Audiobook Length: 8 hours and 39 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

Read Start Date: December 23, 2023

Read Finish Date: December 30, 2023

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When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.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

My Review: June and Athena were barely friends. That didn’t stop June from milking Athena’s death. June was there when Athena choked on a pancake and died, and she played it up to social media that she and Athena were besties. And that wasn’t the most despicable thing June did — June stole Athena’s unfinished masterpiece and published it under her own name. I loved this book from the beginning. I both loved and was disgusted by June, as she is a complex and well-developed character, making her both relatable and infuriating. The other characters in the book were similarly well-written.

I also loved the writing. Kuang’s prose is sharp and witty, infused with a biting satire. The author masterfully portrays June’s descent into moral decay as she clings to her stolen success, oblivious to the fact that she is appropriating Chinese culture, or that she is doing anything wrong at all.

I also really liked reading about the publishing industry and wondered whether any of it was exaggerated or not. The author delivers a scathing indictment of the publishing industry’s exploitation of minority voices and its perpetuation of harmful stereotypes — whether this is an accurate portrayal, I cannot say, as I have no frame of reference. Regardless, it was very interesting to read, and if even half of it is true, I am glad for my decision to self-publish.

I read this book during the Christmas holidays. This year, we spent the holiday with my boyfriend’s family, and I missed mine terribly. I was glad for the dark humor / satire of this book, as it took me away from the real world for a little while. Beyond the thought-provoking nature of this book, it was entertaining throughout, and I would highly recommend it.