Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

91 reviews

asophiet'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

nicadoubleyou's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, and Rape

drawahardline's review against another edition

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

4.0

I am really impressed by the art of writing a main character that is so utterly disgusting und racist in her actions and thoughts, and despite all still having enough empathy to paint her out as a main character full of complex insecurities, passions and motives that seem realistic. normally, i despise books in which i hate the main character, yet this one had me really intrigued - by great use of the first-person narrative, rebecca f. kuang amazingly portrays a white role of victim and (sadly) thoughts and entanglements of an average white person in a system that favors exactly that narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

lestie4short's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

leechachatotheright's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I will say that this book was very thought provoking, a social commentary on racism, diversity, etc. I gave it a 3 as it was a good read in its writing itself and does tackle an interesting perspective but, I don't think I'd recommend this to a friend to read. The first two thirds of the book was very inticing, but the ending felt like

"This, really? Is that all? You haven't learned anything."

and honestly, that may be the point of it. I find the narrative very different from anything I've read before, but maybe that's also why it felt flat at the end. I don't mind endings not having the whole

character learns from their mistakes trope, if anything, it is kind of refreshing to see this perspective.

But alas, the ending did feel a bit inconclusive to me, though I understand the intention of it. I don't know if I'll read it again, but I'll definitely say it was a unique read and I didn't put the book down until I was finished. I basically wanted more from the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and War

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

lemonsforyu's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

singalana's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense 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

3.5

Oh boy, this book was a rollercoaster, but the ending knocked the rating down.

Yellowface is a contemporary literary novel about diversity in publishing. In this novel, June Hayward, a failing white author, witnesses the death of her former classmate and a successful Chinese-American author Athena Liu. On an impulse decision, she steals Athena’s manuscript and decides to present it as her own. 

The novel explores the publishing industry, calcel culture, plagiarism, racism and diversity in literature. The main character, June, or Juniper Song, as her publishers market her, is so oblivious to her racial biases and the fact that what she’s doing is wrong that it beggars belief. But the thing is that every single character in this book is more or less unlikeable. And all of them are fleshed out almost as caricatures of the people they are representing. On the plus side, all the characters get the same harsh treatment, but it renders them so unlikeable that it was painful to get through this work.

This book displayed the worst side of people, especially on social media, and I feel that there were interesting discussions to be had there. However, I felt that Yellowface almost condoned the lynch mentality and cyberbullying that is so pervasive in our current climate. Yes, the main character is shitty, and yes, what she did was wrong, but does it REALLY justify sending death threats to her through social media? 

The main character showed a glimmer of awareness in the last third of this book, but the ending ruined that. I suppose this book was meant to criticise the publishing industry, but the ending shifts the tone into something resembling a crime novel and feels a bit like a cop-out. This book could have been an excellent discussion about racism, stereotypes and cancel culture, but in the end, it ended up lacking nuance. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

A bit disappointed with this one.. I wanted to enjoy it but I think it’s a BookTok book that is unfortunately overhyped, which is a shame because the story/plot is there. The genres are ‘thriller’ and in the acknowledgments ‘horror’ but this book is far from either, it’s more of a drama in my opinion. I actually really enjoyed the bookish aspect and although I’m not sure how true those parts were I did like to read about the publishing process and huddles authors have to face. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lotoblanco's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

meggomyeggo1210's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts