Yellowface

It's a propulsive, airport-read thriller with an, if not totally unreliable, then blissfully unaware narrator spilling tea on the publishing industry. The satisfaction lies less with the unsympathetic protagonist blinded by capitalist ambition and fuelled by systemic entitlement and more with the deep bookish lore referenced throughout. For that small subset of us readers versed in the online book world, this is a collection of greatest hits and I suspect the conversation around the book itself will get wonderfully meta.

Come for the pearl clutching act of June Haywood passing off her successful and recently deceased friend's novel as her own. Stay for the sharp digs at the publishing machine playing coy with ethnic ambiguity, authors on the offensive over poor Goodreads reviews, inevitable misogyny and racial epithets, being cancelled, being embraced by the right after being cancelled, #ownvoices, yellowface and more. All from an author who hasn't reached 30, yet has a decade of hits under her belt and the receipts to show for it. The call is coming from inside the house and Kuang is no doubt writing from a wealth of personal experience.

So even if you've never shaken your fist at the Goodreads Choice Awards, taken a cringey group photo at BookCon, or gotten attacked by an author over your 4 star review, there's still lots to love — but your mileage may vary.