Yellowface

by Rebecca F.Kuang

The Borough Press

Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody.

When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript, reworks it and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.  But as evidence threatens June’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

This book has had so much hype internationally and it certainly achieves what it sets out to do –  it questions who has the right to write who’s stories, what is theft of authorial content, what role the publishing industry plays in deciding whose voice should be heard, however there are no likeable characters, the protagonist is annoying, the shrieking and fury of social media will send you scurrying under the nearest stone and there’s even a ghost… I didn’t enjoy it but I think that’s the whole point!

Please read what the author RF Kuang, has to say in this excellent article  Reese’s Book Club (reesesbookclub.com).  It’s a Reece Book of the month:  We find it entirely addictive—an un-put-down-able thriller that has us thinking so much about creativity, the line between inspiration and theft, the gleeful takedowns and pile-ons on social media, and the expectations the publishing industry has for writers of colour.

I’d love to hear what you think because the reviews have all been raving about the book!

This is a great read. Crime, satire, horror, paranoia, questions of cultural appropriation. Plenty of nasty social media pile-ons, too. But, basically, just a great story. Hard to put down, harder to forget.” — Stephen King

“Viciously satisfying” and “Addictive.” — New York Times Book Review

“Yellowface is one of the most transfixing novels I’ve read in ages… Kuang boldly interrogates literary hot-button issues like privilege, appropriation, and authenticity, leaving it open for readers themselves to decide where to draw the line.”   — Zakiya Dalila Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Black Girl

“Reading Yellowface felt like being inside a wild, brutal, psychological knife fight with a deranged clown. A merciless satire that left me screaming inside… from both its horror and humor.”  — Constance Wu, star of Crazy Rich Asians and author of Making a Scene

“It’s addictive, shocking, compelling, ridiculous, and extremely fun to read by turns.” — Paste Magazine

“At once a brilliant satire that mixes horror and humour; a nuanced exploration of race, heritage, identity, and diversity in publishing; and an honest look at the hell that is social media, this might just be Kuang’s best.” — Boston Globe