♑︎♑︎♑︎’s review of Yellowface > Likes and Comments
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I’ve been intrigued and tempted by this. Now I’m even more intrigued.
Curious how far you got before adding to the ‘no’ list!
Phoebe Simone wrote: "Curious how far you got before adding to the ‘no’ list!"
I was skeptical fairly early on
Carrie Camille wrote: "Wait why :("
it's like a food allergy, there is no why
I have the very same thing, Lark. A shelf created especially for books like Shantaram (which remains my benchmark for bad literature five years after I threw it down in disgust 😀).
Andy wrote: "I have the very same thing, Lark. A shelf created especially for books like Shantaram (which remains my benchmark for bad literature five years after I threw it down in disgust 😀)."
Yes, for some reading experiences a ‘dnf’ shelf just doesn’t do it!
I'm so happy to see/read your review as I didn't like the writing style at all. While I can absolutely agree that the themes are important to explore/write about, it just felt too 'forced' to me. Like being 'woke' for the sake of being 'woke'? It's such a well-loved book, I am obviously the problem, and I shall not say another thing about it...
That’s pretty much how I reacted to Babel. Guess I wouldn’t expect much change with her writing only one year later when that was greeted so well.
One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from that perspective. The banality and minutiae of every stupid thought and observation sucks the life out of the reader.
N.T. wrote: "One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from that perspect..."
Maybe I'm wrong to do it, but if I pick up a book in a store that is written in first person, present tense, then the writing has to be really excellent to persuade me not to put it back down again. There are reasons for this choice but usually the writers making the choice are covering over mediocre writing with a false sense of breathlessness and immediacy. Not that I have an opinion or anything.
Lark wrote: "N.T. wrote: "One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from ..."
Totally agree. Even first person, past tense can be a turn off. It needs to fit the purpose of the narrative and have a function. Much of the fiction I see that is popular is first person but it feels lazy when I try to read it. Instead of using action and dialogue to reveal character, the character's internal monologues, opinions, and even explicit opinions and reasons for doing things is fed to the me. As you can see, I have no opinion on the matter either.
Yeah reading this put me into a slump, even though I listened to it. For whatever reason I wanted to be able to say I finished it and could evaluate it though, since there’s Discourse.
(Also, the fact that Fake Accounts is so poorly rated compared to this is something that I shake my head about every time I think about it.)
yes it's very important to keep chronological track of my 'no's'
Two chapters in. It’s really deplorable!
Richard wrote: "Two chapters in. It’s really deplorable!"
I'm so depressed it was ever published. Do people actually read or do they just skim their eyes across the letters and make up something because they heard it was good
Goodreads reviews gotta be the most ruthless comments I’ve ever seen 😭
Thank goodness everyone out there in not-goodreads-land has already decided the reviews here are entirely ignorable and are all written by ignorant plubs or I’d need to be more boringly well-considered in my remarks
Yep. I need one of these, also... Finished one, myself, recently that I detested. Isn't this one essentially the same premise as The Fiction Writer (of which I've not read, either).
Melissa wrote: "Yep. I need one of these, also... Finished one, myself, recently that I detested. Isn't this one essentially the same premise as The Fiction Writer (of which I've not read, either)."
It's enormously satisfying to put bad experiences away neatly, on their own special shelf.
I feel like listening to this as an audiobook (which I did) was a totally different experience than reading it would have been.
Oracle.Xy wrote: "I feel like listening to this as an audiobook (which I did) was a totally different experience than reading it would have been."
Yes, it’s amazing how being told the story vs. reading a line of words on a page can change things.
I like this write up Lark, I haven't added this one (yet).
I loved this book, but I still love this review 😂
Kerry wrote: "I loved this book, but I still love this review 😂"
Thanks for not getting mad at me. Thanks to conversations here on goodreads I’ve learned what an idiosyncratic reader I am. This novel lost my goodwill by the 4th word of the opening sentence.i read on to see if she literally meant what she had written and began to accumulate many other other not-quite-what-she-probably-meant words in the storythat made it painful to my brain to continue reading, like I was getting poked by sharp tiny toothpicks.
I wish I'd done this. Because the blurb intrigued me and I was excited to read it for so long (partly due to the hype) I needed to make sure and finish it. Honestly, you dodged a bullet.
“if I pick up a book in a store that is written in first person, present tense, then the writing has to be really excellent to persuade me not to put it back down again. There are reasons for this choice but usually the writers making the choice are covering over mediocre writing with a false sense of breathlessness and immediacy.”
100%, this is me too.
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Cecily
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Jul 06, 2023 11:39AM
I’ve been intrigued and tempted by this. Now I’m even more intrigued.
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Curious how far you got before adding to the ‘no’ list!
Phoebe Simone wrote: "Curious how far you got before adding to the ‘no’ list!"I was skeptical fairly early on
Carrie Camille wrote: "Wait why :("it's like a food allergy, there is no why
I have the very same thing, Lark. A shelf created especially for books like Shantaram (which remains my benchmark for bad literature five years after I threw it down in disgust 😀).
Andy wrote: "I have the very same thing, Lark. A shelf created especially for books like Shantaram (which remains my benchmark for bad literature five years after I threw it down in disgust 😀)."Yes, for some reading experiences a ‘dnf’ shelf just doesn’t do it!
I'm so happy to see/read your review as I didn't like the writing style at all. While I can absolutely agree that the themes are important to explore/write about, it just felt too 'forced' to me. Like being 'woke' for the sake of being 'woke'? It's such a well-loved book, I am obviously the problem, and I shall not say another thing about it...
That’s pretty much how I reacted to Babel. Guess I wouldn’t expect much change with her writing only one year later when that was greeted so well.
One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from that perspective. The banality and minutiae of every stupid thought and observation sucks the life out of the reader.
N.T. wrote: "One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from that perspect..."Maybe I'm wrong to do it, but if I pick up a book in a store that is written in first person, present tense, then the writing has to be really excellent to persuade me not to put it back down again. There are reasons for this choice but usually the writers making the choice are covering over mediocre writing with a false sense of breathlessness and immediacy. Not that I have an opinion or anything.
Lark wrote: "N.T. wrote: "One of the downfalls of writers only being able to write in first person now. If your narrator is unreliable, annoying, insane, then it becomes a burden to try and read 300 pages from ..."Totally agree. Even first person, past tense can be a turn off. It needs to fit the purpose of the narrative and have a function. Much of the fiction I see that is popular is first person but it feels lazy when I try to read it. Instead of using action and dialogue to reveal character, the character's internal monologues, opinions, and even explicit opinions and reasons for doing things is fed to the me. As you can see, I have no opinion on the matter either.
Yeah reading this put me into a slump, even though I listened to it. For whatever reason I wanted to be able to say I finished it and could evaluate it though, since there’s Discourse.
(Also, the fact that Fake Accounts is so poorly rated compared to this is something that I shake my head about every time I think about it.)
yes it's very important to keep chronological track of my 'no's'
Two chapters in. It’s really deplorable!
Richard wrote: "Two chapters in. It’s really deplorable!"I'm so depressed it was ever published. Do people actually read or do they just skim their eyes across the letters and make up something because they heard it was good
Goodreads reviews gotta be the most ruthless comments I’ve ever seen 😭
Thank goodness everyone out there in not-goodreads-land has already decided the reviews here are entirely ignorable and are all written by ignorant plubs or I’d need to be more boringly well-considered in my remarks
Yep. I need one of these, also... Finished one, myself, recently that I detested. Isn't this one essentially the same premise as The Fiction Writer (of which I've not read, either).
Melissa wrote: "Yep. I need one of these, also... Finished one, myself, recently that I detested. Isn't this one essentially the same premise as The Fiction Writer (of which I've not read, either)."It's enormously satisfying to put bad experiences away neatly, on their own special shelf.
I feel like listening to this as an audiobook (which I did) was a totally different experience than reading it would have been.
Oracle.Xy wrote: "I feel like listening to this as an audiobook (which I did) was a totally different experience than reading it would have been."Yes, it’s amazing how being told the story vs. reading a line of words on a page can change things.
I like this write up Lark, I haven't added this one (yet).
I loved this book, but I still love this review 😂
Kerry wrote: "I loved this book, but I still love this review 😂"Thanks for not getting mad at me. Thanks to conversations here on goodreads I’ve learned what an idiosyncratic reader I am. This novel lost my goodwill by the 4th word of the opening sentence.i read on to see if she literally meant what she had written and began to accumulate many other other not-quite-what-she-probably-meant words in the storythat made it painful to my brain to continue reading, like I was getting poked by sharp tiny toothpicks.
I wish I'd done this. Because the blurb intrigued me and I was excited to read it for so long (partly due to the hype) I needed to make sure and finish it. Honestly, you dodged a bullet.
“if I pick up a book in a store that is written in first person, present tense, then the writing has to be really excellent to persuade me not to put it back down again. There are reasons for this choice but usually the writers making the choice are covering over mediocre writing with a false sense of breathlessness and immediacy.”100%, this is me too.
