Yellowface

I decided to read Yellowface for the Color Coded Reading Challenge because I needed a book title containing yellow. However, I have wanted to read it since it was published in May last year because it is about an Asian American and the publishing business. I am a big lover of Asian fiction. This book was hard to put down and I ended up reading it in one sitting.

The publisher's summary:  

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.

Rebecca Kuang is a young Chinese-American writer. Her previous novels were in the fantasy genre. Here in Yellowface she takes a swipe at the publishing industry for their mistreatment of ethnic characters. Publishers have publicly pledged, since 2020, to represent ethnic minorities with more authenticity but Kuang’s plot reveals that she believes the industry has fallen short of that goal.

That said, Yellowface is a suspenseful, plot driven story with a fast pace. Our protagonist June Hayward is a white American writer who wants success and fame. However, her first book is a flop. Her nemesis is the Chinese American writer Athena Liu. Liu is a celebrated novelist with a Netflix series on the way. Liu is not the traditional “good girl” character that publishers prefer in Asian fiction. Kuang breaks new ground in Asian fiction with the Liu character. I thought it was funny that Liu died from choking on a pancake. That was a creative way to go in my mind. Most of the suspense in the story comes from Twitter posts where people are not afraid to be nasty. The mystery in the story is heightened as each new event in the plot raises the stakes for June/Juniper. 

The novel's plot is timely. It grapples with questions on cultural appropriation as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. 5 out of 5 stars.