Welcome to Litsy!

Finished the most hyped book 📖 of the summer (which seems to be a marmite read )whilst having my shrek like feet pampered before our Greek hols ; I‘m so glad I didn‘t take this one away with me as it‘s a so so kind of read for me . I found June highly irritating 😠 I‘m guessing that‘s the whole point , however it is a great idea for a novel and the poppy wars and babel are on my TBR.

This satirical thriller moves at a fast pace as Kuang explores themes of race, jealousy, social media, loneliness and greed as well as providing an unflattering look into the publishing world. There are no likable characters here — but I found it entertaining and thought provoking.

Reading this was icky and frustrating. I enjoy liking the main character in the books I read. June was not a likeable character. Noone was a likeable character. I feel like deleting all my socials. That is what this book did for me. Highlighting the power of social media and the disturbing yuckiness in the publishing industry. Racism and plagiarism. Ego and internet trolls. 😖😦 ⭐⭐⭐

This story talks about appropriation, racism both subtle and bold, greed, and privilege set in and around the world of publishing. Social media is a beast in this book.

On the train 🚂 into London to visit an exhibition at Buckingham Palace on Georgian dress 👗very Bridgerton . However current read is the much hyped yellowface , 3 chapters in and it‘s so far a so so read for me. Sometimes we need fluffiness I like to think the publishing industry is one still unaffected by modern greed but sadly not , I like the version in my own head .

Junie Hayward is sort-of friends with Athena Liu: they met at university & both wanted to be writers, but whilst Athena's career is on an upward trajectory, Junie has struggled. Junie finds herself at Athena's flat after drinks one evening, where there is a terrible accident & Athena is suddenly dead. Junie called for an ambulance but there is nothing they can do, but when Junie leaves Athena's flat she takes Athena's latest manuscript. (cont'd)

"The night I watch Athena Liu die, we're celebrating her TV deal with Netflix". #firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

Here‘s my #top10summer2023reads. I‘ve had a lot of bails but some really good books too. 👍

Late post but this tag was not easy for me, trying to look for an English song that could match with the book. Then the books I was reading were not so good at that time😳
But during Yellowface, June was almost “paranoid” of who was writing what in social media, of course to later justify herself. But I thought in this song:

Somebody‘s Watching Me by Rockwell

Thank you @Eggs sorry for the tardiness 😳

#Book2Book @ALLDEBOOKS

Open to all who signed up using the form in #AllDeBook's original post. 🤗

@LiteraryinLawrence, @Soubhiville, @Cuilin, @TheBookHippie, @Lizpixie, @Clwojick, @Chrissyreadit, @BookwormAHN, @CSeydel, @julieclair, @Catsandbooks, @bcncookbookclub, @TheAromaofBooks, @Tineke, @Bookish_Gal, @KateReadsYA

Another August review 😲
I liked it but not as much as I expected or as much as many readers. You know by now what this book is about. So interesting to see how awful and terrible the media can be and how dark a person can be transformed to gain attention and to be “famous”...at all cost. All characters are unlikable but I think those aspects can be worst in the real world. All those part were interesting to me. But⬇️

This author is a bit of a unicorn. This book really makes you think. And the audio is fantastic.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

So clever. A book about writers, the publishing industry, jealousy, and secrets. A story within a story about a book, the literary world, and cultural appropriation. Total page turner.

Monthly Reading Report
Read in August 2023 ...
17 Books
#Goodreads #Bookstagram #MMDBookClub #OUABC #Litsy #Libby

I need a book club to talk to about this book. I can't figure out how I am supposed to feel about the main character.

A light pick- if only because it was batshit but could have been so much MORE batshit.

I wanted more publishing world tea, more barely disguised contempt for people the author has met, more horrible people to make the MC look good for a split second and make you go HEY WAIT.

I liked it, it was funny, the ending was wild, but I wish it went full tilt batshit

Oh, this was marvelous. I absolutely hated the main character and her arrogant cluelessness made me laugh out loud at points! At its heart, though, is the very serious topics of racism, privilege, white savior mentality and how that plays out in publishing. The audio narrator was fantastic!

Next up

Asian diaspora best-selling author, Athena Liu‘s death becomes the scandal of the year for the publishing industry. It is rumored that Liu‘s “not so well-known” friend, Juniper Song (aka June Hayward) has passed off her latest book as her own. Fireworks 💥 explode in R.F. Kuang‘s masterfully-crafted new suspense novel. That‘s two 5-Star reads in a row for Kuang from me. It appears I have a new must-read author to add to my list.

What a twisted, thought provoking little book.

So much has already been said and I‘m not sure I have anything new to add to the conversation.

I felt propelled through this book and I just could not stop. I like that it made me think more deeply about cultural appropriation. Really glad I picked this one up.

Binge read over two days as it was a shock fest roller coaster crashing story!
Really strange how I sympathised with June whilst detesting what she'd done. And desperately wanted her to stop scrolling!
Think I'll look for some of her others...

This biting satire about a white woman that usurps her Asian friend‘s identity to become a best selling author is a scathing look at the publishing world and its systemic racism. Kuang‘s novel may be over the top, but she highlights very real issues/topics. The uncomfortable feeling you had reading this? That isn‘t just a reaction to the wholly unlikable June. It‘s the sinister characterization of white privilege that we know is all too real. 4⭐️

Oh my, this just arrived through Libby (after a 9 week wait!)
Very excited to read.

As a publishing girlie, books about the industry are like catnip for me. Was it a little on the nose at times? Yes. But have I also either witnessed or heard from coworkers about a lot of similar instances that happen in this book? Also yes. Overall I was thoroughly entertained and am eager to read more R. F. Kuang since this was my first from her. 4/5⭐️

It‘s time

2🌟🌟

I read most of this in one day - couldn‘t put it down. There were a few things that bothered me but after this and Babel, I‘m adding everything Kuang has written to my TBR.

Getting ready to begin, so excited.

I must be the only reader that baled in this book, didn't finish before it was due back to the library. Not interested in renewing so will take off reading list. 😑

What a wild ride! I feel for the editor and publisher who has to edit and promote a book critiquing the editing and publishing world. There was so much going on in the last couple chapters!

3.75 out of 5

Sorry I‘m a bit late in posting this, but Yellowface is our July winner!! It will go on to face Bandit Queens and August‘s winner for Best of Camp! #CampLitsy23

Thank you to everyone who participated, read, lurked…all of it! There wouldn‘t be a camp without you. And I do appreciate the thank yous! 🥰🥰 And thank you to my co-counselors who made beautiful graphics and pushed my questions to the next level. 😘🏕️

Once again I bought a book cuz I saw it everywhere but had no idea what it was about 🤣 I really enjoyed this. Oh I wanted to tell June/Junie/Juniper to just put her phone down but who am I to talk about that?! I think this would be an interesting book club book; the moral issues, social media addictions, loneliness, the importance of therapy

1. Yellowface
2. While I needed to read it for Camp Litsy, I would have read it anyway. Kuang has become a new favorite author.

***Everyone welcome to play!!!

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

July's #fiction #readingbracket2023 @chasjjlee

This was a descent in to madness as well as an expose of publishing practices. I didn‘t expect this to read as a thriller and yet it was. I did find it interesting that the premise interrogates who has the right to tell stories all while Kuang is writing as a white female. An unexpected pick for me!
PS: sprayed edge done by my amazing husband!

💛💛💛💛Two very unlikeable main characters but I liked the book. A book about cultural appropriation cleverly written by an Asian author writing about a white woman. I learnt lots about publishing and what goes on behind the scenes, most of it questionable and not good. This book highlights how addictive and toxic social media can be and the devastating effect it can have on one‘s mental health. I was dissatisfied with the climax of the story, ⬇️

Back to reading in my tub

#RushAThon - I have got to start finishing things and reading ones I have been excited for

July 2023 Wrap Up
- Yellowface ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Rosewater ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- And Then I Woke Up ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Lone Women ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Love And Other Flight Delays ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- The Perfect Marriage ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- She Started It ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Since the blow up around American Dirt there's been so many conversations around who can and should tell whose stories. Here in Yellowface we delve right into it while getting a behind the scenes look at the publishing industry.

From the draft novel, to the editors, the sensitivity readers. The release date, the Goodreads reviews, the twitter trolls.

I'm on the hype train for this book, it's very meta and feels like a exposè.

#ReadingBracket2023

Though this wasn‘t my favorite book, it kept me reading through. It was ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 for me.

The Last Front was supposed to be a onetime collaboration. Athena's research and brainstorming, my prose and polish. I felt a wonderful, mysterious alchemy during those fevered weeks, when I conjured her writing voice from beyond the grave and harmonized my own against it. I wasn't dependent on her I've never needed her to write but the joint exercise gave me confidence at a time when I had none. #lieswetellourselves 😅 #theaudacity #plagiarism

This was such a powerful hitting book filled with uncomfortable situations and unlikeable characters which made it unputdownable. The only thing that kept this from being a 5-star read was the ending.

One day I will read and finish a #camplitsy23 book while we‘re actually discussing!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another low pick from me for a Kuang novel. I can‘t put my finger on it, but there‘s something about her style that doesn‘t quite work for me. It happens, eh? We all know what this is about now, cultural appropriation, intentional mismarketing, racism in publishing industry, etc with no sympathetic characters. A satire exposing the underside of publishing and social media. Still, a successful book in all the questions it raises. #CampLitsy23

This book made me feel so …icky. 😖 When I was reading it, I couldn‘t put it down. But when I did stop (mostly because I couldn‘t stand to have June‘s voice in my head anymore), I was not ever in a hurry to pick it up again. I think that‘s a textbook example of Facebook‘s “in a complicated relationship” status. 😬😖 A pick because it‘s the type of book that screams for a book club discussion.

Enjoyable weekend read. Single unreliable POV. Probably won‘t reread. Noticed beverages

A really modern book in the things it speaks about - social media, cancel culture etc. - it made me question/think about all those things. Every character was unlikeable and conflicted in one way or another but it was so, so readable; I didn‘t want to stop reading it.