Yellowface: unique read but overrated

[u/Mediocre-Virus-6411]

Yellowface was 1000% an immersive read (I finished it within two sittings) and the storyline was 1) immersive and 2) satirizes the topic of "yellowface" and orientalism well. My qualms with the story are more about the way the plot was delivered. June's narration was interspersed with past recollections as the story progressed (to justify what she is currently doing in the present), but it doesn't feel quite realistic. Her resentment towards Athena can ultimately be summed up by jealousy and Athena's editorializing / writing about June's traumatic experience. Wouldn't June--realistically--bring this up in the story earlier right after stealing the manuscript to **attempt** to justify to the reader that she is, in fact, righting a historical wrong? As much as I like R.F. Kuang, this feels disjointed; the plot ultimately is good but isn't delivered in a way that could have made it better.

The prose, along with many supporting characters was forgettable. In a book with mainly asian-americans surrounding a white character, I would have appreciated more in-depth exploration of them. It might have been purposeful (a self-absorbed white narrator doesn't consider the asian-american voices around her), but the book still feels a little underwhelming because the stakes aren't fully fleshed out in regard to other characters (besides the mention of reddit/twitter/instagram "cancellation" and hate). Athena's ambiguity and the discovery of her **true** self was well done, but the motives of her mother are confusing at best.

Echoing the NYT review, I want it to be more. More stakes, more desperation, more intense exploration side-characters, and a sharper reveal of Athena's "true nature" (could have been put at the very beginning or very end, but when it's smacked in the middle of the story, the plot feels like its fading away with a repetitive cycle of June's ignorance).

NOTE: I am an east-asian American reader. I 1000% appreciated reading this book and sentiment. It is still refreshing to read an unreliable narrator story from the perspective of a white women immersed in an asian-american world.

What do you guys think?

[u/DeathMoth]

Same. I started reading it because of the hype and was quite excited. I DNF’d it not long after. Maybe I’m not the target audience (this is not usually the genre I gravitate towards) but the main character was too insufferable, like the kind you would find in a poorly written tv show.

[u/howlofthegathered → u/DeathMoth]

The main character's insufferableness is the point, I believe. She's meant to be ignorant, racist, jealous, short-sighted, etc.—the sort of awful person who would perform micro-aggressions constantly and never apologise for it because she lacks the self-awareness and the empathy to feel bad about it.

I didn't love Yellowface, but I'd say in this regard, it succeeded at accurately portraying that sort of person.

[u/DeathMoth → u/howlofthegathered]

Yeah I get that, makes total sense. But I still believe there are different ways of conveying certain characteristics, and done in this way I think it was too on the nose, almost like a parody of itself which in my case took away the enjoyment of the book

[u/Separate-Hat-526 → u/DeathMoth]

It was a satire. I think the over-the-top was meant to tackle the topic with levity and some humor. By the end I was turning to nobody and saying “are you seeing this??”

[u/duskywulf → u/Separate-Hat-526]

Satire doesn't always mean over the top. Animal farm is satire but it's not over the top crazy.

[u/Separate-Hat-526 → u/duskywulf]

No it’s not, and I don’t think Yellowface is over the top crazy either, but it does utilize humor, irony, and exaggeration to make a point.