A review by becausebrenna
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

emotional funny 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

4.5

I don’t know if I’ve ever hated a protagonist more, but Kuang’s writing is so effortlessly readable that I couldn’t put this down. It’s a critique of publishing, of white liberal America; of frenzied twitter discourse pile ons, and of mining your own and others profit for trauma. It was equally parts funny and infuriating. The ending felt a bit unsatisfying, but the whole book made me want to scream about how horrible and unreliable June is, so I felt that it fit with the theme. 
I think I also agree to an extent with some of the criticism- Kuang writes about what she knows. However I don’t inherently think writing about what you know is a bad thing - while not fully interrogating how your experience/ your area of research expertise can be limiting, it is executed well enough to not detract from the book imho. I also agree that the satire is heavy handed-again, not something that took away from the book for me.
Regarding some of the characters in this book essentially as mouthpieces to deflect critiques that she has received on her own work-that an area I’m out of my depth on, though I do agree. 
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