Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

126 reviews

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

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

slow-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

3.5

I'm not sure if I would've finished this book if I had read it physically; the narrator is super unlikable, the plot was quite predictable to me, and the pacing was a bit slow sometimes. But I did finish it, and it was an alright experience overall. I liked the commentary about racism and the book industry, but I think it could have been more subtle. 

A note on the translation: I was very put off sometimes by the decision to translate words to Dutch that we would normally use the English term for, and the inconsistency in which this was done. Sometimes terms were overly explained as well, and I'm not sure if this was the translator's choice, or the author's. 

A note on the narrator: overall, I didn't mind this narrator, but she did pronounce the "tle" in "Chipotle" as in "Aristotle" and I can't get over that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Rape and Suicide

10_d0ugh's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Honestly June Hayward is an iconic antihero and her chaotic nature is so hilarious to read about. I love how the book slowly descends into chaos as her mental state deteriorates, and June as a character is just so fun. My only gripe is that I wish the ending was less up to interpretation and honestly I kinda wish she had gotten away with it 😭 fuck you Candice

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Murder

lethargicbat's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Xenophobia, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

paytonsbooknook's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a shit show—it’s not bad but damn there is a lot to unpack in this book. From the beginning this book talk about so much. I also did not think this book would talk about Palestine as much as it did. But there a lot of racism and so much more but I loved this book and the main character was so unlikable like so much I did think about dnf this book. But I think that this book is a very important and interesting book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Cultural appropriation

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

jmb1951's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

navayiota's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Brilliant, like everything else she writes. I felt pulled to continue the story at every second of the day. 
Kuang inspires me to write, every word she lays on the page is like a string pulling at my heart, urging me to follow along. Her work makes me believe, for a second, that I too, could create something amazing. And at the same time I feel unbelievably silly and inexperienced. That's all I have to say. A Must-Read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation