Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

12 reviews

sarah_reading_party's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

the good:
-queenie's jamaican british family, their dialogue/slang, and the way they care for each other
-queenie's friend group, the corgis... nothing like a good group of friends :)
-queenie's determination to improve her mental health and seek the therapy she needs

the bad:
-graphic abuse & sexual content - queenie put herself into bad situations and men put her into bad situations. that could have been shown without such graphic content/descriptions. i had to skim some large portions of this book. :(
-some of the workplace things queenie deals with could have been avoided if she just, ya know, worked. alas....

i probably would not have finished this book if it had not been a book club selection. the author is a talented writer and i'd consider reading another of her books in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Sexism

kaizw's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

evipefi's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

kimberlyallen011's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Racism, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide attempt and Eating disorder

beccamarriner's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I was totally encapsulated by it and know that I will continue to think about it for a long time. It’s an extremely personal book and having similar mental health issues, it was almost comforting to read about queenie’s experience knowing that we’re not alone even when we feel like it. The only thing that wasn’t perfect for me in the book were the included texts/emails but that’s just personal preference

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Miscarriage

Minor: Alcoholism

pamxramirez's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

i found the first half quite difficult to read, but once I understood the author's intentions (and noticed the bookis in the Fleabag genre), everything settled into place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Self harm

Minor: Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, Classism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Alcoholism

armontheroad's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

CONTENT WARNING FOR REVIEW: Discussions of rape

QUEENIE is a novel that does not shy away from hard-hitting topics. Candice Carty-Williams did such an amazing job at making me care for Queenie. MY heart broke over and over again at all the traumatic experiences Queenie was put through. There were a few reasons this wasn’t five stars. Firstly, I was so happy seeing Queenie go into therapy, however, I was waiting for her to unpack the fact the sexual encounters she has throughout this book were in fact all rape. I don’t like this was never talked about because it leaves even more survivors thinking their experiences are totally normal, nothing to worry about, and it leaves them unaware that their experiences are rape. I do like that Queenie mentions implementing the behaviors she learned in therapy in her day-to-day life, though. Secondly, the female/male terminology is transphobic and dehumanizing. I do not believe there is reason to use these terms at all in modern language. It gave me major ick every time I saw a woman referred to as a female or a man referred to as a male. Especially since there is no way of knowing from just looking at someone. I did not believe those two things were enough to take away a full star, so I left my rating at a 4.5-star rating. I severely recommend this book, however, it is dark and you should be fully aware of all of the content and trigger warnings before going into your read. I am looking forward to reading more from Candice Carty-Williams!!

CWs: Gentrification, fetishization, microaggressions, TERF language (female and male are not terms that should be used at all), all other warnings are listed below.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Police brutality, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Slavery and Car accident

janetteb12's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I had a very difficult time getting into this book. I finished it because I was curious to see how the conflict would be resolved, but I didn’t really care either way. There were some good moments, especially near the end, where you’ll root for the main character. But a couple moments at the end wasn’t enough to salvage this reading experience for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

marnold's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

mamagina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Queenie is witty, honest, confused, pinballing through life at a breaking point. She is a character of multitudes and Candice Carty-Williams writes the diverse voices in her life with a deft hand. 

What we learn is to inhabit the mind and body of trauma, and more specifically, the trauma of a black woman in London, from the inside.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Hate crime, and Gun violence