This book is hard to rate and review because there's so many ways to look at it. Yellowface attempts to grapple with a lot of nuanced, ever-changing issues and be funny and a bit creepy all at once. There's a lot I loved about this book but I can also understand how/why some readers might absolutely hate it. It's intentionally relentless and cringey. It delves deeply into the publishing industry and Book Twitter. The intense focus on these worlds could turn off a lot of readers or feel boring. I can totally understand that perspective. However, I think Kuang did an amazing job making these worlds accessible, comprehensible, AND hilarious all at the same time.

As a piece of media/entertainment, I really enjoyed this book. It was like reality TV or a car crash, I just couldn't look away. I couldn't wait to see what kind of bullshit June would pull next. I was writhing as I read this book (in the best way). Kuang's writing is so sharp, enveloping, and witty. She made the publishing industry not feel boring for outsiders. She wrote a white woman who is totally clueless and so overly confident and it was incredibly satisfying to see the stupidity of whiteness so clearly on display. There were so many great one-liners and I laughed out loud a number of times. And June's continual spiral into a self-created mental hell was unnerving and chilling. Kuang is an amazing writer.

After finishing the book, I watched a review/critique video by someone named Cindy that was really well done. Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JUdFkRd...
Cindy highlights some of the stronger aspects of the book and also brings up a ton of valid and insightful critiques about how racism and class were handled (or not handled) in the book. And they bring Kuang herself (a privileged, highly educated, young Asian writer) into the conversation. I didn't know anything about Kuang prior to reading this book or watching that video. After learning about her background and experiences, I saw the book in a different light. Cindy, argues that Yellowface is Kuang's way of getting even with her critics. It's explained well in the video and is really worth consideration.

This book isn't perfect. The ending, while probably realistic, was a bit of a let down. I was expecting more after so much buildup. Kuang's look at race in the publishing industry wasn't intersectional and she could have dug deeper when it comes to writing inspired by real life trauma (especially of oppressed peoples). But, I loved reading this book and found it highly entertaining and easy to get lost in.