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literatureaesthetic's Reviews (540)
When I heard that Suzanne Collins was writing a book about Snow as a teen..... I was very apprehensive. I thought this book was going to be a redemption book for Snow. I thought we were going to find out about how traumatic Snow's childhood was and then feel sorry for him and yay he's redeemed! This book was much more complex than that.
One thing I found really interesting about this book, was the actual Hunger Games event. In the original trilogy, we are always in the mind of Katniss. We experience The Hunger Games through the tribute. In this book we witness The Hunger Games through the eyes of the mentor, we see what's happening outside of the Games in the minds of the people who helped organise and create it. We see specific rules of the Games actually being formed.
As for Snow, was this a "redemption" book? No. We watch Snow undergo some extreme character development, however Collins does this in a way where we don't fall in love with him as a villain. There are definitely times where I felt sympathetic, but these moments were immediately followed by something Snow says or does that reminds me of my dislike towards his character.
As for the other characters... I really LOVED Lucy Gray and Sejanus. I think their characters were great.
This book raises the topic of human nature. Collins leaves the readers pondering the question, what is humanity at its roots? Without laws are humans wild, untamed, violent. Or are people monsters because of their exposure to a toxic and abusive world? What drives a human to kill? If a human is exposed to hatred and conflict, then that hatred and violence takes root inside them and it begins to spread. Are humans naturally monsters? I don't think so. Can growing up in an abusive world like The Hunger Games turn a person into a monster? For sure.
This book served as an extremely interesting character study and an exploration of the nature vs nurture debate
'yellowface' was an absolute romp of a novel following june, a white author who decides to steal an unpublished manuscript by best-selling asian author, athena, after athena randomly dies. things spiral out of control as june passes the novel as her own and is haunted by the consequences of thievery and cultural appropriation
with acerbic social commentary, 'yellowface' calls out the publishing industry & online book communities, discusses cultural erasure, the treatment of marginalised voices & the need for non-white people to sell trauma stories in order to be seen, heard and acknowledged. it comments on cancel culture and online discourses surrounding controversial authors, and so much more
this book was compulsively readable, darkly comedic, satirical, and effective. 'yellowface' accomplishes everything it sets out to do, and it does it well. this story felt unsettling in how enjoyable it was. no matter how horrific & twisted it got, i could not put it down. i hated june with a passion, but being in her warped mind was so much fun. i loved the discussions in here, r f kuang makes acute observations regarding online book communities that really spoke to me
saying that, 'yellowface' might just be my least favourite release by r f kuang. it is, objectively, a great book that achieves what it sets out to do. but it's never a story i'm gonna reread. it didn't affect me as much as her previous work has. it has its flaws: for me, the ending felt cliché, the pop culture references got tedious after a while, and it was a little too heavy-handed at times (i would love to see kuang try something more subtle in the future)
i still highly recommend it because it is expertly crafted and an incredible response to a plethora of current issues. i just wish it had more of a long-lasting impact, if i'm honest
— 3.5☆
with acerbic social commentary, 'yellowface' calls out the publishing industry & online book communities, discusses cultural erasure, the treatment of marginalised voices & the need for non-white people to sell trauma stories in order to be seen, heard and acknowledged. it comments on cancel culture and online discourses surrounding controversial authors, and so much more
this book was compulsively readable, darkly comedic, satirical, and effective. 'yellowface' accomplishes everything it sets out to do, and it does it well. this story felt unsettling in how enjoyable it was. no matter how horrific & twisted it got, i could not put it down. i hated june with a passion, but being in her warped mind was so much fun. i loved the discussions in here, r f kuang makes acute observations regarding online book communities that really spoke to me
saying that, 'yellowface' might just be my least favourite release by r f kuang. it is, objectively, a great book that achieves what it sets out to do. but it's never a story i'm gonna reread. it didn't affect me as much as her previous work has. it has its flaws: for me, the ending felt cliché, the pop culture references got tedious after a while, and it was a little too heavy-handed at times (i would love to see kuang try something more subtle in the future)
i still highly recommend it because it is expertly crafted and an incredible response to a plethora of current issues. i just wish it had more of a long-lasting impact, if i'm honest
— 3.5☆
Bunny was bizarre, hallucinogenic, it felt like a fever dream. i ADORED the writing (so much so that I immediately bought Awad's latest release, after finishing Bunny). surprisingly, i found this story to actually be extremely multi-layered. on the surface, it's a fun and satirical cult horror. delve a little deeper and you'll find fine-drawn and unique critiques on themes like classism, loneliness, art culture, queer desire. it's one of those novels that you could theorise about for AGES.
i will say, the ending lost me a little? i looved the first half, the last third was slightly too chaotic/messy for me. i'd still recommend, if you're interested!!
i will say, the ending lost me a little? i looved the first half, the last third was slightly too chaotic/messy for me. i'd still recommend, if you're interested!!
the first half of the book was quite slow and was sort of filling the gaps and questions left over from Throne of Glass. however the 2nd half is a completely different story! the second half of the book was full of excitement, and we see a whole new side of Caelena. AND THE PLOT TWIST AT THE END HAS ME SHOOK!!!
wanted someone to actually shoot me at one point
as if i went through literal hell reading this book, only for it to have the most stupid fucking ending i have ever encountered
very briefly, eliot’s writing did nothing for me (it’s very dickensian, who i LOATHE so that’s great). i think the themes were great, a large part of the novel is tracking the growth of materialism within victorian society (specifically an ecological reading, it’s very focused on nature and how the growth of entrepreneurial capitalism alters a society, as well as the interplay between the individual and the wider natural world), but i found that any effective discussions of themes were diluted with a fuck-tonne of filler moments
[ read for uni ]
as if i went through literal hell reading this book, only for it to have the most stupid fucking ending i have ever encountered
very briefly, eliot’s writing did nothing for me (it’s very dickensian, who i LOATHE so that’s great). i think the themes were great, a large part of the novel is tracking the growth of materialism within victorian society (specifically an ecological reading, it’s very focused on nature and how the growth of entrepreneurial capitalism alters a society, as well as the interplay between the individual and the wider natural world), but i found that any effective discussions of themes were diluted with a fuck-tonne of filler moments
[ read for uni ]
i'm not entirely sure about this rating. this wasn't a good romance book at all, but it's also not trying to be?
i think the characters are really dumb, i hated them (bj specifically). i don't think jessa hastings writes very well? her writing is extremely wannabe lyrical and it just doesn't work for me. for those reasons, this is probably sitting at a 2-3 stars? but it was very entertaining and i think i'll enjoy daisy's book significantly more (mainly because bj isn't the love interest, thank GOD lmao)
idk i'm very interested to see where this goes
i think the characters are really dumb, i hated them (bj specifically). i don't think jessa hastings writes very well? her writing is extremely wannabe lyrical and it just doesn't work for me. for those reasons, this is probably sitting at a 2-3 stars? but it was very entertaining and i think i'll enjoy daisy's book significantly more (mainly because bj isn't the love interest, thank GOD lmao)
idk i'm very interested to see where this goes