“Yellowface”, RF Kuang
Published May 16, 2023
Authors Juniper Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena is a literary darling while June is a 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, stealing 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? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.
But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
“Every writer I know feels this way about someone else. Writing is such a solitary activity. You have no assurance that what you’re creating has any value, and any indication that you’re behind in the rat race sends you spiraling into the pits of despair. Keep your eyes on your own paper, they say. But that’s hard to do when everyone else’s papers are flapping constantly in your face.”
Yellowface is uncomfortable in all the best, most intentional ways. This is a darkly satirical gut-punch that puts the crosshairs on the glossy surface of the publishing industry, exposing the ugly underbelly of cultural appropriation, performative allyship, racism, and the commodification of diverse voices.
I loved every second of this book; Kuang did not pull any punches. As an Asian reader, I found it especially gratifying to see a mainstream, bestselling novel by an Asian author not just succeed, but spark conversation among non-Asian readers, too.
The toxic friendship at the heart of this story unraveled our unreliable narrator June’s grip on reality and morality. She is not someone you should be rooting for, so it stings when you catch yourself doing it anyway. What a rollercoaster read.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
racism • death • cultural appropriation • toxic relationships
Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop (support your local bookstore)
Owned: Target hardcover with the ugly and invasive Reese’s Book Club Pick “sticker” on the jacket