Reviews

The Whitewash by Siang Lu

clarezillaa's review against another edition

dark funny informative fast-paced

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

4.0

venom_vixen's review

funny informative reflective 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? No

5.0

ceedy's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

ashkb's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

whatkissreads's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

gilroi's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

 

People will sell you this book as a comedy, and it is. It's hilarious! But it's also got some genuinely thoughtful, deep shit to say about self-loathing, the nature of entertainment, and the moral axis of representation and whitewashing in Hollywood.

 

danawfaith's review against another edition

funny informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Toowoomba mention, 5 stars. 

I have an amateur interest in film history so this was really interesting. I really liked it, I love fake documentaries and horrible Hollywood people, really scratched that itch.
I also saw Siang Lu talk at Genrecon and he was phenomenal, so I'm a stan now.

sarah984's review against another edition

funny informative slow-paced

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

3.0

The subject matter was interesting enough but the humour only landed about half the time for me, and it was kind of annoying how all the women were written in relation to men only. I wish the author had trusted the reader a little more instead of spelling everything out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Dementia, Stalking, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

emilyfrizz's review against another edition

5.0

Such a great book - and the audiobook version is spectacular! Whitewash is this satirical, mockumentary-style novel about the disaster that unfolds as an Asian film company tries to create a Hollywood movie with an Asian lead - breaking the tradition of whitewashing in Asian film. The characters are hilarious, the commentary searing and it's overall equally entertaining as educational on the issue of representation in film. Just an overall fun read - and audio is definitely that way to experience it!

toristaios's review against another edition

lighthearted 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? It's complicated

2.0