This was another book I had a hard time rating. R.F. Kuang is one of my favorite authors, and I am a massive fan of The Poppy War trilogy and Babel.

I enjoyed this overall and believe the social commentary is spot on and super important. I also think Kuang was brilliant in choosing to narrate from June’s perspective. However, it just lacked that “wow” factor for me. It held my attention enough and it’s a quick and easy read, but I wasn’t enthralled by it like I had been by her previous work.

As her first thriller novel, it’s solid. But I wasn’t crazy about how the plot unraveled; the climax felt a bit rushed.

I could be being overly critical since I know what she’s capable of, but I just can’t stack this next to her other works and say I REALLY liked it. A+ for social commentary, but I’d give it a B for plot. I would still recommend though given the important conversation she contributes to so well

First of all thank you so so so so much to William Morrow for the ARC of Yellowface. I dropped everything to listen to this!
I think Kuang nailed the satire and I loved how meta this book got. It's possible that my knowledge about book social media and (to a lesser extent) the publishing industry made me appreciate this book more.
With the story itself, I thought Kuang presented the mood of the unreliable narrator really well. The novel felt claustrophobic sometimes (in a good way), and there was a lot of cringing.
For the audio narration, I loved the narrator and thought she captured the tone of the novel really well.
Overall I found this one to be quite entertaining and engaging and now I'm curious to read anything extra on how Kuang came to this idea.

I ADORED this book. Such a fascinating, funny look at the publishing industry. Who gets to decide which stories get told, and by whom? A super timely & important discussion. I devoured this!

Yellowface is a brilliant work of metafiction that resists any easy answers. Kuang does not default to the easy platitudes of "the capitalistic nature of the publishing industry is bad for everyone", which ignores how the industry is much more hostile to BIPOC authors, or "cancel culture is good/bad actually", which ignores how Twitter drama can both speak truth to power and cannibalize its own, or even "all writers steal!" which ignores the context of colonization, exoticization, and appropriation when that theft targets BIPOC voices. The narrator is deeply and intentionally unlikeable, cringeworthy and painfully realistic in her mental gymnastics to justify unjustifiable actions. This is a book for writers and readers especially, anyone familiar with the compulsion writers feel to write and the pitfalls of reality when art, identity, and consumption intersect.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go. This book is a ruthless look at the many problems in the publishing industry and online book community wrapped up in a page-turning story that I couldn't put down. R.F. Kuang continues to showcase her whip-smart and engaging story-building. Her writing is intelligent, and engaging, and she does not shy away from tough topics. The book is full of intriguing characters you love to hate. Watching June Hayward's character arc is like watching a train wreck you can't look away from in the best way possible. I highly recommend this book (and all of R.F. Kuang's books).

R.F. Kuang. R.F. Kuang’s forthcoming latest, out May 16, tackles cultural appropriation in the publishing industry and beyond when author June Hayward steals a manuscript from the recently deceased Athena Liu, an Asian American writer and college friend of Hayward. “Kuang provides a sharp analysis of publishing’s blind spots and guides the plot toward a thrilling faceoff between June and Athena’s ‘ghost,’” read a starred Publishers Weekly review. “This is not to be missed.” In this vein, also see Mithu Sanyal’s “Identitti.” Translated by Alta L. Price, the life of blogger and doctoral student Nivedita (aka Identitti) is upended when she discovers her favorite and awe-inspiring South Asian professor, Saraswati, is white.

Wow, I didn't know what to expect going into this book. I've loved everything I've read by R.F. Kuang but contemporary fiction isn't my typical genre and I literally couldn't care less about publishing. I'm one of those readers who has never had any interest in writing a book or getting published. If this were written by almost anyone else I probably wouldn't have even bothered picking it up. But it's so much more than what I thought. There's definitely a bit of a thrilling aspect to this book and it was so interesting to just read about our MC slowly becoming more and more unhinged. There's obviously really great commentary within this book as well especially about race within publishing. It is extremely frustrating to read and know that even though it's a work of fiction, a lot of it probably isn't entirely off base. I'd highly recommend picking this one up, even if you're like me and don't always enjoy contemporary books. This was fantastic and I couldn't put it down.

This book had me screaming. I also think I figured out some references from past and current dramas in the book world. I loved everything about this book. I've got a copy on order for the bookmobile and I'm going to tell my coworkers to buy and READ this book. I'll also be purchasing my own personal copy. R F Kuang is an amazing writer!

I am a fan of Kuang's previous work, and knew I would be reading Yellowface as soon as it was announced. Kuang successfully tries on new genres and voices with each project, and I am eager to see what comes next. Yellowface is realistic fiction, in which failing writer June Hayward witnesses the death of her wildly successful frenemy and decides to steal her latest manuscript. And publish it as her own. With a new vaguely asian name and ambiguous author photo.
Though many are calling this a satire, there are frighteningly few exaggerations here. Kuang plays, masterfully, with the idea that some (white) people simply do not know when to stop.

Once again, as in Babel, R. F. Kuang demonstrates her prowess at writing terrible-but-intriguing characters. The satire about the publishing industry and Book Twitter is clearly self-referential and is not subtle, but it doesn't need to be; I cackled at many of June's ludicrous, racist inner thoughts--which I won't quote here, since the book isn't published, but which I did highlight in my eARC--and watching her eventual self-destruction felt like observing a horrific event from which I couldn't turn away. There's a mysterious cyberbullying thread that genuinely horrified me in a way that I didn't expect.

The ending feels lazy and lackluster compared to the rest of the book, unfortunately, but I tore through this in one day because I abandoned the other books I have to finish this week...so, that should tell you something about how compelling it is, depending on your interests.

I am honestly baffled. I don’t know what I expected, but what I got was certainly Not That. After reading Babel and absolutely loving it, I had a level of confidence that Yellowface would also be an enticing read. Sad to say it didn’t turn out so. I Loved the premise of the book; it sounded absolutely amazing and I was excited to see Kuang bring it to life.

Instead of a gripping narrative exploring many sinister aspects of the publishing industry, Yellowface turned out to be an impressively unsubtle, lackluster story with a ridiculous emphasis on online book communities that are trying to be literary fiction and satire and failing at both.

Yellowface features all of R. F. Kuang’s writing weaknesses and somehow heightens them to a whole new level. While I enjoyed the lack of subtlety in themes in Babel(I genuinely believe they fit there and they are written beautifully), here it became downright unbearable. Kuang doesn’t give the reader a chance to ponder on anything, instead Yellowface, with a Very insistent and loud voice dictates what to think and how to react to the narrative. Relevant, interesting, and important ideas are brought up and discussed, but the narrative voice frames it all in such an in-your-face light that after about the tenth such occasion it gets really Really annoying.
Yellowface starts off promising, and it is incredibly easy to read. It is exciting, fun, and entertaining. It is grim and funny and absurd and that’s the appeal. The relationship between Athena and Juniper is fucked up and fascinating and so interesting to explore. I’d say the best parts of the novel are the ones concentrating on their dynamic. Unfortunately, as the first act of the novel ends, the narrative goes downhill fast.

My biggest problem with this novel is its second act. It could literally be renamed Book Twitter Discourse: the Book. A huge chunk of the book is just the protagonist recounting how Book Twitter is reacting to the drama around her book and it comes off as terminally online. Countless threads and hashtags and discourse and it takes up so much of the book I was genuinely questioning why is it even in the book. At some point, it feels like this book was an opportunity for the author to address every criticism her other books have received with a “well, actually!”. It irritated me immensely. I won’t go into detail here, since the publication of the book is still far away, but certain parts genuinely bother me the more I think about them.

On a very subjective note—I’m really not a fan of books packed with pop culture references. In my opinion, it dates the book greatly; and while I can forgive them when it comes to YA contemporary novels, this isn’t the case. Every other page is Filled with very specific references, which quickly started to irritate me.
This book isn’t subtle enough to be literary fiction and isn’t funny enough to be satire. Yellowface frustrated me immensely; throughout the reading process, I constantly had a question in my mind if I was missing something. I was neither compelled by any idea discussed in the book nor entertained for the vast majority of the novel. I’m still not certain what the goal of the author was, but it definitely didn’t work for me. Perhaps this book simply isn’t for me.

“But the living are burdened with bodies. They make shadows, footprints...only the dead can be so present.”

This passage struck me because Athena does permeate the pages and feels like a living breathing character, though her death occurs quickly within the narrative.

R.F. Kuang is coming for NECKS in this one, y’all. Juniper is a character I hated, loathed, and abhorred — which is the point. Juniper, a white woman, espouses so many different Asian stereotypes while being convinced of her own virtue, my head was spinning. (Her protest of “I voted for Biden!” Oh, please. I screamed.) she is racist, xenophobic, resentful of diverse voices, and despises being told not to write lived experiences other than her own. She balks at suggestion to get a sensitivity writer - which is prevalent among today’s white, cis, and heterosexual authors today. This book highlights the insincere inclusive rhetoric that veils the same racism, tokenism, and xenophobia in the publishing industry. With Yellowface, R.F. Kuang is saying the quiet part out loud.

Brilliant. Though there is no moral ambiguity for Juniper, she does not portray Athena in an altogether flattering light which i felt required a deft hand. The ambiguity and nuance for that character is handled beautifully. Justice for Athena.

This book is absolutely insane. I binge read the last two thirds of the book in one sitting! I was slow going with the beginning of the book but it very quickly picked up and took me for an absolutely wild ride.

I honestly can devour an unlikeable female main character - and this book nailed it. Everyone basically is terrible in this from racial insensitivities from the in world publishing industry, to the female MC to the ghost of the dead author they’re all utterly unlikeable (some more than others) and it’s all incredibly exciting.

The commentary on tokenism and who should be telling diverse stories is splattered all over the place and it’s fantastic. The strongest message for me was the one that wasn’t at the forefront of the narrative. Even amongst minority groups who’s allowed to tell the stories? What matters if you are by blood connected to certain groups if culturally you were never invested?

I personally enjoy books about the book industry it gives the general public a peek into a world we don’t know about and Kuang’s tellings about the conversations that happen behind closed doors feels raw and earnest. The descriptions of online mobs felt too real for comfort and flashes a mirror to the court of public opinion that often shoots first and asks questions later.

This book feels like the novel version of midsommar in that many people will walk away from this thinking “good for her” when in fact they have missed the entire point of the project. Female MC Juniper is deeply flawed and spends the whole book justifying herself and making the reader feel sympathetic for her struggles and it’s so good it almost gets you, but you have to remind yourself how crazy bonkers this all is and you snap out of your pity.

This book was fantastic and I’d strongly recommend to any bookish person I know. Solid 4.5 ⭐️ and I will be talking about this for AWHILE.

Thank you NetGalley/William Morrow for the E-ARC!

Sharp, darkly funny satire taking down the entirety of the publishing industry and our very online intelligentsia.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Thanks Netgalley for this DRC! Look man I really couldn’t put this down. It’s satire and social commentary, yeah, but it’s also just a really engaging story. This will be a popular book club choice, for sure. June’s inner monologue is painful and embarrassing to experience at times, which is clearly by design. R.F. Kuang is an exceptional writer and does a brilliant job keeping the pacing of the story while injecting commentary about racism and stereotyping in the publishing industry and the world at large. I couldn’t look away.

This book seems to be a polarizing one; for me, it was an easy 5 star read. RF Kuang does an amazing job at creating characters that you absolutely detest, but whose story you just cannot look away from. I was in the middle of several books and decided to pick this one up on my kindle before bed.

The other books were immediately forgotten. I devoured Yellowface in 24 hours. I could not put it down. I went into it knowing that it would be satirical; but even with the humorous undertones, the plot was so strong and the characters all felt very real. This book was the one that solidified in my mind that RF Kuang is an auto-buy author. Her fantasy works are phenomenal -- but the way that she was also able to write such a solid contemporary? *chefs kiss*

Well this was less than I was expecting. I knew nothing of he novel’s content when I began. Imagine my disappointment to find a long, repetitive, not especially profound take down of current publishing and social media mores, revolving around an unappealing central character and her implausible addiction to writing. Juniper isn’t a credible character and nor is her dilemma. Okay, it’s a satire, but it’s one note, and after the lineaments are established, it only has binary choices to make. I read it, felt depressed about the industry, and went on my way looking for something less modish.

This satirical novel novel, offers a rare look at the lives of Chinese immigrants and the world of publishing as their story is rewritten thru the eyes of a white journalist after stealing the written work from her newly deceased classmate as a rising up and coming Asian writer. Once the work is stolen and rewritten with an American lens, the true value of its authenticity is about desecrated, as its Caucasian perpetrator drowns under the weight of ghostly sightings. This book is definitely not worthy of Babel praise, but Kuang brings to light issues of racism, diversity fro an Asian perspective.

Once began, YELLOWFACE did not let go of this reader's mind for one moment. I could not wait to get to bed so I could return to this racing novel.

I definitely thought I would have hundreds and hundreds of highlights to go through for this review but I think I spent too much of the time just goggling at the text to pause and take the time to reference something later.

This is a book that for someone who is Very Online will feel both absurdist and elle-oh-elle. Because that’s what being online generally feels like. In fact, here’s a perfectly timed quote!

<i>I [..] stare at the wall and mutter “what the fuck?” several times a day.</i>

But seriously, this story feels, in some way, like falling down the rabbit hole on a twitter thread; because while so much of it does detail the every day bits of publishing, the parts we see play out in the internet space and the parts we only hear about after the fact, the pile-ons, the speculation, the conspiracy (insert “I’ve connected the dots” / “you haven’t connected shit” gif here) the rest of it feels like something you’d see <b>play out</b> on booktwitter.

Because the way this story unravels, the way June slowly gets up on that hinge and then subsequently unhinges herself, is just.. unreal. Strange. Unbelievable. But un-look-away-able. I was glued. And I don’t know why I thought we’d have a reasonable ending to this story but I did and wow sorry but spoiler alert it was something else. Fascinating might be a weird word to use but I’m using it. I was fascinated.

I wish I had more brain power to really dive into all the issues that Kuang tackled — the push for diversity but only so much, the dialogue around who can write what kinds of stories, cancel culture, the toxicity of social media, the publishing industry as a whole, cultural appropriation, professional jealousy, and so much more — but honestly just touching on them is as good as it’s going to get right now. And honestly it’ll be more fun for you to experience without a dissertation on what is almost <i>already</I> a dissertation, though a satirical one at that.

Highly recommend you give this one a go.