4.25

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first read by Rebecca F Kuang and certainly won’t be my last! I was completely hooked by her writing style and could not put this down. I’m a huge fan of a morally grey character and I felt this book made me feel so uncomfortable in all the ways it should have. I loved the social commentary on the publishing industry and particularly relating to race. I found this a really fascinating and eye opening read.

Really looking forward to reading more from RFK!

This is a hugely-anticipated literary novel exploring the erasure of Asian-American voices in the publishing industry. It follows the story of Jane Hayward and Athena Liu, when Athena dies unexpectedly; Jane then steals an early draft of Athena's next novel, completes it herself, and publishes it as her own .

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found it to be incredibly engaging while I was reading - I compelled to keep listening to Athena's story, finding the first-person narrative to be incredibly engrossing. Working in the publishing industry myself I found a lot of the discussions in here relating to diversity, racism and cultural appropriation in the industry to be interesting and refreshing, and could relate to a lot of what was being said. Generally I enjoyed the tone of the book and the completely different narrative it told.

This being said, I did find a lot of the topics explored to be done so in quite a simplistic way; a lot of interesting points were touched on, but there was opportunity for much more nuanced conversation. Athena was an incredibly frustrating (and ridiculous) character to follow; while I appreciate that she is supposed to illicit anger, confusion and ridicule from the reader, this made for an odd reading experience. R F Kuang's personal voice/views came through very strongly throughout, and that became quite distracting and limiting while reading.

Overall, there is lot of interesting food for thought in here, and I can see why it has been so popular. For me, there was a lot of promise, but it didn't quite deliver what I wanted it to.

This book is full of hideous people... and I couldn't put it down! I haven't read any of Rebecca Kuang's books before, but this is apparently a new direction for her writing and she really nails it.

June Hayward (or Juniper Song as she later renames herself to appear racially ambiguous) is our main character. An author living in the shadow of her hugely successful 'friend' from college, June is not doing well and struggling in most areas of life. Her fortunes start to change however, when said 'friend' dies in a tragic accident and June gets her hands on her latest, unfinished manuscript.

Forced, and not in a subtle way, to confront our own prejudices, this book is sometimes un comfortable to read, but I could not stop reading. June is not a likeable character, but then neither are the people around her in the publishing world. The only problem I had with this one was a feeling the ending was a bit rushed, however the book overall was not spoilt for me.

A timely, original, dark and often brutal look at the publishing world and prejudice - if this is not on your TBR you need to add it now!

Witty, hilarious, Kuang definitely did it again. I enjoyed her previous work, Babel, but found the tone to be very "young" for my taste. With Yellowface I got exactly what I was looking for from her.

The book is an absolute page turner. Kuang did an excellent job of creating the least relatable villain I've read in quite a while, relying on common cliches (Karens, all lives matter, no one can say anything anymore) while still giving Juniper personality (not a great one, but still a personality). I am quite excited to see what Kuang is going to give us next.

This publishing industry thriller has been much-hyped, so I was intrigued to read it. It is a pacy, well-plotted novel, that I read very quickly. It tackles inequality, racial injustice and the power of the internet/ social media making it a timely and thought-provoking novel. I do wonder how readers who are not connected to the publishing industry and/ or writers, will relate to some aspects of the book as it, as it is very industry focussed.

Couldn't stop reading, but it also made me queasy. So many layers.

Thanks to NetGalley, but I also bought it, and the audio is a trip.

R. F. Kuang keeps surprising me pleasantly with the ability to pen amazing stories in such a wide range of genres. Due to my love for fantasy literature, I wasn't as exciting to pick up Yellowface as I was for Babel or The Burning God but the book change my opinion in no more that a chapter or two.

Through an unlikable, mean protagonist, the author offers a sharp, witty, and realistic take on contemporary publishing, writing communities on social media, and the mistreatment of marginalized authors in a time when diversity is supposedly celebrated.

The writing style was very different from Kuang's previous work, but, as much as I loved all her previous novels, this one had the tightest pacing; I read it in no more than two days, without even realizing it. The drama kept me going. Stylistically and technically, this might be the author's highest achievement so far. I highly recommend Yellowface to authors, publishing professionals, and not only.

A timely read, particularly given many conversations happening in publishing right now around who stories belong to. Yellowface is a narrative that strikes home and showcases the way many people are so fast to appropriate culture and pass it off as their own. A really important book.

I am so conflicted about this one. It was mysterious and enjoyable but the pacing was completely off for me. The protagonist was fascinating and diabolical in her narcissism. However, I didn't feel like June or the plot could sustain a full length novel. It would have made a brilliant novella that was suspenseful and thrilling but at this length, some of the conversations were dragged out. I'd recommend it and will read more from this author but the pacing was off for me.

What a brilliantly intelligent book. RF Kuang is a mastermind and her writing will never fail to amaze me. The satirical commentary on the publishing world is so perfectly executed. In awe of Kuang and can’t wait to see what she does next.

For me every Rebecca F Kuang book is an automatic buy and like every book this one didn’t disappoint!
Great story telling and an interesting plot line!

I found this book interesting from a few angles. First, I got to see how difficult it is to be a writer, getting their stuff published, having to do public self promotion, worrying about their next project. I would like to write something, but I worry about the hoops I would have to go through, as a first time writer, but at the same time getting some guidelines from the protagonist. Second, the protagonist has stolen(plagiarized) her dead friend's book and feels endlessly torn/guilty about that. I think writers in general have to worry a lot about plagiarism, getting inspiration from others work, taking passages renovating them and making them their own. I wondered when I read this book whether the protagonist is actually Kuang, although she denies this. I also wondered as I read, how the book would end. Although some reviewers here didn't think the ending was good, I think Kuang cleverly made a very interesting ending, solving one problem of dealing with the actual authorship of the protagonist's book and getting inspiration for her next project.

Yellowface is such a brilliant and fascinating read. It's a look at cultural appropriation through the lens of the publishing industry. It follows the story of June Haywood, a struggling writer, and her feelings about her college friend Athena Liu who is a very successful published author. The novel opens with a shocking scene where Athena dies but then June, who knows Athena writes on a typewriter and doesn't make copies of her work, steals her latest manuscript. What follows is June appropriating a culture that isn't hers, whilst complaining about how the system is against young white women. She is awful and yet the novel is so compelling, it's near impossible to put down. It's hard to read at times, but it's such an interesting book. This is the first novel I've read by Rebecca Kuang but it definitely won't be the last! I loved this one and highly recommend it!

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang is a powerful and thought-provoking essay about the issue of representation in the entertainment industry, particularly in publishing. Kuang writes with eloquence and passion, making a compelling argument for the need for more diverse representation in media.

The characters are complex and you never quite know who to root for. Kuang discusses identity, the issue of who should be able to tell what stories and the ways in which the media has perpetuated harmful stereotypes and contributed to the erasure of Asian voices and stories.

Overall, Yellowface is an important and necessary read for anyone interested in media representation, diversity, and social justice. It is a call to action for the entertainment industry to do better, and for audiences to demand better.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of Yellowface in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book! The plot was fast-paced and the drama kicked off almost immediately which had me hooked from page 1. June was so nuanced that while she was so unlikeable I found myself hoping she would get away with it all. I loved the exploration of the characters and the tension that was building throughout. Really engaging read and would recommend!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it so fast. I rarely do re-reads but I think if I read this multiple times I'd find something new every time. It's a new type of novel for R F Kuang and it was so funny, dark and caustic a brutal take on the publishing industry. If you're unsure if you should read it, you absolutely should it is very entertaining.

This was such a challenging read. And by challenging I mean that it challenged the way I think and see things, and I loved it. It's a quick read, fast paced and you'll want to read it in one sitting. It discusses cultural appropriation, twitter wars, racism in publishing and so much more, but does so by asking a lot of questions and not providing too many answers. I went to see the author speak, and she said that her goal is to ask questions to open up a nuanced discussion, and that she's suspicious of black and white thinking. I think this book does that, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was completely and utterly blown away by this book. I'd heard so much hype about it but it truly paid off.

June is one of the most unlikeable but compelling narrators and characters I've read in such a long time. It was difficult to cheer for her throughout much of the book. Her constant effort to hide her actions, as well as to justify them (such as calling on Athena's actions previously) were something I couldn't look away from.

It was my first Rebecca F Kuang book and I adored it. It was stunningly written and engrossing.

I liked the writing style of this novel but I was a wee bit disappointed by how heavy handed it was regarding themes and its commentary on the book industry.

This book was a difficult read but I think that was the intention. It's a fascinating deep dive into the current (and historical because how much have they changed) issues that plague the world of fiction publishing. As someone familiar with the academic publishing landscape I enjoyed learning about this and drawing parallels with my own experiences in places. The main character feels like the main villain throughout for me but I'm conscious of how much the author wanted to complicate the victim/ villain roles and show us all sides to the story. I disliked June and her white woman victim mentality a lot but I appreciated the way Athena's flaws were also shown. Whilst reading the book, I felt a constant knot of anxiety (like June) about how it was all going to end. I liked the ending and the twists along the way. This book does what I think it set out to do - expose the flaws of performing diversity and antiracism in the publishing industry.