Yellowface is by far, my top read of 2024. I cannot believe it's taken me this long to pick it up. If you plan to read this, make sure you give yourself enough time to read it in one sitting. I genuinely could not put this down. It's gripping, enrapturing, and hungry.

It grips you immediately from the beginning with the unexpected narration and leads into a death to conclude the first chapter. That death haunts the rest of the book, figuratively and literally, to the point of insanity. I've seen significant discussion of R.F. Kuang writing for white women and seeing as I've now read all of her catalogue, I cannot disagree more. I think she writes TO white women. She writes to spite them, to create a mirror for them to look into and see the ugly reflections of their abuse of privilege. If you read Yellowface and truly believed she wrote this with the idea of appealing to white women in mind, you need to have a deeper discussion with the text.

There is a multilayered take on the inequalities withing the publishing industry. R.F. Kuang did not make June an underprivileged character with less success and strained relationships to appeal to that demographic of white women. She wrote June in that way because lack of privilege and underprivileged are not mutually exclusive.

One thing I genuinely love about this book is that it makes you feel SOMETHING. I can very objectively see how this may reign very negative reviews. It's a mouthpiece narrative. It has commentary far too on the nose. The prose is lacking in significance compared to her other works. She chose yet another unreliable narrator. She wrote an entire book with wholly unlikable characters. For me, this was an incredible take. Rather than being some trauma porn tribute story of injustice, Kuang looked into the mind of the "villain" who thought herself into circles. The performative relationships white women build with BIPOC communities, yet stay just central enough to not be seen as too radical but can't be critiqued on supporting the negation of rights.

The idea that Athena needs to be likable is laughable. R.F. Kuang was very much trying to make that point. Asian women and WOC often are demanded a level of perfection that is not asked or from WW just to maintain their success. How many controversies have you seen in the publishing industry alone where the memory dies after a short while and then everyone is flocking towards the author again? Now think about how many times people flock back when the author is part of a marginalized community. How many people are going to bat for Sarah J Maas but quick to throw an author of colors books off the shelf?

Anywho, I'll write a deeper analysis later but I hated this book in the best way. I hated all the characters and this book demands a critical thought rather than mindless enjoyment. I did not enjoy this book, I was enveloped in the story and then spit out.