So this was another book that I saw everyone reading at one point. After reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and absolutely loving it I have wanted to find others just like it and thought this could be the one!
Queenie is 25 years old, from Jamaica currently living in London and is going through a tough time. Her boyfriend wants to go on a break so she is forced to move out of their flat and into a house share, her newspaper job seem uninterested in any Black Lives Matter related articles she is suggesting and she is constantly left comparing herself to white middle class women, so finds herself looking for comfort at the end of the day in all the wrong places.
I was super excited to read this. As I mentioned I was ready to jump straight into something that was going to blow my mind. Annoyingly, Queenie just missed it for me 🙁. Now this isn't because of what the book was discussing. It covers race, sex, relationships with both partners and friends, and also social standings and I found that all super interesting. Plus it does not beat around the bush with these topics, which I personally prefer. I love how open the conversation was around these things and also the harshness of words used. It felt real. Real conversations between friends, family and colleagues.
I especially like the relationship Queenie has with her family. We slowly learn more about her mother throughout the book but with her auntie and grandparents I just loved their interactions. I guess from a white British household our day to day chat was very different and I am always interested in how other families live, let alone when those families come from different backgrounds and countries.
No none of those things were the problem for me. I guess it felt like there was too much going on. I know I am comparing but THUG really felt like it took a subject it was passionate about and ran with it. This covers so many modern topics that I feel they were all slightly diluted somehow. Yes I loved hearing about her sexual antics, yes I was frustrated with how her work react to her passionate ideas. But they all then quickly shifted on to maybe a relationship drama and the last point was forgotten. I really wanted to stick my teeth into something and follow the process from start to finish! But I didn't get that feeling with this.
I guess part of the problem could be that I hugely disagreed with many of the decisions Queenie made. I know she needs to do this in order for the author to portray a lost soul confused and conflicted with various things. She was self sabotaging and I know this is the point! But I also felt like saying stop your whining and grow up! For example wanting more credibility at work but then turning up late every day or calling in sick is hardly the way to do it!
It was an easy enough book to read but I wanted something a bit more compelling. Something that I could potentially learn from and for that reason I gave it the rating I did.
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Pages - 330
Goodreads Rating - ⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads Link
Amazon Link
