BOOK REVIEW: QUEENIE BY CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Queenie
Author: Candice Carty-Williams
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 400
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Set in London, we meet Queenie, a Jamaican British woman in her mid twenties working as a journalist, who finds herself on a break from her long term boyfriend, leading her to seek comfort in all the wrong places.

Review:

This was a book I was a bit hesitant to read because I generally don't love books dealing with relationships but I'm really happy I read this book because it has a lot more to offer than that.

I will say, the part of the book I didn't think I was going to like (the relationship/break-up thing) was the part I was least invested in. However, there is so much other stuff going on in this book that I thought was fascinating. We not only take a look at the main characters relationship with her boyfriend, but also with her family, friends and the strangers she seeks comfort with. We explore modern day life, class, race, friendship and mental health and all of that stuff was amazing.

The book sets off being about a romantic relationship, but slowly moves on to really being about Queenie. Our main character is an interesting one and endlessly frustrating, but I actually kind of liked that, because it didn't feel very far off reality for me; sometimes when people struggle, they do things that are really frustrating and things that very obviously are not good for them. People are complicated and are and feel many things all at once, and I thought this character really captured that. I found myself really rooting for her and seeing her grow was incredible. 

I also like how this book includes e-mails and text messages, which sets it solidly in the present because I feel like that made the book even better.

For me, this is somewhere between a three and four star read, but I've upped it to four because I think this does so many things well. I'd really recommend it, so long as you can deal with reading about a character whose actions might make you cringe from time to time.

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