Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

43 reviews

marissab's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Dysphoria, Miscarriage, Rape, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cursing, Police brutality, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide attempt, and Violence

aformeracceleratedreader's review

emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

Overall, I didn't really care for it. I liked the growth of Queenie's character, but that's about it. Queenie made decisions that frustrated me a lot throughout, but I'm glad her character was able to work on herself by the end and get to a better place. I think I'm just the wrong audience for this book because there are very important discussions being made throughout in terms of race (especially race relations outside the u.s. in other predom white countries), trauma, and relationships. I just could've done without so much revolving around sex. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Infidelity, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

paulawind's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

This book was an emotional rollercoaster. Mostly in the horrific way. Queenie’s life was falling apart in front of her very eyes and we were accompanying her on the downward spiral. Shit, this was so rough. Thank god that she had some support network because the mere thought of going through all this slime alone is terrifying. Of course it was a bumpy ride, with her family initially not believing in mental health issues, the entire backdrop of Queenie not thinking that she’s lovable because of toxic mix of internalised fatphobia, casual racism she was enduring every day, fetishisation from all romantic partners, and ptsd from her childhood. She is so strong for putting herself back together, massive achievement. Quarterlife crisis hits all of us but she was hit with a tank load of it and emerged victorious even if at some point I was afraid she would pull through

Thank you for not having her end up with a man and having family and friends be the most important relationships in her life

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Grief, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Racism, Rape, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Miscarriage

chris_reads's review

dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol, Eating disorder, and Child abuse

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

4.5

This story is a realistic and sharp look at a Black-British 20-something woman's life and struggles. I read most of the book physically and listened to a few chapters on audiobook, which was very entertainingly British and Jamaican with all the narrators' accents. Queenie herself is a deeply hurt and traumatized character, who for the first part of the book continuously makes bad choices and spirals deeper and deeper into her messy situation. Throughout it all you get to see her struggle with her suffering but also slowly start to realize her own role in her pain, but the writing very intentionally showed this growth in a humorous and relatable way through Queenie, her friends, and her family's unique voices. I loved that each character felt like a real person and had their own motivations and personalities, even the smaller side ones. The character development in this book was really well done, and showed the wide range of both positive and negative relationships that young women today may find in their lives. I found myself both cringing at her choices and rooting for things to go right for her, which made her feel so realistic and so human and relatable. I loved seeing our flawed character begin to accept that she has issues and actively try to get better for her own health and happiness through therapy and setting boundaries. So much of the dialogue and humor in this book felt like things I would talk about with my own friends in real life, and I genuinely felt like the use of email and text messages in this format added to the book in meaningful ways. I'm so glad Queenie got a realistic but positive ending that felt satisfying but not too cliché.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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 wanted to read this book as I've heard so many good things about it. My wonderful friends bought this book for me for my birthday. This book was not what I was expecting it to be.  

This book is based around 25-year-old Queenie Jenkins who is a Jamaican British woman living in London and she is straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places . . . including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth. As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be” - all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her. 

Wow, this book was difficult and it’s only when I was about 50% through that I realise that this is about her mental health . . . and I think that was the point of it. It was very hard-hitting and brutal and shows you how mental health can affected different people and not even realise it until they’ve hit wrong bottom. Queenie had a lot of bad stuff happen to her from the moment of page 1 up to the last chapter and you can see how she handles it and how things got worse and worse. I would 10000% as always check the trigger warnings with this book as it was brutal and the way that Candice describes Queenie’s mental health can be a bit triggering. I didn’t have anything to hate about this book, I just thought it was really slow-paced and heavy. 
 

I would love another book to see how Queenie is doing later on in life, when she’s back on track but not as a chick flick or anything like that. Just a little novella on how Queenie and the Corgis are doing.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

chezanna's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense 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

4.0

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British young woman living in London, perching two cultures and slotting into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she is frequently forced to compare herself to her white middle-class equivalents. After a messy break-up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places, including several hazardous men who do an excellent job of occupying brain space and a bad position of establishing self-worth.

As Queenie reels from one debatable decision to another, she wonders why she is doing all this or why does she not stop, although it might not be something she wants —all of the inquiries today's women must encounter in a world trying to reply them for her.

This story is incredibly raw, and I think that everyone in his early adulthood would enjoy this piece of fiction. I can see why this novel has won the award. I found it fascinating to read about all these different characters and how they intertwine in the story, but the focus is still on the protagonist herself. I think it has so much nuance that you probably don't get in mainstream books by white authors.

How the author approaches tough topics like anxiety or racism is astonishing, and  I cannot get enough of her writing style. Although it was so raw, it was so beautifully written that I just wanted to keep reading; although it was so natural, it was so beautifully written that I just wanted to keep reading. 

Sadly, I had a big reading slump; however, I finally found the time again to pick it up and finish it in one go, and I think it has a lot to do with the book itself. I don't believe that every reader could've done that; I did not have a reading slump because of it.

Overall I highly recommend this book. When you're in your early 20s are becoming an adult, you should read this book. All women or female-presenting people can relate to a situation somehow. The nuance with interracial dating and racism was so interesting that I will read more of the works.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

amelia_22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Abandonment, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship

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.

---

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