R.F. Kuang

So, where to start? I am still thinking about this book after finishing it…which doesn’t happen often. It might be because this hits quite close to home for me. I’m an Asian-American who tries to keep up to date with all the Twitter and publishing discourse, and I know full well about the topic of who has the right to write and publish what. What stories are yours to tell? Which aren’t, and how do you tell the difference?

Yellowface explores that throughout the book. I have seen authors expressing views similar to June in terms of diversity in publishing. I also enjoyed getting a behind-the-look scenes and what happens when a book is deemed a bestseller. There are also issues of racism and plagiarism explored as well.

I enjoyed it and wanted to know what happened next. It was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from…I had to know what was going to happen to June. She was an unlikeable character, but so was everyone else. I found it hard to root for anyone, really.

The ending wasn’t my favorite…but without spoiling anything, it wasn’t what I hoped for. The reveals and climax were okay and didn’t shock me.

Overall, an interesting read.… (més)

Yellowface is a clever, very current novel, narrated by a young girl named June Hayward, hungry for publishing fame. The premise is enticing as the struggling June tells of her friendship and jealousy of her more successful friend, Athena. "It’s hard, after all, to be friends with someone who outshines you at every turn. Probably no one else can stand Athena because they can’t stand constantly failing to measure up to her. Probably I’m here because I’m just that pathetic."
They share a fun night of drinking and eating pancakes when Athena chokes to death. (No spoiler here; it's the first line if the book.) Athena's rough draft of her newest venture into historical fiction is there for the taking and Hayward (think Wayward) makes a decision that will change her life. "The novel is about the unsung contributions and experiences of the Chinese Labour Corps, the 140,000 Chinese workers who were recruited by the British Army and sent to the Allied Front during World War I." Her publishers suggest "I publish under the name Juniper Song instead of June Hayward" and she begins the extraordinary climb to fame she has always wanted. Her social media feeds start soaring and the book gives a great description of how rewarding these likes and retweets are. However rather than the expected narrative of whether she will get away with this, the author introduces elements of mystery, blackmail and even ghost stories.
There is a lot to discuss here regarding a narrator that is hardly likable, an indictment of the publishing industry, and the commentary about the social media's influence on the "netizens who love to argue for the sake of arguing". It's interesting to consider how autobiographical the portrait of the publishing industry may have been for this accomplished young author. So I too will follow her Instagram feed.
Recommend this book.

Lines
I stare at Athena’s brown eyes, framed by those ridiculously large lashes that make her resemble a Disney forest animal, and I wonder, What is it like to be you?

But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life, because that is the realm that the social economy of publishing exists on, because the industry has no alternative. Offline, writers are all faceless, hypothetical creatures pounding out words in isolation from one another.

Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much.

I miss writing before I met Athena Liu. But enter professional publishing, and suddenly writing is a matter of professional jealousies, obscure marketing budgets, and advances that don’t measure up to those of your peers. Editors go in and mess around with your words, your vision. Marketing and publicity make you distill hundreds of pages of careful, nuanced reflection into cute, tweet-size talking points. Readers inflict their own expectations, not just on the story, but on your politics, your philosophy, your stance on all things ethical. You, not your writing, become the product—your looks, your wit, your quippy clapbacks and factional alignments with online beefs that no one in the real world gives a shit about.

I need to create. It is a physical urge, a craving, like breathing, like eating; when it’s going well, it’s better than sex, and when it’s not, I can’t take pleasure in anything else.

Sometimes, when we fought, she would give me this very cool, narrow-eyed look. I knew that look, because it was the same look she got when she was drafting a scene. And I never knew if she was really there during our relationship, or if the whole thing for her was some kind of ongoing story, if she did what she did just to document my reaction. I felt like I was losing my mind.”

The truth is fluid. There is always another way to spin the story, another wrench to throw into the narrative. I have learned this now, if nothing else. Candice may have won this round, but I won’t let her erase my voice.… (més)

June Heyward and Athena Liu have been friends and rivals since college. Athena has been the more successful author of the two, and June has been struggling with her jealousy, feeling that Athena's identity as a queer Asian American has helped her in her career where no one wants to hear a cishet white woman anymore. When Athena dies in a freak accident while celebrating her newest success - a Netflix deal on one of her books - June impulsively picks up Athena's latest work-in-progress and starts polishing it herself.

Yellowface explores the world of publishing through June's experience publishing Athena's work. She narrates, justifying her stealing the work and making a more and more elaborate story blending her truth and the truth. The reader can see her double standards and racism, but June doesn't really interrogate herself and her entitlement. The deceased, too, was not a perfect person, and exactly how far a writer goes before they're "stealing" is part of the exploration here as well. Well done all around.… (més)