Yellow Face by R.F. Kuang

3/5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

I'll start by saying that I really enjoyed R.F. Kuang's writing style, and there's a likelihood that I'll read another one of her books. It reminds me slightly of Taylor Jenkins Reid a bit, and I love the flow of her writing. This is very much not my typical genre, but there was no wait to listen to it on Libby so, here we are. It's a very well-written and intense piece of work about racism, jealousy, and self-comparison - I think that much is undebatable.

I'm very conflicted on how I actually feel about this book, because the whole time I was listening to it I felt so angry and frustrated at Juniper, but it was engaging. I appreciate the social commentary, especially considering the absolutely unbelievable times that we are living in right now, but these kinds of books just aren't really it for me. I prefer to read a book that frustrates me, sure, but doesn't keep me rooted in how shitty and scary and awful the real world is. I'm happy to hate a main character, or feel like something is unjust, or get angry at decisions a character makes, but I would prefer that it's like... fae characters or some contemporary romance plot making me feel that way, and one that doesn't at all make me think about Donald Trump or how truly racists and sleezy the real world is. But that is by no fault of the author nor does it at all reflect on her skill as a writer, that's just my preference. I think so frequently, and feel so passionately, about social issues in my day to day life, that reading is really the only escape that I have. And when I go to escape, I would really love to stay away from the United States of America and the every day horrors of living here.

Overall, I really liked the concept of the book, I'm just not the audience for it. I have so many friends who love to read stories like this, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to them, but my fellow romantasy readers... maybe not so much.