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Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: Yellowface
Author: R.F. Kuang
Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 10-Adult Genre/Type of Book: Literary fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Death, social media harassment
Recommended for a school library: Depends on your patrons
Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love R.F. Kuang as a writer and I have heard such amazing things about this book
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: June is such amorally grey character, but so human- that's what makes her story so thrilling.
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Review:
Who has the right to tell others stories? Who do stories 'belong' to at the end of the day?
Juniper Hayward is a struggling author living in D.C. Her first published work was a flop, and she is constantly in the limelight of her 'friend' Athena, multiple bestseller author. June and Athena are celebrating Athena's newest deal with Netflix on one of her books when she tragically and accidentally dies. June is distraught, but slips Athena's unpublished manuscript off her desk - and eventually decides to edit and publish the story under 'Juniper Song'. The book, The Last Front, was an international hit, but when the cracks of June's past and the circumstances of the book start to show, there is no telling what ghosts will be unearthed.
R.F. Kuang is a fantastic writer, and this book did not disappoint. I instantly HATED June off the bat, and that is exactly what I think was intended to happen. June is such a morally grey character, whose actions are so wrong yet very human. Athena and the other characters are also not the most likeable, but all characters present in the story were based in reality and in decisions I could see being made. The idea of race and identity is woven wonderfully throughout the story, and this book really did make me think about authorship and marginalized storytelling. I could see this book being used in a high school or college level course when talking about writing, perspectives, narrative storytelling, race and culture, and more - it is such a wonderful fiction story that could be consumed both for fun or for educational purposes.
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For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website
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