Yellowface

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kuang, R. F., Fiction / Kuang, R. F.
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

What's the harm in a pseudonym? Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author R. F. Kuang in the vein of White Ivy and The Other Black Girl. Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athenas a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athenas death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athenas just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athenas novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June cant get away from Athenas shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring Junes (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

not my favorite r.f. kuang book submitted by jlopez2 on June 16, 2023, 10:07am As a big fan of R.F. Kuang's fantasy books, this was a bit of a let down. The central themes of the book are strong but often repetitive. Still worth a read!

Excellent submitted by grimest on June 16, 2023, 10:44pm Thriller/Satire of the publishing industry. Highly recommended.

Yellowface submitted by KatyaS on July 20, 2023, 10:46pm Characters are quite artificial...Not a big fan of this book. However, it covers well the cancel culture and social media obsession.

Great book, though a bit tedious at parts submitted by eilusk on June 13, 2024, 11:12am I really enjoyed this book, though at some points in the middle I thought it got bogged down in rehashing Twitter arguments that the narrator was too ignorant to have anything interesting to say about. (The joke about how people kept talking about “The Untamed” made me laugh, though.) The ending was fantastic, though - horrifying, insightful, and still with that edge of dark humor.

I have mixed feelings about the narrator - like I said, I think her inability to understand or care about various Asian diaspora literary topics made the book a bit tiresome at parts, but overall I think Kuang did a good job with her. She’s complex and interesting enough that it’s not exhausting living in her head for the whole book, but she’s still evil enough to do the awful things that drive the plot.

Smart and Chilling submitted by mvilla on June 22, 2024, 1:09am I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how much I enjoyed Yellowface since I’m familiar with Kuang’s craft from previous novels; however, I was floored at the brilliance and storytelling in this novel. This is a page turner that I finished in one day. I highly recommend this book!

A bit tedious submitted by robinpollak on June 25, 2024, 11:33pm I had trouble getting through the book because there were no likeable characters. Although I think that was kind of the point… I had trouble pushing through it to absorb the commentary.

unlikable narrator in a very good story submitted by hbcarter on July 10, 2024, 8:32am Interesting view of publishing. You find yourself agreeing with the narrator/main character that success in the industry is pretty unfair and capricious, all the while despising her. I think she's portrayed so well (with her twisted justifications and self-serving views) that it's almost a flaw--I've seen people coming away from the book thinking she's the hero or victim.

Worth the read as long as you don't need to like your narrator.

Bookception submitted by pawarp on July 20, 2024, 6:42pm Writing a review for this book is bookception, but the story is too good not to. I had never read anything by R.F. Kuang before this (honestly a shame) and this book was the best introduction. June is the messy girl who will commit to the bit. She stole that book, but the most disturbing part was the detail of her thoughts. I know we have all had the intrusive or the wait-pause type of thought—amazing writing created for a fast read.

Quick read submitted by Mtadams on July 25, 2024, 6:00pm Good but it is ironic that this book was released a few years after “The Plot”