Yellowface

This is one of the most popular books (that doesn't include a dragon) in the summer of 2023. Yellowface has massive amounts of hype and was an interesting read, but I can't say I loved it as much as all the social media hype said I would. 

I'm going to preface this review by saying that satire is not a genre I enjoy, but I had a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out) so I grabbed a copy. Yellowface is an insightful look at the world of publishing with social commentary about racism, cultural appropriation, plagiarism, and the power of social media in publishing and the effects of cancel culture. 

Kuang provides lots of fodder for great book club discourse, but the story often felt repetitive as it rehashes the same issues. The main character, June is written purposefully as a contemptible character, but as the sole POV, it soon gets tiresome listening to her internal dialogue that is filled with 'oh woe is me', selfishness and excuses for her actions while the emotional aspects were largely ignored.  

Yellowface is a provocative story that has people talking but wasn't as clever as I had hoped. I was equally interested and underwhelmed by this story that perhaps was trying to do too much. I'm glad I read it and it gave me food for thought, but I expected to be wowed by this book and was left with more of a 'meh' reading experience. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: R.F Kuang

Genre: Satire, Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: Trade Paperback from public library

Publisher: William Morrow Books

First Published: May 25, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody.

White lies
When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.

Dark humour
But as evidence threatens June’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

Deadly consequences…
What happens next is entirely everyone else’s fault.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.