Yellowface cover art

Yellowface

A Novel

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Yellowface

Written by: R. F. Kuang
Narrated by: Helen Laser
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About this listen

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

“Hard to put down, harder to forget.” — Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally 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: she steals 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? 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 grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

Asian Creators Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction World Literature Comedy Witty

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A complex book with an excellent story and no easy answers. Yellowface makes you think and question these situations through a narrator so locked into their own point of view they cannot see what is happening properly. Yet at the same time the awfulness of some of the things that happen back comes through so viscerally you understand that those actions are no better than the original crime. Publishers, social media mobs, authors, fans, and influencers are all put under the spotlight in different ways. While some come off worse than others no one is leaving without a critical gaze. The whole thing comes together beautifully with an ending that infuriates for all the right reasons.

There are no gods here, only devils.

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The story and narration are so well done that I couldn’t stand to listen to this narcissistic beast tell her side of this story. I’m only a couple chapters in and decided to return it because I won’t be able to listen to the tone and self centered main character. Great story, nuanced and current but venomous and spiky to the ears.

So well written I tried to return this

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It was brutal because I don’t think I’ve ever listened, or read a book where the entire book is from the villains point of view. Like the straight up villain. She is such an unredeptive character. I really didn’t like her. I mean yes I saw her struggles but her ACTIONS?!! so ensconced in terrible terrible qualities .. It was hard to keep listening. And that was part of what was so fantastic about it. I have never experienced a story where the lead character is, holy and completely wrong at every turn. It is a FASCINATING anti racism work. It is not setting up the usual AT ALL. it is soooo real because of this. Ahhh and scary good and true.
Helen Lazer did a great job. She caught the feel of this generation perfectly along with the writing.

AHHH i gotta rinse this books outta my system now! Fabulous work I feel gross!!! Love it!

That was a brutal book

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Book was great, I just wish I would have picked it in writing. Narrator was not great at all. Voices she made were just plain irritating. No offence, but didn’t enjoy the audio version.

Great book, so so narrator

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I got so much house work done cause I didn’t want to stop listening. Sad when it ended. Will listen again.

Amazing. Complicated. Captivating

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