I LOVED this book because it was my favorite kind of reading experience: completely unputdownable drama from the start.

Because when a book starts with a jealous author watching her successful friend/rival author die, you know it's going to get interesting.

Yellowface is told through the perspective of June Hayward/Juniper Song, a struggling writer who has been green with envy over the success of her former classmate (and sort-of friend) Athena Liu. Athena is a Chinese-American author with a successful career and a secretive work in progress that she briefly shows to June juuuuuuust before she passes away in a freak accident. June takes the opportunity to slip away from Athena's apartment with the novel in hand...which she proceedes to polish up, edit, and publish under her own name.

This book was gripping because I didn't really know where it was going to go. It's definitely a critique of the publishing industry and all of the tangental industries surrounding it (*cough* Book Twitter), particularly the racism in these industries. And June is a morally corrupt character justifying and defending her actions on a very slippery slope as her book experiences success -- watching her weasle her way out of people potentially finding her out was what kept me reading. But I didn't know how far June was going to go. Would she murder someone to keep them quiet? I didn't think so, but I was never quite sure.

Additionally, this book has a sort-of Tell Tale Heart element in June's visions of Athena through the story. June sees Athena in the audience at book events, on Twitter, etc. As a reader, I wasn't quite sure if this was metaphorical, a dream, if it was June decending into madness, if it was a conspiracy, if Athena wasn't really dead, or what was going on.

I looooooved that this book was clearly based in RF Kuang's own experiences in publishing and it's her way of spilling the fictionalized tea, and I was completely here for it. Overall, Yellowface was a fast-paced and juicy tale that was so much better than I expected! I can't wait for everyone to read this one when it comes out in May.

★ARC review!★
Wow wow wow
This is the first book I've read from R. F Kaung and I couldn't get enough.
Absolutely satirical and hilarious- if you get it, you get it.
The story unravels to become less about the circumstances framed within the story and more about the lengths people will go to rationalize their own behavior, no matter how disgusting, wrong, and out of touch they come across.
I found this perfectly entertaining, I literally could not stand to put it down.
★Thank you NetGalley, the opportunity to read an Advanced Copy.★

Yellowface is a must read! A fast paced, story of the plagiarism of an extremely self-righteous white women who stole her dead Chinese friend's manuscript about the Chinese labor corp and published as her own. She eventually is accused of doing so, to no avail. She is attacked by the Asian community for appropriation, while never taking ownership of doing just that. The entire story is of her blaming "other marginalized communities" and accusing them of reverse racism, because, only diverse writers / authors get published. This is her reasoning as to why her own book was a flop. The main character has zero redeeming qualities and I was actually waiting for them to appear. I think I liked that aspect the most. The author shows, not everyone is going to eventually "find their way" , seek redemption and become a good person. Some, just keep finding fault with everyone else, and never believes they are in the wrong.

I really liked how the author ended the book. The protagonist never takes any responsibility for her actions and even somehow ends up becoming a worse person by the last page! The ending felt like a psychotic character from a thriller told in such a fast paced way, that I wasn't even ready for the end when it actually came.

The author does a great telling of how the publishing world works and how from start to finish a book lands on bookshelves.

This would be an amazing bookclub pick, because there is just sooo much to unpack here.

The theme that kept popping up in my head was "when you can see the unhinged nature of everyone around you but yourself". I was hooked throughout this literary telenovela.

June and Athena are authors on two different planes: Athena is destined for fame while June is struggling to get published. So when Athena dies and leaves behind an unpublished manuscript that is destined to be a best seller, June decides to edit it and publish it under her own name... (Well, under a pseudonym that sounds a little too suspiciously like she's trying to pass for Chinese.) After all, it's not stealing if you make it your own, right? It's a tribute to her late "friend"! At least, this is what June convinces herself as she goes further and further down a dangerous path toward plagiarism and cultural appropriation. But just how far will June go to feel the serotonin boost of success? And will it pay off?

This book exceeded my expectations! It hooked me from the beginning, and June was so insufferable yet fascinating to follow as she descended into madness and self obsession. It was a humorous yet infuriating look at racism inside and outside of the publishing industry with stark social commentary and a dash of mystery/suspense. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC audiobook! The narrator was incredible and made the story even more addictive.

This was a different type of book than what Kuang has written before. Very satirical and focused on the book industry, this book hosts an unlikeable and unreliable narrator. But I think it works well for this story. Some of the opinions seemed a little heavy-handed at times but overall I really enjoyed this one.

Athena is not a well liked person - yet June cannot help meeting her for dinner, to celebrate her latest author achievement. Riddled with jealousy, June listens to Athena's new book outline. And watches her die. Her fingers just happen to grasp Athena's manuscript.
So it begins - one action leads to years of paranoia, second guesses and an unhealthy obsession with social media comments.
Wonderful critique of the publishing world - backstabbing and revenge. Loved the writing and dark humor.

I was lucky enough to get not only an eARC but ALC copy of Yellowface, one of my most anticipated reads for this year. I’ve been a fan of the author for ages and I have to say, this book holds up to all her other books.
We’re following June, a failing author. Her first published work didn’t make much of a splash so when Athena Liu suddenly dies in front of June, she takes Athena’s latest novel and publishes it under her own name. As a white woman, the book becomes overly hyped and praised by everyone but the Asian community who call out June for writing outside of her own experience. Right away people start questioning if she wrote the book herself when compared to Athena’s past work. So June does everything in her power to take down the minority group she’s upsetting by getting them fired from their jobs and to ruin their livelihoods for daring to stand up against her.
I think this book is insane important for anyone who wants to go into publishing, particularly white authors. As someone of privilege simply for being white, you need to understand the power you hold and the fact if your book is published, a marginalized person won’t be published if you take that space by writing a flawed and white savoir glazed book. June is a great example of white women doing this and doing what they can to silence those speaking out including the staking of reviewers. The longer the book goes on, the more unhinged June becomes in order to protect her secrets. Even at the end she hasn’t changed her tune, but continues this toxic behavior.
I highly recommend this book. If you dislike it purely on what it’s about, then this book is something you SHOULD read. I know there will be plenty of people trying to claim its racist (you can’t be racist against white people), but they’re fully missing the point of this book. Because it feels like the writing community keeps recycling these narratives of white people having horrible behavior only for their careers to keep blossoming while people of color will instantly lose everything for minor things such as mentioning bad behavior of someone else who’s with their publishers.

I absolutely loved this book. Especially the audiobook. Before starting this, I had assumed I just had audiobook burnout, but this one had me hooked all the way through. When I wasn't listening, I was thinking about listening. Kuang had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. She does an amazing job of making me feel for June JUST until she pulls the rug out from under you and has June spouting out problematic nonsense. This book was a great look into the publishing industry, since June is definitely not the only villain in this. I will be thinking about this book for awhile.

First time reading R.F. Kuang’s work, and I have to admit she’s on her way to being one of my favs.
Wow, what a ride! This was one of the most disturbing and upsetting stories I’ve read, and I loved it. The story really keeps you hooked, and you can’t wait for June to fall on her a**! Believe me; you will hate June, then feel bad for and then hate her again. The only con is the ending felt quick and rushed.

"Yellowface" is a vicious, spiralling reckoning: there's going to be a lot of critical think pieces about appropriation, creative vampirism, racism in the publishing industry, and white female victimhood, and I'm eager to read them, but what I'd like to specifically highlight here in my review is something far less complex: *What* a thriller this was. One of the best awful, nasty narrators since Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl", and well in the vein of Nabokov's "Lolita". So many thrillers these days try to go for the unreliable-yet-compelling psycho, and so few have actually pulled it off. June Hayward aka Juniper Song is right up there with Amy Dunne and Humbert Humbert: she's a lying, cheating, charismatic, self-justifying white woman who is desperate to bring us, the reader, onto her side.

Of course RF Kuang writes an incisive skewer of the publishing industry. Of course "Yellowface" comes for GoodReads, for awards, for the Twittersphere. You'll no doubt read a lot about how this satirical novel is so meta, and based on Kuang's experiences.

But man oh man, what a fantastically toothsome, awful, wonderful unreliable-narrator thriller this is, the likes of which I haven't seen in years. "Yellowface" is exhilarating.

June Hayward and Athena Liu were both authors who got deals as young, freshly grauated college students. June is white, Athena is Asian American. June's work flopped, and Athena rose to critical accliam. The two stayed "friends," and occasionnaly spent time together, until one night they are hanging out and there's a freak accident and June sees Athena die. She also finds Athena's latest manuscript, and decides to take it home.
This audiobook was fantastic! The narrator was excellent. When reading the eArc, I just couldn't get into it, but the narrator had great inflection and brought the voice of the main character out in a way that the text didn't for me.
Though I wasn't a huge fan of the voice of the main character, this book brings up a lot of important topics about the publishing industry, social personas, social media, cancel culture, misogyny, diversity, racism, cultural appropriation, and micro-agressions. It's doing A LOT, so some things aren't explored as deeply, but it brings up a lot of current issues and even though fictional, shows a side of publishing that fans and readers don't often get to see.

What do I say about this book? R.F. Kuang can do no wrong. I went into this book knowing very little about the premise (seriously, I skimmed the summary and description and jumped at the opportunity to read another book by Kuang), and I was instantly blown away.

Told from the first-person perspective of unsuccessful author Juniper (June), the book starts off with a bang: June's very successful author "friend," Athena, tragically dies in her apartment in front of June after a night out together. Athena had just finished writing the manuscript for a book she'd been working on for a while and June takes the only physical copy of this book that exists from Athena's department less than a couple of hours after her death. June convinces herself that her intentions are pure - she only wants to read Athena's last work and find a way to honor her genius and memory. But of course, she can't keep herself from acting as editor and finding ways to "fix" the manuscript. It's just an exercise to break her out of her writing slump...right?

Naturally, this only continues to escalate and quickly spirals out of June's control. All the while her actions become more and more outrageous and incomprehensible. Except that's just the point, isn't it? When portrayed in this way, we get a glimpse into the increasingly ridiculous ways June justifies her behaviors throughout this debacle. As a reader it's easy to watch June become more delusional as she digs her heels in further. What we are bearing witness to, however, is something that happens more often than we care to admit in the current publishing industry. Kuang manages to give a disturbingly accurate portrayal of a white woman victimizing herself and playing the "reverse racism" card at almost every negative encounter.

This book is timely, critical in wonderfully controversial ways, and gripping. The narrator, Helen Laser, hits the nail on the head and captures June's voice perfectly. After the first chapter, I didn't want to put this book down! It grabbed me by the collar and pulled me single-handedly out of my reading slump.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves Kuang's work, is interested in some dirty details about the publishing industry, or wants to painfully cringe-laugh at the current state of denial real-life people like June are in when it comes to racism, appropriation, and the theft of stories that aren't ours to tell.

DNF @50%

This is RF Kuang…someone who writes so vividly and in tune with racism that it made me so viscerally angry. The only reason this book is a DNF is because it kept making my blood pressure spike.

There are so many white people that truly believe in reverse racism, so I just wanted to throw Juniper off of a cliff. I LOATHED her, and I couldn’t keep reading without wanting to throw something across the room.

Thanks to Harper Audio and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm still deciding how I feel about this book.

Was it entertaining? Yes, very. Did it have a message? Very much so. But I'm not entirely sure I got it. It deals with the fallout of a white woman who is friendly with a highly-regarded Asian American author; both attended Yale, but Athena, the latter, has been showered with accolades throughout her career, while June/Juniper, the former, published one sad little novel that went nowhere. When June finds herself in a position to be able to steal Athena's unpublished, recently-completed manuscript, she grabs it without, apparently, a second thought. She spends the rest of the book justifying her actions, which become more reprehensible the longer she goes on, on the strength of the unfairness of the publishing industry.

The style of writing propels the plot and June is so incredibly wrapped up in her own fame and shenanigans that it's hard to stop listening. The voice acting is pretty superb, here, too.

There are a few flat notes: June is occasionally beyond clueless in matters of interracial relations to the extent that she sounds like someone's greatest generation Granny, despite being in her 30s. I suppose that's just the satire at work. It's super cringey reading June's adventures through a reading at the Chinese American Social Club (where the booker assumed she was Asian American due to her ambiguous author photo and deliberately misleading publishing moniker). Swimming around in June's thoughts is no fun, but it does make for an interesting read.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Yellowface was one of my most looked forward to releases of this year and it surpassed any expectations. Before starting I had felt myself in a bit of a reading slump and this story pulled me right out of it. It was crazy, unhinged, immoral, and kept me completely on my toes the entire time because I couldn't tell where it was going, at any point!

It is 100% worth the read!

The narrator, Helen Laser, did an amazing job bringing life to the story!

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu are "supposed" to be friends, but when Athena dies suddenily, June steals Athena's nearly finished novel. This leads to June's life spiraling from highs to lows and not being able to get Athena out of her mind. She haunts her thoughts, she thinks she sees her and gets hate messages from "her" and others claiming they know June stole the novel.

OH WOW! i literally listened to this entire book in one evening. the main character is absolutely unhinged. this story is wildly creative, dark, and hilarious. a smart critique on publishing and racism. not quite as good as babel but phenomenal nonetheless!

Yellowface explores another face of racism; the Asian American experience. Interestingly, the publishing company recognized the selling obstacle of a non-Asian author writing a book about Chinese labor with strong Chinese knowledge/language and addressed it by changing the authors name to something "more" Asian. I'm not saying that non Asian authors cannot be experts on Asian topics, but perhaps publishers should do a little more digging or questioning of the author before publishing. I was glad that June, the protagonist, wrestled with her deception.

Kuang's Yellowface has a similar premise to a recent book called The Plot - one person steals an idea/manuscript from another character who has died - but comes at it from a slightly different angle and with more dark humor. In this story, June and Athena have travelled in the same writerly circles since college, but Athena has found for more success in their profession while also seeming to have only June as an actual friend. One night, June watches Athena die in a freak accident shortly after Athena has shown her a finished draft of her new book about the Chinese Labour Corps and, in the commotion, June steals it and ends up reworking it and passing it off as her own.

I'm conflicted about how I feel about this book. At first, the justifications that June went through for stealing the book were amusing and you could almost feel the dialog in her head as she worked through it, but as time went on and she worked through backlash from many different fronts, the justifications got a bit cringey and June got meaner. It was interesting watching from the publishing side as June was morphed into Juniper and made to use her middle name, Song, to make her seem more Asian for the topic of the novel. The publishing industry is made out to be inherently racist and solely driven by profit and public relations, protecting itself over the authors, and the ending of this book brings that full circle. I very much enjoyed listening to this story and the narration of Helen Laser was a big reason why.

A big thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.