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foresturken's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Grief, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs
basil_touche's review
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such an engrossing read that's a biting satire on authors, racism in the publishing industry and the isolation of social media. This is fantastic example of an unreliable narrator that, while awful, feels like a she's a real person who's lack of acknowledgement of her white privilege and bigotry makes her dig herself deeper into her own pit. It becomes a trainwreck that you can't look away from.
The ending is going to stay with me, how it dawns on you as it reaches the end thatJuniper has doomed herself to an endless spiral of delusion, blaming everyone but herself. Trapped in isolation and irrelevancy. It's sad in a way and feels very true to life (there were several online scandals of recent memory that this book reminded me of) but also doesn't beat around the bush that all of this is her fault. Not to mention that she really doesn't have talent and keeps plagiarising asian authors (a part where she tries to come up with new pitch ideas only to realise that she's copied her asian high school students made me break down with laughter)
I do wish that we could have learned more about Athena, there was a lot about her family history that is mentioned briefly but I suppose that's part of the narrative; her voice was stolen from her, we'll never truly know her, mostly only how June saw her. There's so many layers to this book I'll be thinking about for quite some time. I will absolutely be checking out Kuang's other novels.
The ending is going to stay with me, how it dawns on you as it reaches the end that
I do wish that we could have learned more about Athena, there was a lot about her family history that is mentioned briefly but I suppose that's part of the narrative; her voice was stolen from her, we'll never truly know her, mostly only how June saw her. There's so many layers to this book I'll be thinking about for quite some time. I will absolutely be checking out Kuang's other novels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Violence, Mental illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs
Minor: War, Suicide, and Death of parent
ashively18's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
I read this 6 months ago and I am just now able to post a review. I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I should. Ultimately, this was a personal experience and it shouldn’t sway someone from reading it if they want to, but I also feel like if I don’t just post my experience with it, that I will never move on. I would like to never think about this book again after this so here it goes.
To start, I know people love this book and that is amazing for them. It was not the book for me though. I have never in my life, had such an awful reading experience with a book, nor have I read something that legitimately infuriated me so badly that it has left a permanent negative mark on me. This book gave me massive anxiety.
There were numerous things about Yellowface that rubbed me the wrong way. The first, was the message telling authors to stay in their lane based off their ethnicity. Granted the main character was a POS that stole the works of her dead friend, but in any normal circumstances, I would never tell someone they couldn’t write about something that did the research for, because they didn’t live it. However, I am sure her pointing this out was intentional. My guess is that she has personally been told this multiple times, which influenced her decision to write this into Yellowface. The underlying message is likely an “F U” to trad publishing, which I mean I can definitely get on board with. I have heard it’s common to tell authors to “stay in their lane”. My issue is not with that message, it is that most folks are not all that intuitive, so the message at face value is discouraging and counterproductive to working towards equality of all in society, or publishing or whatever area of life.
The second, was that it directly points out the very real issues with today’s culture. Whether that is specific to publishing or in general is neither here nor there. I know that society is a shit show already, but I would rather not be faced with said shit show when I am reading to escape the struggles of living in this world. It does a fantastic job demonstrating how awful people are and how quick folks are to gather their pitchforks and torches. We have seen this so many times already “guilty until proven innocent” is the mentality of the masses and that is a dangerous place for anyone to find themselves facing.
Ultimately, I know what she was trying to do with this book and I think she achieved it. This whole book was a big giant negative sandwich. I am not a political person because of the negative connotations associated, so this was a definite mistake to read this and I should probably have researched it a bit more instead of going off my fave booktoker’s reviews, because I was certainly not the target audience. I truly hope the rest of this author’s works are much more of an enjoyable experience because I really would love to give her other titles a go.
To start, I know people love this book and that is amazing for them. It was not the book for me though. I have never in my life, had such an awful reading experience with a book, nor have I read something that legitimately infuriated me so badly that it has left a permanent negative mark on me. This book gave me massive anxiety.
There were numerous things about Yellowface that rubbed me the wrong way. The first, was the message telling authors to stay in their lane based off their ethnicity. Granted the main character was a POS that stole the works of her dead friend, but in any normal circumstances, I would never tell someone they couldn’t write about something that did the research for, because they didn’t live it. However, I am sure her pointing this out was intentional. My guess is that she has personally been told this multiple times, which influenced her decision to write this into Yellowface. The underlying message is likely an “F U” to trad publishing, which I mean I can definitely get on board with. I have heard it’s common to tell authors to “stay in their lane”. My issue is not with that message, it is that most folks are not all that intuitive, so the message at face value is discouraging and counterproductive to working towards equality of all in society, or publishing or whatever area of life.
The second, was that it directly points out the very real issues with today’s culture. Whether that is specific to publishing or in general is neither here nor there. I know that society is a shit show already, but I would rather not be faced with said shit show when I am reading to escape the struggles of living in this world. It does a fantastic job demonstrating how awful people are and how quick folks are to gather their pitchforks and torches. We have seen this so many times already “guilty until proven innocent” is the mentality of the masses and that is a dangerous place for anyone to find themselves facing.
Ultimately, I know what she was trying to do with this book and I think she achieved it. This whole book was a big giant negative sandwich. I am not a political person because of the negative connotations associated, so this was a definite mistake to read this and I should probably have researched it a bit more instead of going off my fave booktoker’s reviews, because I was certainly not the target audience. I truly hope the rest of this author’s works are much more of an enjoyable experience because I really would love to give her other titles a go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Racism
amybartoli29's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Bullying, War, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Stalking
befrazzledenby's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Juniper Hayward is one MESSY bitch and I ate every bit of it up (& listened w Am and even she didn’t see the ending coming)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying
alphabetmafiamember's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, Bullying, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death of parent, and War
k8lynn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
also, reverse racism is totally not a thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
ceceska's review
dark
funny
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
O.M.G. Ce livre était absolument FABULEUX. Je n'en reviens juste pas à quel point ce livre était bon. C'est un 5 étoiles SOLIDE. Je vais le dire tout de suite même si d'habitude je le met à la fin de mon review : je recommence ce livre à TOUT LE MONDE. Vous devez lire ce livre!
Ce livre suit l'histoire de June, une femme blanche, qui vole le manuscrit non publié de son amie asiatique suite à son décès. Le manuscrit porte sur le rôles des travailleurs chinois lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle publie le récit de son amie en le faisant passer pour le sien, mais en y faisant quelques modifications...
Les thèmes de ce livre sont : le racisme, la solitude, la jalousie et l'appropriation culturelle. Ces thèmes sont explorés dans un long monologue fiévreux et dérangé de la protagoniste.
Ce livre était unique puisque la majorité de celui-ci était le fil de pensées de la protagoniste, June. Les dialogues sont peu nombreux mais sont très efficaces. Dans ce cas-ci, moins de dialogue a rendu l'histoire très intéressée puisqu'on voit bien la psyché de la protagoniste ainsi que le raisonnement qui la pousse à prendre des décisions chaotiques.
J'ai beaucoup aimé détester June. Je ne sais pas quand est la dernière fois que j'ai autant détesté une protagoniste d'un roman. June était extrêmement raciste, méchante et qui pense que tout lui est dû. Elle est absolument horrible. Chacune de ses décisions est pire que la précédente. J'ai adoré ça.
Ce roman m'a tenue en haleine du début jusqu'à la fin. J'ai eu des réactions de surprise à haute voix plusieurs fois pendant ma lecture. Je n'en revenais simplement pas des événements qui se produisaient.
Ce roman était très bien écrit. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture. Le rythme était très rapide, ce que j'apprécie énormément. Je ne m'attendais pas du tout à cela considérant que la majorité du livre est ses pensées.
Bref, encore une fois, je recommande ce livre à TOUT le monde.
Ce livre suit l'histoire de June, une femme blanche, qui vole le manuscrit non publié de son amie asiatique suite à son décès. Le manuscrit porte sur le rôles des travailleurs chinois lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle publie le récit de son amie en le faisant passer pour le sien, mais en y faisant quelques modifications...
Les thèmes de ce livre sont : le racisme, la solitude, la jalousie et l'appropriation culturelle. Ces thèmes sont explorés dans un long monologue fiévreux et dérangé de la protagoniste.
Ce livre était unique puisque la majorité de celui-ci était le fil de pensées de la protagoniste, June. Les dialogues sont peu nombreux mais sont très efficaces. Dans ce cas-ci, moins de dialogue a rendu l'histoire très intéressée puisqu'on voit bien la psyché de la protagoniste ainsi que le raisonnement qui la pousse à prendre des décisions chaotiques.
J'ai beaucoup aimé détester June. Je ne sais pas quand est la dernière fois que j'ai autant détesté une protagoniste d'un roman. June était extrêmement raciste, méchante et qui pense que tout lui est dû. Elle est absolument horrible. Chacune de ses décisions est pire que la précédente. J'ai adoré ça.
Ce roman m'a tenue en haleine du début jusqu'à la fin. J'ai eu des réactions de surprise à haute voix plusieurs fois pendant ma lecture. Je n'en revenais simplement pas des événements qui se produisaient.
Ce roman était très bien écrit. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture. Le rythme était très rapide, ce que j'apprécie énormément. Je ne m'attendais pas du tout à cela considérant que la majorité du livre est ses pensées.
Bref, encore une fois, je recommande ce livre à TOUT le monde.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, War, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Colonisation, Bullying, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Genocide, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Deportation, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
pazfauxster's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A speculative and engaging read revealing the dirtier sides of the publishing industry with a generous shelping of commentary on modern social media culture.
The book was very insightful and I liked how real the characters were. On the one hand, not a single one of them seems very likable. On the other hand, sometimes you catch yourself empathising with one or the other, then halt and think: they're kind of a horrible person, though. Does that make me a horrible person, too?
It tackles the racism and the capitalistic greed of publishers, and it's also speculative and keeps you on your toes. After reading (or, rather, listening to) the book, I stumbled upon the author's instagram and couldn't stop thinking how much of this stuff she had to experience firsthand.
Whenever I see a book trending on tiktok now, I will wonder if the author will once commit a social faux pas that will send their entire career tumbling down. And perhaps it's a cruel thing to think, but so is the publishing world.
The book was very insightful and I liked how real the characters were. On the one hand, not a single one of them seems very likable. On the other hand, sometimes you catch yourself empathising with one or the other, then halt and think: they're kind of a horrible person, though. Does that make me a horrible person, too?
It tackles the racism and the capitalistic greed of publishers, and it's also speculative and keeps you on your toes. After reading (or, rather, listening to) the book, I stumbled upon the author's instagram and couldn't stop thinking how much of this stuff she had to experience firsthand.
Whenever I see a book trending on tiktok now, I will wonder if the author will once commit a social faux pas that will send their entire career tumbling down. And perhaps it's a cruel thing to think, but so is the publishing world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Bullying
Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
fashi0nablefr0g's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
The first half of this book was extremely difficult to read, in that the characters are immediately established as impossible to like or sympathise with. It was slow, and felt like a lesson on how books are edited and published. I disliked how the author is so pushy about the main themes — there is one "correct" way to look at the themes in this book, but the author doesn't let you decide that for yourself. It's like they want you to think a certain thing, but don't trust the reader to infer that, so they constantly spell it out and shove it down your throat. The lack of any redeeming qualities in the main character makes it impossible to feel any sympathy whatsoever, so you feel disconnected from the book the whole way through. The dead author Athena feels like a self-insert or something.. the main character hates her, and always describes how perfect and successful she was, and she was jealous of Athena, but finds no fault in her — this is so unrealistically portrayed that it is painful to read. I also struggled with the pop references jammed into each paragraph of this book. Normally I'm not a fan anyway, but it was overdone in Yellowface. I understand how it was meant to feed in to the story, but it's "current" references could've been omitted and the book would've maintained a shred of timelessness.
The second half of the book was incredibly rushed. There was no "plot twist" in the end, no sort of redemption or even real downfall of the main character. The cycle continues and you finish the book with no new ideas or knowledge, nothing to show other than time you wasted reading it. The final 50% was just a series of "shocking" events shoved in one after another, the author desperately trying to link them together to add depth after a flat first half. The only thing that kept me picking up this book was the desire to get it over with, but it was very nearly one I didn't finish.
The second half of the book was incredibly rushed. There was no "plot twist" in the end, no sort of redemption or even real downfall of the main character. The cycle continues and you finish the book with no new ideas or knowledge, nothing to show other than time you wasted reading it. The final 50% was just a series of "shocking" events shoved in one after another, the author desperately trying to link them together to add depth after a flat first half. The only thing that kept me picking up this book was the desire to get it over with, but it was very nearly one I didn't finish.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Bullying, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Vomit, Violence, and Sexual assault