Book Review – Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang

Pages: 319
Published: 16th May 2023
Genre: General Fiction
Content warnings: Racism

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who 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 during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

This book does not so much upset the apple cart but send it crashing to the ground, scattering the contents of every last bushel. With moments of breathtaking audacity and wry commentary of society as well as the publishing industry, it uses satire to create a story that is admittedly in some ways exaggerated, yet equally holds a huge amount of relevance and meaning.

With this offering, Rebecca F. Kuang has made genuine waves and catapulted herself into the mainstream. A prolific author, this represents a major departure from her previous work and has showcased not only her versatility, but a willingness to be bold and use just about all the freedom of expression afforded to her as a writer. And while it fits into the bracket of literary fiction, it reads very quickly and is perhaps not as formal and dense as one might think upon opening.

Even if this book is not really your cup of tea, it is rather addictive from the start and not at all easy to put down. The writing style and the immediate impression that the first person perspective delivers is such that it fills you with intrigue, not necessarily for where the plot might lead, but for the soundbites it offers and the many statements it will go on to make.

In all honesty the plot is not very complicated. It is fairly obvious what decisions June will make and where it will lead her – even the reveal towards the end of who is waging a campaign against her is hardly a surprise. Then again, the plot was not meant to be the slightest bit ambiguous. It is not the thing which makes the book stand out, however it is the thing that allows the overarching themes and messages to be emphasised to the limit.

Just like much of the plot, June’s characterisation is accentuated. Of course, she is very problematic for a wide variety of reasons and there are sadly too many people in real life who think like her, but some of her inner musings are deliberately outrageous. It is a curious mix of being absorbing and a tiny bit unsettling to read at the same time, as despite her use of satire, Kuang totally nails the inherent racism and prejudice that diverse people in any industry are having to face. What June represents is an amplified yet skilful portrayal of that.

June is also meant to be disliked, and the author is successful here too. Aside from her unsavoury views and sense of entitlement, she makes all the wrong choices from the moment Athena dies freakishly in front of her, showing a cold, calculating side to her personality. So many of her actions are borne of selfishness and self-preservation, plus there is self-pity when things go against her. There is little nuance to June, though ironically that is something that works in the book’s favour.

During the short period of the story that she is alive and even after that, Athena is not presented as a saint either, but it must be remembered that we are learning about her from June’s wholly biased perspective. There are not many other side characters of note, but people such as June’s literary agent and the team that work with her on The Last Front offer an interesting insight into the world of publishing.

So the plot is sound if unspectacular and the characters are made up of some rather broad brush strokes. Then what is all the fuss about with this book?? The answer lies in the writing, which dramatically elevates everything. Although it may come across as a little pretentious to some readers, it is utterly daring in a way that gets inside your psyche, and awfully addictive.

A great many passages are quotable, to the extent that if you were annotating the book, there would only be a handful of sentences left unremarked upon. There is nothing poetic about it; instead June’s voice is direct and not left open to any interpretation, but there is considerable skill in the execution of it and no shortage of literary flair. Indeed, it seems like Rebecca F. Kuang had a real fun time writing this.

As partly hinted at by the title, the story explores some of the current issues and talking points in the literary sphere, and it is where elements of the satire comes in. For any book lover or content creator some of the language will feel familiar, with discussions about own voices novels, bookish social media, and cancel culture. This is another area where it catches the eye and straddles the line between absorbing and unsettling.

Overall, this is not the perfect book and it will undoubtedly split opinion, but the author deserves kudos for writing it. Subtlety is in short supply with the plot and though well developed, June is far from a multi-faceted protagonist, but those two aspects both play second fiddle to the commentary which ruffles a whole load of feathers. Stunning? Perhaps not. Ingenious? Oh yes.

Rebecca F. Kuang holds the distinction of claiming degrees from both Oxbridge universities, completing an undergraduate and a Masters’ in Chinese studies. She is now studying East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Along with her impressive academic achievements, Kuang is a prolific and groundbreaking author, writing the epic Poppy War trilogy before publishing the widely acclaimed Babel in 2022. However, Yellowface has made her extremely well known, winning her numerous awards since its release in 2023.

This is a unique book which in my opinion should be considered one of the most important of our time, especially in the way it communicates on so many meaningful topics of this day and age. That is not to say that I found it perfect, but I did like it and have a lot of admiration for it. I certainly found it hard to put down!

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐