Utterly captivating, I absolutely adored this - literally could not put it down!

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

All of my publishing colleagues were talking about Yellowface and it lived up to the hype for me. The narrator is completely deluded, which is equally fascinating and hilarious and infuriating. She gets worse and worse as she becomes addicted to the attention and doesn't know when to stop. Unfortunately it's not a complete fictionalisation of the publishing industry and certain authors, and it's brilliant to see it spelled out like this. There were parts that felt a little slower and repetitive for me which is why it's not quite 5 stars but overall I really enjoyed it and am really excited to debrief with colleagues.

The hype is real - provocative, thought-provoking, and a riotously funny skewering of modern publishing.

I started this book and thought I was going to finish it within a few days because it was so intriguing but then it seemed to drag on a bit in the middle. It was enjoyable as different from other books I read but it did not keep my attention and I struggled to finish it.
I found it hard to actually like Juniper as ethically would you steal someone else work and pass it off as your own? Athena who tragically dies also is hard to like and I feel was written this way to make you like and accept what Juniper did. This is just my take obviously and would encourage others to read to get their own thought on it.
I had mixed feelings with this book when I finished it. I’m encouraging others to read though as it does make for a good discussion. Overall I would recommend giving it a go.

One of those books that I seen everywhere over the last couple of months, and which, now having read it, I realise was for good reason. It is a plotty, twisty story of the corrupting power of success, but also the thorniness of authorship and authenticity.

Juniper Song, as she is at one point known, is our narrator, whose reliability fluctuates throughout the book, being both sharply aware of the complexities of the ethical dilemmas around her (passing off the work of her dead 'friend' as her own, assuming an identity she knew would be racially ambiguous and then acting surprised when she is read as such), but also oblivious to her roles in making them happen.

The focused lens this book has on the publishing industry also felt deliciously meta at times, playing with complex topics to toggle on and off the comfort of the reader in clever ways.

I was pleasantly surprised at how a story that could easily have been tropey carried within it real weight and intrigue, offering instead a critique of itself and the world around it.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hilariously infuriating. Yellowface was impossible to put down. It is brilliant and looks at the creative process, a writer's struggles/neuroses and the publishing industry. The characters are all awful - wearing their best face while secretly despising each other. You can taste the envy. Absolutely brilliant.

What a fascinating satire of the publishing industry. Let's be honest, our protagonist, June, is pretty reprehensible, but it was so interesting to see how she could justify her actions to herself. We read from her first person point of view, which makes it really difficult not to feel sympathy for her at times, before remembering what a piece of work she is. Rebecca Kuang writes in a very straightforward manner, which always makes her prose a joy to read and I found it worked really well in a contemporary setting. Things get more and more ridiculous as the story progresses, but overall it was a fun an enjoyable ride and I would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a marvel of a book. The main characters voice made me uncomfortable in a way that was very purposeful, and trying to look through the biased narrator to see the true story was very interesting. With no good or bad characters, they were all very complex, and the main character June was suitably unlikeable. Would highly recommend this book!

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This book is brilliant in execution and in calling out the toxicity of social media and the problems that surround the publishing industry but with partial blame going to all the hype it didn’t really blow me away.

Kuang perfectly captures June’s voice, feeding in the right amount of manipulation and gaslighting into the narration to really drill down the points that are being put across through the story. I absolutely hated the MC which is the way its supposed to be, she’s unlikeable and the horrible things that she does throughout this book should make you feel disgusted. My problem was that I found her brain numbingly boring and by extension the book too. By around 40% through I felt nothing but indifference to the train wreck that was June’s life and how it continued to snowball.

What kept me reading to the end was the fact that the writing just flows so well making it an easy read and that it was on the shorter side.

I wouldn’t really class it as a thriller as the suspenseful moments to me just came across as June’s paranoia and self-victimisation and didn’t really amount to much by the end. Honestly the “big reveal” felt lacklustre to me.

The popularity and hype isn’t there for nothing though. This book just proves the versatility in Kuang’s writing and storytelling and I applaud her for spitting facts on the bookish community and the treatment of people of colour.

So despite not loving it myself I’d still tell people to give it a read!
Final Rating – 3.25/5 Stars

'yellowface' was an absolute romp of a novel following june, a white author who decides to steal an unpublished manuscript by best-selling asian author, athena, after athena randomly dies. things spiral out of control as june passes the novel as her own and is haunted by the consequences of thievery and cultural appropriation

with acerbic social commentary, 'yellowface' calls out the publishing industry & online book communities, discusses cultural erasure, the treatment of marginalised voices & the need for non-white people to sell trauma stories in order to be seen, heard and acknowledged. it comments on cancel culture and online discourses surrounding controversial authors, and so much more

this book was compulsively readable, darkly comedic, satirical, and effective. 'yellowface' accomplishes everything it sets out to do, and it does it well. this story felt unsettling in how enjoyable it was. no matter how horrific & twisted it got, i could not put it down. i hated june with a passion, but being in her warped mind was so much fun. i loved the discussions in here, r f kuang makes acute observations regarding online book communities that really spoke to me

saying that, 'yellowface' might just be my least favourite release by r f kuang. it is, objectively, a great book that achieves what it sets out to do. but it's never a story i'm gonna reread. it didn't affect me as much as her previous work has. it has its flaws: for me, the ending felt cliché, the pop culture references got tedious after a while, and it was a little too heavy-handed at times (i would love to see kuang try something more subtle in the future)

i still highly recommend it because it is expertly crafted and an incredible response to a plethora of current issues. i just wish it had more of a long-lasting impact, if i'm honest

— 3.5☆

“Publishing gossip, it turns out, is a lot of fun when you’re speculating about other people’s misfortune.”

R. F. Kuang is a writing genius, she has somehow created such a compelling read FILLED with the most unlikeable people ever, but it just adds and fuels your enjoyment of the book. What the hell?

Yellowface follows our FMC June Heyward who steals a manuscript from her ‘friend’ after her untimely death and passes it off as her own work, to overwhelming great success!

What follows is anxiety inducing, infuriating and honestly overwhelming in terms of second hand embarrassment- I love it. June scrambles to hold together the idea she has put this book out into the world all of her own merit, whilst being challenged by others about her authenticity.

We have plagiarism, we have racism, we have classism and all are tackled head on from ALL sides. Honestly this was such a compelling read and I cannot recommend it enough!

Thanks so much as always to the publisher for the ARC and netgalley. I had this on pre order anyways…plus I partly listened to the audiobook…Must. consume. ALL. forms of Kuang media

There has obviously been so much hype around Yellowface, so I went in with high expectations. It was definitely gripping, and I kept picking it up to read more, but I wasn't completely blown away by it in the way I hoped. If anything, at times it just felt like an explanation of how the publishing industry works (which we know has its issues!). I am keen to read more of Rebecca F Kuang's work now though, out of intrigue.

Utterly compelling, gripping and emotional. Didn't think I was going to be absolutely unable to put this book down: a complete page-turner. Undoubtedly one of the books of my year.

New York Times bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she claims she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote and is certainly not Asian American
This was the first book by R.F Kuang I've read and it did not disappoint. It gives such a deep dive into the book and publishing industry, aspects we'd probably all like to know a bit more about, the highs and lows of writing and publishing your own book. June is like a love hate character, she makes me cringe with every bad decision she makes, but you also can't help but feel a bit sorry for her at the same time. It also deals with racism in an amazing and eye opening way, showing that it is everywhere and in everyone in some way. The pacing picked up the more the book went on which I was pleased about as it did start of slightly slower than I anticipated. Her use of cancel culture and social media throughout was also so good, how in todays society were so quick to jump on the bandwagon and cancel anyone and anything
It was such a good page turner and if this book is anything to go by I'm so excited to read more by Kuang.
Thankyou to @netgalley and @boroughpress for the arc

I'd seen people talking about this everywhere and as someone who has worked in the book world since graduating in 1998 I was intrigued but I found it to be a real emperors new clothes type of story and I spotted the 'twists' before they happened each time.

I have seen a lot of hype around this book, so was intrigued to take a look - sometimes hype works in a book's favour and sometimes not but I think that's still very subjective depending on the reader's tastes.

Front and centre in this tale is June Hayward, a young white writer who's not the success she'd dreamed of being - she did have her debut novel published, but it didn't receive a lot of fanfare or break any records. Unlike Athena Liu, June's college classmate and literary darling, published to great acclaim and considered a rising star in the publishing world.

They maintain a friendship of sorts after college, which leads to the evening which changes everything - Athena is suddenly no longer around and June takes what she sees as a prime opportunity to find her true place (in her mind anyway).

What follows is a gripping story of what it means to be not where you thought you should be and not getting what you think you're worth with all the questionable decision making along the way (the pen name change to Juniper Song is deliberately racially vague), while remaining intentionally (?) blind to the privilege that comes from being a white person in ostensibly one of the whitest professions around. June is anxiety-ridden, jealous and envious of anyone else's success (perceived or otherwise) but would strenuously deny being racist - she feels her whiteness counts against her and is therefore a disadvantage she should be able to exploit how she sees fit.

Athena is not presented in a more agreeable light, as we learn over the course of the story that she liked to gather first-person experiences from people in her moleskin notebooks and then use them without consent in her own writing.

There are not really any likeable characters in this story, the author has a real knack for shining a light on things you have noticed, pointing out things that make you uncomfortable, upset or even angry and articulating them in a clear way that does not allow for any blurring or camouflaging. Confronted head-on we see things for what they are, but how do we feel about it - do we agree or disagree? How does social media warp these things and influence opinions?

I thoroughly enjoyed Yellowface, I found it thought provoking, shocking and it gripped me from the very start. A dark insight into the behind-the-scenes of the publishing world, how much is truth? I suspect more than we may imagine.

This scathing and unflinching contemplation of the publishing industry captivated me from start to finish, offering exceptional character development and a well-maintained momentum. Did I like any of the characters? I'm still unsure....

I think it's fair to say that this was my most highly anticipated release of this year, and my word it didn't disappoint. The satirical nature of Juniper's narrative voice lends itself to comparisons to Moshfegh and other popular author's works, which is fair, but the precise way in which Kuang uses the publishing industry as the backdrop for the rise and fall of her protagonist is honestly stunning, and provided a reading experience that I haven't had in a while. I was dumbfounded by the subtleties of racism and privilege invading Juniper's thoughts, and became completely engrossed by how these layers got deeper and deeper until it invaded her very sense of self. Your instinct is to hate her because of what she does, and yet you can't help but Marvel at Kuang's handiwork and how it is presented through Juniper. I'm always a bit wary of reading a new release, especially when it comes with so much praise surrounding it, but this deserves it all and more.

Yellowface is very different to Kuang’s other books such as the epic fantasy series The Poppy War trilogy and I definitely think readers need to know that before diving in. Kuang’s previous books (not including Babel as I am yet to read that) are very gritty, intense novels whereas Yellowface is more of a satirical literary fiction.

I enjoyed Yellowface but literary fiction/contemporary are not usually the types of books I reach for often, so it doesn’t rank as high as the fantasy genre.

Yellowface read really quickly as is relatively short compared to Kuang’s previous books. It is humorous and highlights just how toxic the publishing world can be.

The main character Juniper was exhaustingly exasperating. Reading about Junipers thoughts, feelings and what she did I just wanted to hit my head against a wall at times but I also think this is what Kuang intended. Juniper was supposed to be unlikeable but I couldn’t help feel bad for her at points, even though everything that happened was down to her actions. It just goes to show that some people will do literally almost anything to achieve what they want.

There are definitely references within the book to real world books/items. For example, there was reference to signing tip in pages for book boxes and even to other popular books which I quite enjoyed.

Overall, Yellowface was an enjoyable read that you’ll find yourself laughing along to and watching the main character dig herself deeper into her situation which slowly brings her to her demise but you will enjoy watching it happen!

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's 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 Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece.

OMG this is a masterpiece. What a work of contemporary of art!

Especially if you are part of bookstagram or book twitter: grab yourself some popcorn and plonk down to DEVOUR this book.