Boundless Press | Yellowface: A Novel
Log in or Sign up
Yellowface: A Novel
R. F Kuang
Save to Your Books
100% of affiliate revenue supports Boundless Press
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
“Hard to put down, harder to forget.” — Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author
White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences…
Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who 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 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 grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
Show more
Get the Bindery app
Posts about this title from Boundless Press
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Apr 2
FEB GALAXY EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: How I Conduct Research for My Book
Let me know if you have any questions y'all!
6 books
5
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Aug 26 2024
book recs for REFORMED colleen hoover readers | read these books instead of IT ENDS WITH US
have you ever read colleen hoover's books? which books would you recommend instead?
16 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jul 8 2024
If you like this, read this book! BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
19 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 22 2024
book recs to get you back into reading in 2024!! | lit fic, fantasy, romance
Hope you enjoy xx
15 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Dec 27 2023
my TOP TEN favourite books of 2023 📚✨ BEST BOOKS OF 2023
tell me your favourite books of the year in the comments!
16 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Nov 13 2023
tier ranking every book i've rated five stars ⭐️ in the past three years
we love a good tier-ranking video! let me know your faves!
39 books
Posts about this book from across Bindery
Wild Card Reads\ \ Samia (bookaroundandfindout)\ \ • Jun 17
Join for free
Some of the craziest women I've ever seen in books - from toxic to straight delulu we love to read about them but not be them!
Books I mention: -Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke - Hooked by Asako Yuzuki - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang -Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
5 books
Wild Card Reads\ \ Samia (bookaroundandfindout)\ \ • Jun 1
Join for free
[Hi friends — and welcome to the very first Wild Card Dispatch. This is my newsletter to share with you my thoughts and book rants and updates to how this Bindery works! First of all, thank you so much for being here, it really means the world to me. 🥹\ \ So I literally just moved to new apartment this weekend after six years. Moving has been chaos in the best way, but the part I'm genuinely obsessed with is plotting out my little reading nook with bookshelf galore and my plants and a cosy sitting spot and ahhh!!! \ \ Because May was AAPI Month, I made a real point of filling my stack with AAPI authors. And because I'm physically incapable of staying in one genre for more than five minutes, the haul ended up being a horror, a satire, two romances, a literary mystery, and a historical fantasy epic — which is the most "me" sentence I've ever typed and exactly what Wild Card Reads is supposed to feel like.\ \ So let's get into it, in literally no particular order at all. \ \ The Winged Game — Sophie Kim ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ \ \ You know that feeling when you need a book to just remind you that reading is fun? This was that book for me. It's a fantasy SPORTS romance — yes, both of those things, together, and I had no idea I needed it — with enemies-to-lovers banter so good that Taissa and Kion's internal monologues had me cackling out loud. There's real depth under all the humor too, with backstories and a found family I got genuinely attached to, plus I learned an alarming amount of Scottish slang along the way. I'm a Sophie Kim girl now, no notes, and I will be reading 800 more pages in this world if she'll let me. It really brought joy to my heart. \ \ Out of Her League — Ava Rani ⭐⭐⭐ \ \ A cute, sparkly beach-day read, and I'm being honest with you the way I always am: it was a solid time, not a life-changer. What I loved was an FMC who refuses to sacrifice her career for anyone, real rep for women in medicine, a genuinely sweet and understanding MMC, and that supportive-best-friend energy I'm always a sucker for. It lost a little shine for me with some repeated lines and an ex-boyfriend storyline I expected more tension from. But if you want something low-stakes and warm to read with an iced coffee in the sun, this does the job nicely.\ \ Yellowface — R.F. Kuang ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ \ \ The moral of the story? White women are crazy. June steals the work of her Asian friend Athena (who's dead) and then somehow convinces herself she's the victim, and watching her gaslight everyone — including herself — was a hilarious ride. It's a razor-sharp look at how publishing decides which books are "bestsellers" and how Asian authors basically have to be brilliant just to get in the door. I listened on audio and cannot recommend it enough; the narrator's sarcasm is hysterical. This is literary satire for sure and I know a lot people didn't like it but I think I came in with such low expectations that I ended up being surprised. \ \ The Girl with a Thousand Faces — Sunyi Dean ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ \ \ This one starts as a ghostly detective tale set in 1940s Hong Kong, post-invasion, and slowly unfolds into something so much bigger — a story about war's scars, revenge, and how generational trauma lingers even thirty-plus years later. The layered structure absolutely hooked me, and the blend of real history with the supernatural felt both completely fresh and deeply moving. There were parts of the book told in second person as well and it was weird because I don't think I've read that much second person POV. If you're drawn to ghost stories that actually have a beating heart and historical weight behind them, this might be for you. It's not really scary or horror I would say, so if you were apprehensive let that change your mind and try it out! \ \ Men Like Ours — Bindu Bansinath ⭐⭐⭐⭐ \ \ Let me be upfront: this book made me deeply uncomfortable, and I think that was entirely the point. It's set in a South Asian suburban enclave in New Jersey where a man is found dead in his BMW and the women of the neighborhood get pulled into figuring out what happened. The mystery kept me turning pages, but what it's really about is what happens to people when community becomes a pressure cooker of unfulfilled lives. It takes some of the most painful tendencies that can exist in South Asian culture and concentrates them all into one street, and it's stressful precisely because none of it is invented — but it's also not all of us. One of the main characters, Anita, lived in my head rent-free because you wanted to hate her but you also deeply sympathized with the cards she got. It was bleak, dark, strange, but oddly hard to put down. \ \ Burn the Sea — Mona Tewari ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ \ \ I genuinely did not expect a book about Portuguese colonizers reimagined as giant half-snake sea monsters to wreck me this much, but here we are. Watching Abbakka go from a reluctant queen shoved onto a throne she never asked for into an actual hero for her whole country was everything — you feel every ounce of her doubt and grief, so by the end she's earned every inch of that strength. What stuck with me most was how the book handles grief: the way sometimes you don't get to stop and fall apart, you just keep moving until you're somewhere safe enough to actually feel it. The South Asian culture on the page was so beautiful I felt genuinely seen, and knowing this is Mona's debut, written because she wanted to see herself in fiction, makes it land even harder. (Tiny proud-aunt moment: this one's a Bindery Books title, and championing debuts like this is exactly why I'm here.)I am THIRSTING for book two. \ \
- *\ \ Suprise: the Wild Card Book Club is officially happening 📚! \ \ Woooo! So, the whole reason I built Wild Card Reads was to have a place where we could actually talk about books beyond a 60-second video where I'm gesturing wildly at a cover. So I'm genuinely thrilled to tell you the Wild Card Book Club is here.\ \ Here's how it works:\ \
- Everyone — free members too — gets into the Discord, where we hang out, scream about plot twists, and post unhinged reactions in real time. Come say hi!\ \
- $5 members get the heart of it: our monthly live virtual book club session (real faces, real conversation, actual humans!), potential guest appearances by authors, early reveals of what we're reading next so you can grab the book in time, and a say in what we pick together. You and me, building the TBR of our lives.\ \
- $12 members get everything above, plus first dibs on the bigger stuff I'm dreaming up for down the road — including, fingers crossed, some in-person meetups one day. 🤞\ \ \ Our first pick and the full details — how to join the live session, the date, and a guest I'm very excited about — are dropping in a dedicated post later this week. Keep your eyes peeled. 👀\ \
- *\ \ okay, now help me out of my slump \ \ I hope you pick up one of these books or if you have already read one message me in the Discord chat so we can yap! \ \ Now I need you, what should I read next? I've started a few books while I wait for my copy of The Ballad of Fallen Dragons to arrive so I need some recs. What did you read for AAPI Month that I have to get my hands on? Come yell at me in the Discord — and not for nothing, a few of these picks could be on the book club shortlist. 👀\ \ Thank you for being here for dispatch #1. I hope someone read this to the end because I YAPPED. \ \ Talk soon, Samia 🌷](https://thebookaroundlounge.binderybooks.com/item/vZNlN0iq1olAzHTGDnAw/)
Newsletter: Wild Card Dispatch ✦ AAPI Month Recap + Hello!
6 books
Kenny 🫧 \ \ kenny girl reads\ \ • Apr 14
Join for free
pov: your favorite genre is just women going through something
it’s no secret that my favorite genre is just women going through things…and tbh the less plot driven the better 🙂↕️
here are some of my favorites and some that are high up on my tbr!
did i miss any? add your picks in the comments because i’m always looking to read more 🫶🏼
#litfic #womensfiction #bookrecommendations
niche book recs | literary fiction recommendations | best book recommendations | lit fic bookstagram | literary booksta | favorite books | reading books | bookish guide
27 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Apr 2
\ \ Upgrade for $25 or login](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/JhjpNKSC8D0DF6zwLiCI/)
FEB GALAXY EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: How I Conduct Research for My Book
Let me know if you have any questions y'all!
6 books
5
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Oct 13 2025
Join for free
I have read ONE book in the last 2 weeks lol classes started and the slump hit immediately #booktok #readingwrapup #bookreviews #yesnomaybe #books
15 books
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Sep 15 2025
Join for free
a very yappy vibes-based fall tbr
I was VERY yappy when I filmed this buckle in besties #booktok #toberrad #falltbr #fallbooks #tbrlist
14 books
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Sep 15 2025
Join for free
rf kuang scares me and i don't know where to start with her books
RF Kuang scares me idk if I’m smart enough for this but I WANT TO BE #booktok #kfkuang #katabasis #fantasybooks #darkacademia
5 books
Mystery Manon\ \ Manon\ \ • Jun 3 2025
Join for free
MAY READING WRAP-UP (8 books!)
May was a solid reading month for me! I always make an effort to read a variety of mystery subgenres—and it’s never a problem, considering that mystery is an expansive genre. This past month, I enjoyed everything from treasure hunting and adventure to domestic suspense (one with a troublesome wife, the other with the most awful man you’ll ever read).
8 books
1
Moonlit Fables\ \ Rupali\ \ • May 16 2025
Join for free
\ \ ☁️ Happy AANHPI Month!! ☁️\ \ This is a very very small list of book recommendations across 7 genres. Drop your favorite in the comments (if it’s not listed here!)\ \ When I was researching books for this post, I was getting extremely frustrated with the grouping together of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians. We are a group of so many identities & cultures. South Asian people alone have so many subgroups & cultures, its annoying to be put into this generic box. I only added 9 books for each genre so this list is definitely not indicative of the wide range of people that we are! I hope you find your next favorite read from here 😃\ \ \ \ 𝐅 𝐀 𝐍 𝐓 𝐀 𝐒 𝐘\ \ ✨The Legend Of Meneka\ \ ✨And The Sky Bled\ \ ✨Jade City\ \ ✨The Jasmine Throne\ \ ✨Kaikeyi\ \ ✨The Spear Cuts Through Water\ \ ✨Babel\ \ ✨She Who Became the Sun\ \ ✨This Monster of Mine\ \ \ \ 𝐘 𝐀 𝐅 𝐀 𝐍 𝐓 𝐀 𝐒 𝐘\ \ ✨Star Daughter\ \ ✨An Ember in the Ashes\ \ ✨Six Crimson Cranes\ \ ✨We Hunt the Flame\ \ ✨Dragonfruit\ \ ✨Daughter of the Moon Goddess\ \ ✨Magic Has No Borders\ \ ✨We Shall Be Monsters\ \ ✨The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea\ \ \ \ 𝐑 𝐎 𝐌 𝐀 𝐍 𝐂 𝐄\ \ ♥️ The Kiss Quotient\ \ ♥️ The Trouble with Hating You\ \ ♥️ Marriage & Masti\ \ ♥️ Not Safe for Work\ \ ♥️ Ying Yang Love Song\ \ ♥️ Say You’ll Be Mine\ \ ♥️ Sorry, Bro\ \ ♥️ The Right Swipe\ \ ♥️ The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches\ \ \ \ 𝐘 𝐀 𝐑 𝐎 𝐌 𝐀 𝐍 𝐂 𝐄\ \ ♥️ Eliza, from Scratch\ \ ♥️ When Dimple met Rishi\ \ ♥️ If You Could See the Sun\ \ ♥️ Sanskari Sweetheart\ \ ♥️ The Romance Rivalry\ \ ♥️ The Love Match\ \ ♥️ Clementine & Danny Save the World\ \ ♥️ Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance\ \ ♥️ XOXO\ \ \ \ 𝐌 𝐘 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐘\ \ 🔍 Arsenic & Adobo\ \ 🔍 Death of a Lesser God\ \ 🔍 Accidental Alchemist\ \ 🔍 The Frangipani Tree Mystery\ \ 🔍 The Bandit Queens\ \ 🔍 Now You See Us\ \ 🔍 Everything I Never Told You\ \ 🔍 Iced In Paradise\ \ 🔍 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers\ \ \ \ 𝐅 𝐈 𝐂 𝐓 𝐈 𝐎 𝐍\ \ 💫 The Joy Luck Club\ \ 💫 Yellowface\ \ 💫 Tiare in Bloom\ \ 💫 On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous\ \ 💫 The Namesake\ \ 💫 Pachinko\ \ 💫 The Daughters of Madurai\ \ 💫 The Henna Artist\ \ 💫 Beasts of a Little Land\ \ \ \ 𝐍 𝐎 𝐍 - 𝐅 𝐈 𝐂 𝐓 𝐈 𝐎 𝐍\ \ 📖 Crying in H Mart\ \ 📖 The Ivory Throne\ \ 📖 The Making of Asian America\ \ 📖 Born in Paradise\ \ 📖 Stay True\ \ 📖 Minor Feelings\ \ 📖 Year of the Tiger\ \ 📖 All You Can Ever Know\ \ 📖 Know My Name\ \ Join for free or login](https://moonlitfables.binderybooks.com/item/GFnyCXCJkl7HTigsOYKq/)
some AANHPI book recs for you organized by genre!
7 books
4
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Apr 18 2025
Join for free
Shelves and the City BOOK HAUL!!! | part one
11 books
Kiln Books\ \ dylan joseph\ \ • Feb 19 2025
Join for free
Unhauling books I didn't like!
6 books
1
Kiln Books\ \ dylan joseph\ \ • Feb 19 2025
Join for free
spend the weekend with me 🌲 january wrap-up, bookshopping vlog & quitting booktok?
🐻 in this video, i go for a hike and talk about being in a creative rut, write at a café, go bookshopping, talk about my january reads, and talk about my struggles with short form content!
1
Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Jan 17 2025
Join for free
Where to start with R. F. Kuang’s work.
Where to start with R. F. Kuang’s work.
The Poppy War Th Dragon Republic The Burning God Yellowface Babel Katabasis
#rfkuang #thepoppywar #babel #katabasis #bookish #bookrecommendations #readingorder #bookstagram
6 books
4
Trash Panda’s Universe\ \ Trash Panda Leon\ \ • Jan 6 2025
Join for free
Top Reads of 2024 - Bookish Recap - Honorable Mentions
If you want to support me, consider joining my Bindery for free: https://trashpandas.binderybooks.com/about/
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/shop/trashpandascorner
Chapter: 0:00 - Intro 0:11 - Blood Over Bright Haven 1:05 - Chain Gang All Stars 3:59 - All System Red (Graphic Audio) 5:45 - Yellowface 8:50 - The Final Strife 12:35 - She's A Keeper 15:47 - Blood & Brujas 19:06 - Trial of the Sun Queen 22:46 - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing 26:16 - House of Frank 30:47 - Honorable mentions
9 books
Trash Panda’s Universe\ \ Trash Panda Leon\ \ • Nov 20 2024
Join for free
#yellowface
1 book
The Black Bird Commons\ \ Tim\ \ • Sep 23 2024
Join for free
September 23: What have I been Reading?
What am I Reading?
10 books
2
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Aug 26 2024
book recs for REFORMED colleen hoover readers | read these books instead of IT ENDS WITH US
have you ever read colleen hoover's books? which books would you recommend instead?
16 books
Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jul 10 2024
Join for free
\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://moodreads.binderybooks.com/item/OhlIcmTSFKsQGkVCMEaN/)
7 books
1
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jul 8 2024
If you like this, read this book! BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
19 books
Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Jun 28 2024
Join for free
Fifteen Special Editions I loved and would recommend
Fifteen Special Editions I loved and would recommend
15 books
The Book Was Better\ \ Kayla\ \ • May 13 2024
Join for free
new series of mine where I’ll be creating makeup looks inspired by book covers
the first look in a brand new series of mine where I’ll be creating makeup looks inspired by book covers that I love! 💛 today is inspired by none other than “Yellowface” by the queen herself @kuangrf #makeup #beauty #makeuptutorial #getreadywithme #books #booktok #yellowface #rfkuang
1 book
The Book Was Better\ \ Kayla\ \ • May 13 2024
Join for free
i don’t think i will ever stop talking about these 🥹⭐️
i don’t think i will ever stop talking about these 🥹⭐️ #books #reading #booktok #booktoker #booktokfyp #bookish #5starbooks #booksicantstopthinkingabout #favoritebooks #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #booksilove #booksthatchangedmylife #bookworm #bookstan #booklover #bookshelf #tbwb #thebookwasbetter #CapCut
5 books
Written Reveries\ \ Krystal\ \ • Apr 16 2024
Join for free
\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://writtenreveries.binderybooks.com/item/q712YOhj7C3lQTuxReKj/)
I love all of these authors, and will buy anything they write.
11 books
2
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 22 2024
book recs to get you back into reading in 2024!! | lit fic, fantasy, romance
Hope you enjoy xx
15 books
Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 6 2024
Join for free
I’m kidding, please ask me!!! #booktoker #booktok #bookrecommendations
25 books
Fat Forward Books\ \ Samantha Puc\ \ • Dec 29 2023
Join for free
After much consideration, these are my favorite reads from 2023. What would you recommend based on these picks? What were your favorite books this year? 📚🪩✨
#ReadIn2023 #FavoriteBooksOf2023
9 books
2
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Dec 27 2023
my TOP TEN favourite books of 2023 📚✨ BEST BOOKS OF 2023
tell me your favourite books of the year in the comments!
16 books
sunny thoughts\ \ Sunny\ \ • Dec 9 2023
Join for free
very belatedly reacting to the Goodreads Choice Award nominations & winners of 2023
back from my hiatus! To comment and bitch about the people's reading taste of course.
🍉🕊️🫒 donation info: Please DO NOT mention PaIestine in your donation. VENMO: @three-dee or @Lina-Shahid PAYPAL: @deesturbance ZELLE: 720-240-1108
last year's vid: https://youtu.be/VBSOGbDJloM?si=XSDL\_LNyMF2sMoSf
Find me: Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/asunnybooknook (I don't update my Storygraph profile, sorry!! only upload my goodreads data there once a year for data purposes :( too hard to keep up with 2 tracking apps and I'm more familiar with Goodreads at this point) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sunnyboxhouse My Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sunnyinstlouis/ Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/asunnybooknook Business contact - asunnybooknook @ gmail dot com
🍑🍊🕊🌸🍓🍒🍇 Listen to me and my best friend's lesbian comedy media & pop culture commentary podcast, The Lavender Menace! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KoWHeYT8M0svZhvTsOUgt?si=LzGU-55zSOmbanf7-vlTMg&dl\_branch=1 Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/agmaoiRQRy?amp=1 Patreon, for exclusive bonus episodes & early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace
Us, elsewhere: Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thelavendermenacepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiuLKSL75Tcd5Zu7DMnC5vQ Letterboxd - https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/ Substack - https://thelavendermenace.substack.com/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thelavendermenacepod?\_t=8V5Ee2joahq&\_r=1
29 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Nov 13 2023
tier ranking every book i've rated five stars ⭐️ in the past three years
we love a good tier-ranking video! let me know your faves!
39 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jul 19 2023
the books I'm taking with me when i MOVE OUT 📚🌇
Thank you to Ritual for Sponsoring this video. Get 30% OFF your first month Go to https://ritual.com/thisstoryaintover30 *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover
💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com
faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)
🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!
🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!
40 books