A review by beriboo
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

5.0

We meet Queenie, a 25 year old women living in London, just as she is about to go through an difficult period in her life. Battling cultural conflicts, processing childhood trauma, a break up, problems at work and more, Queenie doesn’t always make the right decisions but you follow her through her journey of healing and self love. 

Queenie is one of best characters I have read in some time. Despite having completely different backgrounds and cultures I related to Queenie so much. I adored how quick witted she could be and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. 

I felt very protective of Queenie, I wanted to shake her at times but really just wanted to give her a big hug (metaphorically because she wasn’t keen on physical contact 😊)

The book covers some dark topics and it tricked me a bit as the first chapter was written in quite a lighthearted way and had some funny interactions. This comedy doesn’t stop as the book goes on and I think it does really well and taking the sharpe edge of what could have been a really heavy read.

Candice Carty-Williams wrote about the struggles of mental health and generational trauma in such a realistic way. It was subtly feed to you as the reader and my love for Queenie just grew and grew. 

This isn’t anything like Bridget Jones, I don’t like that comparison it doesn’t do Queenie justice. It isn’t a rom-com it’s a story about a young woman struggling to process pain and learn to love herself. 

This is 5 stars for me. Make sure to check the content warnings though. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings