Reviews with content warning for Murder - Yellowface

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

53 reviews

kirstensbabel's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

i think this book is very weird. it tries to do A Lot. there is so much commentary, coming from so many different people (including the authors own voice) thats it sometimes hard to figure out whos opinion is whos and as someone who has no experience or knowledge of these kind of things (i am very white ha) there is no relating.
I think personally, that it kind of launches on what Babel was doing, very centered around words and writing, except in a contemporary setting and about plaigerism (on a very unserious note, this is what we were afraid of when our teachers in middle school said we couldn’t plagiarize off of wikipedia). I do think that Babel is a wayyyyy better book, which i think also is a bad thing for yellowface. it was never going to be able to live up to her magnum opus.
The main character is not…. good. Shes rude, arrogant and very racist. Which is how she is supposed to be. Except the narrative is also very manipulative, so sometimes i almost found something she said relatable. None of the characters were very likable though.
The third part was probably the best, because of the

slowly going insane and seeing ghosts

. It is very clear that this book is half autobiographical, which only plays on the paradoxical aspects of this story.

Especially with June writing her own story and then not and then in the end actually writing a fake story, like a book in the book

This is probably the most meta book i have ever read. the references where very dated, some even from her previous novels

the act of translation is always an act of betrayal quote suddenly being there

On the other hand, I am a writer and a reader. i watch booktube and booktoks, and dream of participating in the world of publishing one day, so i loved all the anecdotes about publishing and writing. I have anxiety, but didn’t relate to the way that it was written in here, but thats my problem.
The book was divided in three parts:

1. stealing manuscript and deluding that it is hers 2. twitter comments 3. going insane

But, staying with my truth, i was just there for the drama. finished half of it in one day lol.
3.5

Content Warnings

ellacostello's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As a whole I loved the book
Unsure about the ending I would have liked to see more into the possibilities of this new published book and the outcomes of the drama… although I’m sure the rounds of both good and bad would have been the same as throughout the book

Content Warnings

lisalovesbooks2's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

infusionofviolets's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

dianazheng's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

they’re all insane

Content Warnings

nickysbookcorner's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

💬 This industry is built on silencing us, stomping us into the ground, and hurling money at white people to produce racist stereotypes of us.

I loved that this book was told in the view of June Hayward, a white woman, who stole Athena Liu’s, her casual Chinese friend, manuscript about Chinese labor workers. This book was deep, thought-provoking, and at times uncomfortable. June’s character was definitely unlikeable and delusional. The story was like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from.

I also enjoyed small details thrown in the book about how the publishing world works.

Content Warnings