Yellowface
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3.6 • 759 Ratings
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- $15.99
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, Best Summer Reads
‘Utterly diverting’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Unforgettable’ WOMAN & HOME
'Bright and witty and sly… fabulous' RUSSELL T DAVIES
‘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
Yellowface, the latest novel from acclaimed author Rebecca Kuang, grapples with whether white authors should write about racism. Written in an intense first-person voice, the story follows June Hayward, a white author in her late twenties who is viciously jealous of her friend Athena Liu’s publishing success. When Athena unexpectedly dies, June steals and rewrites Athena’s latest manuscript about the Chinese Labor Corp, an underappreciated force of workers recruited from China to assist the British and French efforts during World War I. June’s book is a hit, but the backlash is also fervent, with critics asking whether a white writer should have told the story. Themes of ownership, success and racism, and the deterioration of ideas and art, are expertly woven into the story. It’s clear why Kuang has received so much praise in the past, and here she cements her own place as a rising star in the world of contemporary fiction.
Customer Reviews
Rollacoaster
If a book can make me so profusely mad at the lead and still hang on for the next word, that’s an excellent book in my mind. I hated June so much but I needed to know what was going to happen. This was a brilliant book that was so clever
Drivel
It had the promise of a visionary rollercoaster. It shunted instead of excited.
The 2 stars are for the effort of researching some wonderful words used, albeit some phrases entered the chapter more than once.
Yawn.
Drivel with a side of lack lustre.
Did not finish
After wrestling with myself for a quarter of the book, I decided to lay it down. My first in 6 months.
Mainly because I don’t need Juniper occupying space in my life. If she calls me again asking to take another look at the book, I may ghost her. First person narratives and suspense novels aren’t usually my favourite and this book confirmed that. Of course she, like everyone else in the book, is so unlikeable, which is the authors intent however, her internal dialogue was too repetitive and predictable for me to continue. I would have liked more of a duality in Juniper, something to like about her to keep me on with the rest of her hideous life choices. I like the cover art and the publishing industry related insertions to the story.