Yellowface

Kuang's villain is so good that at points I started to wonder if this was a horror novel. The character's continued ability to justify her actions is really well done.

I didn't like the ending until I did. Overall, I flew through this. It's really entertaining.

I like the premise, the plot, the narrator and the discussion about cultural appropriation. The writing flows nicely. The pop culture references and the tweets were fun at the start too, but eventually it got too repetitive for my taste. I get that the main character was spiraling, but it felt tedious towards the end. At times, the villain-ness of the main character felt too heavy-handed, verging on rage-bait (or was it just too close to home?). And the ending didn't do the book justice.

Yellow Face is a reflection of our society today and of its contradictions. Kuang takes a thought-provoking critical look at the entire literary industry and the effects of racism, privilege, and cultural appropriation. Its gripping plot makes the book a compelling read that you can hardly put down.

My main problem with the book was that I don't think I've ever read a first-person book in which I've found the main character so unlikable, which made it a little hard to read. But it was a compelling story that was hard to put down.