Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

57 reviews

misscnicholson's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

natlwlyn's review against another edition

dark informative 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

4.75

i've been putting this book off for a while but i've finally managed to pick it up. i can't rate it a '5 stars' simply because june is unbearable at times and i've had to put the book down, stand up, and take a deep breath before continuing.

that being said, june is meant to come off as unlikeable. right from the start, she is written to be this insufferable, seething with jealousy, and overall filled with self superiority, kind of character where she's just easy to hate! (+ she's an unreliable narrator from her biases & personal vendetta against athena) but at the same time, i can't get myself to actually HATE her. her character is complex and can't simply be watered down to being this unlikable character. her strings of thoughts; her background; her traits; are all humane and realistic to me (and in a way makes her relatable)

moving on to athena, i thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she isn't 100% a saint either! she has her wrongs as well. june describes her as (also) a thief; taking people's words for her own benefit (such as june's experience with SA). but that still doesn't justify june's actions! june is still a problem!

rf kuang's narratives on june spiraling into madness as she's slowly haunted by the ghost of athena was exceptional! it can make you feel as if you're inside her mind going through these episodes as well ...

i feel that this book brings lights to the ugly side of book publishing and how books that we've read was made. i think it's interesting to think about the backstage when producing these books and it makes me wonder if there are actual cases like these.

all in all, it makes me want to pick up another rf kuang book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

vaykay's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Biphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fashi0nablefr0g's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

0.5

The first half of this book was extremely difficult to read, in that the characters are immediately established as impossible to like or sympathise with. It was slow, and felt like a lesson on how books are edited and published. I disliked how the author is so pushy about the main themes — there is one "correct" way to look at the themes in this book, but the author doesn't let you decide that for yourself. It's like they want you to think a certain thing, but don't trust the reader to infer that, so they constantly spell it out and shove it down your throat. The lack of any redeeming qualities in the main character makes it impossible to feel any sympathy whatsoever, so you feel disconnected from the book the whole way through. The dead author Athena feels like a self-insert or something.. the main character hates her, and always describes how perfect and successful she was, and she was jealous of Athena, but finds no fault in her — this is so unrealistically portrayed that it is painful to read. I also struggled with the pop references jammed into each paragraph of this book. Normally I'm not a fan anyway, but it was overdone in Yellowface. I understand how it was meant to feed in to the story, but it's "current" references could've been omitted and the book would've maintained a shred of timelessness.

The second half of the book was incredibly rushed. There was no "plot twist" in the end, no sort of redemption or even real downfall of the main character. The cycle continues and you finish the book with no new ideas or knowledge, nothing to show other than time you wasted reading it. The final 50% was just a series of "shocking" events shoved in one after another, the author desperately trying to link them together to add depth after a flat first half. The only thing that kept me picking up this book was the desire to get it over with, but it was very nearly one I didn't finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and War

katrinalamothe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

sarasbookmark's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

britbreeze's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, and Vomit

lostgwennel's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense medium-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

2.75

Listened to this for free on spotify (it’s one of those audiobooks that’s included in premium) and I almost stopped in chapter one because the narrator’s attempt at an english accent was so bad. The story was gripping and a fun satire, but it left me feeling bitter and negative, and I couldn’t tell whether it was the writing, the main character or the VA who I was finding annoying. I wanna perservere and try reading another R.F. Kuang because I have a feeling the format ruined it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a narrative about personal jealousy, racism in publishing and interrogating race politics 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, and Classism

The entire narrative of this book is about a White American woman excusing and justifying her actions against a college friend and writer colleague who is Chinese American plus the varying moods and swings in action to conceal what she is doing. We are in the mind of the white woman character the whole time and it’s intentionally uncomfortable to be in this character’s head. Pace yourself if you need to though this novel isn’t that long.