R.F. Kuang keeps dropping literary bombs and this is no exception! You can't help but feel bad for the main character and her lack of success, but get that crawling sensation under the skin when she takes a...non-traditional route to success. "Yellowface" will be a provocative read for fans of Melissa Broder's "Milk Fed". Both stories have you asking many questions at the end, and re-evaluating the perspective of which you view life.

I recently had the opportunity to read "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang, and I have to say that it was quite an adventure. Firstly, I would like to thank the publisher for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book.

The story follows June Hayward, a writer who feels like she's been overlooked in the publishing industry. When her Yale classmate and cross-genre literary darling, Athena Liu, dies in a freak accident, June steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work. She also allows her new publisher to rebrand her as Juniper Song, complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo. The book becomes a bestseller, but as June basks in her stolen success, she can't escape Athena's shadow. Emerging evidence threatens to expose her deceit, and June must race to protect her secret while discovering how far she's willing to go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

The plot is fast-paced, and the writing style is vivid, which makes the book an immersive experience. However, the dual narrative approach can be a bit confusing. On the one hand, the story exposes the prevalent racism in the publishing industry, highlighting the difficulties faced by writers of color. On the other hand, it explores the harsh realities of the publishing world in general, commentary on the industry as a whole.

Iconic. Phenomenal. Divisive.

Honestly, I kind of want to go scream out a window after finishing this. But I'll abstain. For now.

Y'all remember that one author who said that publishing was discriminating against White authors? Yeah, okay, now imagine sitting in their head for 350 pages and you have Yellowface.

Yellowface is sold as satire, and it truly is a satirical look at some very hot topics, with a dash of autobiographical reflection (or so it seems). With questions of authorship, ownership, and race, Yellowface focuses on who has the right to tell a story. This is examined from various angles - plagiarism, racism, cultural purity, narrative control, theft from life - and it deep dives into different perspectives on these issues, all while sitting in June's head and getting her first-hand reaction to much of the discourse. It's uncomfortable, at first, but you do find yourself saying every now and then, "Does June have a point?" Given the synopsis and the impression I've given of the story, you may now think I've been brainwashed, but the true artistry of this story is in those small moments of doubt.

I think this story will definitely be one you'll either think is pure genius, or absolute garbage (depending on your person leanings), because it does deal in a lot of reality, which this book shows can be skewed and divisive in a myriad of ways. I've seen a few reviews talking about autobiographical references (i.e., similar criticism RFK received on Twitter), and, while that might be true (I don't have Twitter, so my opinion is moot there), these aren't isolated comments. The criticism and discourse around own voices and diversity in publishing is something that is very real and it's amazing that RFK brings this into the bigger picture of ownership. Can diaspora writers write about ancestral experiences if they haven't experienced it themselves? Are they profiting off the pain of victims of war, colonialism, and immigration? Where does authenticity come into play? There is a strict standard to which diverse authors are held that doesn't exist for White authors and it's frustrating, isolating, and problematic.

That being said, readers are placed in June's point of view and there is no escaping her own questioning of how the publishing industry should work and her perceived problems and disadvantages. The criticism she receives as an author is interesting, because it shows the harsh critique given, but also shares June's problematic view and self-satisfaction in her choices, both with respect to writing and life. There's an interesting balance struck where we get both sides of the argument for why and why not. June's continual negotiation with herself, her opinions, and her own righteousness feel wrong to read, but also reiterates arguments that have been seen time and time again through discourse around authorship, racism, characterization, and ownership.

Yellowface made me want to scream, beat up June, and also melt into a puddle of second-hand WHY DID YOU DO THAT?? But at the end of the day, Yellowface left me with a lot to think about regarding who gets to make the narrative.

I still want to scream though.

TW: death, racism, cyber bullying, ableist language (countered), rape, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, panic attack, alcohol; mentions suicide, war, racial slurs, Islamophobia

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall: 5/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.

My most often asked question while reading Yellowface was; why did Kuang have to write June Hayward as first person because the secondhand shame crawled over my skin like a too-tight shirt exposing all the bits I’d prefer to cover. But, did I ever love it! The absolute cringe of being in June’s head while she continuously tried to justify her actions and then double downed on them because god forbid the women ever take accountability. It felt like one horror show to the next and all I could do is watch it happen and oddly… I don’t know, root for her in a way? It was weird because I was like: Oh my god they’re going to find me—I mean—June out! It was absolutely a roller coaster to read and Kuang never fails to make me think. She never fails to teach me something through her cutting words and I relish the lesson. The racism and micro-aggressions and white bystander syndrome and the whole concept of being a token Asian author etc, How bestsellers are handpicked and the list just goes on. Kuang is fierce, her writing is compelling, and despite disliking June immensely she somehow made me strap on a seatbelt and sit front passenger side with her hoping not to crash. I wish I could convey everything that Yellowface was but if I leave it with one word then that word would be: Brilliant! Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for the arc of one of my most anticipated reads of the year, it absolutely did not disappoint!! I will be posting a review on my Instagram within the next week. Hopefully Friday, April 14th.

Miss Kuang has done it again. Literary fiction isn't a genre I would normally pick up but if Rebecca Kuang writes it, I will read it. I was hooked almost immediately and normally an unlikeable main character makes a book far less enjoyable for me but that was very obviously the intention here. The point is that the readers are supposed to be rooting to the main character's downfall, which I very much was. In this case, a bad ending for the main character, Junie, would mean a happy ending for the readers. Not including the mc, there really weren't any good people in this book except for a couple of bookish bloggers who were made out to be the antagonist in the perspective of Junie. But that's no surprise considering most of the characters are part of the publishing industry and the whole point of this book is to call out the problems within said industry.
This whole book was a satirical commentary on white fragility and white guilt and white victimization and it was a slap in the face to all the negative, racist reviews for Kuang's previous book, 'Babel.' Seeing how Junie, a white woman, took the manuscript from Athena, an Asian woman, and a bunch of the critiques Junie had made sounded eerily similar to those reviews of 'Babel,' and of course, she took those parts out and made it more white savior-esc. It was an amusing and angering read but also a necessary one. Especially coming off of the HarperCollins Union strike, which Kuang was loudly in support of, the novel is relevant and rich with commentaries and criticisms.

Absolutely loved this guided tour of the proverbial sausage factory-- in this case, sausages are books and the factory is the modern publishing industry. June/Juniper is a delightfully horrible millennial Becky Sharp. This had me reading well past my bedtime because I just had to know how it was all going to turn out.
Kuang crushed it and I expect it to be on the top of everyone's summer reads.

Kuang is not just a fantasy author and she will prove it to you in this book. I will be stuck with everything I have read from this book for years to come. This book will probably be my favorite read of 2023. Kuang does an amazing job with bringing the reader into the realities of publishing and the truths behind true success. This is a work of fiction that I feel is built entirely on facts that the author and others have experienced. It is beautiful and tragic and I am so glad I put my ENTIRE TBR to read it.

So, I only made it about halfway through this book, but that's because I have a fairly low tolerance for cringe and the main character was the cringiest ("ailing" the way someone from TX would say it is what did me in if you have read it and you're curious). But that's intentional, and the author did a great job of writing this character - she felt so believable. She was just awful and I couldn't do it, but that was more or less the point of the book, so job well done.

When Juniper's famous-author-friend dies unexpectedly, she publishes her would-be novel in her own name. The only problem? Juniper isn't Asian.

I enjoyed R.F. Kuang's YELLOWFACE from the first page to the last. This title brought problems with book publishing and bookish social media front and center and explored these issues with precision and humor. Kuang puts you in the panicked, desperate brain of the protagonist; someone who is relatable but is making every wrong choice. An exciting ride on every page written by an intelligent, incisive writer, I wish YELLOWFACE was required reading.

She did that. Kuang went there. And it was absolutely worth it.

If you're even slightly aware of the publishing world, you will realize that this boo tells it as it is and may even be taking it a little light.

Our MC is so problematic yet seems like a 100% real character.

10/10

This book was like a train-wreck: I couldn’t look away. I binged this book, and it was very entertaining! In all honesty, it was probably the most bingeable “lit fic” book I’ve ever read.

I’m not familiar with R.F. Kuang’s publishing journey, so I was able to separate that from June’s story.

I actually really enjoyed the ending. I thought it was ambiguous but also reflected June’s journey throughout the novel.

Overall, I thought this was a fun and satirical lit fit book. Thank you to Netgalley, R. F. Kuang, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was fantastic. I’m not one to read other reviews of books but this has got me spiralling. The writing is so different than anything else she has written but is fast paced and engaging. This is how it was meant to be. Satire at its finest and so perfectly timed.

This is going to be one of those books that people will love or hate. And if you hate it… you probably need to do some introspection.

This book read like a train wreck. I couldn’t look away and yet I didn’t want to keep reading because June was just THE WORST! Props to Rebecca for writing the most unlikeable character ever. Like wow! Throughout this read, I kept being like “surely she can’t get worse!” And she DOES!

I love satire and the mark of a really great satire is how true to reality it seems even when it is totally bonkers. From some of what I have seen online, I know people like June exist. Rebecca did such a great job merging the reality of how people like June think with their inability to actually see their actions as anything but what they think is just.

Rambly review bc my thoughts are all over the place:

If you’re familiar at all with RFK and/or her books, then you can are definitely familiar with the way her voice and experiences shine through her prose. I know this bothered a lot of people in Yellowface particularly but I personally found it interesting and entertaining, as it really felt like I was being let in on some juicy piece of gossip. Moreover, in some ways, it was a bit amusing and thrilling to see how RFK’s experiences were reshaped and fashioned into a tool to expose the toxic undercurrents of the book community — including publishing companies, authors, and book reviewers.

However, as intriguing as it is to peak inside RFK’s brain, I question where the line exists between her experiences and the characters? At what point does fact become fiction? This may be obvious to some but as a reader, trying to identify that line is its own kind of madness and in some ways is part of the reading experience.

What I really enjoyed was RFK’s crafting of June and Athena, as two complex, unlikeable characters. At times, June’s frustration and jealousy are so undeniably human, so understandable until it veers and takes a sharp turn and we see how she attempts to justify certain actions by rooting them in seemingly logical points. We see June use certain arguments and fallacies in her reasoning which is something frequently reflected in book discourses. RFK has a talent for capturing how quickly things can get out of hand because of feelings of entitlement. As someone privy to the inner workings and dynamics of booktok in particular, I had the same feelings of exhaustion that I do with real-life out of pocket behaviour.

The revelations we get of Athena’s actions prior to her death were so interesting and I wish we got to read more about it but I think it throws an interesting wrench into the question of who gets to write about those experiences. On a side note, it actually felt sinister reading how certain aspects of people's lives (that the characters had personal proximity to) were commodified and rebranded for fiction — which speaks to the complexity of having a right to representation. Moreover, Athena’s personality in particular was really fitting for this question and plot. Does being an asshole justify the theft of her work? Obviously not but RFK skillfully posits the reader into Junes brain that such an action almost feels justified — if not for the clear racist and xenophobic undertones.

Athena and June, in some ways, are mirrors of one another. Questions of who gets to write about what experiences is a connecting thread between the two and something that RFK forces the reader to try to answer time and time again until the reader themselves feels a bit crazy.

June and Athena’s dynamic, as short-lived as it was, was entirely fascinating. Before Athena’s untimely demise, we see a sliver of potential in their dynamic, a possibility of true kinship between June and Athena before it's violently ripped away. I think that's what makes what follows a bit tragic. Combined with the toxicity of the publishing industry, the possibility of something healthier is ground beneath its feet.

This novel cumulates into a horror show of sorts by the last third of the book, when the plot reaches ridiculous, unrealistic, dramatic heights. It was also at this last quarter of the book that there were so many interesting elements that shone through that I wish were expanded or described in more detail.

Overall, this was truly a binge-read. RFK’s imitation of a rambling Twitter feed is so accurate that at one point I felt so sick and exhausted, and if RFKs goal was to make the reader feel like they were going in circles that left them feeling insane, then her goal was achieved.

Hm.

I wish a review could be a single word. This is probably not the kind of book for me, and I really only know RF Kuang from what close friend of mine has told me about how Babylon had problematic representation for her homeland and how Kuang has avoided being part of that conversation, so when this book comes to reviews and criticisms that feel like things Kuang has experienced .... it's a bit too close to the "person in your writing seminar wrote a short story about how all the people in a writing seminar are assholes" vibe for me. One day I'll read the Poppy War trilogy, and I'll probably come back to this book after and see if my opinions have changed.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

This was my first R. F. Kuang novel (I know, I know. I WILL be reading more). And I’m blown away by her voice. I initially came into this book thinking it was nonfiction about Kuang’s experience with the publishing industry. Color me shocked when I first started reading the novel. And how much I LOVED it.
It was such a fascinating read - a very unlikeable character who at the same time was convinced that she wasn’t nearly as bad as others. I’m currently reading the “You” series and although a bit extreme, June reminded me of Joe Goldberg. That no matter how terrible they were - they were convinced that what they were doing was okay. Even justified.
I wasn’t sure where this book was going most of the time. Stuff would happen and I would go “okay now what?” And I was never disappointed with the way this story went.
And as someone who grew up in a conservative home in a conservative town, I noticed the similarities of my young thoughts in June’s head. And breathed a sigh of relief that I am out of that situation and relearning everything I was initially taught. This book is not necessarily shocking, but such a good look into the brain of someone who claims they are progressive and yet is determined white women are the real victims in publishing. Baffling and yet a stunning story. I LOVED it!

I LOVED this book. I am so glad I was able to read the advanced reader's copy. It was phenomenal and I cannot wait to read more of R.F. Kuang's work. I finished the book wanting more.

This book was the first thing I've read from R.F. Kuang and it guaranteed that I'll read everything she writes. Her mastery of language and her cutting critique of the literary world made for a fast-paced read. I'll be purchasing my own physical copy when this book comes out because it's one that I see myself re-reading. I don't often purchase books or re-read them. My only critique is that it felt like R.F. Kuang wasn't sure how to end the book without making it feel very genre. I like genre fiction and there's nothing wrong with writing it, but the ending felt out of place. It went from suspenseful literary fiction to something else entirely. It could also just be a me issue and the ending may work better for other readers.

This book requires the reader to be willing to think and engage in the text. But, it is so rewarding to do so as each layer of what the author is writing comes into play. It follows June who takes her friend's unfinished manuscript after her death. Now it happens to be that Athena was Chinese American, and the book was a World War 1 Chinese labor camp. But, each new moment has the reader questioning June's choices, ownership of writing, and who really has claim to "untold" stories. It's outstandingly done. RF Kaung takes a black and white issue and reminds the reader that every situation has shades of grey to it.

What an absolute barn burner of a book (especially of that barn was the bookternet). Kuang's eviscerating commentary on who can tell which stories and the book internet's fury feels ripped from the headlines of your favorite book blog. You'll hate the main character in the best way.