Queenie - BookWyrm

Serpina reviewed Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Review of 'Queenie' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

How to review this book...
I do think it's a good book with a good message. Queenie is a 25 years old woman, who loses her boyfriend, job, one of her best girl friends and her dignity in a very short amount of time. Her life sucks, men are using her, she has to move back into her grandparent's house and all of this is coated with a thick layer of racism on top.
This is a good story, relatable in some parts and uncomfortably unrelatable in other parts (I'm a white woman). So why do I only give three stars? Because I hate contemporary stories. I dislike the genre and don't enjoy spending my time reading about normal people with normal problems.
If your job is bad, you better be a reaper. If your family is dysfunctional, your parents better be Lillith and the Archangel Gabriel. If your partner …

How to review this book...
I do think it's a good book with a good message. Queenie is a 25 years old woman, who loses her boyfriend, job, one of her best girl friends and her dignity in a very short amount of time. Her life sucks, men are using her, she has to move back into her grandparent's house and all of this is coated with a thick layer of racism on top.
This is a good story, relatable in some parts and uncomfortably unrelatable in other parts (I'm a white woman). So why do I only give three stars? Because I hate contemporary stories. I dislike the genre and don't enjoy spending my time reading about normal people with normal problems.
If your job is bad, you better be a reaper. If your family is dysfunctional, your parents better be Lillith and the Archangel Gabriel. If your partner sucks, they better be a vampire, or at least a fae.
If I read books without any fantasy elements, they're usually at least some cozy mysteries.

But Queenie was a gift some Christmases ago and a) I plan to reduce my physical TBR this year significantly and b) in honor of Black History Month, I wanted to read it and I finished it, because I think the story deserves to be read, even though I don't like it much. I skimmed roughly two thirds of the book, but I followed the plot and the development. And if you like contemporary stories, I would recommend the book.

pithypants reviewed Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Review of 'Queenie' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Whelp. This was depressing. This came on my radar as a "Black version of Bridget Jones," so I went into it thinking it would be a rom-com of sorts. Alas: I totally (ignorantly) overlooked the additional baggage a Black protagonist is going to bring into a story like this. If you read it superficially, you would just think, "This woman has low self-esteem, makes terrible decisions, and has entirely too much random/dangerous sex." But the author does a good job showing the broader system/society that has shaped Queenie, and ends up somehow turning it into a story about healing and reclaimed power.

Eduardo Santiago reviewed Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Review of 'Queenie' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

There really ought to be a “stick with it, it gets better” warning sticker on some books: had I followed the one-hundred-minus-my-age rule I would’ve missed out on this gem. The first third was tedious: high-drama young woman with abandonment issues makes poor life choices, chronicles it with snark and sass but ultimately it’s just an uninteresting and sad story.

But my flight was canceled/rebooked. I had many more hours of travel, this was the only physical book I brought with me, and it was a library book with good references. (Plus, Carty-Williams’s writing is addictingly engaging.) I stuck with it and am grateful. Queenie redeems herself with grace: the other two-thirds are sweet, thoughtful, deeply moving—and relevant. Carty-Williams tackles abuse (physical and psychological), trauma, mental health, self-care and -love, and does so with tenderness and humor.