If you want a satirical, page turning book with an unreliable narrator that has you writhing in pure frustration, Yellowface by R.F Kuang is the book for you. 

In this lit fic, we follow the story of two friends who met in college, Athena Liu and June Hayward. Both novelists, Athena is a successful Asian-American, picture-perfect author who always ends up selling New York times bestsellers, getting Hollywood deals and the like. Meanwhile, June sits in her shadow, struggling to get her books out there and make ends meet. 

The real plot begins when June is present for Athena’s inopportune death, which leads her to ‘borrowing’ the unfinished manuscript of her upcoming novel. Deluding herself into believing what she is doing is right, she quite literally steals the script, adds her own edits and publishes it under her own name. While this finally gives her the taste of success which she longed for more than a decade, it’s not enough. She tumbles down a rabbit hole in the name of doing justice to her late friend. 

The entire time I read this novel, her actions had me infuriated. Sometimes I even wanted to rip my hair out. Kuang did a beautiful job in making June a very hateable, aggravating and pretentious character. Her slow descent in doing the ‘right thing’ ends up being completely over the top, blatant racism and Asian-fishing. The way she tries to defend herself is downright ridiculous and even humorous at times. Satire is layered on so thick that it feels like Kuang was making personal attacks. 

I would say this book is a page turner to its core; it keeps you invested and eager to find out what happens (and how crazy June gets.) Seeing how far she will go to defend herself is on its own and keep up her facade is pure entertainment. It is a consuming read and I think every person who enjoys satirical literature should give it a read.

By: Aishath Sarah Arusal 

11-S9 (Batch 2026)