yellowface has a high goodreads rating (4+ stars) so the negative reviews were more interesting and my thoughts on how the book was received 

yellowface being marketed as a satire made some ppl dismiss it just bc it wasn’t...funny? idk

a lot of ppl were mad yellowface wasn’t a ‘teachable moment’ type of book which is funny bc r f kuang openly criticizes books like the help that are good objectively are basically books on race that hand hold white ppl and teach them racism bwad :( wah wah. like ofc the book w a hard headed white protag is not gonna have a teachable moment? they wanted a mystical elder asian woman to explain racism to her so bad

few ppl complained that r f kuang didnt dig deeper into discussions within the asian disapora specifically i saw one person mention how we need to talk abt asian americans dating white which is.......i mean why expect that from this book w a short sighted WHITE protagonist? the point is literally that she can’t grasp the diaspora...cmon now 😭

like i said before secretly a lot of readers were mad june wasn’t redeemed from being a racist 😭😭😭😭😭😭 no comment

if the author is similar to any character then kys is not a take i expected to see. where was this vitriol when the after series came out gaklgaklglkga

oh saw a few comments abt how june was very 2d and she was cartoonishly evil with no insight as to why she is the way she is. which is one of the weirder comments like i don’t think they read the book fully. june is literally just a defensive white woman that uses mental health as a shield. and theres a lot of time dedicated to how she feels inadequate, and is seeking the approval from the book community she never got from her mother. as a creative june is very relatable and what she does isnt even that outlandish it’s happened before white ppl steal bc they feel like they’re owed something or that the world is out to get them bc for once the attention isnt on them

one critique that i do agree with is that the book hammered u over the head that june is racist and that plagiarism is bad. and she asks over and over again why can’t she tell stories of other cultures and no one in the narrative even comes close to the point that its fucked up shes telling stories from other races when the ppl who directly were affected by what she’s stealing only have a fleeting chance of getting their story told despite MULTIPLE instances of it being possible. even if june didnt accept it its weird that she never got the obvious answer to her stupid ass question. the subtext abt why it was bad was there but its weird that multiple times she breeches that subject and no one ever gets the chance to challenge her

its really funny you say the author drew from real life bc recently one of her negative reviews got a lil bit of attention on tik tok for that book & it just tears into her for basically writing a self insert among other things.

i got this ask a few days ago and didnt quite get it but finishing the book and reading the reviews i get it now......it seems that the more you know of rfk the more you'll hate yellowface 😭😭😭 which is interesting....the main valid criticism ive seen so far is that she's been accused of colorism and her self insert was too and it was hand waved away....like that's weird....that's suspicious. and i get what ppl are trying to say...rfk uhhhh poking fun at her critics is annoying and i guess i could see it as trying to change the narrative or point the finger in a different direction but the themes in yellowface aren't wrong? and i don't think an author having a self-insert is inherently bad? at least not in this case....

like. at the start of the novel athena is propped up to be a saint after death even tho no one liked her and then it was revealed she leeches off pain. not good. but she also was a victim of the singular minority thing in publishing but she also didnt go out of her way to uplift other asians in writing. she's a complex character with a lot of faults its not like rfk made her a mary sue that was confirmed to do no wrong. so ppl are mad that she drew from real things and is probably putting some of her real feelings into the mix but i feel like every character gets a HEALTHY dose of reaming and what's 'hand waved' away is real life. like? 😭😭😭😭 cassandra clare is a freak and a half and had a booming career. idk ive read ego inflating self inserts and this didnt really feel that way to me bc EVERYONE is painted as in the wrong you know? the critics are right but they also thrive on negativity. the writers are often awful ppl but theyre also victims of hate mobs. twitter hate mobs are trying to uphold morality bc theyre stupid and twist moral causes into reasons to be hateful. etc. its hard for me to say that rfk was poking fun at anyone specifically just the industry itself...and it is a fucking goofy racist mess lol but i guess it can be seen as hypocritical to critical of the system you're a part of even tho thats the only way u can get critique

scrolling thru more 1 star/2 star reviews i see ppl saying the quippy more fun writing isnt for them which is fine. totally valid. but im seeing a lot of ppl be like 'the characters are ridiculous' and l i think a lot of ppl hate that june is like obliviously racist towards asian ppl the whole way thru and doesn't 'learn'. but i mean that's real life. a lot of white liberals are racist and never want to admit it bc they believe they're good. i dont even think rfk went TOO overboard. that rambly compliments turning into racism thing is just what white ppl do 😭 i saw a few other ppl be like 'why is this book so confused w twitter spats' like?????? are u aware of how writers are now????? they are terminally online and they do weird stunts and actually a yter i like has a series called authors behaving badly and a lot of them are....terminally online white women

anyways reading the negative reviews has been interesting.............theyre REALLY mad abt the self insertism kalgklgkagklglkakglaklkglkgak like damn y'all better not lift from real life for a character or the readers WILL be mad. personally as long as its not egregious or playing the victim i don't mind bc im messy LMAO

the way this is CLITERALLY how white ppl think when a poc gets anything over them. its never 'oh theyre just that good' its just 'the higher powers want a diverse pick and im snubbed bc im white' GET A JOB

tumblr needs voice notes so i can just scream into the mic for 3 minutes to convey my current emotions

see the evils that happen when you extend grace to a white devil and allow them in your home

AND HAS THE NERVE TO CO-OPT CHINESE HISTORY AND WANT TO GAG LOOKING AT CHINESE FOOD! 

june wanting to feel like she matters oh boo hoo you weren't getting attention at your publisher bc you were MEDIOCRE BITCH

is that book with the white protagonist good? or is it somethign to be read out of spite (genuinely curious, I saw the post about athena and felt kinda revulsed but the main char.)

ive only just started so i can't tell you for certain but im really enjoying it so far but ik my ultimate enjoyment will hinge on how far this bitch falls. reading the blurb (and seeing that the author is a person of color ) has me reassured that this isnt a weird girl boss story but just one where to condemn the way white ppl are so stuck up in creative spaces fully you have to step into her shoes and hate her from the inside out lol. but give me another week or so and i'll come back to this question once ive read more!!!!!!!!

i do not know how far u are in yellowface but i just wanna say if i ever met someone like the protagonist id hex them

i am quite literally on the very first page and i hate the bitch. if you're so jealous you want your 'friend' dead and think she's unbearable for existing successfully while not being white then i think you need to leave her alone and get your ass beat

oh my god........all she can do is steal. the jennifer lopez of books

why the hell would u describe an 8 year old as a bitch in training. i get basic bitch is a thing but its weird af to call a child a bitch in any context wtf. also atp using indie bookstores as a replacement for a personality is ALSO being basic as hell this superiority complex is killing me

emmy: are u white?

june:

You know its something i still find confusing about white people and culture as a whole. (I mean it isnt cause facism but also i honestly cant wrap my head arpund it) This girl was 'rivals' with Athena for who knows how long and didnt even....research her competition? Try to understand it? Yknow. Basic comprehension i learned when i was 12. Something I assume yale tests for? Just because it wasnt something she immidietly mesh with and was about a culture that isnt hers. God i hope she dies.

white ppl inherently don't believe any other culture is interesting or worth looking into (beyond men making up fantasies on how submissive and easily manipulated into sexual servitude are but ntm on that) which is crazy considering like 99% of their history is going to other places and stealing shit from other cultures. but it also makes sense bc they go everywhere and try to make them catholic and miserable. theyre like those viruses that are just programmed to seek and destroyolalkgklagkl. but in yellowface june's whole resentment is that she thinks athena's culture is surface level and a ploy to look 'cool' when the girl is just in touch w her ancestry. and june refuses to understand it bc she thinks its beneath her so she's fucking FURIOUS that other ppl aren't as close minded and arrogant and chalk it up to the industry wanting a diversity hire when we all know the industry may throw a girl a bone to look diverse but you're not gonna skyrocket no where unless u have the chops bc only white ppl (and bts) get to the top being mediocre 😭😭😭😭😭😭 and what's even wilder is that june only does research on athena's cultural interests to suit her purpose and after declaring herself an expert so much she doesnt need a sensitivity reader she still doesn't respect chinese history or the story athena was trying to tell bc all that lack of melanin fucked w her ability to truly care abt the struggle of anyone but her own floppage due to be an untalented hack without a voice

not the racially ambiguous photoshoot.... i hope this book breaks tone and june is petrol bombed in the middle of nyc

this book will make you hate white ppl fr cuz ik the author is drawing june’s criticisms from real life bc they deadass will roll on the floor like dying roaches when something isn’t 100% catered to them. bitch go read the notebook

REPARATIONSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS/????????????? IF THIS BITCH IS NOT BEHEADED AT THE END IM GIVING IT ONE STAR ON GOD