Yellowface Review: A masterful humor-thriller satire
I was recommended Yellowface by a friend, who said its satirical, comedic portrayal of a white woman spiraling out of control and rationalizing terrible actions would make for a great comparable title for one of my current projects, My Name Is Karen. I looked up the novel and, as soon as I read the premise, I adored it and promptly went to my local library to pick it up. A white author stealing her dead Chinese-American friends' manuscript and basically convincing herself and everyone else that she's actually an Asian author? Genius. In today's article, I, Brighton Nelson, will talk about the good, the bad, and the verbally belligerent of this beautiful book. Thanks for joining me on my website, and I hope you enjoy your time here!
As always, on my plethora of ranking websites, I'll start with the negatives so we can save the best for last. I've got very little negative to say about this book, but I could've used a little bit more with the ending. The ending was perfect in terms of its content, but I just wished the final chapter had a little bit more breathing room. Maybe I just like endings to prolong more than other readers do, but I think a little more time would've been awesome. The only other minor thing is that I'd have loved a couple more chapters about her novels post-The Last Front, just to flesh out the descent more. Honestly, the only major criticism I've got? No Yellowface 2 officially announced—I could read at least three more books about June Hayward, even if this is completely fine as a standalone.
Outside of those near-negligible nitpicks, Yellowface is an incredible modern masterwork, and one of my new favorite books I've ever read! June Hayward and Athena Liu are two of my new favorite characters in all of fiction, which is a fantastic feat considering the latter is dead for the majority of the book's runtime.
June is a fantastic epitomization of rationalizing cultural appropriation, stealing, hate speech, and so much more. It's ridiculous. Athena is also very interesting, as she's also very flawed, even though she's the "hero" of the story. I also don’t really understand the criticism that Kuang was wrong for making Athena a self-insert. Athena isn’t portrayed as perfect, and lived experience is often what gives authors their strongest voice. So, I appreciate Kuang's perspective here!
I love that the characters are so flawed, wrong, and stupid, while still being likable in a twisted way. There are so many times June is so close to doing something reasonable and worth rooting for, but she hard-pivots to the worst possible option. For example, June states that no author should be limited to the stories they can write (which I agree with), and then she insists on having no sensitivity readers (a stupid decision). It's a cycle of decline that's so interesting to watch.
The satirical commentary on the publishing industry, racial diversity, and social media is all equally biting and hilarious! While this is one of the funniest books I've ever read, it's also so witty in its satire. Every facet and layer that the themes create make this book meta in an endlessly intriguing way. The sentences don't waste their time trying to sound beautiful or flowy; instead, they are abrasive, delusional, desperate, and repulsive in the most gripping way. This is amplified by Helen Laser in the audiobook, whose voice acting underlined the strength of every sentence.
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 10/10
Letter Score - S+
With endlessly funny humor and satire that explores deep themes, R.F. Kuang's Yellowface is one of my new favorite books of all time! It's one of those books that leaves a hole in your heart once it's finished, because you simply don't want it to be over. That's the sign that you just read something magical.
Interested in checking out some of my other reviews? Check them out below!
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