This is a hard book to review because it's probably going to be a love it or hate it type book. Or in some cases, one that you may have to sit with a while.

That's my thought at the moment. The thought of an author stealing another author's book and then getting into a culture war about the fame that follows was fascinating. Especially for those of us who follow Twitter wars and social media. If you don't enjoy the drama on social media, this may not be the book for you.

I would be interested to hear how much relates to Kuang's own experience as an author.

DNF around 20 pages. Wish there had been a trigger warning for Athena’s manner of death. I liked the pages leading up to it and thought the writing style was nice.

Yellowface is about Juniper "June" Song Hayward who takes the manuscript of her more successful college "friend," Athena Liu, after she passes. Hayward edits and publishes this manuscript as her own. Through Hayward's unreliable narration, readers get to see how her career will unfold following her theft of Liu's manuscript. Will she get what should be inevitable?

I was so curious to see how R.F. Kuang was going to move away from speculative fiction in this novel and honestly I could not be more thrilled with the result. The genre switch was seamless in my opinion. R.F. Kuang is talented in her plotting and writing. I enjoyed learning more about publishing all while reading a critique on some of its current practices that are harmful and further marginalize communities. Readers should be left really wondering about why tokenism, among many other things, persists in an industry that would be rejuvenated by diverse voices telling their own stories. You may need to get ready to sit with your discomfort!

Everything R.F Kuang is magic. Including this one. Yellowface is so piercingly insightful about how quick white people can be to take things that don't belong to them. If you're white, this book will force you to look within yourself and wonder, "is this me and have I actually done this?" And maybe you'll be uncomfortable, but that's good and necessary. Sit with the discomfort and figure out why you're uncomfortable.

R.F Kuang is a gift.

RF Kuang is a genius! Yellowface is extremely well-written, and it's everything I wanted The Plot to be. The main character in The Plot was insufferable in a way that made me DNF at 16 pages, but June was insufferable in a way that made me keep reading. I loved how reflective the novel is and how self-assured she is that she's right and did nothing wrong.
I was also really impressed with the direction of the book and how it kept me guessing. A lot of times, I can see generally where a book is heading--not so with this one. I was guessing right up to the last chapter. I thought it was incredibly well-plotted and just proves that RF Kuang can do anything.

June Hayward is a struggling white author who had an horrific debut. When her former Chinese classmate and literary sensation, Athena Liu, dies in a freak accident, June steals Athena's just-finished draft and publishes it as her own work, under the name of Juniper Song.

YELLOWFACE is a publishing industry feast- as Kuang boldly exposes the diversity, racism, disparity in wage and cultural appropriation in publishing dynamics, readers will roll their eyes and nod in agreement with many familiar scenes.

By crafting a white author (June) to be in the skin of any BIPOC author and therefore facing their struggles, Kuang impresses one with an even more powerful message. When our stories are erased or reduced to additional material. Or they are more accessible and streamlined when written by a white author? The author excavates into the theme of "ownvoices" and "who gets to tell the story?", shining light on cultural relevance and being Asian enough.

Additionally, the author doesn't shy away from showing the toxicity and alienation of social media (online book community). I found interesting to follow the process of creative writing and launching a book and I wonder how much of June's experience (the sweat, hard work - in June's case, the lack thereof; and success) mirrors Kuang's own journey. Being of Taiwanese descent, my eyes sparkled with excitement at the mention (even if brief) of Taiwan and 'The untamed'. Kuang's prose is fluid, making it an easy and quick read. Even though the ending felt a bit underwhelming, it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment.

With moments of hilarity balanced with Kuang’s signature satire, YELLOWFACE is less impactful (not my Kuang’s favorite) yet equally relevant in a different way. This literary thriller provides unfiltered insights into the publishing industry and social media. A utterly original and sharp story that any bookish person will enjoy.

Absolutely excellent. R. F. Kuang does it again with another sure-fire hit. From page 1, this novel is compelling and fun. Kuang does an excellent job of creating a narrator that is both likeable and unlikable, scrambling to justify the wrongs she's haunted by. The voice is punchy and fun and the message is poignant. Another winner for Kuang! Highly recommend.

From the first line of this book, flung out like a well-oiled red carpet or a delectable photo shoot canape, it is hard to not be birdlimed on RF Kuang’s vision of treachery, thievery, racism, cultural appropriation, twisted female frenemies, mordant jealousy, and Shakespearean revenge cycles. Added to this is an eviscerating and darkly comic depiction of the publishing industry, enmeshed with social media and caught within it, a corrosive portrait of the artist (or one of them) as a failure and a cheat, well what’s not to like?

The premise seems simple, at first. June Hayworth, long-time resentful, washed-up writer, former college acquaintance/kinda friend of the unsociable wunderkind author, Athena Liu, is invited over to Liu’s lush apartment to celebrate Athena’s new Netflix contract. As the festivities accelerate, with lots of expensive alcohol and comfort food, Athena chokes on a pancake and dies in front of June who attempts the Heimlich maneuver and calls 911. June leaves the apartment devastated but not so devastated that she forgets to pinch Lin’s unfinished masterwork manuscript on the WW1 Chinese Labour Corps. June edits and completes the story and, in the process, convinces herself it is a writing duet between her and Athena. However, when the book is presented, promoted and released to the bestseller lists and massive (mostly) critical acclaim, only June’s name appears on the book, and now she has a new name, Juniper Song. More important, it is a racially ambiguous name, as is her author photograph, which leads to confusion and ultimately a series of accusations about June’s authorship. This plays out against the grand backdrop of Twitter and TikTok and sucks in her publisher, her agent, her speaking engagements, and her insatiable need to stick with her new-found fame and the story about the story at all costs. It works kind of, though the jacked-up suspense, makes discovery possible with every anonymous and hugely popular tweet. As the story progresses, in a repeating loop of exhilaration, tension and subsequent humiliation, the enigmatic late Athena also comes in for a share of vilification and perhaps for revenge?

RF Kuang has a background in coaching debate, which is apparent in her surgical precision of entertaining /presenting opposing viewpoints and then dismissing or rationalizing them, as evidenced in the unbalanced mental machinations and self-justifications of June. The book tracks heavily in a different kind of horror, and sometimes in trenchant humor, the monster being the book buying and selling and promoting machine, the publishing have and have nots. It is presented as a meritocracy but yet is plagued by bias, stereotyping, bottom line economics, and exclusionary practices. Kuang also traffics in larger ideas, and ones that seem easy but actually are not that easily resolved: can an author write about a marginalized group if they are not a member of this community? Who owns a story, an experience? When does an experience become co-opted or misunderstood? Can the validity of a writer be judged on their private life or moral failings? What does restitution look like and who owes and is owed it?

Finally, can there be too much of a good thing? Well perhaps, and it can be argued that the narrative loses its precarious footing at the end. But the vision is provocative, the writing immersive, and the questions do not depart, but continue to grow, when the book is finished. My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

HOLY. CRAP.

Finished this in one day, I was instantly drawn in on this crazy thrill ride. It's a fascinating look at publishing, writing, social media, and perception. The highs and lows of this book left me constantly on the edge of my seat.

I COULD NOT STOP READING. This is un-put-down-able. I don’t even know how to describe the story if I was recommending it to someone, to be honest, but this was one of the weirdest and best books of the year, if not the past few years.

If you like an unreliable narrator and a little bit of a mystery to unravel, this one is for you. If you don’t like either of those things, Yellowface is still for you.

5/5 for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Yellowface. It was stunning.

June Hayworth was supposed to be a rising literary star alongside her college classmate, Athena Liu, but June's books have sold barely anything and Athena is now a the talk of the literary world. When Athena invites June over for a girl's night and ends up dying after choking on pancakes, June takes Athena's manuscript about Chinese laborers in WWI. June takes the manuscript, edits it, and sends it to her agent as if it was her own. If she didn't, the work would have gotten lost and that would have been a loss to the literary world, right? Athena's book catapults June into the world that she has been wanting- book sales that go through the roof, getting invited to speak at different events, getting nominated for all kinds of book awards. But the positive, superstar climb has a decent and June ( and her guilt) is not ready for it.

This was a powerhouse of a book- tackling race in publishing world, not to mention just how the publishing world work (which, if that's how it goes, I don't want to be an author), as well as what social media can do to someone. Kuang writes this like it's a car wreck that you can't look away from and you don't WANT to look away from. You know what's going to happen with June but she is just. so. stupid that you want it to happen to her. June is that character you want to hate. She deserves everything that happens to her even as you cringe as you read about it. I will highly recommend this book before it comes out and a long time after.

Yellowface walks a delicate line between delivering hilarious and scathing observations of the publishing industry, white women liberalism, and the echo chamber of social media, while not being too on the nose and self indulgent. It doesn’t always succeed in this balance, but even so the story is a romp from beginning to end, with June as our deliciously unlikable and somewhat delusional lead, who maaaaybe, just a little, you would like to see pull off her con.

An absolutely scorching satire that ultimately asks "Why are you writing?" The narrator is a self-assured writer with a friendly nemesis who has gotten acclaim for her novels. When that author chokes on a pancake and leaves an unpublished, unread-by-anyone manuscript behind, the narrator takes advantage of the situation (and takes the book). But where this book could feel simplistic, Kuang's narrator attempts to ingratiate herself with readers. She Iago-s herself into the narrative with justifications and the twists keep coming.
I honestly didn't know where this book would go. I loved it. I highly recommend it for anyone who loved THE PLOT, but wished it had more depth.

A story following a woman (Juni) who stole her deceased friend’s (Athena) manuscript then has it published as her own work.

It’s a biting and deliciously dark story exposing the publishing world in a very on-the-nose way. I mean, how the publishing industry works, how editors and agents do the publicity and marketing to make a book bestseller along with industry racism, industry cruelty- everything was there!!

It’s a very fast-paced book and even though it’s not my regular genre to read but I finished reading this one within 3 days.

Thank you @netgalley for sending me the ARC.

Are you planning to read Yellowface?

Wow. Wow. Wow. This was so incredibly good. Funny, with just the right amount of plot twists, and PERFECT commentary on social media & publishing.
I'll be recommending to everyone.

This is a book that is going to resonate differently for different people. There is so much scorching criticism for the publishing industry that even regular readers don’t escape unscathed. The main character is truly atrocious but that’s entirely the point. You’re rooting for her downfall the entire time. However, Kuang does an amazing job of explaining every one of the main character’s reasons for what she does. Empathy isn’t the right word, but you can follow the logic on why June feels like Athena’s story is her own. You can see how she’s entangled herself in this supreme lie and why she can never admit the truth. And you can see why that's a problem in a larger system that discriminates against minorities in a myriad of ways. Kuang is so smart and so insightful in everything she does. This is no exception.

Entertaining but ultimately a bit one-note, this book takes razor-sharp knives to the publishing industry, specifically white authors and publishers who appropriate marginalized peoples and histories for their own gain while also sanitizing and whitewashing them. The character of June is intensely and intentionally unlikeable, and I enjoyed the many, many microaggressions and terrible behaviors she commits while always somehow rationalizing herself as being in the right or being oppressed. However the end of the book is a bit of a letdown, and the lack of any truly likeable characters (whether intentional by the author or not) makes it hard to want to keep reading about any of these people.

Yellowface is addictive in the same way reality TV is. You want to look away from it, but you can't. In Juniper Song Haywood, Kuang has crafted an utterly believable character who you (should) hate with every fiber of your being, yet you find yourself afraid that the lies she has told to build herself up will come crashing down around her. With no likable characters, good writing, and a predictable plot that has two unnecessary chapter-long dives into the past, Kuang has done something rare: she's written a book you will want to consume in one sitting, will think about for ages long after is closed, and will leave you asking yourself if everything you didn't like about the book was done on purpose to truly make you hate the narrator.

WOW!

This was a captivating read from start to finish. A tale of being haunted by the truth and what lengths one would take to kept their dark lies hidden. As the reader, you’re taken down a twisted journey behind the scenes of the publishing world and the lengths that are taken to stay relevant. This piece incorporates elements of desperation, cancel culture, racism, cultural appropriation, and much more.

Absolutely recommend!

Jealousy spills over into theft when June witnesses a fellow author die in front of her. Suddenly, June is on top of the world until, someone accuses her of plagiarism. Can June outrun the haters and the ghosts?

WOWZA. I don't have... I'm gonna find the words just wow. Kuang has created a thrilling tale of power, the highs and lows of fame, and the true guilt of ghosts. I did not see the end coming, completely took me off guard but I loved June's dedication to that serotonin boost and to tell her story, from start to finish.

Paced beautifully, utilizing being problematic in publishing, and the fear of our own guilt to bring this story to a stunning conclusion.