Reviews with content warning for Violence - Queenie

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

30 reviews

ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.5

I thought this was good.
I loved the humour and pace. I really did enjoy it. Bonus points for all the chaotic drama. Wow 😂😂.
So well written.

I unfortunately cannot say that I was a better 25-year-old 😂 minus the white men 👀👀👀. I’m trying so hard not to judge 😂😭.

The lack of body autonomy that Black women are often afforded and how it was shown throughout this book was really good. From both women and men who are white. Triggered 😭😭. Also the way Queenie’s physical features were often sexualised! 🫠 An exhausting amount of this was done but no lies were told, unfortunately.

I have some other mixed feelings, too though. And I have a lot more to say about that stuff 🥲.

I don’t know if this is just me but I also felt a lot like some of the POC characters were made into caricatures. This may also come from the feeling that Queenie’s issues with Black men were obviously hanging throughout, but also that she seemed to have found her safe spaces and support structures in white people (Janet and Darcy mainly).

This is despite the harm Queenie experienced because of white people in so many ways [Tom (🫠🥴) and his family (not surprised, tbh), Ted (😖🤢🤢🤢🤢), Guy, Cassandra (!!!!!????), mf Courtney with his reverse racism, and all those girlies at her job (faux woke white people are a choking hazard)].

I don’t care, okay; but there is no safer space for Black women than those created by other Black women and I would have loved so much to see that for Queenie. I fully understand the complexity of her family situation and can fully relate but that for me is more reason to have seen Queenie find safe spaces in non-white spaces. The trauma of so many Black families, especially families like Queenie’s stem from the actions of white people in the first place?? And yet Queenie kept on getting help from them? Urgh I hated that.

Kyazike especially felt like a caricature for me - nothing else of her existed except being the friend with the funny dating stories and nothing else - made it worse during the last confrontation with Ted. I didn’t like that and it made me increasingly uncomfortable throughout because she also appeared to be emotionally closed off outside angry and funny. She cared about Queenie and it was obvious but there was more from the white girlies and that was super wonky for me.

Back to the Black men - there was absolutely no resolution of Queenie saying what she said about them. Or anyone calling her out for saying it??!! Especially as a BLM supporter although I found that to be a bit shaky and inconsistent on Queenie’s part 😬😬😬😬 This is especially difficult for me from a Black woman author. Also with how much the treatment of white men towards Black women is depicted throughout the book. Omg!! 😵‍💫 I got really tired with all these white men. I wanted to cry 😭. I know that this was part of the point but wow how exhausting! 😂 Sis, maybe leave the white guys???? Omg!! 🫤🫤😶🥴 Courtney was especially the worst. Didn’t like how that was handled at all and how she gave him the time of day at all.

Also - Queenie’s mom’s story was utterly heartbreaking! Would have loved to see more of her and Queenie resolving what they’d been through together - another Black woman I wished got more care, frankly.

Complicated feelings aside, I really did enjoy this book. Chaotic in all the best ways. Totally representative of being 25 😂😂😂😭😭😭

Content Warnings

sydapel's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

The comparisons to Bridget Jones and Fleabag are apt, but Queenie is also a character so unique to herself, it doesn't quite merit comparison. Carty-Williams is a master of dark humor and narrative voice, so much so that we as the reader don't even begin to understand the deeper trauma underneath Queenie's recklessness until she herself unpacks it. This is a triumphant story about heartbreak, grief, burnout and our very lowest points. But most importantly, it's about the long work of getting better. If you can handle chaotic and messy main characters, I cannot recommend this enough.

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paulawind's review against another edition

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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

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foolishwit13's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

This book was not well written, for starters. The writing felt awkward and it lacked depth. Moments of high emotion didn’t feel any different than casual moments, and the only indicator would be the dialogue tag changing from “I said” to “I screamed” or “I snapped”. The characters were less fully developed people and more caricatures based on ideas or stereotypes of people (über religious family, creepy predatory man, Jewish friend, indifferent boss, etc). Other reviewers have mentioned this. Lots of plot lines or subjects felt very unfinished and it touched on a lot but resolved very little. Any internal character development or developments between characters felt fake, especially after conflict (i.e. Queenie and her mom, Queenie and Cassandra). Relationships or moments that seemed important (Cassandra’s dad, Queenie’s therapist, etc) were forgotten. And the book took a very blasé, almost unworried approach to some very intense themes and descriptions of sexual violence. Overall I was really disappointed in this book as I’d heard good things. I almost DNFed it but finished it hoping it would get better, but it actually may have gotten worse.

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sweetpeach's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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alisonannk's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

mima345's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

2.0

to me very disappointing. I think the book is supposed to be funny. I did not laugh. To me it was depressing to read and I thought the protagonist was annoying and self-involved to a cringe-worthy extent. I generally love coming of age books especially when talking from a diverse perspective featuring POC protagonists but this was just boring and in my opinion poorly written. 2 stars only because it`s nice to see books with this topic and storyline.

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