Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

At first glance, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is a book that prides itself on its timely realism. Chock-full of references to Twitter, Youtube, Goodreads, among other popular websites, Kuang takes a risk by placing her book in a very specific era that modern audiences are all too familiar with. The biggest risk in potential with this is that it can age your book significantly, and even worse with the inclusion of modern references, it can result in a book that appears to be trying far too hard to be relevant. Even though Yellowface came out in 2023, a mere two years ago, I personally found that the language and references didn’t add to the reading experience. Perhaps it was my lack of experience in reading books so explicitly modern, but constant references to the “Twitterati” and being cancelled were more tiresome than humorous. To be fair to Kuang, it is very clear that Yellowface was designed to be a popular, biting satire. I was unsurprised to learn that it boomed in popularity due to BookTok because the satire is engaging and easy to get involved with, resulting in a book with mass appeal. Yellowface follows June Hayward, who adopts the alias Juniper Song in order to publish and take credit for the unpublished manuscript of her deceased acquaintance, Athena Liu. Yellowface also puts us in the first-person perspective of June, whose narration is at times nuanced and interesting, and at times so blatantly racist that I question if satire is a little generous. Portraying a protagonist who consistently subjects others to microaggressions is an interesting choice, but it doesn’t make it easier as a reader to stay in the perspective of someone who says she “tries not to gag” in the presence of Chinese food.
Yellowface has a lot of redeeming qualities, with a wonderful premise that serves as an engaging source of conflict throughout. June gives a lot of commentary about authenticity and privilege within the industry, constantly defending her theft by saying that Athena would steal from other people for her novels as well. These moments, where Kuang dives into the nuance of the situation and portrays her protagonist in a human light are the best ones. They give an opportunity to look beneath the theft and see the person underneath. Unfortunately, the execution fumbles as the book continues, eventually concluding with an ending that can only be described as a trip over the finish line. Kuang spends time building up a conclusion that would provide a satisfying ending, making June face justice while also giving her closure for her actions, only to completely abandon it and pivot into an ending that feels shockingly fantastical for a relatively grounded story. The needless introduction of a cartoonish villain completely grinds the book’s pace to a halt, and when that happens with one chapter to go, there’s very few paths to recovery from there. The ending is the part that has stuck with me the longest after reading, but unfortunately because of how completely unnecessary and jarring of a turn it was. I found myself wishing that we could have seen the path Kuang spent multiple chapters building to instead, which would have been much more fulfilling and clean. Overall, Yellowface is a very interesting book. It opens the door to topics like authenticity, diversity, and the publishing industry, but fails to go any further than a surface level peek. As a satire, it does the bare minimum, but is at times mind-numbingly obvious. While it doesn’t have my recommendation, I can’t say I don’t think it was worth reading, because the chaotic end and few moments of nuance were enough to make me think it had something to say, even though those things might not have been the best executed.

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