cancelled were brilliantly mocked. There was a lot of thought-provoking stuff about racism and how it's related to self-interest.

My big problem was that I never felt able to really immerse myself in the story and forget that it was a story, which defines good fiction for me. It was like reading June's report of what had happened, rather than 'being there'. I think the exposition-heavy text had something to do with this. It only came alive for me in the (unfortunately few and far between) proper scenes, where characters interacted with each other and things happened in real time.

Another problem was that every character except for June was so one-dimensional and appeared so fleetingly. This was probably deliberate, but meant I just wasn't very interested in what happened to any of them.

The ending felt rushed, almost like a summary of another few thousand words that the author had meant to add.

Finally, I think this book has been misclassified - it's not a mystery or a thriller.

All that being said, I did find myself thinking about the book a lot and there were many passages that were very page-turny.

Finishing this book the only thing I felt certain of is that my feelings towards ‘Yellowface’ when considering the novel itself are largely negative. While being notably easy to read the novel was a struggle to get through as finding motivation to read this was difficult to say the least.

Largely this was due to the many poorly written sections, with so many aspects feeling messy and inconsequential. Most of the narration consists of vaguely referential statements that seem inconsistently relevant, being mashed together into an in-cohesive whole.

Twitter discourse mixes with mentions of systemic issues with little nuance or prolonged attention besides how they inconvenience the narrator. With most of the important discussions presented while reading being given a cursory surface level analysis. Deserted in favour of painful to read interactions between the main character and any other, and frequent pop culture references that left the book feeling outdated even reading it nearly a year before it’s release.

Although, this book still had *something*, not enough that I would genuinely recommend reading this, but thinking about this book: where it fails and succeeds, and where it’s core themes lead, felt rewarding as it’s own separate to the actual reading experience.

It’s fascinating to see that where the book’s strongest elements could have thrived other aspects brought some of this novel’s worst. The discussions of authorship and the publishing industry showed so much promise for intense critique and exploration but never seemed to deliver in full with the disruptive presence of the narrator’s voice. Similarly this relationship was seen in the second half of the book, with the tension building in the final act the book became more engrossing, coming to a jarring halt with the underwhelming ending that ultimately left this novel feeling inconsequential.

This book was a challenge for me, and while I do not think that this book was good in its entirety I can’t help but love the range of thoughts and feeling I had about it’s faults and it’s successes.

This review has been posted to goodreads, StoryGraph, and Twitter on 11/07/2022 (all are linked below).

I'm still reeling from having binged this book yesterday, but WOW. WOW. WOW. It has been a journey™.

I don't think I've ever hated a character as much as I hate Juniper, and that's saying something. The way Kuang wrote her... As someone so inherently racist but also unaware of it, someone who tried to jusyify all the wrong things she did, how she convinced herself that she was the victim in it all... My mind was boggled. It was so far fetched and delusional, yet somehow made sense?

The entire time I was reading this, it felt too fantastical... Like when you consume content and think, "oh, this happens only in fiction and can never be real." The entire story had that feel to it, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

While the entire build up for the story was phenomenal, I felt that the climax didn't live up to what the story had been up to that point. I wanted it to go BOOM! at the end, but it failed to live up to my expectations. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. I think a lot of this has to do with how realistic the ending seemed in comparison to the rest of the story.

Overall, it was a great story that kept you on edge, wanting to know more, but also, I've read better from Kuang, so I expected more.