Yellowface

"Wow, that was intense", was the first thing I thought when I got to the very last page of this novel.

Maybe it was the artful cover page, or the "Gen Z" vibes I got from this novel, but this is one of those novels I couldn't keep down till I was done.

This author has been on my reading list t for a while, not only because I've heard compelling things about her work, but because I've read so many amazing reviews of her ability to keep readers totally gobsmacked and in awe of her literally genius.
And I must confess, I have become one of those readers.

R.F. Kuang's "Yellow Face" is a brilliantly written novel that centers on the publishing world.
I've always wanted to be a published writer, and I've always assumed the world of publishing just needed you to be awfully talented.
Well, turns out I was totally wrong, and "Yellow Face" might have contributed to that.

June Hayward Song's publishing dream is looking more and more like a dreamland fantasy every single day she wakes up.
Her debut novel flopped on arrival, and her agent and publisher couldn't care less if she had any iota of talent in her.

However, her life is polar opposite of her "supposed" friend Athena Liu.
Athena is everything June is not: wealthy, successful, industry standard beautiful, smart, and held on a very high pedestal in the publishing world.

June Hayward is green with envy and jealousy.
She believes she deserves everything Athena has and more, and couldn't understand why everyone seemed to want a bite of Athena, and nobody was scrambling for a crumb of her.

When Athena Liu unexpectedly chokes to death on pancakes in from of June, she does the one thing a failed writer green with jealousy would do: she steals the draft of Athena's mind blowing work in progress.
Athena has always been strictly mute about any upcoming projects or books she embarks on writing, it is so easy for June to pass off the novel as her own.

She spends night and hours, working on refining the draft into a publishable work, and it leaves me wondering, if she had dedicated half the time she spent on Athena's work, on writing her own original work, maybe she would be half as successful as Athena.

Athena's novel, "The Last Front" is a success on arrival. The novel which is a blockbuster historical epic about the Chinese Labor Corps, skycrockets June, who changes her name to "Juniper Song" to immediate success.

June rebrands "The Last Front" in such a way that it is hard to tell it is not hers, but to the readers, she's just a white woman, who stole a terrific work of art, from a Chinese -American colleague.

This novel is extremely entertaining, the characters are maddeningly upsetting, and the plot and storyline is simply unbelievable.

This novel has honestly left me wondering how many authors have had to become successful and famous off the hard work of others.
June is a symbol of the racist white woman nobody ever wants to come across.
"Yellow Face", is basically a repetitive sequence of June doing unjustified and racist things and then twisting them into knots to justify even her worst actions.

First, she believes that no, she didn't steal Athena's manuscript, and take the glory for it, it that she's actually honouring Athena by making sure her last words are seen.
Furthermore, to her, it is totally coincidental, that her new rebranded name sounds vaguely Chinese, when in fact she is totally white, and that her pretense to be slightly Asian is just a means of identifying with the story she published.

To me, and to readers who feel strongly about literary theft, she's just a terrible jealous friend who stole her 'friend's' work, who gets an Asian editorial assistant fired for merely suggesting they hire a Chinese sensitivity reader to vet her work, and who is totally surprised, when she finds out that there are indeed Asian people who speak good English.

^img

The most impressive part of this novel, is that the author, impressively paints June in the light she is, and still manages to make the read feel some sort of sympathy towards her.
She is racist, conceited, cruel, awful, and desperate for success, but hasn't been dealt a fait share in the publishing world.

However, you can also not help, but feel a little pang of pity for her.
It is very common to see people who believe they are talented enough to snag a first book contract that gives them the happily-ever-after life and literally succes they dream of. What is not talked about enough, is how easily it is to have that dream crushed, and how disheartening it is, to see authors you believe are on the same wavelength with you living your dreams.

I was honestly heartbroken about June's situation in the first part of the book, but nothing justifies stealing an original and trying to make it yours.

The storyline is impeccable. Truly, it takes a talented author to write with such a compelling voice. Kuang is able to maintain her strong narrative voice, even if we experience the storyline through June's POV.

Honestly, It is very hard to give a full review of this book without giving away major spoilers.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! a very definitive yes.

It is fascinating to come across a book in which you feel pity for the protagonist, but simultaneously want to see her go down for her crimes.
It is also nice that authors get a glimpse into the publishing world, that it is not all roses.
We see how much gatekeeping ruins talented authors, and leaves them with making bitter choices, and it leaves me wondering how many manuscripts would never get to be published because nobody believes in them well enough.

"Yellow Face" is a masterful work of literary art, that left me totally enthralled, disturbed, and wondering how many authors are truly taking credit for works that do not belong to them .