Reviews with content warning for Racism - Yellowface

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

Content Warnings

bootrat's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

A really good book and such an interesting and important insight into the publishing world and how who you are impacts how you're treated. I really hated June, and had to keep reminding myself that the author is Chinese in order to not rage and hate the book itself because of that 😅 So well written, I definitely had emotional reactions listening to this!

Content Warnings

martyrbat's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

paytonsbooknook's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

blomil's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

very tight and fast narrative that was just a little spooky in an interesting way, i had fun with this. i also wasnt expecting so much insight into the book publishing industry.

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