Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

100 reviews

aislinghelen's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.5

I could not put this down. The only reason I marked it down was because I found some parts a bit slow and long. A few paragraphs felt like they were dragging on. Overall, it was a really interesting commentary and it became a "life imitates art” kind of thing. I hope one day this book won’t be relevant to the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

jessicapinn's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This was wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting

dkamada's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective tense

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

vikart's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yellowface is a wonderfully written work that delves into a lot of topics such as racism, loneliness, the struggles of the writing industry and mental health. It drags you into the story and keeps you there during the entire read. 

[Possible spoiler below]

The ending, however, feels open ended. It leaves the reader to decide whether her life went to ruins or if she crawled back and continued writing as a successful author. And I, personally, enjoyed that. It felt very fitting with the narrative that we had been receiving thus far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Racism

Moderate: Death and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Outing, and War

frmvivian's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Easy and quick read, the sharp wit and lines of Kuang shine through

BUT fails to be deeper than the superficial, the question of class, privilege, and who gets to write about experiences of trauma and suffering 

initial feel was that it was a bit ridiculous on how white people are - finding out after that this book incorporates all criticism for Kuang under Athena which is hilarious 

But after some reflection and watchjng withcindy's video, the class critique withi  publishing and in the Asian community are both valid. This isn't discounting Kuang's talent or ability as a strong writer but layering in the interaectional and nuanced conversation 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Classism

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

hayreading's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

It was very well written. The pain of reading from the MC's pov brought my rating down - which I know was the point. Very well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Grief, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

jessismoore's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Stalking

It was hard to tell what was meant to be satire or not and especially what the author wanted you to believe or not when you’re done with this book. The main parts I felt were exaggerated were the narrator’s rationale behind her decisions but otherwise it felt believable and genuine but I know it’s a satire so that threw me off several times. Other than refusing the sensitivity reader, and then later refusing to add Athena to the credits of the book were her two main mistakes. To me this made the line of “what’s ok to say by whom” when talking about history or someone else’s story in general, more blurred, definitely not any clearer. It was certainly a critique of the publishing industry and kind of surprising that was allowed and the book wasn’t blocked or a refusal to advertise for it after release. Overall I’d recommend it as something a little different and harder to define to a genre (other than fiction).

sophiestbr's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense fast-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

4.75

Such a well written book that had me squirming and uncomfortable with how I felt about the characters, situation, context and choices. Was it an easy feel good read? Not at all. Was it meant to be? Not at all, and that’s why it was so good. 
Not a full 5* in my opinion because it started to drag a little with repetitiveness towards the end, and 
*not a spoiler but if you don’t want to go into the ending with possible preconceived notions stop here* 
the direction the penultimate chapter goes in felt oddly out of place and served cliché soap opera vibes that didn’t feel like it matched the caliber of the rest of narrative. 
It was, overall though, a memorable read that I think will stick with me for a long time to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Cursing, Racial slurs, Rape, and Colonisation

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

superraven666's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-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

4.25

Really interesting, dark, and makes you think a lot ! I'd really like to read more of Rebecca F. Kuang's novels! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Death

Minor: Toxic relationship and War