Yellowface
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3.6 • 67 Ratings
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- $31.99
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- $31.99
Publisher Description
The Number One Global Sensation
*Foyle’s Fiction Book of the Year*
*Amazon Book of the Year*
*Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year*
*Fiction Book of the Year 2024 – British Book Awards*
‘Addictive’ Grazia
‘Hugely entertaining’ Observer
‘Provocative’ Mail on Sunday
THIS IS ONE HELL OF A STORY.
IT’S JUST NOT HERS TO TELL.
When failed writer June Hayward witnesses her rival Athena Liu die in a freak accident, she sees her opportunity… and takes it.
So what if it means stealing Athena’s final manuscript?
So what if it means ‘borrowing’ her identity?
And so what if the first lie is only the beginning…
Finally, June has the fame she always deserved. But someone is about to expose her…
What happens next is entirely everyone else's fault.
‘The book that everyone is talking about’ Glamour
‘Ingenious, astute, hugely entertaining’ David Nicholls
‘Breathtakingly clever on jealousy, talent, success, and who gets to tell which story’ Elizabeth Day
‘Hard to put down. Harder to forget’ Stephen King
R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23
R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #5 New York Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23
Reviews
‘Propulsive’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Razor-sharp’ TIME
‘Blistering’ SCOTSMAN
‘I guarantee it will stay with you’ AFUA HIRSCH
‘Strikingly topical’ GUARDIAN
‘Scathing, spiky, and full of laugh-out-loud moments’ GLAMOUR
‘A rollicking good read’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY
‘Sharp and funny’ PRIMA
‘Wickedly funny’ EVENING STANDARD
‘A firecracker of a book’ i PAPER
‘A riot’ PANDORA SYKES
‘Darkly hilarious’ MARIE CLAIRE
‘Uncomfortable and addictive… a must-read’ INDEPENDENT
‘Tackles cancel culture and cultural appropriation with razor-sharp wit’ LOUISE O’NEILL
‘A clever, pacy tale’ SARA PASCOE
'Tense, modern… a brilliant exploration of the literary world' AISLING BEA
‘Darkly comic’ GQ
‘A wild ride’ STYLIST
‘A wicked little satire of publishing, racial politics and icky internet culture’ THE TIMES
‘Utterly diverting’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Unforgettable’ WOMAN & HOME
‘A spiky, snarky, shady, smart, sinister take on white privilege’ NIKKI MAY
‘Incisive and compelling… sweeps the reader up on a thrilling ride, but leaves us thinking about the questions raised for days’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘This acute, fast-paced thriller will have literary insiders nodding in recognition and outsiders gasping in shock’ THE BOOKSELLER
‘Not since Martin Amis’s The Information has the venality, self-regard and absurdity of the writing life been so gloriously skewered’ THE CRITIC
‘Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down’ HEAT
‘Well-observed and alarmingly convincing’ DAILY MAIL
'Remarkable and incendiary' WIZ WHARTON
'A dark, engrossing page-turner’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Rebecca F. Kuang pivots elegantly away from the intricately plotted fantasy works that established her as an author with Yellowface, a tight interrogation of cultural appropriation by way of fiendish satire. Kuang’s novel centres on Juniper, a struggling writer festering with jealousy in the shadow of her college friend and literary darling, Athena Liu, whose success has been seemingly ordained by a higher power which Juniper has so far been unable to attain. When Athena chokes to death in a freak incident after a night out, Juniper steals her latest manuscript and begins to rework it as her own. What follows is a maniacal unravelling of Juniper, the publishing industry, identity politics and privilege, as Juniper’s fortunes change overnight, finally putting her in the spotlight she has so cravenly desired. Her deceit—of herself and others—catches up to her, of course, exposing the hypocrisy at the heart of both the novel and its main players, but not before Kuang deftly raises intriguing questions and levels some damning truths about modern culture and the ways in which race does and doesn’t matter. Juniper is relatable in her frustrations but an unreliable narrator, and Kuang’s skill lies in almost making the reader sympathise with her position before severing the connection with a razor-sharp observation that reminds us of how deeply flawed her perception is. By rights, spending so much time in the mind of such a truly insufferable person shouldn’t be any fun at all, but Yellowface is most of all absurdly compelling and a wickedly enjoyable read.
Customer Reviews
Meta sees and meta does
3.5 stars
Author
Chinese-American born 1996, who migrated with her parents at age four. Grew up in Dallas. Studied history at Georgetown, where she was a champion debater. Published her first novel The Poppy War (2018) aged 22. That turned in to a NY Times best selling trilogy. Marshall scholar. MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge. MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. Currently pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale. (Makes you wonder what you’ve been doing with your life, doesn’t it?) This, her fifth novel, is the first that is not in the fantasy genre.
Summary
White bread narrator June (short for Juniper) Hayward and Antenna Liu, her Asian-American one time roomie, were both aspiring writers at Yale. The Asian chick quickly becomes a literary darling (shades of the author except her thing is historical/cultural rather than fantasy). The white chick’s first book doesn’t make it into paperback. But they remain friends. Sort of. They’re living in DC. Our gal’s subsisting on a low wage tutoring job while Athena continues to shoot the lights out. One night they have a few drinks, go back to Athena’s place and have a few more. Athena decides to make pancakes, chokes on one and dies despite our gal’s best efforts at Heimlich. Following a long night with the EMTs and the cops, our gal goes home with the typewritten first draft of golden girl’s latest, which isn’t backed up anywhere because Athena doesn’t believe in computers. Guess whose second novel becomes a blockbuster, both critically and sales-wise. It helped that she published under a name that sounds suspiciously Asian. (Her middle name is Song — her mother was a hippie back in the day — so she ditched Hayward and became Juniper Song). Doubts are raised about authorship. Our gal brazens it out. Writes a novella of her own. But those doubts won’t go away.
Writing
Polished well paced prose. Good, if predictable, character development. Worthwhile insights into the publishing industry, in particular the cultural appropriation issue. However, books where writers write about being writers are not my thing and this is probably the most meta piece of metafiction I’ve ever read. Ms Kuang is clearly talented (not just at writing), so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and presume she had her tongue planted in her cheek for large parts of this. The audio was excellent.
Not for me.
The hype did not live up to me on this one. I just found the lead to be a whinging entitled character that was relentless throughout the entire story where the ending was predictable. I was desperate for it to end.