1.5/5 ⭐️

ARC provided by the publisher Harper Collins Canada through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yellowface is a fearless and unhinged exposé of the publishing industry through the lens of a controversial character that fails to conceal R. F. Kuang's inner voice that holds readers in a chokehold with no room for nuance.

R. F. Kuang is one of the most celebrated authors ever since the release of their award winning adult fantasy trilogy, The Poppy War, that weaves history into fantasy that isn't shy in showing the horrible crimes of war, politics, sacrifice for the greater good of freedom and revolution. In August of 2022 R. F. Kuang is set to release a dark academia adult fantasy standalone titled Babel that have received raving reviews before its release and multiple limited editions of the book. This is proof of RFK's hype and brightest example in their ability to write books that can sell, high quality backed up with amazing research, and favoured by the general public not only in the fantasy sphere.

Personally, I have read the first two books in The Poppy War trilogy and I have to admit the second made me turn my back on the series as a whole. I haven't read Babel just yet (which I am planning on reading in October) hence I haven't seen RFK's growth in writing fantasy. Instead I decided to pick up Yellowface since it is available for me to access and because I have heard enough opinion from fellow reviewers that have loved Babel reading this book then hating it. I would like to make it clear before I go into my review that I am wary of RFK's writing in general because there are certain aspects in their story telling that does not align with my taste of reading. These aspects usually has something to do with the characters and writing style.

Yellowface is a literary fiction mystery thriller about a mid tier white author, June Hayward, that steals the manuscript of a best selling Chinese-American author, Athena Liu, that died. This is not a spoiler because it is in the synopsis and it is established in the first chapter. June and Athena knew each other from their university days and throughout their life they are parallels of each other.
Both are from the same major and both have dreams of becoming an author. While June's path is full of trial and tribulations while Athena's path is the epitome of success from the very first book she published. Jealousy and envy is has always sinked it's teeth into June's life seeing how Athena harvests all the Ws while she just keeps getting Ls. When the opportunity presents itself in the most outrageous way June does the unthinkable and down right malicious. Taking Athena's manuscripts rewriting it then publishing it as hers.

Starting with the positive RFK isn't afraid to lay out the cold hard truth of the publishing industry that she first handedly experienced being an author herself. RFK knows the dirty laundry when it comes to publishing a book as an author, especially an author of colour. This unflinching raw writing style is distinct to what I deem as RFK's style. It is addictive, fast paced, and hard to put down. Readers can immediately get pulled into the story and immersed fully. The depth of the story is also due to RFK's ability to present her research packaging it in an entertaining narrative. I want to applaud RFK for writing a book that is readable, accessible, and without the pretentious notes of a literary fiction novel.

Sadly, that is the only positive I got for this book. A fast paced and easily accessible doesn't mean it is a good book for me. These are the kinds of books I would feel wary about rating it after. I had to reflect for a couple of days to finally realize that this book is shocking but not the good kind of shocking due to a few factors. In my lifetime I haven't read a lot of literary fiction books but I recently have picked up more books in this genre.

June Hayward is the main character of this story and any reader will hate June from start to end (at least I did). June as a character goes through many mental gymnastics to justify the horrible decisions throughout the book. She digs the hole deeper and deeper as the story progresses up until the climax that pushes her even further into gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss-sociopath area. As a reader, I don't mind a character that is unlikeable through and through but the intent needs to be clear all the while complex. June seems to check all the boxes for a unlikeable character, the blue print is there and RFK made June's change a gradual ascent to crazy. Yet that is all there is to it for June.

This might be a bit abstract and quite reaching, throughout my reading experience it felt as though there is immense pressure to crucify June. It is a though RFK keeps on presenting proof or campaigning for readers to hate on June. As a reader I had zero chance to process and judge for myself the character because of how heavy handed RFK went for June. So, the conclusion is pretty fixed, "We hate June" or "We hate people like June". Which makes it hard for me to discern is this my own thoughts or is it RFK's? Is this what is to be expected from reading this book? A straight to the point delivery of facts with no nuance nor a chance to discuss anything about the story. I feel like it's no difference from delivering a clear cut news flash. There is no court of public opinion, it's just is from a story stand point.

Reading Yellowface from start to end June's situation is an extreme example of certain real life cases in publishing. The lengths she took can be said shocking and unhinged that gradually worsens the deeper she buries herself into her lies. Separating June from the story helped me to understand the story fully to find the essence of Yellowface such as themes and discussions that RFK wants to convey into this book. Which are racism within the publishing industry, white privilege, white women tears, and so on. It is clear that RFK features racism into all of her books and isn't shy about it either. Props to her for that but in this book I'm not sure that it was presented well enough to fit the literary fiction angle. There was no finesse or nuance in the writing and delivery at all.

Final thoughts, Yellowface is probably RFK's worst book for me. It lacked many things that I look for in literary fiction such as nuance, finesse, and complexities in the characters. When I read The Poppy War I admire RFK's guts as a writer, her raw unflinching prose, and overall incorporation of history into the story. Yellowface had none of the things I admired in RFK. For fans of RFK that likes her fantasy books I would advise you to proceed with absolute caution and be ready to be disappointed. I would like to remind anyone reading this review that this is my opinion and I am just one of thousands of reviewers on this planet. I'm sure once this book is published many readers will like it or some may agree with me, who knows? Reading is subjective from person to person.

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Athena Liu is a literary darling. June Hayward is a nobody. But when June witnesses Athena dying in front of her eyes, she decides to steal Athena’s unfinished manuscript and claim it as her own.

Wouldn’t her late friend be so grateful that her story sees the light of day?
Doesn’t this story deserve to be told?
Just how far will June go?

I’ve never read anything by R.F Kuang before so I had no expectations whatsoever. But wow, this was a very interesting read. A pure satire. But also a fast-paced and thrilling one. Yellowface gave us a closer look at the publishing industry. So much drama and what goes behind the curtains were spilled. In fact, it feels kind of strange to write this as an online book reviewer and be part of the whole writing and publishing business. The author cleverly tackles the issues of racism and reverse racism, cultural appropriation, cancel culture, and how quickly the internet decides one’s fate and how quickly fame fades away.

Such a brilliant and relevant book in today’s world, one of an outrageous pace of change. I finished this book within a few days and I think you will want to check this one out.

-Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.-

Yellowface centers on June Hayward, who after witnessing publishing's literary powerhouse, Athena Liu, die in front of her, steals the manuscript Athena was working on. She then edits the book and passes it off as her own. This book is a wild ride from start to finish. All I could think throughout the book was: June really has the audacity. Yellowface offers such an interesting look behind the scenes of publishing. It is very clear that R.F. Kuang pulled directly from her experiences and those of her friends who are also authors to write this book. If you're looking for a book that will start a conversation, look no further than Yellowface. I couldn't put this book down. R.F. Kuang skillfully jumps among different genres and I simply have to give her snaps.

I loved this book. It pulled me out of my reading slump a little bit! I haven't read a book in so long that I was actually excited to pick it up every time I had a spare moment to read.

The only book I've read by RF Kuang was Babel, and I only made it about 25% through before DNFing, not because I hated it but because it was so intimidating and was taking me forever to read. This book was actually a bit more digestible, which I really loved.

I honestly don't know what else to say except that it was an excellent commentary on the book publishing community, the issue of white authors writing stories about non-white people, cancel culture, and being desperate for fame and connection.

I learned so much about book publishing, and it made me wonder how much of it RF Kuang has experienced herself.

My one issue with this book is the lack of characterization of the main character, June. June serves to represent those obsessed with fame, who are willing to do anything to have people talking about them. She represents the clueless mildly racist (but actually really racist) individuals who are "woke" until they feel threatened. But besides that, we don't know much about June. She has no friends, hobbies (besides writing, of course), interests, romantic life. She is so pathetic that it almost doesn't seem real.

I will say that even though June didn't seem like a real person, RF Kuang did a great job at making me want to scream at June half the time, and actually making me feel bad for June the other half of the time. We really get to see the perspective of someone who has been cancelled, who is cut off from society because of a mistake (or in June's case, a series of mistakes), and what that can do to your mental health.

In the end, the book started to remind me of Girl Crush by Florence Given because of the themes of going crazy and Internet fame. I really enjoyed that book, so I enjoyed that element in this book!

As for the ending, <spoiler> I was at first really upset about it. I thought June was going to learn something, maybe make a grand apology online and people would forgive her. But instead, she continues to do the same thing, twisting stories, lying to make herself look like the better person. But, the more I think about it, the more I like the ending! It represents the cyclical nature of the social media news cycle and cancel culture. I actually thought it was very smart! </spoiler>

I'm not sure this book will necessarily appeal to lovers of THE POPPY WARS or BABEL, but it's a thrilling look at one of the most messed up industries there is, and will be an eye-opener for readers who love books but don't always know what goes on to bring books out into the world. At a minimum, it's a book that will get people talking and hopefully thinking.

As an author myself, many of the publishing details hit home. If Kuang weren't already well-known, I'm not sure this book would have been traditionally published because underneath the story of the young white woman stealing an Asian friend's work is a scathing takedown of the publishing industry as a whole. Oh, the irony of everything I just wrote in that sentence! It proves Kuang's point she's making in Yellowface in so many ways. The whole book is social commentary, on race (and how publishers too often only care about race primarily when it might sell books), on publishing, on writing, and on how horrible human beings can be to each other in the race toward success.

I really enjoyed the book (as I have other books by Kuang) and am looking forward to the many conversations I'll end up having with writer friends about the novel!

"Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang pulled jo punches in its frank assessment of the tokenization of writlers of color in the publishing industry. Nor in how this industry reifies youth at the expense of young and old. There are no gods or monsters in "Yellowface"; merely ghosts made flesh again and again.

A wild reading experience 100% worth the price of a hardcover in 2023—and that's saying something!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a galley in exchange for an honest review

Gosh, this book was amazing. Told from the point of view of an objectively horrible person, Kuang expertly draws back the current on the publishing industry, specially for writers of color. From the first page, Kuang captures readers attention with a thrilling exploration of two writer friends, one Asian and incredibly successful, and the other white and fumbling massively. When Athena, the Asian one accidentally dies, June, the white one seized the opportunity to steal Athena’s manuscript and publish it as her own, despite it being a story she arguably shouldn’t be telling, regardless of whether it was of her own words or not. An interesting look at cancel culture and racism, Yellowface is so well written, with fascinating characters and a massively compelling plot. Bonus points for the love letter to Washington DC aspect, too.

this was a very fun read. i was OBSESSED with babel, and as soon as i heard the premise for this book, i was super excited to read it. i love social satire, and even though this book could get heavy-handed at times, r.f. kuang's talent kept me from rolling my eyes at moments i would have thought were ridiculous in the hands of a less-capable author.

june is a deeply unlikable narrator, and like i said, sometimes her lack of awareness/flat-out stupidity was a bit extreme. but her voice is one that everybody has heard before, and we all just want her to shut up--so how was i so enthralled from start to finish??

i can see the things that people wouldn't like about this book, but anyone would have to admit that it's well-written, the pacing is good (even when it felt like "nothing is happening" i couldn't look away), and it was funny. i was thoroughly entertained and that's what i want from a book.

thank you to netgalley for an arc.

4.25/5
Yellowface is a daring novel, one that I don't think any author but R.F. Kuang could have written.

It is a nuanced and confusing look into everything that is wrong with the publishing company, and what the capitalist wheel makes of its authors. The writing is raw and funny; the first time we see Kuang in a real environment with mentions of slang, social media and pop culture. And she does it extremely well.

Although the point of the story is the evil and leeching done by our main character June Hayward, we get a glimpse into how neither girl was a great person. There is a certain comedic and awestriking thrill in seeing our mc justify her actions, bringing you to the brink of accepting her point, then saying something absolutely asinine and reminding you that she is in the wrong. And it is such an eerie but satisfying ride to see the portrayal of how the tide of public opinion sways so rapidly, especially in the publishing industry, especially on Twitter.

This is somewhat of a novella by R.F. Kuang standards, and I devoured it so quickly! This was just so good, I highly highly recommend.

Oh, man. I read this a few days before Pamela Paul's awful column (yeah, redundant) about American Dirt, and it was one of those "satire can't touch the real world" moments. But this is still a fantastic look at the state of publishing.

I won't summarize the plot description to fill space, and presumable you've read that.

Basically, if you've followed Book Twitter (or BookTok, etc), or the state of publishing in generally over the last few years, this is a book for you (and I'm pretty sure it's not a book Kuang could have written earlier in her career, if only because the awareness of the publishing and review process is so clearly informed by what she's seen). It's witty, sometimes vicious, and also so engaging, it's almost impossible to put down.

What makes this really work for me is that while Juniper is unquestionably the bad actor, she's not classically mustache-twirling evil. She's someone who's hit some genuine lows in her life and who even has at least one very legitimate gripe against Athena. That makes her decisions to steal and her constant rationalizations (including letting folks be fired, benefitting from a sales boost because of right-wing support, etc) all the more interesting and painful. She's more Macbeth justifying his way down a path of evil to improve his station than Iago letting his jealousy drive him but having no compunctions about what he's doing.

Kuang gives Juniper a compelling voice, and populates her world with believable friends and foes alike. If I've got any minor quibbles (not enough to knock stars off), it's that the timeframe seems a bit too compressed (two book publications and tours/fallout happen in barely more than two years, and that includes time for the requisite "agent nags the author for new work" moment), and that the denouement itself does rely a little too much on Juniper -- who is often unselfaware, but not stupid -- falling for something pretty obvious. Neither of these stopped me from loving every page of this book.

I actually have not read Kuang's other books (I burnt out on mainstream SF/F after years reviewing it, and unless it's NK Jemisin or Robert Jackson Bennett, I'm years behind), but I've added the rest of her books to my library queue after reading this.

Most of the time I know exactly what I’m going to say about a book. This time I do not. R.F. Kuang has written a beautifully disastrous character that makes the reader think more in depth than most pieces of fiction-that-isn’t-literature will. This is a story that is going to consume you, and make you critically think about who and what the publishing industry, from authors to editors, is composed of. Everything considered, this book is coming out amidst a strike at HarperCollins (whomst is publishing this book) that calls for more diversity and better base pay for all employees.
As someone who is white, and who is incredibly interested in being a part of the publishing industry in any way, shape, or form, this book hits in a way that I expected it to. It’s a critique of how the industry runs, from petty authors, to the not so obvious racism, to the intricate sides and faces it can portray. It blurs the lines between right and wrong, so much so you didn’t want to root for the main character but it was hard to watch them fight against something they saw as right and that’s the narrative you’re being fed. It makes you think about the online book world, a commentary nailing its painful and horrible bad side, while also showing how layered in truth it can be. I felt an odd amount of sympathy but absolute hatred and disgust with June Hayward.
And it truly made me look inward at what I do, what I say, and what was being said by the book. Every last intricate detail.
I think everyone should read it, think about it, and talk about it.

This is a difficult title for me to review. If I could, I wouldn't give this a rating. I also want to preface this review by saying that I'm not sure this book should be marketed as literary fiction. I know that the lines between literary and contemporary fiction are extremely blurry, and even for myself, it really just comes to a certain vibe that I can't really explain very well. But I think selling this book as litfic does it a disservice, and will create certain expectations that I'm not sure the book necessarily lives up to. But I also think book genres are largely arbitrary so my concern here is less about the book itself and more of a worry about how this book will be received based on the litfic categorization.

For all intents and purposes, I'll say that I enjoyed this book. Like with Kuang's other books, this is extremely compulsively readable. I think that Juniper is such a train wreck of a character that you can't help but want to keep reading her story despite hating her, and this book ultimately explores the way people go through the wildest mental gymnastics to justify actions they do or should reasonably know is wrong.

I think that at this point, I have certain things that I expect from Kuang's writing, and she absolutely delivers on every single one of those - smart and cutting social commentary, addictive prose, and characters that feel real and nuanced. I think if you're looking for these things, you won't be disappointed with this book. Similarly with her previous books, the characters in this book are not likeable - in fact, they're quite reprehensible. If you're someone who doesn't like reading from the POV of an unlikeable character, perhaps this book won't be for you. However, I can't say that I didn't enjoy the experience of being in Juniper's annoying, racist head. It was oddly cathartic to read this book as someone who is very online and tuned in to the bookish community, and constantly seeing and being very frustrated at other (mostly white) reviewers prop up books about Asian history and culture by white authors.

Where I'm unsure about this book and why I can't exactly rate it is that I think this book is, at least in part, a bit of a self-insert for Kuang's own experiences in the publishing industry. I went into the book knowing this, and I actually was pleasantly surprised at how it didn't feel overly self-insert-ey, but at the same time, as someone who has consumed a LOT of Kuang's interviews over the last few years, there were definitely some moments throughout the book that felt like direct quotes from past interviews/talks, and they took me out of the story. I realize this won't be an issue for most readers, but it was something that did affected my reading experience, and is also something that makes me uncomfortable about slapping a rating on this since it does feel so personal to the author (similarly to how I don't like to rate memoirs).

Ultimately, I think it is a great contemporary debut for Kuang. It's thought-provoking enough, yet strangely fun, and I think that it will be an extremely divisive title. There will be people who will absolutely love the ride that Kuang is taking them on in Yellowface, there will be people who will deliberately interpret this book in the most facetious way possible, and there will be people who will unironically misinterpret the messaging in this book. And quite frankly, I think all that just goes to prove the point of this book, and I cannot wait to see what kind of chaos this book will bring once it's out in the world.

Did you read The Plot hoping for commentary on authorship and ownership and think to yourself “Oh, this is actually mostly a thriller with a twist I saw coming from a while back but it was pretty good I guess”? Great. Try Yellowface instead.

This book follows white author Juniper as she steals a manuscript from her dead, Asian, peer, Athena. Juniper edits the stolen first draft and publishes it under her own name. All the juicy questions (What is ownership when it comes to art? Come to that, what is theft when it comes to art? Who can tell which stories?) are answered by this deeply unlikeable and unreliable narrator in a way that makes you love to just fucking hate her.

I devoured this book in a day, and will be thinking of it for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Yellowface by R F Kuang is an absolute masterpiece. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down.
Juniper and Athena are both writers, but when Athena's writing career has been a tremendous success, Juniper's has been struggling. When Athena dies, Juniper is there trying to save her. And if she happens to have Athena's newest unpublished novel in her possession? Well someone needs to edit and finish this masterpiece. Why shouldn't it be Juniper. And if Juniper happens to be a white woman when the book is historical fiction about Chinese laborers? Well, who says she couldn't have written it. And if her publisher recommends changing her last name from Hayward to Song? Well, that's just helping her career. However, how long can Juniper keep what she did a secret?
This book is so well written and all-engrossing. Kuang did such a good job of making the narrator the villain while managing to have so many other villains surrounding her. This is the best book I've read so far this year.

Couldn’t put this down. An addictive story full of zingers and insider publishing baseball, narrated by someone I despised down to my toes yet somehow couldn’t get enough of. No one escapes unscathed! Funny, brutal and full of absurdities that point directly to truth—just what good satire should be.

Finally, a book for the extremely online!!!

I read Yellowface in one evening with the same kind of manic masochism that comes from reading really good internet drama, the kind that is guaranteed to make you feel awful once you put the phone down. An absolutely addictive read to watch the rise and fall of our protagonist and the evolution of her jealousy into full deranged racist paranoia.

Girlies. This is a funny book. It made me laugh out loud. Truly a spot-on portrayal of internet Discourse and the never-ending rabbit burrows of information being withheld and lost and twisted. It’s so meta and on the nose and even self-referential to RFK’s other work. The blatant self-satirization and focus on the made up, realer-than-real world of literary twitter may seem self indulgent — and it is — but it is also so fucking funny. RFK has all the subtlety of a hammer but every single goddamn time it is so entertaining.

RFK’s protagonists love to spiral into abject misery and once again she has evoked that kind of close, emotional intimacy, dragging us into the head of her protagonist and spitting us out with a “hey that was SOOO fucked up huh?” Yes it was. Yes it was.

RFK’s critique of Whiteness, or maybe White Womaness, is scathing but also informed by illustrating that Juniper's vitriol has such a human element, and it is that human emotion that makes her development hatred so nasty. Because Juniper is an unreliable narrator, the emotional tangle of love, fear, and authorship between Juniper and Athena remains unsolved. We can’t ever really know how close Athena and Juniper were, if they really loved or hated one another, or if Juniper’s jealous fixation on Athena was something created all in her own head. RFK does a fantastic job of raising just enough doubt about Athena's own ethics on plagiarism and ownership to keep the reader "rooting" for Juniper — surely we can make it out with some consensus on who stole what from who?

Nope! Juniper disconnects from reality with layer upon layer of jealousy, insecurity, real grievance, money, race, and sheer obliviousness until it all builds up and Juniper goes fucking mad. The nuance has indeed made Juniper go insane because she’s rehashed Athena’s memory too many times, turned it into a villain of her own making. It's this perpetual uncertainty that elevates the story from on-the-nose satire into classic tragedy. Quite simply, Juniper never needed to do all that. The simple audacity of taking that manuscript in the first place. Insane white behavior, etc. It's that single thoughtless entitlement that dooms Juniper.

Yellowface tackles maybe the unique flavor of racism in ivy educated white liberal women, showing how bigotry can be so mundane and fucking deranged batshit at the same time. Juniper cast aside any and all of her political or moral persuasions in order to grab as much money and power as she can — to make herself feel good.

Anyway I loved the line re: Taylor Swift unwitting(?) Nazi mascot.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!! This one is already everywhere and for great reason. It's extremely readable and propulsive (especially in the first half) yet still hits industry specifics about writing/publishing in a way that (IMO) both writers and non-writer readers will appreciate. This book is a great deep dive into professional jealousy, comparison to others, and writer rivalries. More importantly, it tackles appropriation, own voices, and plagiarism--whew! It's a great and smart read, and I'm certain everyone will be talking about this one when it's out.

I’m a little at a loss for words on this one. What is apparently going to be the most divisive book of 2023 has left me feeling kind of… middling. Maybe my expectations were too high after Babel was my favourite book of 2022, or maybe by expectations were too skewed after a complete genre shift from Poppy War. A lot of people have said that Kuang clearly had a hard time separating herself from her work, but I don’t spend any time on Twitter nor do I delve deep into the backgrounds of author’s lives, so I can’t comment on this. The bottom line for me is that where this book tried to be meta, it just made the reader sympathize with the MC (who is, unless I’m missing *the point*, the villain). And where it tried to be satirical, it was downright ridiculous. I thought I knew where the end was going (with a totally meta plot twist where the entire book itself is actually the final book Juniper writes, in order to address all her critics, of whom we don’t get to hear the final critiques or the outcome of the court of public opinion, because we are in fact just reading the book she wrote and not *a book*. Even trying to sentence that out felt too meta. But to me, it did seem like a clever way to conclude it). The conclusion, instead, went entirely left field, leaving no one to root for unless you want to root for the subtly racist, plagiarizing MC who you don’t know how to feel about anymore because you’ve just spent 300 pages completely inside of her head. The worst part is you’re more likely to root for the objectively terrible MC than you are for almost any of the Asian characters, who are also painted terribly. Long story short, I don’t know how to feel except that I know I’m supposed to feel something but I’m confused what that something is supposed to be. Is that how I’m supposed to feel? The only thing I know for sure is the publishing industry sucks — which is really poignant timing considering the publisher is literally facing a strike right now.

Short and simple review: literary obfuscation with no clear directive, but super engaging and easy to read.

I couldn’t put this book down!! Skipped meals, breaks and other urgent things to keep reading!! I did however call my daughter to tell her she should start reading Yellowface right away. A 5 star book where I learned so much inside scoop about the publishing world.

This book was totally entertaining. I read it in one day during a recent power outage and it was the perfect companion! I found myself hoping June/Juniper would be successful despite her deception, and watching her convince herself that her lies are true just made me hope she got away with it. even more.. The ending was a bit implausible, but played into her state of mind after years of getting away with her lies. This book also made me realize how important it is to the author to write reviews on ARCS. Great insight into the publishing world, if it was all true.