R.F. Kuang calls out racism and tokenism in the publishing world in this satire that will fascinate and enrage readers. Juniper Hayward's publishing career is going nowhere while her friend Athena Liu tops bestseller lists. When June witnesses Athena's death, she publishes Athena's last novel as her own leading to a trainwreck series of terrible decisions that make this a page-turner you won't want to put down.
— Becky
This book is the kind of compelling that will literally have you unable to focus on anything else until you’ve finished. Yellowface is a dark satire story that highlights the many issues in the publishing world—especially pertaining to race and diversity—through witty satire that will leave you both laughing and shaking your head at every bad decision the characters make. Everyone needs this on their shelves!
— Bridey
“Equal parts modern satire, indictment of the publishing industry, and twisted ghost story, R. F. Kuang’s first foray into literary fiction pulls no punches and will have you reading late into the night.”
— Abby Bennsky, Old Town Books, Alexandria, VA
White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.
So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.