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A review by luceeefur
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
This was so good that I couldn't put it down. I was hooked from the very beginning. This was such a different story that Kuang's earlier works, but it was equally as engaging.
June as a character is so unhinged and delusional that spending this book with her in the first person narrative had me talking to her. I was constantly calling June "gross" in my annotations for her inner thought process. She literally steals a frenemies manuscript, polishes it, calls it her own story (even though it's a Chinese story) and then spends every moment justifying her own actions. She also continually milks the relationship that she had with Athena and Athena's death to her own benefit.
June as a character is so unhinged and delusional that spending this book with her in the first person narrative had me talking to her. I was constantly calling June "gross" in my annotations for her inner thought process. She literally steals a frenemies manuscript, polishes it, calls it her own story (even though it's a Chinese story) and then spends every moment justifying her own actions. She also continually milks the relationship that she had with Athena and Athena's death to her own benefit.
If anyone criticizes me for imitating her work, they’re coming after a friend who’s still in mourning, which makes them a monster. Athena, the dead muse. And I, the grieving friend, haunted by her spirit, unable to write without invoking her voice.
June, who spends most of the first chapter, discussing how she and Athena are only friends because Athena is too "aloof" to have any other friends and how June experiences vitriolic jealousy and Athena's success. June is truly an unlikable character. There really aren't many redeeming qualities to speak of. She paints herself as a victim with the 'poor me, diversity is why I'm not getting published' argument that is pervasive in almost every industry. I almost felt bad at the happiness that I would feel as she slowly began to descend into madness. But every time that I thought "surely this is where she gives up and comes clean" or "this must be where she gets hers" it doesn't happen. She just powers through in her delusion that she is the victim.