Yellowface
By R.F. Kuang
William Morrow,9780063250833. May 2023, 336 pp.

The Short of It:

Grabs you from the get-go.

The Rest of It:

Some books grab you as soon as you turn that first page. Yellowface is one of those books but I had a love/hate relationship with it. Oh no, not that I hated it at all but I found myself frustrated that I liked it so much even though the book’s main character is less than honorable. I should not have enjoyed a book, which at its heart, is all about deception and lies.

There is really nothing redeeming about June. June and Athena started off on similar footing. Both, should have been up and coming young authors of incredible talent. But June never truly breaks through as a successful writer, even though she can write quite well. Athena on the other hand, has that special something that sells books. She wows her agent and publicists and they tend to bend over backwards for her.

June, slightly bothered by Athena’s popularity, sits back while a freak accident takes the life of Athena. June’s lack of effort to save Athena tells you everything you need to know about June. She’s a little bit self-centered, obviously jealous, and has no problem stealing Athena’s manuscript and passing it off as her own.

Her justification? As a White writer she will never be on level ground with an author of color. Especially when the book is about Chinese laborers. So June takes Athena’s work and “makes it better” and then calls it her own.

But we get hints early on that all is not smooth sailing when June begins to “see” Athena at author events. Is she imagining her? Is someone playing games with her because they know what she did? As a reader, I eagerly flipped those pages to find out but in all honesty, I was a tad disappointed with the ending. No spoilers, though.

This was read for book club and it was an excellent book for discussion. Was anyone Team June? No. Did we even like Athena? Not really. But did it keep me reading. Yes. Big yes.

Have you read it? Thoughts?

Source: Purchased
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