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A review by coralinejones
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
2.75
I wanted to like this a lot more. I tried to keep an open mind while reading The Black Queen, but by the end I realized I didn't care as much as I originally had. This book is well written, I liked all the black protagonists, I love murder-mysteries so that aspect wasn't the issue either. But, still, this fell flat for me.
I thought this would be a black, Carrie-esq type of novel. What I got instead was more like "The Hate You Give" except set during homecoming. This is a duel POV murder-mystery where we read more through the lens of an annoying, white protagonist who shouldn't have been as forgiven as she was. Seriously, she was terrible. Her "redemption" did not feel believable and I wish she got punched more than once while reading. Sorry.
I felt... bamboozled, for a lack of a better term. The cover has a black girl on it, the first main character we met was a gay black girl, and even though I knew Nova was going to die (kinda what the whole point of the hook is about) I was not expecting to read this little annoying white girl run around the hood being a pest towards the grieving black families trying to clear her name. Whole thing put a sour taste in my mouth.
Also, and this was just my own fault, I wasn't really in the mood to read a race piece. I'm in a horror / Halloween type of mood and this just wasn't it at all.
Still worth reading / recommending. I would love to read more from this author. I think they do a great job at making characters and developing the world they live in. Just wish this hit a bit more for me.
I thought this would be a black, Carrie-esq type of novel. What I got instead was more like "The Hate You Give" except set during homecoming. This is a duel POV murder-mystery where we read more through the lens of an annoying, white protagonist who shouldn't have been as forgiven as she was. Seriously, she was terrible. Her "redemption" did not feel believable and I wish she got punched more than once while reading. Sorry.
I felt... bamboozled, for a lack of a better term. The cover has a black girl on it, the first main character we met was a gay black girl, and even though I knew Nova was going to die (kinda what the whole point of the hook is about) I was not expecting to read this little annoying white girl run around the hood being a pest towards the grieving black families trying to clear her name. Whole thing put a sour taste in my mouth.
Also, and this was just my own fault, I wasn't really in the mood to read a race piece. I'm in a horror / Halloween type of mood and this just wasn't it at all.
Still worth reading / recommending. I would love to read more from this author. I think they do a great job at making characters and developing the world they live in. Just wish this hit a bit more for me.