#the character of athena liu

[zealoussy]

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

✨ Some sort of review

So, basically June (a white woman) is so jealous of her friend, Athena (a chinese american, queer), who seems to have it all, that when she suddenly dies, June steals her friend’s unfinished manuscript. She stole it, polished it so it aligned with her approach to writing, then published the story as hers.

Yes, she's insufferable. Yes, you have to deal with her for the whole book. So, make sure you prepare a snack, a tea, or anything that you can grab when things get frustrating.

As an unlikeable character, June is written too well, I think. When you read this, you will expect to hate everything that she says and does. Granted, there are a lot of things you can hate about June. But the thing is, RFK leaves enough room in the characterization of June for the readers to interpret what kind of character she is.

You see, in satire, usually you have this expectation that the characters will always talk in exaggeration, their behavior and worldview, you can’t help but expect the characters to be some sort of caricature. Yet often, in this book, the things that she says are the messages that RFK wants to deliver.

If you find yourself agreeing with this quote from June,

We’re just suggesting the right credentials, so that readers take me and my story seriously, so that nobody refuses to pick up my work because of some outdated preconceptions about who can write what. And if anyone makes assumptions, or connects the dots the wrong way, doesn’t that say far more about them than me?

may I remind you that in this context, June stole Athena’s manuscript about a WWI Chinese Laborers story? Well you’ll find more layers of irony like this in Yellowface.

That dissonance between how I perceive June and some things she said that I agree with, makes me reevaluate my thinking about what was said, who said, how it was said. (A lot of things said on the internet. It’s easy to lose my voice in the noise, sometimes I even forget to make my own judgment.)

Another thing about June is that she feels human in this book. Before you come at me, no, I am not a June defender. There are moments where you will see how June is slowly deteriorating. In those moments, you can see that June is capable of guilt and grief and fear. That, makes her human.

Although not for long you’ll be reminded again, how still unlikeable she is. What an asshole she is. Some people may not like this way of characterization where, after showing her vulnerability, you'll then be hit in the face with a reminder how bad she is.

For me personally, I like to be reminded that she is terrible simply because I’m an empath.

Aside from June's characterization, there's also the social commentary. Have you ever felt like you have so much in your head but it seems impossible to express what you think? Yeah, RFK spoke what I had in mind like how. This book is I think RFK's way to give words to the things that she has been observing. She's very thorough at that too.

Maybe it's because I'm chronically online. Or maybe it's because I'm always interested in media trends. But there are a lot of nuances in which RFK write the things that she wanted to show the readers.

For example, June thought that the way Athena approached historical fiction is "so hackneyed that they defy belief", although it was implied that Athena was trying to be as truthful as possible to the actual history.

For June, how Athena writes is not accessible, didactic, therefore makes it not a good craft. Meanwhile all this time the opposite has been said about Athena's books: brilliant, authentic, insightful.

Part of Athena's original draft that June's editor said to be "torture porn" was a literal story straight from historical record. That exchange between June and her editor is a good example of "the winner is the one who write the history" or whatever, that sentence, but in a bad way.

From this gaze, we get to see how power is an essential factor that builds the narrative. There's a big part in the story where white privilege plays a role in which they have more advantages over people of color.

SPOILER ALERT

June is misusing her influence towards a POC character which consequently ruin that person's life entirely.

SPOILER ENDS.

Talking about POC, RFK has got some humour in her. I love how Juniper is written being so delulu that it makes her look plain stupid.

"Diversity is what’s selling right now. Editors are hungry for marginalized voices. You’ll get plenty of opportunities for being different, Emmy. "

In booktwt specifically, it is not an uncommon occurrence where readers are debating about diversity. "Just because the book is diverse doesn't mean it's good," that saying is not unfamiliar among the readers. What is a good book, honestly? Pulling the thread from this scope, RFK tried to capture how twitter discourse looks like, what each sides are arguing about.

It's easy for people to dismiss the happenings on the twitter as, "It's just twitter", although in a lot of cases it's warranted that things are overblown in there, but there needs to be some consideration where people's life are depending on it. What does this mean is, it all comes down to the theme of white privilege again. June's career is depending on social media, mainly twitter. Being the June that she is, let's say, she's not nice to people, so there are consequences of her own actions, but knowing how deranged twitter can be, relying your career using that media can be debilitating. June is obviously overwhelmed by this. I like this part because this is where the social commentary shines light about the publishing industry.

But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life, because that is the realm that the social economy of publishing exists on, because the industry has no alternative.

I don't think I ever heard a book that tells a story about publishing industry this close. Readers are introduced to the behind the scenes of publishing industry with a sense of familiarity, using terms that readers use when they talk about the books they consume. Yellowface is an intriguing piece of literature that break the door to the source of the enjoyment itself and the way it is created in this profit-hungry society. Not only that, it also a neat composition of characterization, storyline, motif, worldbuilding, and a sprinkle of social commentary.

TLDR: Seriously, please read Yellowface! It's well-written, engaging, insightful, and overall an amazing book.

[rosejen8675]

So, with the Thunder Saga having released recently it’s been on my mind a lot. I also have Scum Villain Self Saving System on my mind often in general, so this inevitably lead to me thinking about them both. And I had the thought that LBH would probably relate to Odysseus in Epic the Musical. Going through a hellish place while obsessed with getting to see a loved one again? And becoming more ruthless during the journey? That could be the LBH in Endless Abyss or Ody in the Sea of Monsters!

So THAT got me thinking about what svsss characters would play various Epic the Musical characters if the was an Epic AU of svsss. Here’s what I have so far:

Odysseus- Lou Binghe

Penelope- Shen Yuan

Not sure who their kid would be. Unlike in mdzs or tgcf, the main couple never gets a kid they feel at all parental towards. Well, maybe the disciples in general, but that would only count for SY.

Polites- Ning Yingying

Eurylochus- Ming Fan

Cyclops- Elder Sky hammer maybe?

Athena- Qi Qingqi

Aeolus- Liu Mingyan maybe?

Poseidon- Shen Jiu

Circe- Sha Hauling

Hermes- feel like it should be a peak lord but not sure which one. SQH maybe?

The prophet- madam meiyin

Does Scylla need a person to play her? Or does she get to just be Scylla?

The only one I really can’t decide on is Zeus. Palace Master has a similar attitude toward women but I can’t really picture him as Zeus. Other peak lords don’t really fit either. It would be funny if Pei Ming made a surprise appearance as him though! XD

What do y’all think of this idea? Do you agree with the casting? Who would you pick instead? I’m really curious to know!

[zarisoreal]

Headcanons that I have of the gods in the Percy Jackson universe

Themis (goddess of justice) - basically children and like those blessed by her are like living lie detectors but they can only tell if it is a lie if they hear the person say it (like to their face) and that's why they avoid political rallies 

Persephone - Those blessed by her can grow any power they want but they have a pollen allergy

 Hermes - his children and those blessed by him are like super fast like flash fast 

Khione looks like Elsa 

Athena hates the character of Spiderman and would disown her child on the spot if they decided to dress up as Spiderman during Halloween 

Hestia is the official marriage counselor for all the Olympians 

Zeus wanted to punish Hermes for writing Hamilton 

Apollo wishes it was him that wrote Hamilton 

Mr D discovered sparkling grape juice (welch sparkling grape juice) and hasn't been the same since then 

Hephaestus owns an F1 team (guess which team) and often makes bets with Ares and Hermes on which team would dominate the season 

Hades has a monopoly over most of the mines in the world 

Hermes once caught one of his children trying to steal a package he delivered, he was confused if he should be proud or angry 

Eris thrives on call of duty lobbies 

Like Apollo's children, Artemis's hunters glow in the dark but its more of a silvery white glow 

Demeter loves modern farming techniques expect pesticides 

Poseidon works with Hephaestus to create mega cruise ship, they both split 50/50 in the profits 

Ares would like gladiator fights to be a part of the Olympics but human rights 

Apollo and Aphrodite would love to be judges on Rupaul's drag race 

Hera owns a lot of real estate in New England and her side hustle is being a real estate agent but she found it too tiring so she just started a real estate company instead (idk I picture her to look like Lucy Liu) 

Hera tried to open a marriage counseling business 

Aphrodite tried to buy the Palace of versailles from Apollo 

Hermes owns serval telemarketing companies and has several ponce schemes 

During Covid 19 everyone was stressing Apollo and Asclepius (god of medicine) to make a vaccine because season 25 of The Bachelor was rumored to be delayed or canceled 

Iris is a major stake holder in most tabloids 

Jeff Bezos is just one of Hermes human forms 

Poseidon owns several resorts in Bali and the Bahamas 

[belle-keys]

Okay, so the two main reasons I couldn't give Yellowface 5 stars were:

1. It wasn't truly satirical, in my opinion. We see a lot of reenactments of booktwt and the publishing world being, well, the publishing world in Yellowface. And the in-text commentary on these things was particularly pertinent, not a single complaint there. But the book's satire lacked the humorous and hyperbolic elements necessary for there to be comedy, for you to chuckle. In Yellowface, there was more of a literal reconstruction of how bookish spaces on the Internet sound and look than an intentional and satirical depiction of the industry and community in my opinion.

2. Athena Liu, despite inevitable claims to the contrary, is a self-insert character. Whether or not that's good or bad in the context of Yellowface is debatable, but it didn't work for me. I'm sure there's gonna be people trying to "prove" Athena isn't a self-insert character at all, and then people saying yes, she's a self-insert character but it's a good thing in this novel! I disagree with both takes. I think maybe I personally know too much about Rebecca's life which is why I see it this way who knows. Or maybe Athena is actually a poorly crafted character in the context of the story after all. But I think Athena possibly being RF Kuang is something that works against the thesis of the novel if you choose to see it this way.

[bloodmaarked]

yellowface, rebecca f. kuang

released 2023

read: 21 august 2023 - 23 august 2023

i had SO much fun reading yellowface. it is such a messy, fucked-up amalgamation of morally grey characters, horror, satire, comedy, and a genuinely important critique of the publishing industry. it had me grimacing, gasping, and laughing out loud in quick succession and i hated every time i had to put it down. it's not like anything i've read before, but i want more.

june hayward, aka juniper song, is a wild ride of a character. if you've seen girlboss on netflix, she totally reminded me of the main character sophia. A Villain, and Totally Awful, but also she kinda makes a good point sometimes? and you sort of don't mind seeing her win? and then counter to june, we have athena liu, The Victim... but was she a true victim? blameless? did she deserve what she got? i was hooked on following june's journey, and uncovering page by page more about athena and who she was versus who we thought she was. it was addictive, a rollercoaster i didn't want to get off of.

and then there was the way this book made me think. it brings up so many relevant and important questions - what does true diversity in publishing look like? is where we are now a real improvement, or the same story in disguise? who has the right to write about which subjects and tell which stories? how and why do we (as readers/as publishers) pick which books/authors are good and deserve to be spotlighted? these are just off the top of my head - i could go on - and i know it's gonna keep me thinking for a while.

after having read and loved babel (in a completely different way, and i'd say i liked babel more except these two books really can't be compared), r.f. kuang is 100% on my list of 'buy before you try' authors. i will be eagerly awaiting and pre-ordering whatever comes next.

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[duckprintspress]

Our monthly “created works round-ups” are Duck Prints Press’s opportunity to spotlight some of the amazing work that people working with us have done that ISN’T linked to their work with Duck Prints Press. We include fanworks, outside publications, and anything else that creators feel like sharing with y’all! Inclusion is voluntary and includes anything that they decided “hey, I want to put this on the created work’s round-up!”

Check out what they’ve shared with us this month…

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Strife by Smehur / @smehur

art || darksiders || no ships || general audiences || no major warnings apply || complete

summary: Strife playing with his magic on some long forgotten world.

TUMBLR - INSTAGRAM - TWITTER

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Ikarose by Elsin / @lostinthewinterwood

fiction || the good place || platonic or familial || kamilah al-jamil & tahani al-jamil || general audiences || creator choses not to use warnings || 1,105 || complete

summary: Icarus, in dual.

(or: what's it like, to be Kamilah Al-Jamil?)

other tags: Character Study, Relationship Study, Canonical Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Mythology, Magic, A Study in Metaphor, Narrative Ghost Tahani Al-Jamil

AO3

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in hellish darkness (even skulls shine like stars) by nottesilhouette / @nottesilhouette

fiction || percy jackson & the olympians || platonic or familial || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 2,098 || complete

summary: Nico and Reyna make their way back from Greece, the Statue of Athena in tow. Along the way, they talk about loneliness, being left behind, and love.

other tags: cw: depression, cw: PTSD

TUMBLR - AO3

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Not a Spiral but a Spring by Shadaras / @shadaras

fiction || quanzhi gaoshou | the king's avatar - hudie lan || platonic or familial || fang xuecai & team thunderclap || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 44,628 || complete

summary: Team Thunderclap trades Captain Xiao Shiqin to Team Excellent Era in exchange for Liu Hao—slotted to become Thunderclap's new captain—and He Ming.

Thunderclap’s Vice-captain, Fang Xuecai, is uncertain how this trade will impact the team in Season Nine, but he's going to do his best to ensure the team plays their best. After all, a team is more than one person; losing their captain shouldn't mean losing their identity or their spirit. However, Season Nine of the Glory Professional Alliance will test this belief in a myriad of unexpected ways...

other tags: ESports, Toxic Workplace Relationship, Friendship, Teamwork, Character Study

AO3

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Happy reading and happy creating! 😀

Who We Are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher. We work with fan creators to publish their original work. We are particularly dedicated to publishing stories and art featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Love what we do? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more! Want to support the Press, read about us behind-the-scenes, learn what’s coming down the pipeline, get exclusive teasers, and claim free stories? Back us on Patreon monthly!

[homieholmes]

**BOOK REVIEW- YELLOWFACE**(Spoilers)

June Hayward should receive hate/should not receive hate, you cannot decide this even after the 319 page long saga of her plagiarism scandal and obsession with dead best friend Athena Liu.

Yellowface knocks it out of the park if you look at the pacing of the book. It becomes really slow while going through the characters' histories with each other and all the flashbacks, but picks up pace while switching to the present scenarios June is facing in order to save her secret. The final stretch with Candice and the big expose might seem rushed to some but I felt it was necessary to portray all the turmoil going in June's head, how despite losing everything, all she's thinking of are ways to relocate herself in the spotlight, still trying to be the hero in her story.

Yellowface tells us a disturbing story of how when loneliness and past traumas get the better of you, you'll go to all sorts of lengths and give any kind of justification for all the lying, stealing and betraying you do, just like our little Junie did. It's very easy to hate her but despite all this you can't help feeling sorry for her.

The way she's subtly racist during the whole book, yet in her mind it's all 'Reverse Racism' against White Women, is another example how her mind cannot comprehend any of her mistakes and takes it all as an excuse for why the world is cruel to her.

The ending left us at a cliffhanger where June's delusional mind is still hopeful for a better future for her despite losing everything. The bubble she built has burst yet she's adding more layers to it. She can still reinvent herself and live a peaceful life but that's not the option she seems to be choosing.

But there's still no doubt that the world actually is a really cruel place for people like Junie. It's a materialistic world which runs behind what's new and what's trending, people and emotions tend to matter for as long as they're bringing money and creating waves of gossips.

People like June also deserve support if they're trying their best to mend their ways.

This book left a huge mark on me and definitely going for a re-read. I applaud you Rebecca Kuang🙌🙌

[nausiccarequiem]

Just finished reading Yellowface by R.F Kuang so here I am to write a book review.

Yellowface was probably my most anticipated book of the year. Ever since finishing Babel last year I've been foaming at the mouth waiting for R.F Kuang's next book. ( Don't remind me i haven't read the poppy war series yet. I will ). This book , when i learnt about it , felt like a dream come true. And now that I've read it i can say for certain that it is.

All I heard going into Yellowface was that it was a sharp , critical look at the publishing industry. It was a satire , a dark comedy , something that makes you laugh and hurt at the same time. Instead what I read today was a horror story.

Imagine my surprise then , when I find precisely those words directed back at me , as the first line of the acknowledgements. A horror story about the publishing industry and loneliness. God... God... what a book !

The first thing I want to talk about are the characters. The character work in Yellowface is god tier , the same way it was in Babel. I knew , like everyone else , that this is a book from the villain's perspective. But god , R,F Kuang does an almost extraordinary job of making June almost sympathetic sometimes , almost. But even if that's not true some of her actions and thoughts are understandable at least ?

The publishing industry treats authors like meaningless cannon fodder. If one of us can not step up then there are hundreds of others desperate to fill the space. As the book says "If publishing is a rigged industry , might as well make sure it's rigged in your favor." And I can not argue against that. Because publishing is a rigged industry and there is nothing we can do about it except hope and do whatever we can to make sure it's rigged in our favor.

The problem then , comes down to the simple fact that June is white. She wanted to be famous , a prodigy , a literary star , but thinks since she's white her stories aren't wanted anymore. And when she looks at Athena Liu , her literary darling "friend" , all she can see is someone who became successful because she isn't white. That if she didn't have racial and historical trauma to mine she wouldn't have become the superstar in the writing world that she is.

At the beginning of the book June can't see that she's wrong. That Athena is not the lucky girl. She is completely oblivious to how Athena is made to be the token , the exotic yet just western enough person to market and get diversity points through. But throughout the book we see this "can't" becoming "won't". She refuses to see past her own suffering. Refuses to understand that the world is far bigger than her. Refuses to learn , grow , to become anything. Refuses , most of all , to see her own whiteness.

By the end she concludes the world is wrong against her. That throughout her entire life she's been reduced to being a “white woman”. That those words have dominated her life. That people of colour , because they're oppressed , demand to be put on a pedestal and ask the world to hand things over to them while she , the white woman , has to suffer. She concludes she's been unfairly treated , silenced all throughout her life by everyone. She concludes the world is wrong because "reverse racism is okay and you can still send death threats to Karens".

And why does she do this ? Because she loves to write. She wants to tell stories. She wants to be a writer. It's the only thing that gave her life any meaning. But publishing doesn't have space for all writers. Most of us only get scraps. She happened to be one of them. So shunned by the world , faced with the failure of her debut , not knowing where to go , what to do , she convinces herself plagiarizing Athena's work is okay. Because she put effort into it too , it's actually her book. Then once she has tasted stardom , she can not give it up. How could she ? Like most writers , writing means the world to her. She wants her stories to be read , to succeed. She can write. But publishing is an almost impossible industry to succeed in and no one wants success to slip away from them. What did I say about her being understandable sometimes ?

On the other side of the story , we have Athena. Going into this book , I expected her to be portrayed as an innocent victim. A dead author whose voice gets stolen. But that's not how it is. Athena is no saint. She is just as hungry and desperate for public attention like anyone else. Ready to exploit other people’s pain for her own benefit. She is also a privileged rich American woman. I expected her to represent the marginalized voices of this community that very often get wronged by their white peers , especially white "friends". But that's not who she is. Athena does not represent most of us marginalized writers. She is the chosen one who got to break through publishing's glass ceilings and got to make her dream come true. That's because this story is not about the constant fight between the oppressors and the oppressed. White people and people of colour. It is at its core just a book about the publishing industry and it brings me to angry tears thinking about just how true it all rings.

This is the second thing I want to talk about. Athena does represent writers of colour to an extent. Athena is what publishing allows writers or colour to be. It's either her or nothing. Meanwhile June can craft a hundred identities and blame her mistakes on everyone but herself. She will not see the blatant , obviously , glaring point that she is white. I can not stress enough just how important this simple fact is. She will never see her whiteness. Never think of herself as the problem. She is the victim , always and forever. Her thought process is just another variation of “The immigrants are coming to steal out jobs.” She calls cishet white men privileged but thinks of herself as an oppressed karen.

She is just a random karen.

She is someone we've all met. She's someone who we could have found some sympathy for at some point. But in the end fact remains that she will always have another chance while the rest of us fight for one chance at success. The ending all but spells that out for us. June will have another origin story. Just because she can. But her opponent changes. From Athena to Candace , then perhaps someone else. They’ll keep coming and going but she will stay. Because she is white and that’s how the world works.

In the end all of this just comes down to the truth that this is the fact of the publishing industry. Numbers and profit. Numbers and profit. And authors who get destroyed in the process.

Horror story.

Truly.

Probably the best and worst horror story I've ever read. Best because of obvious reasons and worst because I will now lie awake at night wondering where on the spectrum of Athena Liu to June Hayward , I will fall. If I ever fall on the spectrum at all.

I expected to laugh with this book , except I am sobbing. In anger , in frustration , in simple sorrow. And most of all in knowing that I still want to be a successful writer. Still want to be the superstar in this industry. And it is so so so deeply utterly completely soul crushing.

But then again , writing stories is fun. Writing is the best thing in the world. In fact reading this book gave me the biggest burst of inspiration I've had in a while. I'm a mess of emotions and in trying to pen them all down for this review I feel alive. I thank R.F Kuang for that. That is the best praise I can ever give a book. That it destroyed me emotionally yet still , somehow , impossibly , gave me the strength to write , to survive. Because writing is how I survive.

I don't know how this works. I don't know how writers are made. I just know I am one. I wish I had an answer. I wish I could say that despite everything it's still worth it. That I'll be okay with it if I end up as a writer who never gets published. But that's not true. I won't be. I want to be published. I want people to read my stories and love them as much as I do. So I don't have an answer. All I know is that I will keep writing. So will everyone else. We will all keep writing , and hoping and dreaming that someday this book will feel like a surreal dark comedy with no basis in reality , instead of a horror story that hits too close to home.

So far , R.F Kuang is two for two , for writing books that rock me to my core. I will be tuning in for the next one to let her be three for three. She's also two for two in writing white women characters that absolutely suck. In my mind June is Letty's descendent somehow. It makes sense. It does. The white woman so convinced of her greatness she does not care who she has to destroy to preserve it. Who doesn't realise that despite her feminism and so called liberalism she is just plain old racist.

Anyway , I loved this book. Did not think it would destroy me like Babel. But even though they are NOTHING alike , Yellowface still managed to pull it off. I loved it. Thank you so much R.F Kuang. One day I'll need to find a therapist just to talk about your books alone.

[eggcatsreads]

May Reading Wrap-Up

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Favorite Read of the Month:

Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett (GR review)

Rags is a thief until he's caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer. And now he's forced on a journey to find the rest of these relics so they can save the world before it's destroyed.

Y'ALL. THIS BOOK DOES NOT GET ENOUGH LOVE AND THAT IS A CRIME. THIS CAME OUT IN 2020 AND THERE'S NOT EVEN A WHISPER OF A SEQUEL IN THE WORKS??? HELLO??? MORE PEOPLE NEED TO READ THIS SO THERE'S ENOUGH HYPE FOR THE AUTHORS TO CONTINUE THIS SERIES.

This is the queer fantasy adventure we've all wanted and it's been slept on. (Personally, I think it's the cover and the name keeping people from picking this book up.) Trust me, this book is PHENOMENAL. If you have ever read a fantasy adventure with some romantic tension in it, and thought "okay but what if it was gay?" then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

The best way I can describe it is if Crier's War and Realm Breaker had a baby. If you haven't read both of those books (what are you doing?) I'll try to describe the vibes. It's Crier's War in that it's a queer fantasy story where the protagonists are practically fighting against society itself to correct the corruption throughout the realm, where solving this won't be an easy fix - as well as it standing in the way of the romance, where two people from different worlds try to come together anyway and overcome the obstacles. It's Realm Breaker in that it's a found family adventure story where you collect more and more characters along the way as they have to fight to save the realm before it's destroyed. It's the love of my life in that I stayed up until like 6am to finish it in one sitting.

READ THIS BOOK. PLEASE.

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Other Five Star Reads:

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen (GR review) (series)

Let’s get one thing straight—Vanja Schmidt wasn’t trying to start a cult.

If you haven't read Little Thieves yet, what are you doing? Read that, read this (the sequel), cry at the ending, and then wait with me with baited breath for Holy Terrors. While you're at it, read Margaret Owen's other book series, The Merciful Crow. She's a fantastic author.

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Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (GR review)

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.

R. F. Kuang is a PHENEMONAL writer, and in this darkly humorous memoir from the white women who stole the manuscript for her famous Asian-American author "friend" when she died, you won't be able to stop to take a breath before you realize you've finished the book in one sitting. In an impressive twist of expectations, R.F Kuang's self-insert character ISN'T the main character - she's the one who dies.

Instead, we're stuck inside June's ("Juniper Song's") head as she complains about the unfairness of political correctness and how only minority authors are getting the big breaks now, and no one supports her work because she's white. So when her friend dies unexpectedly in front of her one night, she takes the opportunity to steal her book and pass it off as her own - and it's a cultural phenomenon of a book - until her fraud comes to light. Her response to all of this will keep you on your toes until the last page.

Also R.F. Kuang has a trilogy called The Poppy War which I HIGHLY recommend reading. She's also written Babel, which while I liked, academia focused books aren't my forte. However, reading all four of these books can kind of lend some insight into Yellowface, as R.F. Kuang takes the criticisms she's faced and turns it around to mock them in this book, and there were a few moments I laughed out loud because I knew EXACTLY what book and where a certain criticism came from. It's not required, but if you were interested at all in these books, I recommend them before Yellowface, if you can.

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The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (series)

When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin. Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. 

Thara Celehar my beloved. I would die for you, you sad gay wet cat of a man.

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Rest of Books Read Under the Cut:

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison (series)

Thara Celehar continues to be a sad gay wet cat of a man, as we watch him go on his little adventures and solve crimes.

Babel by R.F. Kuang

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the gods remember, and they do not forgive.

Tbh this might have been 5 stars if the main character wasn't so vanilla that he'd see a half dragon/half man hybrid saving his life and didn't immediately want him, and instead went to hide and think about it. SIR. WHAT.

Also it's the classic enemies to lovers, one has to kill the other and the other doesn't know it, betrayal love stories we all love. Except gay. And with dragons. So better.

-----------------------

Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb

In the city of Ombrazia, saints and their disciples rule with terrifying and unjust power, playing favorites while the unfavored struggle to survive. After her father’s murder at the hands of the Ombrazian military, Rossana Lacertosa is willing to do whatever it takes to dismantle the corrupt system—tapping into her powers as a disciple of Patience, joining the rebellion, and facing the boy who broke her heart. 

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation's casino...and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step--an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that's intent on devouring her whole. With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old.

Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

It's 1853 London. Frankenstein's great niece Mary Saville and her husband, Henry, are trying to follow in his scientific footsteps and become renowned paleontologists. But after finding clues to her great uncle's disappearance, Mary's luck may just change. She constructs a plan that will force the scientific community to take her and her husband seriously; no one will be able to ignore them after they learn to create life.

-----------------------

Books read so far this year: 59

How I rate books.

[gaymer-hag-stan]

I'm bored so I'm starting a Tumblr polling tournament to determine the ultimate fighting game character!

I chose eight trademark fighters from the eight most popular fighting game series.

Do note that these are not my personal favourite characters, just eight characters I think represent their respective franchises well enough so recurring characters who have appeared in most of their respective series' games were obviously favoured compared to more recent additions that may still be popular and well loved enough.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming polls to make sure you vote for your favourite and help them reach the finals!

A detailed list of all the participants:

Terry Bogard

Ryo Sakazaki

Athena Asamiya

King (The King of Fighters)

Yuri Sakazaki

Benimaru Nikaido

Ralf Jones

Clark Still

Scorpion

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)

Johnny Cage

Liu Kang

Sonya Blade

Paul Phoenix

Yoshimitsu (Tekken)

Heishiro Mitsurugi

Voldo

Raiden

Jax

Kung Lao

Nina Williams

Akira Yuki

Jacky Bryant

Pai Chan

Sarah Bryant

Lau Chan

Kage-Maru

Wolf Hawkfield

Jeffry McWild

Taki

Kasumi

Jann Lee

Leifang

Zack

Ryu Hayabusa

Tina Armstrong

Maxi

Ivy

Lei Wulong

Ayane

Bass Armstrong

Kilik

Ryu (Street Fighter)

Ling Xiaoyu

King II (Tekken)

Hwoarang

Chai Xianghua

Astaroth (The Original)

Ken Masters

Jin Kazama

Chun-Li

Sol Badguy

Ky Kiske

Chipp Zanuff

Axl Low

Zato-1

Potemkin

Millia Rage

May

Edmond Honda

Blanka

Zangief

Guile

Dhalsim

[tumblasha]

book review: yellowface by r.f. kuang

overall rating: ★★★★★/5

literally it was so good; i couldn't put it down once i opened the ebook on the plane. originally i was reading the vegetarian by han kang, but the ebook download didn't finish (it ended suddenly on a random page), so i started this one!!

synopsis: (cw: anti-asian racism) athena liu is a very famous author. her college friend june hayward is not a famous author (her first book flopped big time). athena suddenly dies and june finds athena's latest unfinished manuscript. after various edits (including to her own name, now "juniper song"), she publishes that manuscript as her own. the story follows the rest of june's story with this new book

this book was literally so good. every other sentence was just this white woman saying some microaggression (author makes it v obvious that she's wrong in a funny way). i was on my flight back home and i just read this book for ~3hrs w/o stopping. kinda feel bad for the guy sitting next to me who saw me make this "shocked but about to start laughing" face i always make lmao

i've always liked kuang's writing! i read the poppy war by her, and it was really good too (started the second book that trilogy but school kept me busy) ((might re-read))

one little thing is that i saw this tweet a month ago that said "it sounds like kuang has an agenda and is just using these characters as a vessel" which doesn't make sense since that's all that fiction writing ... is. alas, sometimes june acted so comically racist that i felt that tweet bounce around in my head, but there's nothing we can really do about that

pls read! and support ur local libraries. this review was sponsored by the libby app /j

[smokefalls]

Title: Yellowface Author: R.F. Kuang Publication Year: 2023 Publisher: William Morrow Genre: fiction

I’ve been a fan of Kuang’s writings for years now, and I hate to say this, but Yellowface was a disappointment. I see the commentary that she wanted to make about the writing and publishing industry, and I also see the satirical elements of it all— I just don’t think it was executed very well. The book felt a bit directionless in the sense that it read more as a need for Kuang to share her grievances and frustrations somewhere without much interrogation in the process. In essence, nuance got lost in favor of turning a shit show into a spectacle to ogle at.

I was also surprised to find out that Kuang has stated in interviews that Athena Liu was not supposed to be a representation of her. If that is the case, I’m struggling to understand why she made the decisions she did to have that many overlaps between Athena and herself (I should mention not in personality, but in their writing career/interests). For those who are familiar with Kuang’s oeuvre, it’s hard not to read Athena as a caricature of herself. I think this is why it was difficult for me to read Yellowface as a nuanced critique, because it seemed like there was personal beef.

It was hard not to put this book down though. If you’re a fan of characters who are disasters and/or messy dramas (shout out to the Online Discourses™), this book will keep you reading. It was interesting to read such a different writing style from Kuang, though, with all the characters having a little (or, for most of them, a lot) more bite to them. I’d be curious to know if she’ll write in this style again in the future or not, or if she’ll return to her fantasy(ish) roots.

Content Warning: death, racism, cultural appropriation, rape, some suicidal thoughts

[bookandcover]

Some pre-notes:

In re-reading my own reflection that follows, I wonder if I've left out several first steps of my reaction to this book. Over the past few days, I keep thinking about what I wrote here, troubled by how little of my reaction and processing is about the racist heart of this novel (and the racism so ingrained in June that she's able to do any of the things she does in this book). In writing about this book, why isn't that what was most interesting to me? What I thought about the most? Was this the product of having already known that was the focus of this book before I read it, so the experience of reading it was about things I didn't see coming? Is it because my own framework of racism is so ingrained that the particulars of June's racism felt less urgent to me? (I don't actually believe so, but I worry about this.) Is it because I have seen this happen enough in publishing that I didn't feel new waves of horror (or feel the need to express that horror) because it seems now like the baseline? (But isn't that, too, problematically the product of racism? If you don't need to express the familiar horror again and again and again, isn't that because it's not really hurting you and you're feeling it mostly vicariously?)

I see the absence of something in what I've written below about this novel. I perceive a kind of leap over (through?) the fundamentals of this book, the central and hard truth of it, in my own thinking about it. I'm still unpacking why that leap is happening to me. I feel like I went through it, rather than skirting it. But I'm not sure, and I don't want to let myself off easy.

The reflection that follows:

This book has been universally lauded to me, yet I went in unsure of what to expect. It’s a tight, sharply delivered narrative that is a bit predictable. But this predictably is part of the book’s horror, as it hurtles through a series of actions and their consequences that feel familiar, and, in that, painfully inevitable. June Hayward watches Athena Liu die and, from that moment, it seems a foregone conclusion that June will become Juniper Song—racially-ambiguous, hot new author—and capitalize on the social capital she believed Athena to so easily and universally enjoy. 

What engaged me most about this book was its broader implications about truth and narrative. Truth, this book demonstrates, is slippery; what is “true” is the narrative and we choose the narrative that we want to see/hear/follow. 

It’s so appealing to imagine that we could go through life empowered by the truth, that our intentions would shine through the slippery narratives (in the case of these characters, the intentions are rarely good, but the bad is just as easy to conceal and misdirect from as the good). Instead of truth, there seems to exist nothing but slippery narratives. So why not keep layering? Why not keep spinning stories? Why not keep fabricating and counter-narrativizing, until there is no grounding thing on which to stand, no stable thing on which to pin yourself, or your story?

And, if you have bad intentions, you can use the slippery nature of truth to your advantage.

Social media works like this—a slippery non-reality and truth is whatever is accepted. “Whatever is accepted” can evolve; whatever seems on solid ground might have shifted twenty miles in the night. It is interesting to me how much this scares all of us (and me, especially) and how we try furiously to fact-check and verify, how we tell cautionary tales of this kind of unmoored life. This is the horror in this horror story: facing up to the slipperiness of our beliefs, how unlikely they are to be true, how insignificant “truth” is (how would we identify it anyway? And why bother if it’s irrelevant?). Slipperiness is more complex than claiming the popular narrative becomes the truth, because even the popular narrative will shift, even the popular narrative will be challenged and overthrown. The best any narrative can hope for is brief, glorious centrality.

Yet, the book’s ending seems to argue, there might be story frameworks that endure. While the reveal that Candice Lee plotted and schemed to destabilize June felt a bit too predictable to me (see: earlier point that this charge of predictability is not a critique, but a recognition of the inherent inevitability of a “Candice Lee” existing for a “June Hayward”), the very end of the story and June’s confidence that she can spin even Candice Lee’s story, that she can reclaim the narrative, layers onto the central complexities of this novel. This is June’s story, she insists at the very end. What does she mean by this? Is it the “white narrative” that dominates? Is it the narrative of those that wish for her innocence in a country built on white supremacy? Is it simply the fact that she is the narrator of this particular book we hold in our hands that means this is meant to be her story? 

This book is a wild sprint. From the first sentence it’s engrossing. I read the first 75 pages in a kind of fugue state, when I’d only intended to read briefly. I was unaware of time passing, and I emerged from the book as if from deep sticking mud, completely disoriented by my own extraction. Perhaps it is June’s story because the voice is hers (and what a choice on R. F. Kuang’s part to tell the story from this particular POV! (as if there’s one story, one narrative available to be differently perceived, rather than one story inherent to its POV…)) June’s sardonic voice and righteous and anxious perspective on events is compelling, with views surely distinct from R. F. Kuang’s own (and the reader intuits these differences on the basis of identity), but where—I kept asking—do the differences begin and end? Does R. F. Kuang believe this particular thing about the publishing industry? Surely she has experienced that particularly thing directly? The book kept causing me to interrogate authorial distance, the gap (or lack of gap, and my own assumptions on this) between author and narrator. For a book that so thoroughly examines authorship, and identity, this meta-reflection is a compelling hook. 

The book doesn’t let us get mired in the ethics of who deserves authorship, and what counts as stealing. Questions are raised, but with the overwhelming sense that there are no such things as answers. Don’t all authors steal? So, who can steal what and from whom? Isn’t what matters the extent to which these robberies reinforce and play into, feed on and survive by, existing hierarchies of power (race, gender, so called marketability) existing in our world already? And then, aren’t these ethics about those very social forces and not about authorship? What I found most compelling about this book was that it wasn’t going to try to solve these questions or even offer an examination of the questions themselves. Instead the book would show agents acting against the backdrop of these questions and power dynamics. The questions and nuances of whose story gets told, and how, and why, and to whom…these reflections have already occurred within these characters. The characters make choices and take action within this framework. This isn’t a moralizing book, I'd argue. It’s an exposing book; a story that mirrors the background back to us, a background of social/political commodification of everything (identity, art, trauma, character, personhood, appeal, popularity, the new) that is so universal, so magnanimous, as to be nearly invisible, underpinning everything in our modern daily lives. 

Drawing back the curtain on reality—the unhidden reality, the reality in plain sight, but so rarely cross-examined—is painful. Why do we love reading? Why do we read what we read? How do market trends and recommendations and advertising shape the tastes or preferences we think of as characteristic of, and definitive to, our selves? This unmasking might feel like a depressing project, yet there is nearly-humorous dramatic irony that operates throughout the book and becomes its own ground, conducting the searing electrical current safely. 

As readers, we are never on June’s side (never on Athena’s, never on Geoff’s, never on Candice’s, never on anyone’s). We see each character as both archetype and individual—the well-meaning, but brusque Brett, literary agent who will “tell it like it is” and follow the money, but not dump June at the drop of a hat; Daniella, the editor who plays every angle, calmly tackles the puzzle of publication consumption, knows how to "play the game" and all that entails; Rory, the white-picket-fence suburban mom and sister who will leap to her sister’s defense, but who needs to be told when to jump; Mrs. Liu, mother able to still fret over her daughter’s capacity to expose their family’s secrets even in the wake of her death. Like any good love story/ghost story, Athena's character is the sharpest drawn. Unlike the other figures that populate June’s life, Athena is, to June, less archetype and more human. She’s specific, strange, imperfect: human. June reflects on the experience of watching some particular person you know become flattered into the caricature of a celebrity, simple enough to digest. She finds this strange for Athena; yet she also sees the archetype that Athena fits and it’s this (the making of Athena into “publishing world’s darling” that June so deeply resents). Seeing the falseness of this process, she continues to wonder: why not me? June, looking for reasons, attributes this to race, rather than to chance (as Candice Lee later emphasizes, the chances for any author are slim. Candice, too, looks at Athena and thinks: “why not me?” She, too, links this to race, but the tokenism of racial inclusion/exclusion, that picks a diverse literary darling….but just one. 

For some readers, this book might result in trying to decide for themselves where, when, and how June went too far (in maintaining a "friendship" with Athena despite her deep resentment, in taking the manuscript of "The Last Front," in reworking it, in doubling down on her lies, in manipulating Mrs. Liu to keep Athena’s planning notebooks secret, in crafting Mother Witch from a single paragraph of Athena’s writing, in lashing out against Candice Lee, in cornering and threatening Geoff?) Readers might also try to calibrate their inner moral compass against Athena’s actions (Was it okay for her to interview Korean War veterans and transmute their suffering into a crystal sharp story? Was the proximity to June’s story of campus rape too close in Athena’s published piece? Is she mining for grief out of her own self-interest? Are the demands of an industry that commodifies others’ suffering, neatly packages, and sells it to readers to blame? Or some intangible combination?) So, too, we might consider each character's actions and put ourselves in their shoes—Would we do the same? Or would we know in real time we'd crossed a moral line?—whether the actions are Candice Lee’s fanatic need to expose June, and Brett and Daniella’s adherence to their roles and their reinforcement of a racist system that allows June's rebrand and survival as a novelist, or every other employee's choice to put their heads down, keep their jobs, and knowingly overlook the truth. Yet, I found this calibrating process, this inner moral reckoning, to be less the focus than the fact that—for whenever we draw our own line—a version of us exists within this novel. Every argument, every controversy played out in the public sector (normally Twitter) in this book inevitably has the full cast of characters, running the gamut from white apologist conservative to openly bigoted trolls to well-meaning busy bodies to individuals targeted by immense racism and sexism. Each time, all of them, and every nuance around and between, enter the conversation. What is more interesting to me in reflecting on this particular book is less where I stand ethically on these questions (also very important to learn about and do) and more the awareness that—no matter where I stand—there are people standing everywhere else. That’s a fascinating and paralyzing thought. Why do I jump to calibrate myself? To try to think about where I have been blind and might offend? Whether my perspective would be received well by others? Whether it would be popular? Isn’t this very impulse, this busy work of social understanding, the impossibility of always succeeding at this, the fear of failing and being criticized for your particular words and perspective, isn’t this what this book is about? And to realize that, no matter what, you will both fall short in the public court (inevitably) and have others more extreme than you and still others in agreement with you (inevitability) reduces this complex web of feelings down to both pointlessness and terror. You can’t possibly never be wrong. You can’t possibly be too wrong to never come back from your wrongness (at least, if you're white). Both things are troubling. Redemption for no one, and anyone, in the eyes of the public court. What a strange, unmoored feeling. 

This book leaves us in this unmoored place. It does not offer a lifeline; something like, we must make our own meaning system, our own guiding stars, step beyond this unmoored space. Of course this must be the answer, in some way, to the isolation of the unmoored place, and it’s—very simply—when folks on the internet say to “touch grass.” Get out of here for a bit, figure out what else can ground you, look at the world with the distance of perspective. It’s normally a shorthand call-out of a point you don’t agree with on the internet, but it's something we're all in need of when we’re as untethered as the characters in this novel. 

[ecargmura]

Yellowface Is A Crazy Experience (Book Review)

I was in a reading slump for a while. I figured that if I needed to overcome it, I needed to read something I want to read. I got three books as a Christmas present; Yellowface was one of those three books. I wanted to overcome the reading slump, which was why I picked up this book. I read Babel, which was something I really liked but also destroyed me. I wanted to know if Yellowface would do the same. Did it? To be honest, Yellowface didn’t make me feel the same as it did with Babel, but it made me feel something different: irritation, which is a feeling I don’t usually get when I read books.

If I were to summarize this book in ten words or less, I’d say: “The audacity of this white woman.” That’s it. That’s the story. What’s hilarious is that while the main character is white and an obnoxious one at that, the author is Chinese. This is amusing because she wrote a lot of racist white people in her previous work; having a racist white woman be the star of this crazy literary thriller about the woes of the publishing industry is ironic. All I can say before I start the review is that this book feels like a what-if AU fan fiction if Letty from Babel was American and lived in the modern era. Though, it wouldn’t be fan fiction if Letty and June are both created from the same person.

What is Yellowface about? It’s about a nameless author June Hayward who loves writing but is very unsuccessful with her debut. On the other hand, her friend Athena Liu is a literary darling as she is successful and has so many opportunities from her writing alone. Because of the stark differences in their career trajectory, June lives her life envious of Athena. One day, Athena abruptly dies and June takes her manuscript, a secret that only she knows about and decides to publish it.

This book feels like modern meta commentary about the publishing industry and Asian American voices in a way. If a non-Asian person writes about Asian people, is that story considered Asian American representation? Are they allowed to write such stories? Are Asians only allowed to write about diaspora fiction? It’s interesting how Kuang gathers all of the modern social issues regarding Asian Americans and wrote them in the perspective of a white woman.

I honestly do not condone violence towards women as a fellow woman, but if June Hayward was a real person, I wouldn’t care if she gets punched by men; she deserves it. June is the sort of woman that deserves being beaten by men; if saying this makes me a misogynist, then so be it. She’s actually the exact type of person I despise in a real person: not taking accountability for her actions and stealing from Asians. Since I am Asian American myself, I want to support my fellow Asian Americans too, so to read stories or news about them getting hurt or being victims in theft angers me. I’ve read articles about many cases where white creatives steal or disparage Asian creatives and never apologize about it. While June is a fictional character, she’s so realistic that it angers me. There are people like her out there in real life. She is the prime definition of an entitled, audacious white woman. The best part about June is that she never changes. The author made her irredeemable from start to finish and that’s good. I wouldn’t care if she had a redemption arc because I’d criticize it as unnecessary. I don’t want to see people like June get character development and change for the better because that’s too typical. Make it so that she’s punchable. Make it so that you want to push her off a flight of stairs. I do wonder why Kuang writes racist white people so well.

Other than stealing, some of June’s crimes include racism towards Asians, bullying a seventeen-year-old teenager, thinking poorly of her brother-in-law and niece, and trying to make it so that she’s the victim in everything bad happening to her. I think her major crime is being chronically online. There’s one quote in Chapter 11 where she says “But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life…” which shows off how she enjoys the negative attention even if she says otherwise—heck, June is the biggest walking contradiction herself. She denies a lot of things, but readers know she’s the exact opposite of her denials.

I also like that she never really paints her characters in a good light either. Yes, Athena and some of the other Asian characters aren’t sympathetic in their actions, but they’re a lot more redeemable than June—heck, you just want to root for them to ruin June; I certainly did. However, I do like how Kuang shows how being the “token” Asian is both a good and a bad thing. Athena Liu got lucky and became successful so a lot of young Asian American writers look up to her. However, she still did get flack for being the “Asian” that non-Asians want but the actual Asians don’t. The parts with Adele, Kimberly Deng (who I am convinced is a parody of With Cindy, a known Asian book tuber), and Xiao Chen. Towards the end, Candice had to tell June that minorities struggle in the industry. One has to be the “model minority” that appeals to the majority. There can never be two minority stories simultaneously. I think these feelings represent Kuang’s struggle as an Asian American writer in a way. Yes, while Asian American authors are increasing, is it enough? Will we still be seen as the model minority or will we be taken seriously as actual authors capable of writing engaging stories. This book really gives a lot to think about, even if its satire. I think the only sympathetic character is Patricia, Athena’s mother. She’s legit the only character I felt bad for because she lost her daughter—no parent wants to outlive their offsprings.

This story also sheds some insight into the publishing industry. It’s never romanticized and there are a lot of issues that the industry faces like problematic authors and writing about sensitive topics. I learned a lot about the industry, surprisingly. I even learned that sensitivity readers are a thing. Maybe it’s because June is white that she got instant success from The Last Front, the war epic about Chinese laborers that she stole from the late Athena; it does show off white privilege in a way. Showing off how “easy” it is for June to get an editor and a publisher but hard for those who aren’t June. Heck, Candice, who is Korean-American, got fired just because she made June uncomfortable with the topic of sensitivity readers and then everyone on the staff who wasn’t Asian got onto her case because of it and that was the reason she got fired.

After reading this book, it made me realize that I’m glad I didn’t continue pursuing traditional publishing for my books; my stories like Boundaries and Lavender Eyes are way too niche for the general public—Lavender Eyes, especially (my stories are available as e-books in major online bookstores and on Kindle where I published them under the pen name Arum Lee, but you can also read them on Tapas, Royal Road, Webnovel and Wattpad). I’m glad that web fiction is an industry that is a bit more forgiving towards writers seeking to express themselves with their story. No, I’m not being sponsored by any web fiction sites. I’m just grateful that they exist. Without places like Tapas, I would still be a struggling, depressed writer trying to find a way to get noticed. While I’m not a popular writer, I think I’m a lot more comfortable with the system they have where I just have to update chapter by chapter and not stress myself out with an entire manuscript. Alright, that’s enough about me.

Kuang is known for her fantasy stories, but this is her first venture into lit fic. I can see a stark contrast between Babel and Yellowface in terms of pacing and readability. Babel, while fun, can be a bit of a chore to read, but Yellowface is nothing of the sort. It’s a lot shorter than her previous novel and a lot easier to read. There aren’t any excessive explanations on how publishing works, because the main character is an author and already knows how it works—instead, Kuang writes briefly about the processes and such. I’m surprised that Kuang did let go of long explanations about a subject and just wrote about an unreliable narrator. However, what rings true to Kuang’s style is that none of her stories are happy. I’m not sure about The Poppy Wars since I haven’t read it, but Babel is depressing as heck. Yellowface is NOT a happy story at all. It’s a modern horror about an unhinged woman jealous of her successful friend who happens to be Asian.

Despite the gradual irritated feelings I felt while reading this book, I am grateful that I got out of my reading slump. I am excited to read and I want to read books, especially since it’s a new year now. I’m glad that this book is the first one I read and reviewed for 2024. Is it a book that I would recommend? If you want to try an R.F. Kuang book but are scared of her fantasy stories, I do recommend trying this book out! Now comes the bigger question: Is Babel better or Yellowface? Both have their pros and cons, but I do prefer Babel a bit more because I just like fantasy stories more; I do want to try reading The Poppy Wars when I get the chance. If you have read this book, what are your thoughts on it?

[joys-bookshelf]

Rating: 4

"And fuck it, I'll just say it: taking Athena's manuscript felt like reparations, payback for the things that Athena took from me."

Wowza. This is one hell of an audacious undertaking of a book . . . and I loved it.

Summary. In Yellowface, we follow June Hayward and her friendship with Athena Liu-- both authors but June a rookie trying to break into the industry and Athena acclaimed and successful. When Athena dies from a freak accident, June steals Athena's newly finished manuscript, edits it, and publishes it as her own under an Asian-ambiguous surname. After years making lowly wages, she's finally experiencing Athena's life of glory, medals, and fame. However, the turmoil she faces within and with the emerging evidence that what she's written isn't her own, her audacious success might be short-lived.

Thoughts. R.F. Kuang tackles a variety of difficult themes, but a lot of them are done superficially, especially given the book's span of only ~320 pages. I felt like Kuang had so much to say but not enough space to write them all in. From the horrors of the publishing industry, self-worth in the shadows of friends/peers, to privileged minorities such as Athena who make their name and wealth at the expense of the suffering of others, Kuang hits them all. I do wish some of the themes were expanded on further in the book, but given the constraints, I don't put it against her.

Kuang's depiction of June's mental spiral from stealing Athena's manuscript at a split second to her paranoia of Athena's ghost being reality that she dents her facade was beautiful and absolute perfection. Even though I cringed at June's actions, I couldn't bring myself to put the book down and devoured it in two sittings.

My only caveat with the book was the ending. I thought it was quite rushed, and the resolution of Candice being the one to become victorious to it all didn't do it for me, and her character from beginning to end seemed out of nowhere. I also wished there was more closure with Mrs. Liu instead.

Nevertheless, Yellowface lives up to the hype. It tackles niche topics for the layreader and a broader issue in the publishing community where before was rarely spotlighted. 4/5 stars.

[storizenmagazine]

#BookReview: June Hayward, an aspiring author overshadowed by her cross-genre literary star friend Athena Liu, seizes an opportunity when Athena tragically dies. June steals Athena's completed novel, highlighting Chinese laborers' contributions during World War I, and passes it off as her own. As she rises to fame under a new identity, Juniper Song, June finds herself haunted by Athena's legacy and faced with mounting evidence that threatens to expose her deception. Racing to protect her stolen success, June must confront the lengths she is willing to go to maintain what she believes she deserves.

"Yellowface" by Kuang is not an ordinary book; it is a scream that refuses to be forgotten. This captivating novel delves into the darkest corners of the publishing industry, taking readers on a haunting journey through a writer's life. As the readers embark on this literary adventure, it is better to be unprepared for the storm that Kuang unleashes with her pen, leaving the readers speechless and eager for more. Kuang's fiery and bold writing reveals the hidden layers behind the scenes of publication houses and the ruthless world of social media that permeates every aspect of our lives today. With exceptional brilliance, she uncovers the imbalance between thoughtful creativity and the overwhelming influence of today's hyperactive media. Through the eyes of a corrupt writer, the novel provides striking insights into the industry's reality, forcing readers to pause and reflect.

The protagonist, a corrupted author driven to commit plagiarism to pursue her dreams, evokes a complex mix of emotions. The narrative showcases her self-righteousness, delusions, and awareness of her sins, making her a character readers will empathize with. Her helplessness becomes palpable as she faces criticism and bullying, creating a deeper connection between readers and the troubled author. Kuang fearlessly exposes the duplicity of authors, their creative processes, and the deceptive nature of their public image. The narrative mercilessly dissects and places the publishing industry under the microscope, uncovering hidden truths that demand attention. One cannot help but be drawn into this wild book, compelled to contemplate its revelations.

Read here - https://tinyurl.com/5ywnztv8