Book Review: YELLOWFACE by R. F. Kuang

 

Title: YELLOWFACE

Author:  R.F. Kuang

Read: August 2023

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

My musings:

 

Have you ever dreamed of writing your own novel? Of sitting in some romantic café scribbling in your notebook and penning the next bestseller. Of having your book grace the front window of bookshops worldwide. After reading Kuang’s novel you may have a more sober perspective of the publishing industry. I never thought it would be easy to be a published author, but hadn’t imagined just how many minefields are lying in wait for any aspiring writer, including the questions at the heart of YELLOWFACE: who owns a story? Who is allowed to tell a story? Does your story have to mirror your own culture and experiences?

 

YELLOWFACE was peppered with ethical and moral dilemmas, and I fluctuated between empathy for June and horror at what she was doing. Many reviewers have stated that June is a thoroughly unlikeable character who is very obviously in the wrong, and many delighted in her downfall. And yet I found Kuang has created a character who is both morally reprehensible and also vulnerable, lonely and insecure. June always has justification for her actions, and some were strangely compelling, like watching a movie about a robbery and knowing it’s a crime, yet having some appreciation for the planning and thought that had gone into it. Hard to explain … Things got even more complex as Athena’s character was cast in a different light later in the novel, blurring the lines further.

 

I was particularly intrigued by the issue of cultural appropriation. Is a writer only allowed to write characters from their own cultural backgrounds? Where are the boundaries? Can you write a police novel or a medical thriller without ever having worked in those fields? I am sure that everyone has an opinion on this, and I imagine it’s a hotly debated issue, which made June’s justifications for her theft and reinvention all the more interesting.

 

All in all, YELLOWFACE is a brilliant, thought-provoking satire that delves into many of the issues encountered in the publishing industry today. With intriguing characters and many ethical questions, it made for fascinating reading from beginning to end. Entertaining and scandalising in equal parts, YELLOWFACE is one of the most original books I have read this year so far. 

Book Review: THE LAST THING TO BURN by Will Dean

 

Title: THE LAST THING TO BURN

Author:  Will Dean

Read: August 2023

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

On an isolated farm in the United Kingdom, a woman is trapped by the monster who kidnapped her seven years ago. When she discovers she is pregnant, she resolves to protect her child no matter the cost, and starts to meticulously plan her escape. But when another woman is brought into the fold on the farm, her plans go awry. Can she save herself, her child, and this innocent woman at the same time? Or is she doomed to spend the remainder of her life captive on this farm?

My musings:

 

If you have been told by your doctor to reduce your stress levels, then stay clear of this book! THE LAST THING TO BURN is one of the most suspenseful, harrowing and disturbing psychological thrillers I have read in a long time, and yet I loved every nail-biting minute of it. No, it hasn’t done my stress levels any favours, but boy this was good!

 

I’m not usually a fan of captivity thrillers but had devoured and loved every book written by Will Dean so far and knew that it wouldn’t disappoint. Someone who can toss a handful of characters into a single bland setting and yet create tension that makes your hair stand on end like you’ve just stuck a pin into a powerpoint – that person is a true artist in my mind.

 

Jane (not her real name) and Len live in a little old farmhouse on a windswept plain somewhere in the less picturesque parts of England. Or perhaps this is doing the countryside an injustice, because Jane hasn’t had the chance to go anywhere else to explore the scenery. She makes no secret of the fact that she is a captive and would do anything to escape the hell Len is subjecting her to on a daily basis. That is probably all you need to know before delving into the story. Buckle up for the ride though, because just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, there’s another surprise in store for you.

 

Dean uses the little, bland things that make up everyday life to create an atmosphere so tense you could cut it with a knife. The secret is in the detail, and he is a master observer. I never realised how much murderous rage can be released inside me when the right triggers are being sprung. Dean doesn’t use preposterous plot twists or over-the-top conspiracies to spin his tale and capture the imagination, but each scene is so visceral, so powerful that it almost inflicts physical pain. Now this, readers, is a REAL psychological thriller. I carried Jane inside me even during the times when I wasn’t reading, like one of those heavy nightmares that still casts a shadow over the whole day even though you know it’s not real. To imagine that Dean’s book is based on real stories of people trafficking is almost too much to bear.

 

I’ll be totally honest when I say that THE LAST THING TO BURN is not an easy or comfortable read, and there are some very dark themes at play here. But to call it anything less than brilliant would be doing it an injustice. Crafted by a master storyteller, this psychological thriller will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. Enter at your own risk!

Book Review: SOMEONE ELSE'S SHOES by Jojo Moyes

 

Title: SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES

Author:  Jojo Moyes

Read: July 2023

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the stars!

 

Book Description:

 

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag--she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

My musings:

 

Let me introduce my feel-good book of 2023! It’s often obvious in the first few pages whether we will love a book, in the way we relate to the characters, and I felt instantly drawn to Sam Kemp and her daily struggles. Even the prickly Nisha Cantor was strangely compelling, perhaps also aided by the wonderful audiobook narration, which gave her quite a unique voice.

 

What would you do if you had to walk in someone else’s shoes for a day (or more), quite literally? After a mix-up at the gym, Sam finds out the hard way as she stumbles off to a stressful work meeting with important clients, teetering precariously on Nisha’s expensive red Louboutin heels.

 

The concept of walking in someone else’s shoes is not new, but taken so literally it made for a most intriguing and very “visual” read. I could picture the two women clearly and forged an instant emotional connection with both of them. I laughed, I cried, my heart full of rage one minute, and full of love and hope the next. Ultimately, the story soothed my soul and set my world back on its right axis – and I really needed that at the time. Moyes writes with the warmth, humour and conviction of a master story teller, and thee wasn’t a moment I didn’t enjoy. I was sad when the book ended, though it was a very satisfying finale!

 

Do yourself a favour and pick up this heart-warming, uplifting story to recharge your batteries and restore your faith in the power of female friendships, new beginnings and discovering your own inner lioness.

 

Recent reads with divine armchair travel settings

 

 

The German language has it all sussed when it comes to the desire to travel, devoting two words solely to that longing for distant shores: "Wanderlust" (joy / desire to wander) and "Fernweh" (translated as "distance-pain", the ache to travel to distant shores). So if you are suffering from this ailment but are stuck at home and work, why not indulge in some delicious armchair travel? These five books recently ticked all the boxes on my armchair travel list, even though they didn't cure my longing but made me want to buy an airline ticket there and then!

THE HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN by Jo Dixon

 

What a refreshingly good yarn this was! It had a lot of themes I love in a mystery: a remote house that harbours secrets, an old missing person’s case, small town dynamics, new beginnings and a wonderful atmospheric setting.

 

Olivia Hayes is a disgraced social media influencer who has fled to a remote house in the Tasmanian countryside to hide from the public and some toxic people in her life. One day, a stranger turns up on her doorstep looking for information regarding an old missing person’s case connected to the house, which is somehow linked to his recently deceased father. From this point on, the book slowly unravels the old mystery whilst telling Olivia’s story as she tries to start a new life.

 

It's not easy to find a book where both timelines are equally compelling, but I found both stories intriguing and believable. Extra points for delivering a very original finale! All in all, THE HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN was a brilliant debut with enigmatic characters, a divine armchair travel setting and a mystery that had me eagerly reading late into the night to find out all the answers. I can’t wait to read more from this author in future!

 ONE OF THE GIRLS by Lucy Clarke

 

Would you travel to a remote Greek Island with five friends for a bachelorette party? Hell yes! Give me the ticket! Of course, I realise that in the world of fiction I would be sharing the place with someone harbouring a dark secret, someone plotting murder and the rest of the crew following a hidden agenda that will make me wonder why I chose these people as friends in the first place. But that’s exactly why I picked this book up, and it didn’t disappoint on both fronts: the dark secrets and the divine armchair travel setting.

 

Bride-to-be Lexi and her five closest friends have gathered in a luxurious villa on a remote Greek island to celebrate Lexi’s upcoming wedding. Secretly, each and every one of the women is wondering what the vivacious Lexi sees in her straight-as-a-die fiancé, but she seems happy, so that’s all that matters, right? As the women clamour for Lexi’s attention, friendship dynamics are stretched to breaking point and some hidden agendas are revealed.

 

ONE OF THE GIRLS was a light, fun read that followed a fairly typical storyline of a locked room mystery where everyone has a secret and things soon start going wrong. Except that perhaps any of these women could have left at any time, which diluted the tension somewhat. I enjoyed the dynamics between the women and the final reveal, which wasn’t as predictable as I had feared. Best of all was the divine armchair travel to Greece with all the sights and sounds of this picturesque destination. With intriguing dynamics, a perfect setting and enough intrigue to keep you guessing, ONE FO THE GIRLS makes for a perfect holiday read.

BRIGHT AND DEADLY THINGS by Lexie Elliott

 

I’m a sucker for locked room mysteries, and the setting doesn’t get much better than this: a cozy little chalet on a mountain in the French Alps. Elliott wonderfully recreated the remote mountainside location with its obligatory lack of phone reception. The odd group of people, a bunch of science professors and students from Oxford, made for some interesting dynamics and I loved the addition of a creepy element, i.e. the old clock.

 

This book had real potential to be taut, suspenseful and creepy, but the pacing seemed a bit off to me and I felt that the long lead up could have been edited to make the story move a long a bit better. I also wanted more involvement from the old clock! The malice emanating from the clock was such a unique, spooky concept, and the old diary entries from previous visitors to the chalet added a lot of intrigue. Unfortunately, this all occurred in the later half of the book, when I had almost decided to dnf because nothing interesting seemed to be happening. I’m glad I didn’t, because the later part of the story was as action packed and suspenseful as I had expected from the premise of the story. I’m still thinking about the clock and its involvement in proceedings – this is the type of element I love in a mystery! If the first half of the novel had lived up to the later part, the book could easily have made it on my favourite list.

 

BRIGHT AND DEADLY THINGS will appeal to readers who appreciate an atmospheric setting and a locked room mystery that relies heavily on dynamics between people in a thrown-together group. Definitely read this if you want some great armchair travel into the French Alps because the setting is just sublime.

SUN DAMAGE by Sabine Durrant

 

I first fell in love with Durrant’s writing when I read LIE WITH ME in 2016, loving the way she portrayed her flawed, dysfunctional character and how she conjured up a perfect, atmospheric backdrop for her story.

 

SUN DAMAGE features similar themes. Just like her 2016’s Paul Morris counterpart, Ali has made a mess of her life and has no qualms about cheating others out of their hard-earned cash. And yet, once I got past the first few chapters, I could not help but feel for her and found myself firmly on her side as the story unfolded. And then there is the delicious setting in the South of France: the cute bougainvillea shrouded houses, sapphire swimming pools, tiny boulangeries selling coffee and tasty pastries, a hot, languid breeze sweeping in from the South. This was armchair travel at its best!

 

With the same skill she used in LIE WITH ME, the idyllic atmosphere clashed with an escalating threat of tension and danger, keeping me enthralled until the very end. This is all I am willing to say, because SUN DAMAGE is the type of book you best jump into blindly and let it surprise you. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of this story, which allowed me to fully immerse myself into the atmosphere (and get my daily step count up by wanting to listen “just a little bit longer” on my walks). A twisty, well-plotted and character driven mystery that makes for the perfect beach or holiday read.

SUMMER FEVER by Kate Riordan

 

I’ve come to the conclusion that sultry, sexual tension novels about married people having affairs aren’t really my thing, so take my three stars purely as a personal enjoyment rating. However, as far as atmospheric, armchair travel settings go, you can’t get much better than this old villa in the Italian countryside, which kept me reading till the end and made me feel like handing in my resignation at work, pack my bags and book a flight to Italy.