A review by whenimreading
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel since Babel was a bit too much for me, Yellowface is in a league of its own!

Part mystery thriller, part satirical commentary on the publishing industry with a ton of thought provoking messaging in between. The events of the first chapter really set the mood for me, it was shocking, a bit disturbing and really went off the rails in the third act, a rollercoaster. I loved it.

The message I connected with the most was the history of the Chinese Labor Corps during World War I,  Mr. Lee made me tear up, that was a wonderful moment, even if it was overshadowed by June’s persona. He especially connected with her book because his uncle lived through it and he thanked her for writing it, that was so important.

Additionally, the overall theme of whitewashing or erasing history was my other takaway. Literally something happening in America right now (ahem, Florida and Texas 2023). I can name a few major events just from recent years: the Tulsa Massacre, mass graves and the indigenous schools in Canada, hell many people don’t think the Holocaust happened and many genocides throughout the world. I think there’s so much history that is forgotten or erased on purpose. Rebecca makes a great point about storytelling, many of these events are so painful, it takes that one person to step up and record it. Race aside, whether the person can tell the story with respect is what matters.

Lastly, all the different aspects of the book community, which we know can be toxic as hell. It was eye opening to read it from the author’s point of view. They’re humans, too and at one point Geoff tells June “[...] these things always feel like the end of the world when they’re happening. But they’re not. Social media is such a tiny, insular space. Once you close your screen, no one gives a fuck. And you shouldn’t either” - this can be applied to anything, especially nowadays with the addictive nature of social media for young people.

And the real last last note is you go through a big 180 shift with June’s character, rooting for her in the beginning, questioning her in the middle and almost hating her in the end. Lots of jealous pettiness and snark. Some of the racism and microaggressions were so awful but it needed to be written.

I highly recommend picking this book up just to open up the conversations Rebecca started, we can all benefit from a bit more inclusivity and understanding regarding these various issues.

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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