This book was a love it or hate it novel—and I loved it.

The story begins when our narrator June Hayward, a struggling white author, witnesses the sudden death of frenemy Athena Lieu, a successful Chinese-American author. 

That night, June steals Athena’s freshly completed manuscript about Chinese labor workers in WWI. June spends a couple weeks polishing the manuscript before sending a copy to her literary agent—claiming the work as hers entirely. 

From there, it’s hard to look away from bad decision after bad decision June makes, and the consequences she must endure or avoid as a result. 

June’s unhinged thoughts and actions are enough to make you cringe—yet there are some parts where her thoughts are relatable. At parts June is insensitive—like her thoughts on Chinese food—but at other parts, June’s commentary questions the morally gray. 

Social media & cancel culture

The Twitterverse plays a central role in this book, illustrating how social media thrives on polarization, hot takes, and cancel culture. While the novel she submits becomes successful, she faces criticism for it online.

Through June’s perspective, we see how readers, critics, and authors alike choose sides of the controversy, generating commentary that keeps them relevant. 

Even June’s publisher silently embraces June’s controversy, knowing buzz—whether positive or negative—drives sales.

Who is qualified to tell a story?

A recurring question that gets asked, but not answered, is: Who is qualified to tell a story? 

Kuang intentionally jabbed at cultural appropriation, as she is an Asian woman who authored this book and wrote from a White woman’s perspective (NPR). 

June recalls Athena interviewing Korean war veterans, and turning their pain into a story. Was Athena, a Chinese-American woman, qualified to write about Korean war veterans? 

And while writing misrepresenting or stereotyping by writing outside of one’s community can be harmful, Kuang also shared how this mindset can be used as a weapon against marginalized writers it’s supposed to help (Mochi Mag). Does this mindset force authors to stay in their lane when writing?

These questions go unanswered, which makes these themes open to interpretation and interrogation. 

Writing for the sake of writing

One of my favorite parts of the book was when June was back at her mom’s house flipping through her old notebooks. 

“I miss writing before I met Athena Liu.”

She compares writing for the sake of writing to her relationship with writing now: for professional publishing, to somehow measure up to readers’ expectations, as an author whose looks and “quippy clapbacks” are the product—not her writing.

I wonder if this reflects Kuang’s own relationship with writing, and how relatable it felt to others. Writing for the sake of writing is different from writing for the mass market. 

I wonder if this book, in all its parts, reflects the dark side of being successful, or being a successful writer. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book’s fast pace and watching the train wreck that occurs from June’s choices. However fast the pace, the ending felt abrupt. While it shows that some people never learn, it didn’t feel on the same level as the rest of the book. 

Pick up Yellowface for an easy read, especially if you enjoy flawed, morally gray characters with unresolved trauma making one horrible decision after another. It’s a train wreck you can’t look away from.