Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
| Author(s) | R.F. Kuang |
|---|---|
| Published | May 25, 2023 |
| Publisher | The Borough Press |
| Genre(s) | Contemporary, Satire |
| Age group | Adult |
Yellowface is an adult satirical contemporary novel by R.F. Kuang. It was first published on May 25th, 2023.
Summary
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody 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 to the British and French war efforts 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.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
Trigger Warnings
- Alcohol
- Anti-queer sentiments
- Anxiety
- Assault
- Blackmailing
- Claims of "Reverse Racism"
- Death (parent, off-page & acquaintance, graphic choking)
- Emesis
- Fetishization of Asian Cultures
- "Positive" Racial Stereotypes
- Racism (specifically against Asian Americans)
- Rape (recounted in chapter 15, not graphic and mentioned throughout the text periodically and mentioned in the context of Chinese Ghost Stories chapter 22)
- Slurs
- Stalking
- Suicidal Ideology (mentioned briefly)
- Unreliable Narrator
Representation
An asterisk (*) indicates that the author openly identifies with that identity.
- White Female MC
- Queer Asian Female MC
Tropes
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