Yellow Face Paperback – 31 May 2023

Really good. If you’re any author, this is a must read!Spectacular take on the realities of being an author.

✒️ Book Review ✒️Yellowface written by R. F. Kuang is a satire and literary fiction. It's very differet from all the other works she has put forth so far. Firstly, Yellowface the term refers to the practice of imitating an East Asian person with help of make up as a part of a performance. And this act is often regarded as sensitive and offensive.Our main character, June, is a writer. But her debut novel flopped pretty badly. Her writing career is full of hiccups and she is frustrated about it. On the other hand, one of her college mate, Athena, who is also a fellow writer, and June's contemporary, is soaring high in the publishing industry. She is a Chinese American and her story mainly deals with the representation of the struggles faced by her countrymen at different points of time.One night Athena dies. How? I am not gonna tell you that. But June was present with Athena when Athena drew her last breaths. Out of curiosity or frustration over her own stale career she decides to steal Athena's unpublished manuscript. Athena is very inexplicit about her works. She doesn't let anyone know about what she is working on before finishing the first draft.From here on the action begins. It basically criticizes the publishing industry, talks about racism, reverse racism, and who is allowed to tell and story and what are the limitations. None of the characters are likeable, everyone is trying to reach the final line. And that just makes it more realistic. June is an unreliable narrator. She keeps on persuading the readers and herself that she didn't steal Athena's work rather she gave it "life". Because she researched a lot, and wrote original paragraphs and dialogues for the book. Now the manuscript that June stole was about Chinise Labourers in World War One and their struggles. June is a white woman. And obviously, the topic is very far from her line of interest. This sparked a lot of controversy after the publication of the book. Some praised June but some commented on how June is trying to make money selling the traumas of an Asian country.Yellowface exposes the overall book community, including book bloggers, book tweets and Goodreads Reviews. There is heavy trolling on this one. Once again check the trigger warnings. R. F. Kuang has tried to convey that social media has allowed everyone to state their opinions and sometimes certain opinions can hurt the sentiments of the other party. But because it's an online platform, people often forget to be sensitive or rational. It's like once you close the laptop, everything is normal. But We need to remind ourselves that even there is an actual person sitting on the other end with actually human emotions. And we can only see the tip of a iceberg. R. F. Kuang has also displayed how a narrative can be spun in two different ways. How normalised reverse racism has been in today's world. She asks the question is okay to send death threats to Karens? She forces the readers to take their own stance and formulate their own opinions. You can't help but see your own moral compass swaying.June did a wrong thing. Very wrong. Yes, but the things that she had to go through were not exactly justified either. I don't support her actions but the writing made it difficult to not sympathize with her at certain points of time. There is one segment about jealousy. I never use any highlighter or any such thing on my books. But this time I just had to. It goes like this....The book also feels personal to me because I got to know a lot about how publishing industry works. I want to activate work in a publishing house someday. So it was fun to learn certain technical words. And writing in general makes my heart sing. So when June described how much writing means to her, I can't help but nod along with her.The ending however, to my opinion could have been a little different. It just left me unsatisfied in a way. I am rating this 4 stars because of that.Language was pretty easy, I finished it in one and a half days.

The book is great and the plot is just awesome. I loved the book. It's a 5 Star for me.But Amazon I'm disappointed by your packaging. The book was bit damaged and it came in such a bad packet. Please improve that. Books should be delivered in a good package.

The book came in perfect condition with a timely delivery.My rating for the book is ★★★★★What an unputdownable book!It is a gripping and interesting fiction that has a strong take on various things among writers and the publishing industry. You need a narrative that is gripping enough to make you turn pages and this book has got that perfectly. In this social-media-obsessed-celebrity-status-thirst-name-fame-money-hunger world, how writing gets difficult, how jealousy creeps in and spoils June's peace of mind, and how an industry darling makes her wear that 'Yellowface' that gradually becomes offensive when June goes to the top in the publishing world.This book has a unique take on plagiarism through the central characters. From every angle, you will not deny that these central characters plagiarized someone or the other, which was incorrect. At the same time, the entire story is narrated like you owning an unclaimed million dollars you found from your friend's boot, and while spending the last dollar you are busted.The places Kuang describes when June shot to fame are simply unbelievable nuances you will enjoy. The book tours, the publishing numbers, June's envy of Athena and her success, and many such things made me connect holistically with the novel.The conflict starts right from the initial pages. The grip that Kuang holds in her text and the entire novel is admirable. Her take on publishing pressures, voices of the marginalized in publishing, writer's block, and how social media ruins the peace of mind for anyone especially writers who are supposed to churn pages and pages out every day for the contract they signed with the kind of world we're in is completely empathetic.Though the plot twist was a little easy to predict, I would say, I got what I wanted as a reader. As an audience, I wanted that to happen much earlier, but keeping that twist at the end elevated that novel.Above all, Kuang's class narrative shines when June embraces her plagiarism, discovering herself as a writer and refusing to give up on writing. Despite all the setbacks in the publishing world, in the end, she perseveres, to write another story and leave everything behind to fight for her passion.Class!

I just couldn’t stop thinking ahead of the story and guess what is going to happen next but the story surprised me everytime .

I loved the book. The ending could have been better but I enjoyed the book thoroughly.The writer is witty. I loved the narrator's voice trying to save herself even after knowing what is going wrong. You root for her because of the story telling. It is smartly written. I had no clue what goes inside the publishing industry! It's a must read.

Good in parts

Everything is good except the print on the cover page