Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
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Web ID: 1636111113 reviews
Crude reality and astonishing
R.F. Kuang is a master writer. Left me speechless and when I thought everything has been already said; she knows how to put a new dialog on the table.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Amazing
Love R.F. Kuang and her writing style since Babbel. She can give an excellent plot and a reality fact on the same context.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A book very much of our time
The first thing that needs to be commented on is what a cover! I remember seeing it in the bookshop and it immediately catching my attention. From there, my curiosity was piqued. I know the old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" but it's got to draw you in somehow, doesn't it, before words can hook you? And was it good? Well, it's certainly not bad by any stretch. Our first person narrator is June, an aspiring writer who has a small degree of success but nothing compared to her friend and university classmate, Athena. Athena's works are popular and applauded and are very much the texts to read of the moment. Is June bitter about this overshadowing by someone close to her? Well, to hear her explanation, no but there is a green mist rising nonetheless, emanating from some of June's words, otherwise why take someone else's notes and craft a book out of them yourself? This book is a masterclass in the uncertain ground that you can find yourself on when you have an unreliable narrator. And one who's a novelist to boot. I mean, who can you trust? I would say probably not June. And yet... June does not come across as someone overly manipulative. Kuang keeps her the safe side of unstable throughout, showing her signs of weakness in circumstances with which we can all relate. Who wants to be criticised on social media? I don't. And when presented with an opportunity to steal another's work because they can no longer do anything with it, who wouldn't chance their arm and pass it off as their own? Well, um, actually, I wouldn't but I reckon that there are a lot of readers of this book who would be thinking that they could have, just like June, if they could have been wily enough about it and if it never came back to them truth-wise. And so, we watch June as she navigates her appropriation of another's book material, following how this pans out for her in this modern age of trolling and video. Kuang highlights the deeper awareness that modern society has with regard to history and the telling of it especially if it's not your cultural background. It is a world in which June must tread warily in the hope of winning out. And does she? Well, you'll just have to read it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Choices
June is an unlikeable, messy b*tch and tbh I lived for it. She never once learned her lesson no many how many times the people around her exposed her a$$. Delicious, side splittingly hysterical satire. I also obviously read this after the Cait Corrain thing and may or may not have cast Cait as June in my mind. 👀 I read this on audiobook, cleaning house and gasping aloud at every stupid decision June made. I saw a lot of people say they didn’t like this book because June was so awful, and she was, but that’s what I loved about it, like that was LITERALLY the point. I thought this was a sharp, witty commentary about the publishing industry and internet culture as we know it. I will admit this is my first RFK book so the criticisms about the author in other people’s reviews admittedly went right over my head. I don’t know, sue me, I liked it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Did Not Finish
I absolutely did not like this book. I didn't finish it. The main character was horrible and the racial slurs in this book were very offensive. Yeah, I didn't finish it.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
OK book
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars I find this a difficult book to review. I read it quickly because I wanted to see what happened to June. I wasn't totally happy with the ending but don't need to be. I felt the story made a good deal of comments regarding publishing. I do wish more books got publicity, but I feel Goodreads at least make me more aware.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
LĂĽge, Wahrheit und ganz viel dazwischen
Durch ein unerwartetes Ereignis gerät June an das Manuskript zum geplanten neuen Roman der gefeierten Bestsellerautorin Athena und gibt die Geschichte als ihre eigene aus. Das klingt erstmal simpel, tatsächlich ist das Buch jedoch sehr ungewöhnlich und komplex verwoben. Die Rahmenhandlung bildet June mit ihren Erfahrungen in der Buchbranche. June lässt die Leserschaft direkt an ihren Erinnerungen, Gedanken und Gefühlen teilhaben. Es klingt so, als säße man zusammen und sie erzählt dabei ihre Geschichte. Immer wieder kommt es zu Rückblenden, die Junes Vergangenheit und familiäre Verhältnisse offenlegen und so ihr Verhalten und ihre Gefühlswelt in der Gegenwart ein Stück weit nachvollziehbarer werden lassen. Was kommt nach der ersten Lüge und großen Täuschung? Wie macht man danach weiter ohne vor einem großen Scherbenhaufen zu stehen? June ist keine Sympathieträgerin, keine Heldin. Sie zeigt, dass ein Mensch nie nur gut oder nur schlecht ist, sondern sehr facettenreich. Sie ist einerseits ehrgeizig, aufmerksam und engagiert, mit Liebe zum Detail und Aufopferung für ein Ziel. Andererseits ist sie gierig, egoistisch und berechnend. Nur die Leserschaft erhält Zugang zu ihren wahren Gedanken, Gefühlen und Plänen, während sich ihre Umwelt mit ihren Taten und Darstellungen zufrieden geben muss. Thematisch werden sowohl die positiven Elemente als auch die Schattenseiten des Erfolgs sowie der Buchbranche im Allgemeinen ins Visier genommen. Unter anderem finden die Rolle der Medien, Konkurrenzkampf, Kommerz und der Kampf um Anerkennung ihren Platz in der Geschichte. Das Buch ist mutig und direkt, indem es offen Kritik ausübt und dazu anregt, sich darüber Gedanken zu machen. Dabei bedient es sich auch der Satire. Es polarisiert nicht zuletzt durch regelmäßig auftretende gegenderte Begriffe. Wer das nicht mag, wird mit diesem Buch vermutlich nicht glücklich. Ich habe bei der Geschichte mitgefiebert, war fasziniert von interessanten und für mich teils überraschenden Entwicklungen. Der Abschluss ist gelungen und zeigt einmal mehr, dass eine Geschichte mehrere Seiten hat und je nach Darstellung in unterschiedliche Richtungen gelenkt werden kann. Die Geschichte war anders als erwartet und für mich persönlich besonders. Sie beinhaltet interessante Ansätze und Ideen. Ich mochte sie und fand einige aufgeworfene Themen und Gedankengänge sehr anregend. Das Hörbuch ist gut vertont. Allerdings würde ich allen Interessierten eine Lese- oder Hörprobe ans Herz legen, um besser abschätzen zu können, ob man persönlich die Geschichte und die Art ihrer Präsentation mögen könnte.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Roller-Coaster
I absolutely love any book with a complicated protagonist and by complicated, I mean one that you sort of want to scream and shake but also can’t help root for because they are the *protagonist* (but also maybe the antagonist at the same time). But that’s just a testament to the great writing of Kuang. This book is for anyone who likes bookish threads (or a scalding review of the publishing industry amongst others) or anyone who wants to have reading-induced anxiety (but in a good way?) because you just HAVE to keep reading to find out what happens.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com