Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

28 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

thereader's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An interesting page turner with insights into the publishing industry. 

I think it is a meditation on loneliness more than strictly diversity in the publishing industry.  The main character was not even close to redemption by the end but still wanted to keep following her,  great writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Eating disorder

threeundertwopnw's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

The ending was a bit disappointing. Reading this book gave me anxiety in the same way The Talented Mr Ripley did. A hilarious and sad satire of the publishing industry and the brutality of social media. The main character is simply the worst. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

emily_journals's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

I really liked and appreciated the themes explored in this book, but the execution and construction fell somewhat flat for me. I still overall enjoyed the reading experience, but there were a few elements I wish has been fine tuned a little more. 

The main thing I had an issue with was the pacing. There was a good chunk in the middle of the book that I was getting bored and finding my mind wandering as we're waiting for the next plot point to come and I wish some of the rambling that the main character does on the same points over and over again had been trimmed a little more. Then the ending felt really rushed to me and some of the character choices in the climax and end of the book felt really rushed and unexplained, so I think some of the middle could have been trimmed and the end could've been expanded a bit to make the pacing more consistent throughout the whole book without risking the book getting too long. 

What really shines through in this book is the character work. Kuang does such a masterful job of creating such hate-able and authentic characters. Kuang does a really good job of especially highlighting how awful and racist June is, but writing June's internal monologue in a way that she almost convinces you June might be doing this all unintentionally. This book is also such an insightful look into and criticism on the publishing industry and what a dumpster fire it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship

46jjsg's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

4.5

I would rate this 4.5/5 simply because although I liked this book and would recommend it to others- I will admit it did lag in the middle (refer to: June’s doom scrolling). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual assault

fiona_apples's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

The first 2/3 of the book had me hooked - but the ending fell flat for me. I think this book was a little too wrapped up in itself, in trying to tell the reader, "do you GET IT???" It would have been much more compelling if the focus was more on the characters and less on using the characters as a vessel for the point it was trying to make - which, at the end of the day, was not really a revolutionary point at all. We become aware of what the book is trying to say almost immediately and then that does not really grow throughout the book - it's just the same point being reinforced. It was entertaining overall, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

Minor: Murder and War

carmineslamp's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

4.5

OUCH. OUCH. THE END LITERALLY CLOTHES-LINED ME AND CURB-STOMPED ME. Juniper Song Hayward is an insufferable, self-victimizing protagonist who I want to, more than anything, vanish. I don't think I've ever read a mindset like this WRITTEN WELL. UGH. 

The insanity arc at the end genuinely fucked me up. Kuang is excellent at writing insanity, WHAT else is there to say?? Juniper slowly breaking, fracturing, becoming small pieces of herself, is so poignant and brilliantly written. Fuck you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual assault

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Confinement

hedsek's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I'm really not sure how I feel about this book, to be honest. On the one hand, it was a really easy read and the buildup of tension was very well done. I also love reading an unlikeable and unreliable narrator, and the ways in which Kuang described the mental gymnastics of someone being racist but thinking they couldn't possibly be racist were spot on. But on the other hand, reading this after having read Babel, it fell a bit flat in some ways. Athena seems quite a self-insert of the author, and as a previous review mentioned, having criticism that Kuang faced repeated at Athena through the mouths of people we obviously shouldn't take seriously feels a bit strange (which felt at the beginning but couldn't really put into words before finding that review). In terms of writing, too, there was a lot less to like than in Babel and I feel like Kuang would have been able to do more in that department. However, this is also a completely different type of book, and it kind of works as well. I also thought the ending was really abrupt and not very satisfying. But overall, I still enjoyed reading this book a lot and it's been a while since I've read anything this fast so it did keep me engaged well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Alcohol