Thank you Ali Hazelwood for not disappointing me!!!
I ended up marathoning this book in one night (yes my eyes hurt), but Ali Hazelwood's writing is juThank you Ali Hazelwood for not disappointing me!!!
I ended up marathoning this book in one night (yes my eyes hurt), but Ali Hazelwood's writing is just so easy to read. You fly through the pages, and before you know it, it's 3AM and you're resigned to future Tiffany hating past Tiffany's choices.
Okay, is it just me...or have y'all always found chess (or the idea of chess) to be really ATTRACTIVE?? If you've watched Queen's Gambit, you know what I'm talking about. Just the tension of a match, the intelligence and decision-making of the players, the competitive environment...maybe it's just my Type A personality showing.
If you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis , you'll likely enjoy this book too as the writing feels very familiar. While this is technically a YA, the main differentiator is that there are no majorly explicit sex scenes from Ali Hazelwood's Adult books. Still, I enjoyed how we have open discussions about sex on the page whereas some YA books may choose to ignore the topic completely.
The story itself was so much fun. Mallory was an easy main character to root for, and her slightly chaotic yet hardworking personality was very reminiscent of Olive from TLH. I loved following her journey as a chess prodigy, and the ROMANCE. J'ADORE.
Nolan Sawyer was a very swoon-worthy YA love interest, and his tension with Mal was *chef's kiss*. The yearning and slow-burn was wonderful, but most of all, I love how the tension and rivalry between our two love interests were built on mutual respect rather than just jealousy or antagonistic feelings.
Mal's younger sister Darcy must be protected at all costs, and I just love the chaotic family energy between Mal, her two sisters, and her mom. When we get to the scenes where Nolan interacts with Mal's family, I was kicking my legs in giddy.
As you get to the second of the book, things do start to get predictable, but I wouldn't necessarily fault that as a bad thing. It's predictable in the way you want a Disney Channel Original Movie to be predictable. While I'm happy with how things ended, I wish we got to spend more time wrapping up our main characters' future. Selfishly, I just want to spend more time with these characters~
Thank you Penguin Teen for an advanced copy of this book!...more
I’ve read a few books based on the publishing industry before, and they’re typically considered ‘love letters’. They’re dedications to the fans, editoI’ve read a few books based on the publishing industry before, and they’re typically considered ‘love letters’. They’re dedications to the fans, editors, agents, reviewers, fellow authors…essentially everyone who keeps the industry alive and running.
And in many ways yes, this book IS dedicated to the literary world. There are countless of niche references and inside jokes that will probably go over the head of anyone who hasn’t been exposed to the industry. But we also get a unfiltered reality check of all the ugly truths: the double standards, microaggressions, hive mentality of Book Twitter, etc.
This book is further testament to the fact that R.F. Kuang excels at writing the antihero. Rin is a parallel to one of the most brutal dictators in history. Robin’s urgency to safeguard victims of an imperialist power overwhelms his rationality… and June Hayward is a manipulative liar who profits off of an Asian author’s legacy.
June is insufferable. She bemoans that every thing she does is FOR furthering BIPOC representation because if she doesn’t tell these stories who will? You want to punch her and see her exposed as a fraud, yet at the same time, a tiny part of you doesn’t want to see the fragile house of cards June’s built to come crumbling down.
Yellowface examines the critical question: what makes someone qualified to tell a story? We’ve seen authors profit off Japanese-inspired fantasies while citing drinking sake and watching anime as research. We’ve seen a white woman hit the NYT Bestseller’s by writing about a Mexican mother and son migrating to the US and being targeted by the cartel. So, can June Hayward tell the untold story of Chinese laborers in WWI?
In all its witty glory, Yellowface confronts the harsh truth that publishing has been failing those from marginalized backgrounds, not only BIPOC authors. We explicitly acknowledge how the industry has many barriers to entry, most notably due to low starting salaries. In fact, the industry almost relies on these editors and publicists’ passion for literature to keep them trapped in a Catch 22.
As someone who’s been a book blogger for 7 years and is *unfortunately* chronically online, I couldn’t put this book down. It felt like a trip down memory lane, and trust me…when you’ve been in the book community (specifically Book Twitter) for so long, you’ve seen enough drama that could be its own book. That fact though may be the reason why Yellowface may not appeal to Kuang’s existing readership.
The second half of the book dives into the intricacies and controversies of Book Twitter, but Book Twitter (and I guess Book Tok now) is a bubble. Your average reader likely will not be on Book Twitter watching stan accounts have a field day. When drama happens on the Internet, it can feel overwhelming, but most of the time, it’s very insular and really only reaching 15% of your total readership. All’s to say, the stan accounts who lovingly prop up Babel and The Poppy War may not understand the self-reflection this book asks, and the average Joe S’moe who picks up this book at an airport won’t grasp the magnitude of how devastating being the target of the Internet’s wrath may be.
My interpretation of this work is from the POV of a reader and ‘influencer’, and I only wish I could read this from the POV of an author, editor, or any other publishing professional as I’m sure my takeaways would be different. Thank goodness we’re already guaranteed more books by Kuang because I never want to stop reading her writing.
Is it too early for a holiday book recommendation? Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year, and friends-to-lovers is my favorite trope…soooo…I Is it too early for a holiday book recommendation? Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year, and friends-to-lovers is my favorite trope…soooo…I firmly believe this book was written for me. ...more
5 years are added to my life span every time Roma calls Juliette is wife. This book was FOR THE FANS (but most importantly me).
Th*HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY*
5 years are added to my life span every time Roma calls Juliette is wife. This book was FOR THE FANS (but most importantly me).
Thank you Chloe for giving the first and probably last book that won't leave us in heartbreak <3 I'm honestly so re-invested in Secret Shanghai now and want to reread all the books again....more
tiffany (readbytiffany)
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