[ Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review - I should point out that as this review is for a book I did not finish, I will not be posting this on goodreads or related sites, as I can only give an opinion on what I read, and I am sure I am the minority in this case ]

I thought I was going to love this book. I've previously read The Poppy War by RF Kuang, and really enjoyed the majority of that (althought I struggled with the writing style during the second part). I also figured that since this is a contemporary fiction piece, the writing might be less dense. (And come on, who doesn't want to read a speculative fiction book about a white author masquerading as asian to get diversity points? Sounds awful/offensive and scandalous in equal measure)

But the writing was really dense and went on LOTS of tangents - so much so that the first line of the book had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of its chapter or those that followed. I also struggled with the tense changes. It switched from 1st to 3rd person and back and back again pretty much ever paragraph which really diorientated me and took me out of the narrative so I DNFed this one early.

That said, RF Kuang is very popular and I think those who are fans of her writing style will probably get lots more out of this than I did. I'm so sorry, I wanted to be obsessed with this one and it just fell flat for me - ace concept, average execution!

Such an intriguing premise and a really enjoyable read that shows the ugly side of life that I imagine any failing author/influencer or even just person could fall prey to partaking in.

This book is a tricky one to review. The premise is GENIUS - famed young asian-americas author dies and her white failing author friend ends up with her unpublished manuscript. What will she do next‽

SPOILER WARNING.

One of my issues, though, is how unlikeable June is. I mean, from the start she is utterly boring and quite frankly mean, and so we fail to actually want to invest in her story. I had to keep putting it down and picking it up later. Truthfully, it does get better in the second half. You end up developing a relationship where - even though you despise her - you NEED to know what she will do next. Now, I'm not saying she should be made into a darling character - the whole point of the book is how she WAS fucked and racist from the start, but I wish there was more intrigue in the plot to pull us in past the whole "stealing the book". She doesn't need to be likeable, but I wish the plot had developed quicker at the beginning - I wish we had more of those snippets where it felt like she was hinting to something in the future. Kuang dotted a few in there, but I really wish she'd leant more into the idea that this was June's own novel, and we were reading her account of the events, rather than following her exact thought process - or I wish that there was more of a development of other point's of view. Truthfully though, it is a good thing that June was consistently unlikeable, because it proved the point of this book. June (and likely several white authors in the industry) will always see themselves as victims, no matter how much wrong they do. There is no need for us to paint her like a darling and then rip it away from us. She can just be a bad person. My criticism is more that June is unlikeable and really we need something else then to pull us into the story. Sure, the premise is smart, but it needs to be developed (which it was in the later parts, WHICH I LOVED.)

Another issue truly is the mention of cultural things that are VERY inclusive of now. Things like twitter, BTS, GoodReads. Though it does paint a picture of what is going on now, I do worry that the book focusses a bit too much on social media - despite not being advertised as a social media heavy book. Maybe where this could change is the marketing focussing on this point -- otherwise it got a bit same-y.

I would like to say, though, that I really enjoyed this book. I saw other reviews criticising Kuang for letting her own voice shine through but - so what? It's her book. It's likely derived on her experiences. I couldn't careless that she did so - if anything, it made the book MORE impactful. As a whole - this book has faults. Is it a good read? Sure. But I do hope they don't market it like MYOR&R, Bunny, or other books with unlikeable MCs, because it isn't their genre, it's quite frankly one of it's own.

Kindly given to me by NetGalley to honestly review.

This book is going to break the publishing industry in half!

‘Yellowface’ is for anyone who reviews books for fun, participates in Twitter discourse, publishes books, or works in the publishing industry. While it’s intentionally quite didactic, Kuang uses the character of Juniper to personify an ugly side of the publishing industry that is seldom confronted straight on. She is a truly unlikeable character (in the best way possible) and several times I found myself covering my eyes, afraid to read on to see what she would do next.

Overall a thoroughly entertaining read with a lot of really important messaging about the current state of book publishing and the online world.

Reading Yellowface was like witnessing a crash where you don't want to keep looking but you can't help it. Kuang constructs her character of Juniper so well that you forget for short seconds how unreliable and guilty she is. It also deconstructs the publishing industry to the smallest detail, and gets it 100% right!

What an absolute whirlwind of a novel. The anticipation, the joy, the warring feelings, but also the very hyperspecific/in-the-moment way this novel is.. So good.

An amusing and timely read that explores debates on cultural appropriation and authorial ownership through a breezy drama between author frenemies - a successful and dead Asian author, and her less talented white friend. ⁣
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June Hayward is a struggling writer who gives SAT tuition on the side to make ends meet. Her lack of literary success contrasts painfully with her college friend, Athena Liu - a glamourous, ridiculously successful, and wealthy writer who has made a name writing about the Chinese diaspora. June is an honest narrator, openly resentful and jealous of Athena, and prone to amplifying the role of identity politics in her friend’s success. The book begins with Athena choking to death in the middle of a pandan pancake eating competition (yes, really), upon which June steals an unpublished manuscript and polishes it into her own. The Last Front, on Chinese labour coolies during WWI, is astoundingly well-received but inevitability drums up debate (and more) about whether this is a white woman’s story to tell. ⁣
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The book is closer to chick lit than the topic suggests, and is fairly gentle with the moralising. There is a certain even-handedness lent by the narrator being white, and the author of Yellowface being Asian. June manages to be both sympathetic and ridiculous, Athena is neither angel nor hero, and the angry Twitterati make valid points even as they bully. There are wider observations here about the publishing industry, identity politics, and cancel culture. These are exhausting and difficult topics, but the tone is balanced by the humour in the story - in one scene June reads Chinese ghost stories and makes an offering of kung pao chicken to a framed picture of Athena, and in another she wonders why all the female characters are called ‘Xiao’ and if they might be related. ⁣
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#Yellowface #RFKuang

An interesting premise, with incisive observations on racism and diversity set in the world of publishing. Well paced and fast moving, I liked Kuang's style of writing. The characters are intentionally unlikeable, however it did become a bit of a chore to read passages from Juniper's point of view after a time. I personally also am not a huge fan of incessant zeitgeist references (e.g. Twitter), however others might feel that.this adds a contemporary, relatable element. Overall an interesting concept that skilfully explores important, timely themes.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

(N.B. Error message 'Unable to find book with ISBN "9780008532796" on Goodreads.' appears when try to share to Goodreads - therefore have shared separately and added link below)

Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang is an interesting look into the publishing industry and explores the concept of cultural appropriation.

Stunning. As in I’m struck speechless.

This book is so infuriating and this is the first time I can remember reading something in fits of rage!

Which is to say, Kuang, is a master at stirring emotions!

Juniper Song was very much -I feel deliberately- written to be as a character as a means to tell a story.

This story is a brutal critique of publishing and of white moderates- people who feel as if they’re not racist, people assure you that they’ve voted for Obama twice, all the while wanting you quiet and ever gracious for their acquiescence of seeing your humanity, as limited as they want it to be.

Yellowface also satirizes the inescapability of easily shifting public opinion, especially on social media sites, and how the gleeful pillaging of a person’s life for mockery, even if that person espouses repulsive views, only serves to isolate them into those views furthermore and leaves no space for apology and recompense and even instead sets up a playbook for these same paths to be used against PGM authors, or brings these repulsive views to a wider audience and only draw more support that way.

I see some reviewers speaking about wanting more ambiguity as to Juniper’s guilt, and in the beginning there was for a little bit? As Juniper was tricking herself to believe that these were all a very innocent chain of events, I almost got swept up in her delusions! But I think that one of the points of this story was for there to be no doubt in the reader’s mind about Juniper, and for there to be no sympathy and ambiguity for her, because she’s fully aware of the power she welds for expressing that and being believed as a white woman in this world.

Kuang’s author’s voice is a thing of beauty in Yellowface, because even though this book is in Juniper’s POV, I felt like very much like Athena’s POV leeched through, as if we were both observing this strange creature. I understand the concept of an unreliable narrator, but not only was Ms. Song/Haywood that, but as I read I could see how these interactions actually played out, how the way Juniper saw herself moving through the world was through rose coloured glasses.

This is marketed as literary fiction but I think that it doesn’t fall squarely into any one genre as it swerves from lit fic to mystery/thriller and horror genres, which though delightful and wild, occasionally feels a bit overdone requiring some reimagining and edits.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book is R.F. Kuang's first step into contemporary fiction, and because her historical fantasy novel Babel absolutely blew me away, I was very curious to read this.
Yellowface is written from the perspective of a writer who steals the manuscript of her deceased friend and publishes it as her own. June is a liberal white woman, and Kuang writes her brilliantly: she considers herself an ally, but it becomes more and more performative and the more June is attacked, the more defensive she gets, and the more problematic her thoughts and behavior becomes. The book made me laugh and cringe at the same time.
About halfway through, I was getting curious to see if Kuang would stick the landing as well as she did with Babel. It seemed like a difficult premise to wrap up, and I feel like another round of editing (especially in the confrontation at the end) would smooth it out a bit more, which would make the end more satisfying in my opinion!

R.F. Kuang’s ‘Yellowface’ follows the spiralling story of June Hayward, a white author who steals an unpublished manuscript, written by a more successful Asian American novelist who died in a freak accident, and publishes it as her own.

Wow this was a compelling read! Kuang explores a story that’s dark, obsessive, witty, gossipy and truly maddening. It absolutely succeeds in creating the most unlikeable main character—the driving force of the anger and exasperation from the first sentence to the last. June is bursting with the ugliest jealousy, building lies upon lies, shoving her way into a space, a history and a story that is not hers to tell. The story is perfectly paced and constantly moving, it’s riddled with the relentless input of social media, and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering how much further June will take her lies, and when she might finally break.

‘Yellowface’ is a quick and vicious satire, sharply laying down racism and diversity in the publishing industry. This was an incredible litfic debut!

This book was incredible. I didn't find it heavy-handed at all, and the pacing was remarkable. The tone was really spot on. I wouldn't say it was lit fic, but it's honestly one of the best things I've read on netgalley. The pacing was really great, and I thought the peripheral characters were well drawn (i particularly liked Danielle). It had a frenetic quality to it which made it really enticing. I also really liked the ending – i did not predict it at all but it created a really effective story arc. I predict this book will be huge.

The premise of this book really drew me in - Athena Liu, a darling of the literary world dies in a freak accident and her 'best friend', a nobody by comparison, steals her unfinished manuscript for her own.

I loved that you could really sink your teeth into hating June, the main character of this story. It was a lot of fun just waiting for her to be caught out and seeing several of the close calls. However it did start to feel a bit like a thriller and then immediately not? That part really felt half-formed for me.

I think I would've enjoyed a bit more ambiguity as to whether June was truly a villain the whole way through. There was no point at which you think "well maybe I can see where she's coming from" she's just truly awful. And as I said she's fun to hate, but a bit more nuance would've made the story richer.

This is a fun book that I know people will really enjoy and absolutely fly through. It does provide quite a cutting commentary on racism within the publishing industry which feels exceptionally timely right now.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book!

This is the kind of book that you can’t stop reading until you reach the final page. Great opening line! The standard of writing is high, fresh, unapologetic throughout the novel. It’s also very meta (I liked the mention of HarperCollins!). A dark satire that provides the reader with a peek into the publishing world through a distorted prism. The central themes such as racism, plagiarism, and lack of representation are exceptionally well-executed. We’re presented with an unlikable main character — June Hayward — the antagonist of this story. Her voice becomes more unhinged, unfiltered as the story progresses until she descends into complete madness of perception. This is the first novel I read by Rebecca F Kuan and certainly not last! Absolutely blown away!

I found this book really hard to pin down: there is so much going on that it was difficult for me to fully encapsulate my emotional journey throughout this fast-paced rollercoaster of a book. I will say that I read this through two train journeys and I found the first section of it darkly hilarious, so do with that what you will.

Having read tpw series, this is significantly different in tone, but yet it is clear that R.F. Kuang's voice resonates as strongly in Yellowface. This is a very ambitious attempt to examine the complex themes presented here, exploring the treatment of BIPOC authors and the Asian American community's experience within the publishing industry, as well as the expectations placed on them to conform to the narratives the industry wants them to tell.

I could tell how passionate R.F. Kuang was about the subject, and really enjoyed the interplay and inclusion of Book Twitter and pop culture references like The Untamed and bubble tea. Some might find these references to be too much, but considering how intertwined the publishing industry is with Twitter, I would consider it stranger for this discourse not to be included within this book, especially considering how much public opinion can hold sway there, particularly for debut authors or authors in the beginning stages of their career.

Juniper Song Hayward is a character that is hard to love, and entirely easy to hate, as even the sympathetic lines of her character do barely enough to soften her and make her relatable in any way. The true draw of her character lies in the juxtaposition between her and Athena Liu, and the complicated relationship they share. Athena's death early on in the book defines the trajectory of the story, and her ghost haunts the rest of the piece, both in the actions Juniper takes in reaction, and in the justifications of Juniper's actions in attempts to displace her own guilt, though it never quite works because she knows deep down that what she's doing is wrong. While I pretty much haaated Juniper for the racist, self-pitying pos she is, the recollections and snippets of their friendship?/rivalry?/acquiantanceship? were entirely fascinating, and some of them made up my favourite parts of the book.

Yellowface is meant to be dramatic with a darkly satirical tone, and the drama certainly seeps through near the end, with elements of horror that I wish had had more follow-through than how it ended, which almost felt rushed after all the suspense.

That said, there was a quietly spellbinding quality to the story, making it almost impossible to put down (even during sections where I didn't quite enjoy it) despite my continuous distaste for the protagonist. There were many elements of Chinese culture that brought me pangs of nostalgia (hello Chinese ghost literature, A Chinese Ghost Story/Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, anyone?) and brought me back to memories of my childhood. The experience of writing that rfk so eloquently captures is also something that any writer can resonate with, that need to create and want to be eternal something I'm sure that many of us understand.

All in all, I don't always read literary fiction, but I did find this book entertaining and would recommend it for the heavy but significant themes it explores, as well as its insightful look into the publishing industry.

I don’t know where to start with this one. On the one hand, I thought this was definitely entertaining, easy to read, and paired with witty, sometimes funny, prose. However, I do wish that the narrative voice had been handled differently and that the author had allowed the reader to do his own thinking. As much as I liked reading the prose, it did feel preachy at times. During the whole story, the narrative only allows for one opinion, one take on the main character’s actions. Whatever she does, there is a reaction within the text to her actions. While in some scenes this is cleverly done, in other scenes it feels repetitive and preachy. I think a toned-down narrative voice only would have benefitted this book.

What I enjoyed while reading was the main character’s emotional spiral towards the end, her inner voice, and how you could slowly follow her descent into paranoia. This part was well-written, and although the main character was completely unlikeable I think that was just what this book needed. The other characters mainly served as caricatures, none of them well-developed, but it worked because that’s just how she viewed them.

When it comes to the plot, this was a little all over the place. I enjoyed the first half, but in the second half, this seemed to drift up into a story that felt like it tried to be a thriller but never quite got there. I don’t think the ending was particularly strong, it was predictable but also not very exciting or memorable, and everything kind of ended just the way it started. During the last few pages, the book spelled out its message to the reader word by word, which I don’t think would have been necessary. I think the reader could have come to this conclusion on their own.

4.5/5 ⭐️

Yellowface follows an author — a racist white woman who steals her late friend’s manuscript; it explores themes of racism and white supremacy in the publishing industry and community. It highlights how minorities are treated as if to check a diversity box in the process and how strenuous it is for non-white authors to get a deal.

Kuang did an excellent job with our narrator, Juniper, who comes across as this racist, liberal persona that keeps justifying her disgusting actions without taking responsibility. I loved reading the corruption arc as she kept getting worse with each act.

This book speaks a lot about publishing, and includes many pop culture references. When reading some parts it felt like I was scrolling through my Twitter feed as mentions of cancel culture, author drama, lack of representation, and poorly written diverse characters (by white authors) were a significant part of this book.

For a drama/thriller Kuang’s writing style was very fitting as it was fast paced and engaging at all times. Every chapter had me hooked and questioning so many things, and i found the plot to be exciting — rival best friends with death and theft in the mix? Who wouldn’t want that?

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

2.5/5

Yellowface was not what I expected. To be honest, I didn't find it enjoyable. It's more an educational, enlightening satirical read written in a memoir-like format than your typical contemporary novel. As a result, I found the tone monotonous, as everything is simply told to the reader.

The fact that we're reading from the POV of a white racist author had a play in that. You get to see the side of minorities when you're in June's head: the erasure, the cultural appropriation, the blatant yet oblivious racism, the issues within the publishing industry, what it's like to be an author... There are so many topics that I don't think I'll remember all of them. The author did a fantastic job with all those.

I couldn't stand June. Being in her head was like reading "I'm not racist BUT...". She's delusional, manipulative and so full of herself. However, through her, the author showed the toxicity of social medias. If they bring awareness and rightful critics on the table, they also involve harassment, bullying, hate and fake wokeness. I've seen so much of this on Twitter that I was nodding all along.

The ending ruined the book for me. It was too far-fetched. The plot point with the ghost was already weird but the way the story was resolved was not satisfying at all.

Unfortunately I'm disappointed. At the beginning the premise sounded very interesting, but the execution wasn't good. It is very predictable and isn't subtle enough for this genre. The pop culture references and twitter slangs completely ruined it and I could not take this book seriously. It felt like the author couldn't decide what genre to write, is it funny satire or is it serious litfic? Yellowface tried to be both, but sadly fell flat on both sides.