This book is a great insight into the publishing world and the skewed mindset of some of the individuals working in the industry, but it also translates well into how the general public thinks of racism as well. June is such a classic example of a white woman who refuses to believe anything she's doing is racially motivated, but even her reaction to the Chinese food she's offered throughout the book let's the reader see what she doesn't. I am a white woman so I can't say exactly how accurate the experience is for others, but as a white woman I can also say that I've echoed some of June's thoughts throughout my life, and I've learned to recognize how problematic that is. I loved The Poppy War series and while this is completely different, Kuang does a fantastic job.

I think more than anything this book gives us a glimpse into the current concerns within the publishing world. It also allows us to examine the repercussions of too much time spent online. That increasing feeling of paranoia and cynicism that comes from a lack of quality community. I enjoyed this book and the questions it made me consider.

We follow our unreliable narrator as she makes choices that seem to get in her own way but don't we always? There's not a single character in this novel that I would call likeable. This book has gotten a lot of social media buzz even as the novel criticizes how reviews and online promotion can be such a damaging space. Lots of things to consider with this one!

Such a stressful read-- the protaganist will make you want to pull your hair out, but you will not want to stop reading. This is my first by Kuang and I was surpised to learn this is not her usual genre. Overall just a really good book that I will definitely reccomend to my patrons.

I greatly enjoyed this novel. Along with being a fantastic story, it has a lot to say about diversity, appropriation, and publishing. It gave me a lot to think about. I definitely will be recommending it to everyone--and already have.

What, after all, is a storyteller? In this seething exposé, itself the work of a fictional storyteller crafted by a real-life storyteller, “ripping through bone and gristle to the tender bleeding heart”, June Hayward, aka Juniper Song, takes us deep into the “grotesque” world of commercial publishing, from a wannabe author’s point of view, revealing to us the Machiavellian spawn churning within.

June, our first person POV narrator, is in awe of Athena Liu, her authorly nemesis, a fantastically successful (indeed, unbearably so) Yale colleague, who was taken her writing career to heights June can only dream of. And dream she does, as she finds herself inescapably locked into the self-immolating position of both worshipping Athena, and envying her with every pore of her being.

Without giving the plot away, (no spoilers here), as we follow June on her path to subsume and emulate Athena, every hint of morality or shame is rationalized and swept aside in her desperately distasteful bid to enter the world she now feels unfairly denied her.

What follows is a searing, satirical look at diversity; racism; reverse racism; ambition; the terrifying all-consuming ‘truth’ of social media; and of course, the ultimately-vicious big business of publishing - and last but not least, the fate of those angst-filled storytellers caught in the midst, forevermore “racing along the hamster wheel of relevance”.

Darkly convincing, (written by a hugely successful author bearing deep similarities to our literary heroine), I loved this only-slightly over-the-top illumination from within, and the depths of desire and despair it takes us to, - an unputdownable tale of angst and redemption, hovering, tantalizingly, just out of reach, as our storyteller tells the story of her storyteller (and her story and on, it goes…).

A great big thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
All thoughts presented are my own.

#yellowface #netgalley #williammorrow #rfkuang #booksofHCC #harpercollinsCA

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this title.

Rating is actually rounded up to 4.5 stars.

This was another wonderful book by Kuang. I have loved reading all of her books. They are so well written, interesting and intelligent, and they make me uncomfortable (in a way that makes me feel like it should because it is doing something important). This book was no exception. Because this is not a fantasy book, it isn't likely to be the kind of book I will return to again and again, but it is none-the-less and important and good read. The narrator's voice is so well done, drawing you in even though she is despicable. I also loved the bits of suspense where I wasn't sure, like the narrator, what exactly was going on. June was a perfect unreliable narrator.

The only reason this isn't a 5 start read is because I felt like the book ended abruptly. "I was trying to get my kindle to go to the next page and there was none" kind of abrupt. The story was mostly tied up, so maybe it was just so compelling that it felt that way, but I definitely was caught off guard that there wasn't at least a few more pages.

😍Loved: This book was refreshing! Satire isn't something that I typically gravitate towards but this book was a ride! If you can listen to the audiobook, the narrator is fantastic!

😀Liked: I really enjoyed the exposé of the publishing industry and there was a lot that I learned. The MC June made me smile, laugh, completely cringe and while she was incredibly unlikeable, I had to find out how everything was going to pan out.

😐Lukewarm: I found the plot slowed at time and was occasionally repetitive.

Thanks to for the advance e-copy! Off to read all of Kuang's backlist that I've collected as I'm totally hooked on her writing.

I don’t know what I think about this book--is it “what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive”? Or is it a story about the injustices of diversity in the publishing industry? Or is it the horror tale of a woman driven mad by social media? Whatever it is, it was a compulsive read and I was sad to see it end without knowing if June’s musings at the end became what will happen or were they the delusions of a crazy woman. Although June did something really bad, I don’t think she was a bad person--she was human with human feelings: envy of Athena being chief among them. I found Athena, although she is only alive in the very beginning of the book, a conundrum--was she really June’s friend or did she hang around with June to make her feel superior or to use her life experiences for story ideas. The book did a good job of creating an almost stifling atmosphere--at every step I thought, “if June had only done _____” instead of what she did do and as she became more and more isolated the book seemed to rush to the end. I had to keep reminding myself that it is not true, it is just a story as I felt the box June was in becoming smaller and smaller, until at the end she just disappears…

This is the first of Kuang’s novels I’ve read, and I knew I was going to love it. Morally grey characters, an unexpected death, an unreliable narrator - it checks so many of my favorite boxes. Not to mention the social commentary nestled throughout. I’m excited to see what other readers think and see what portions of the conversation continue past the pages. 5/5

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!

#LiteraryFiction #Thriller #Mystery

June Hayward and Athena Liu attended school together and came up in the literary world at the same time. But while Athena has found success, June has struggled. When she witnesses Athena die in a freak accident, she's horrified, but she also takes Athena's unpublished manuscript and works it into something of her own. It's a success, and since it's about Chinese history, she goes along with it when her publisher changes her name to make it sound more ethnically ambiguous. But then she starts getting threatening messages, and June realizes she's going to find out how far she'll go to remain in the literary spotlight, and to keep her secrets buried.

A page-turner, this sharp and incisive novel is a strong sendup of the current publishing world. Readers will watch, horrorstruck, as June makes decisions that dig her deeper and deeper into a hole she'll never be able to climb out of. Kuang's biting critique of both the publishing world and online culture is so entertaining and often very funny. The book's central mystery is perhaps the weakest link in the novel, but it hardly matters: the character of June is well-rendered, and readers will keep reading to see what happens to her.

I've seen a lot of mixed reviews for Yellowface by RF Kuang, but I ended up really enjoying this one overall! If you need likeable characters, Yellowface isn't for you. None of the characters are likeable, but especially the MC June. This dark satire drew me in immediately and kept me compulsively engaged in that "watching a train wreck" kind of way. I just couldn't look away. (Or rather, stop listening because I did do the audiobook!) I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, but I would recommend this one if you enjoy unreliable narrators, peeks into the publishing industry, and delving into the gray areas of morality!

Engaging story about how far one will go for success, and how lies always seems to catch up with you in the long run.

Yellowface was a creative look at how racism can actually target the average while female.
Loved the internal observations of what it takes to publish a book. And what audience it will target to make it a hit.
Junie was smart and educated and a decent writer- but she was not the diverse image the publishers wanted. So she latches on to her Asian friend Athena. Athena has it all- she's beautiful and smart and her debut novel brings fame and success. Junie thinks her life would be perfect if only she could be like Athena. Without spoilers, Yellowface is a dark story of obsession and loneliness.
Kuang has written a thought provoking novel of racism laced with the influence of social media on our society.
Would highly recommend.
Thanks to Net Galley and Harper for the advance read.

Thank you to R.F. Kuang, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

This book follows June Howard, a young author who is hard on her luck, and struggling with her friendship to author superstar Athena Liu. When June witnesses Athena tragic, accidental death, she seizes an opportunity to steal Athena's unpublished and secret manuscript. This first draft, a book about Chinese laborers and their unsung contributions to Allied forces during WWII, is full of half-finished ideas and opportunities for June to step in and add her own voice. While June briefly struggles with the ethics of the situation, she ultimately decides to edit the manuscript as her own and publish under a racially ambiguous pseudonym. I mean, can it really be so wrong to steal an Asian author's work about Asian history and pass yourself off as not totally exactly white to publish it? June did the research, too, right? She deserves these accolades Athena was getting - right?

This is a great conversation about whiteness, race, and the publishing industry. This was really well-written and a very poignant critique on the publishing industry and race. I can't call it a super fun read - but it's a good one. I also think it is a good one for publishing and book professionals to read and analyze in regards to their own practices. 4.5/5 read, do recommend!

RF Kuang has truly become a favorite author. I'm so beyond impressed and delighted by how much she manages to weave into her novels. Fantasy, literary, anything -- she can write it.

Cringe from beginning to end, but in the funny way. Even though I went into this book knowing it was satire, hearing the main character make the wrong, most audacious decision they could possibly make over and over again, brought me physical discomfort. The reader may have to know the various discourses that come with "book Twitter" to pick up on how on-the-nose Kuang's critique is. This one is definitely for those that enjoy mess and scandal.

What in the actual hell did I just read gdkjsghldf

In some ways, I think I've been let down by my expectations for the book, based on how the blurbs and buzz were describing it. I think I wanted a more active story of the things June was willing to do to bury the truth, when in reality, so much of the book can be boiled down to "the gossip mill says mean but kinda true things, June hyperventilates, problem goes away." This isn't inherently a negative, just not what I thought I was going to find in the book. But since the whole thing more or less happens in June's head, holy shit what a head to have put all that in, all the self-victimizing and woe is me for this terrible thing she did. June Hayward is absolute jealousy-ridden gutter trash, and I kind of live for it.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for the digital arc in return for an honest review.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is a dark satire about an unsuccessful white author who, after witnessing her very successful author friend's death, steals her manuscript and publishes it as her own. Then comes her descent into bad decision after bad decision. This book explores a lot of different topics such as, cancel culture and online drama, who gets to tell certain stories, and an interesting insight into the publishing industry.

I found a lot of the explorations into things such as ‘cancel culture’ to be really interesting and well done. So often when someone critiques cancel culture it is often only when they themselves have been ‘cancelled’ (aka been held accountable for their actions) and their main argument they have against it is just that it’s bad because there should be free speech and whatnot. Yellowface accurately represented how outrage by one side is often very much performative and has a short lifespan, moving from one drama to the next, rather than actually caring about the issue. I liked the way it showed that as soon as the ‘victim’ in the drama was shown to not be this perfect, flawless person, they started getting attacked and ‘cancelled’ as well, having the drama turn very quickly, before just moving on, allowing people to just get away with their actions. It also showed how right-wing media and personalities will use to outrage and promote the things being “cancelled”, particularly when these people are white and it has something to with race among other issues. This is something we witness so much online but I’ve never really seen reflected in any books or other media so it was interesting to see R.F. Kuangs take on this.

I’ll be candid and say that I am a big fan of R.F. Kuang, so I went into this book knowing I’d enjoy it. I found the character study of June to be well done and so fascinating, it’s essentially a book from the villain’s perspective, however she doesn’t seem to think she's the villain. She often defends her actions, and is trying to reason to the audience (and I think also herself) that something like stealing someone’s manuscript is actually a good thing. We follow her many bad decisions and the descent that that takes her on, being cancelled and trying to hide said decisions for example, and just leaves you waiting for it all to blow up in her face. She is at times almost laughably ignorant, saying something so tone deaf or racist and defending herself by saying she ‘voted for Biden’ or that she supports young asian authors, almost painting herself as the white saviour. Other times she seems to realise that she is the bad guy, but it got her to where she is and doesn’t seem to care anymore. It was interesting to see the outward mask she has where she tries to paint herself as progressive, caring about social issues, essentially a ‘leftist’, but inwardly she is very much the opposite, and much more conservative thinking and much more inline with a lot of right wing thinking. She represents something that actually occurs a lot in celebrities and public figures where they are just socially progressive. This outward mask could also be seen in other characters, most interestingly in Athena’s ex boyfriend and the movie producer team. It was a small detail, but I just found it very fascinating to see.

Despite my overall enjoyment of Yellowface, there are definitely a few issues I have. Some minor ones being that there were a few occurrences where I found the dialogue to just be cheesy and unbelievable, most memorable was early on when June sees an ad for her book in the subway I think it was and some people walking by say something along the lines of “that sounds super interesting, I might check that out”, loud enough for June to hear. Maybe it’s just me but it sounded like something that absolutely would never happen. Another one being that, while most of the time I thought she did a good job of toeing the line of comedy and commentary on people like June, there were some points where she just felt like a caricature rather than a well written character, that while they are definitely in the wrong, still feel real.

My last issue, which I’ve seen a few other people have, is a lot bigger and with the entirety of the book. Yellowface, as I’ve stated, follows June who steals Athena’s manuscript after she passes away. Athena is described as this very successful author, she’s pretty, talented and overall just seems to be perfect in every way. While the book does eventually show that Athena had many faults and definitely wasn’t perfect, a lot of the criticisms against this character are passed off as only jealousy. The problem here especially is that Athena is very similar to R.F. Kuang herself, R.F. Kuang as an author has been very open about putting a lot of herself into her work, and I think that’s great honestly. But a lot of the criticisms directed at Athena are ones that R.F. Kuang has received, and also seem to be very valid criticisms, not just jealousy or racism as this book tries to paint them as. The result of this is that it makes it difficult to criticise something for valid reasons without being grouped into the people that are genuinely just criticising it for those reasons.

I did really enjoy Yellowface, it was funny and provided a needed commentary and opened up a discussion on the publishing industry and how we interact with it online especially. I will definitely be continuing to read everything R.F. Kuang writes and Yellowface has cemented her as an author who can do more than just historical fantasy. I have my problems with it that I do think readers should keep in mind, but overall I think this book is really important and will leave you with a lot to think about.

I've never read a book from R.F. Kuang before, but after reading "Yellowface" I feel like I will be a frequent reader.

This book was more thought-provoking than I could have imagined. Having read stories centered around the morality and ethics involved in plagiarism, I wasn't really prepared for a point of view that would be any different from the ones I've read before.

This book, however, delves into aspects I hadn't considered before. Drenched in satire, R.F. Kuang explores the lonliness and pressure that can lead authors to make really awful decisions like plagiarism... but there is also an exploration of prejudice in the publishing industry, issues with inauthentic voices, etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Kuang's works.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Yellowface is a novel where two women become friends in college, bonding over their future dreams to become an author. One of these friends becomes a famous author (Athena), and the other is left wanting more (June). One night, Athena dies while in June’s company and June makes the decision to steal Athena’s completed manuscript. The subsequent journey that R.F. Kuang takes us on addresses jealousy, racism, relationships, and the idea that the villain is the hero of their own story. Throughout the entire book the reader is told the story from June’s pov, and while this normally would lead the reader to be on their side - Kuang does not hold back in allowing the reader to see the missteps that are made by our narrator and the rationalizations that accompany them. Yellowface forces the reader to review their own biases and addresses racism, anti-racism, and the unconscious bias held by readers and the publishing industry. R.F. Kuang uses this novel to shed light on the inherent institutionalized issues in the publishing industry, and how we as readers, play a role in this.