Yellowface

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.

Published in 2023, Yellowface reflects contemporary themes and storytelling that resonates with today's readers.

It sits at the crossroads of Fiction, Thriller, and Literary, making it appealing to readers with varied tastes who enjoy stories that defy easy classification.

Available on Bookble for readers looking to explore R.F. Kuang's work and build a focused reading list.

If you enjoy R.F. Kuang's voice, explore Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution and The Poppy War from the same author to continue in a familiar style.

Within Fiction, readers who liked Yellowface often gravitate toward A Storm of Swords, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and The Silent Patient — each sharing thematic DNA while offering a different perspective.