Yellowface

By: Rebecca F Kuang

Narrated by: Helen Laser

The Number One Global Sensation *Foyle’s Fiction Book of the Year* *Amazon Book of the Year* *Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year* *Fiction Book of the Year 2024 – British Book Awards*

‘Addictive’ Grazia

‘Hugely entertaining’ Observer

‘Provocative’ Mail on Sunday

THIS IS ONE HELL OF A STORY.

IT’S JUST NOT HERS TO TELL.

When failed writer June Hayward witnesses her rival Athena Liu die in a freak accident, she sees her opportunity… and takes it.

So what if it means stealing Athena’s final manuscript?

So what if it means ‘borrowing’ her identity?

And so what if the first lie is only the beginning…

Finally, June has the fame she always deserved. But someone is about to expose her…

What happens next is entirely everyone else's fault.

‘The book that everyone is talking about’ Glamour

‘Ingenious, astute, hugely entertaining’ David Nicholls

‘Breathtakingly clever on jealousy, talent, success, and who gets to tell which story’ Elizabeth Day

‘Hard to put down. Harder to forget’ Stephen King

R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23

R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #5 New York Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23

©2023 R.F. Kuang

Critic reviews

‘Propulsive’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Razor-sharp’ TIME

‘Blistering’ SCOTSMAN

‘I guarantee it will stay with you’ AFUA HIRSCH

‘Strikingly topical’ GUARDIAN

‘Scathing, spiky, and full of laugh-out-loud moments’ GLAMOUR

‘A rollicking good read’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY

‘Sharp and funny’ PRIMA

‘Wickedly funny’ EVENING STANDARD

‘A firecracker of a book’ i PAPER

‘A riot’ PANDORA SYKES

‘Darkly hilarious’ MARIE CLAIRE

‘Uncomfortable and addictive… a must-read’ INDEPENDENT

‘Tackles cancel culture and cultural appropriation with razor-sharp wit’ LOUISE O’NEILL

‘A clever, pacy tale’ SARA PASCOE

'Tense, modern… a brilliant exploration of the literary world' AISLING BEA

‘Darkly comic’ GQ

‘A wild ride’ STYLIST

‘A wicked little satire of publishing, racial politics and icky internet culture’ THE TIMES, Best Summer Reads

‘Utterly diverting’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Unforgettable’ WOMAN & HOME

'Bright and witty and sly… fabulous' RUSSELL T DAVIES

‘A spiky, snarky, shady, smart, sinister take on white privilege’ NIKKI MAY

‘Incisive and compelling… sweeps the reader up on a thrilling ride, but leaves us thinking about the questions raised for days’ JENNIFER SAINT

‘This acute, fast-paced thriller will have literary insiders nodding in recognition and outsiders gasping in shock’ THE BOOKSELLER

‘Not since Martin Amis’s The Information has the venality, self-regard and absurdity of the writing life been so gloriously skewered’ THE CRITIC

‘Once you start, you won’t be able to put it down’ HEAT

‘Well-observed and alarmingly convincing’ DAILY MAIL

'Remarkable and incendiary' WIZ WHARTON

'A dark, engrossing page-turner’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

The ending is disappointing

The ending of Yellowface felt thin to me. It tried to critique the system, but it didn’t fully dramatize it. It stopped at scandal instead of showing the next evolution of the machine. I would have preferred for June to succeed but still feel entrapped by Athena’s shadow. the novel ends in ambiguity. I prefer it to end in irony.

It aligns more with June’s character. She’s not someone who collapses. She’s someone who survives — but survival isn’t freedom.
Living forever under Athena’s shadow.
Knowing her biggest success wasn’t truly hers.

Promising in the beginning - but disappointing

There had been a lot of social media hype around the book so I chose to buy it on audible. It was so promising at the beginning but by midway had deteriorated into a long-winded, repetitive and delusional diatribe. The lead character is an unlikeable narcissist and her thought process flawed and unbelievable. Very disappointing

Satire that pokes fun at the publishing industry

<i>Two wrongs don’t make a right obviously, but the internet is very bad at recognising this.</i>

I needed a palate cleanser after all the thrillers I’ve been reading and the satire in here really seemed to hit the spot. Also funny that this won the Goodreads award it poked at!

Gets better as it unfolds

I enjoyed the story but not so much the narration for some reason. Still a good read and would recommend!

Plot very clever

Loved the book. It’s smart with a wicked insight into publishing and the modern debates