amyvl93's reviews
898 reviews

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Open Water is a really tricky book to rate and review - as it contains some really beautiful writing, wrapped around a central relationship I found hard to buy in to - and it's one of the most hyped contemporary novels out there.

The novel follows 'you' a young black British man living in South East London and working as a photographer who falls for a young black British woman studying between Dublin and London and wanting to be a dancer. It unpacks their relationship from friendship to something more, alongside the experience of being black in London and the world, trying to find a voice, and trying to find a sense of belonging.

As I mentioned, Nelson's writing is often really moving and I liked his depictions of London, of the different facets of masculinity and the way he wove references to music, literature and film throughout. However, the writing about love always kept me at something of a distance and at times felt overwrought - aside from their being a mutual attraction and connection this felt abstract on the page. I never quite got a grip on who 'she' was - and why there was an attraction and love there that was unlike any other. We are told frequently about the level of emotion that 'you' are experiencing, but this never quite connected with me as a reader.

Nelson is definitely a talented writer and I'd be interested in seeing what he continues to write - this just didn't quite work for me.

Content Warnings

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm very late to this party but what a wild party it is. For those living under a rock, Yellowface is R.F. Kuang's satire of the publishing industry following June (aka Juniper Song) who steals the manuscript from her frenemy Athena after she dies in a freak accident and decides to pass of the story of Chinese migrant labourers in WWI as her own.

Being in June's head for 300 pages was both unbearable but also undeniably engaging. There are so many opportunities for June to course correct that her ego and/or sense of entitlement and/or misguided belief in her own talent means that she refuses to change direction, ultimately building to the novel's finale.

Much of the content of Yellowface will be familiar to anyone who spends time on the literary internet - references to twitter accounts, YouTubers and review sites abound within the pages of the book. There were times when I couldn't quite grasp whether Kuang was using the pages of the novel to work out her own frustrations with criticism of her work which occasionally felt a bit uncomfortable as a reader. Athena felt a little too close to Kuang as a person for her portrayal to be as authentic as it could have been - we know she's privileged but aside from June constantly mentioning this, and a Twitter thread that is treated as suitably unhinged, we don't really unpack how she managed to break into the industry. I did also spot the likely 'antagonist' (from June's perspective) a mile off, which meant that the reveal at the end lost some of its punch.

Kuang is astute with her take on who gets to tell what stories, and she does this within a darkly comic story. She is such a great talent - to write as wide-ranging novels as Babel and Yellowface is remarkable and I'm eagerly awaiting her next work.

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

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emotional reflective medium-paced