Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

"The night I watch Athena Liu die, we're celebrating her TV deal with Netflix."

The opening line of Yellowface by R. F. Kuang immediately sets a tone of intrigue and suspense.

Published: 2023
Author: R. F. Kuang
Genres: Satire, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction
Pages: 336
My rating: 3/5

The book centers around June Hayward, an aspiring author who becomes embroiled in controversy after witnessing the death of her former classmate, Athena Liu, a literary sensation. When June decides to rewrite Athena's manuscript and pass it off as her own, chaos ensues, and she has to deal with accusations of cultural appropriation and plagiarism.

Throughout the book, there are frequent references to movies, celebrities, and pop culture topics, many of which I am familiar with (it's funny how familiar I am with Western pop culture). I was thinking it'd be fun to be friends with Kuang and chat about all these topics. I even took a break to watch Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" because Kuang mentioned it so often, and I wasn't let down.

However, the book lacks character development, and the storyline becomes quite predictable and clichéd. I guess June's character wasn't supposed to develop. And there was some redundancy (for example, how many times was "Dunkirk" mentioned?). I still enjoyed it. And I wouldn't mind diving into more of Kuang's work in the future.

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