Yellowface is the first non-fantasy novel of RF Kuang, who’s already written brilliant books in the form of Babel and the Poppy Wars series.
Please note: The following mentions early plot points, available in the summary of the novel’s plot on the publisher’s website and others.
Athena Liu is the star of the literary world, young, sparkling and just the right side of eccentric to be interesting, and not offputting. She only writes in specific notebooks, and uses typewriters to create her novels. June Hayward, her classmate and not quite friend, has published a novel but has not made anywhere near the splash that Athena has. Sidelined, overshadowed and slightly awed by her, she finds herself in Athena’s apartment one night, as they challenge each other to ridiculous and alcohol fuelled dares. It doesn’t end well for Athena.
With the darling of contemporary fiction out of the way, June is temporarily in the limelight as the person who last saw her alive. Cast as her friend, her experience of the fame Athena knew opens her eyes to the benefits, and she doesn’t want to give that up.
Kuang writes a tight, well thought out mystery thriller which details out the publishing world and process, sometimes to uncomfortable levels. As June gets sucked into the whirlwind of publishing the next big thing, and the pressure of writing something else which is just as magnetic, we as the readers follow along with her. I raced through this – it’s enjoyable, mainly because all of the characters are just awful human beings. I wouldn’t want to go drinking with any of them, but I did enjoy reading about their lives.
It reminded me of The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, but while that played it reasonably seriously, this is peppered with dark humour which makes it fun to read. As June gets deeper into her new life as Juniper Song, she finds her mental health crumbling. This reminded me of Poe’s The Tell-tale Heart, driven mad by your own thoughts and deeds.
I found it interesting that, as it’s written from June’s point of view, I was rooting for her to succeed, even though her actions were far from honourable or morally correct. You can almost imagine yourself doing the same thing in her position. Almost.
Recommended for anyone who likes thrillers and/or the publishing world – this is a must read for 2023 (and I think most people will have read it by now, so time to read it again!)
Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the DRC, as always.
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