‘Yellowface’ by Rebecca F Kuang – Book Review

Unmasking the publishing industry in this funny thriller

Yellowface is the latest release by Rebecca F Kuang, author of the Poppy War Trilogy and the superb Babel. Yellowface differs slightly from RF Kuang’s usual genre as she steps into literary fiction. Telling the story of June Heywood, a struggling author who believes she lives in the shadow of her close friend and successful author, Athena Liu. When Athena dies in a freak accident, June takes her friend’s unfinished manuscript, a book about the struggles of Chinese migrants during the first world war, edits it and publishes it as her own.

Yellowface has its hands in a lot of pockets. Written in first person, we are put into the mind of June. It begins with us listening to her struggles with the publishing industry – something that is relatable. However, we also see her trying to justify her actions, how she truly sees the people around her, dealing with her success and her slow descent into madness. To June the world owes her success, and if she has to put on someone’s face and name herself, Juniper Song to get it, she will.

The book also speaks heavily on the way the publishing industry treats its authors. The tokenism within the industry, as well as the treatment of new upcoming writers. You never forget that publishing is a business based on trends and if you don’t fit that trend, you are excluded. Yellowface also covers the discourse within online book spaces, authors in readers’ spaces, and being chronically online in toxic spaces within the book community on social media platforms like Twitter.

And finally, it explores the topic of whether or not authors, no matter their race or ethnicity, are allowed to write about the experiences of other races and ethnic groups. It puts forward the question, is it okay to tell these stories and where is the line when you’re telling these stories for profit?

As with many of RF Kuang’s previous works, her writing is not only accessible but done with an intelligent air to it. Her style and intelligence breathe life into these pages. She offers a satisfying, thought-provoking story while inserting words from her previous books and highlighting works that she hasn’t even released yet. It’s pretty cheeky of her to throw a promotion into her book about satirizing the publishing industry.

There are some great points made in Yellowface. Topics that are true to life, that we can see in our publishing industry and the online book community, as well as the privilege that exist. As a book, it is a delicious look at someone getting everything they wanted but not being ready for the discourse, the drama, and the issues that come with the author’s popularity.

To June, being the victim and being known is more important than reevaluating her writing and understanding why she is not popular. Instead, she is so desperate for that validation that she will steal, subject herself to the harsh words of her critics and worse. Don’t think Athena Liu gets away scot-free either. You are faced with the fact that there are no good people in this book. It is all messy and everyone is out for themselves. And that’s publishing. Fortunately for us readers, we get some cracking great books out of it!

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