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There was a lot of cringe factor in this contemporary novel. Nearly every character was a train wreck and made poor decisions. While I can see some pieces of cultural relevance in the plot, this was overwhelmed for me by a heavy-handed unsympathetic protagonist.
Some of my apathy toward Queenie was the result of the structure of the narrative itself. Because her relevant past was glossed over and not discussed with understanding until the last 1/4 of the book, her past trauma wasn't as impactful on the remainder of the novel as it could have been. Also, regardless of her history, she really wasn't a character that garnered sympathy from me because a lot of the damaging situations were ones she placed herself in by making overwhelmingly poor choices. It was just too much.
Likewise, the majority of the supporting characters were a mess. Queenie's friends, family, and the men she chose to associate with were primarily damaged and unhealthy for her in any state of being. The depressing situations were a bit overwhelming and the lack of any semblance of a fully healthy support system was a just a spiral of claustrophic negativity.
I did appreciate the discussions on mental health and the importance of therapy and solid self esteem. These topics were fairly well handled. I do wish that the therapy could have occurred earlier in the narrative and that the healing journey for Queenie could have been a larger portion of the plot than being overwhelmed by the repetition of her seeking out harmful situations.
The writing was solid and the development of the characters was very dynamic, but ultimately this was a novel that simply didn't feel balanced for me. Though the ending did have some redeemable qualities, it felt like there was too much piled on. Individually, the characters and the situations were absolutely believable and well-written, there was nothing but trauma and Queenie in particular did not seem to learn anything from her mistakes.
Some of my apathy toward Queenie was the result of the structure of the narrative itself. Because her relevant past was glossed over and not discussed with understanding until the last 1/4 of the book, her past trauma wasn't as impactful on the remainder of the novel as it could have been. Also, regardless of her history, she really wasn't a character that garnered sympathy from me because a lot of the damaging situations were ones she placed herself in by making overwhelmingly poor choices. It was just too much.
Likewise, the majority of the supporting characters were a mess. Queenie's friends, family, and the men she chose to associate with were primarily damaged and unhealthy for her in any state of being. The depressing situations were a bit overwhelming and the lack of any semblance of a fully healthy support system was a just a spiral of claustrophic negativity.
I did appreciate the discussions on mental health and the importance of therapy and solid self esteem. These topics were fairly well handled. I do wish that the therapy could have occurred earlier in the narrative and that the healing journey for Queenie could have been a larger portion of the plot than being overwhelmed by the repetition of her seeking out harmful situations.
The writing was solid and the development of the characters was very dynamic, but ultimately this was a novel that simply didn't feel balanced for me. Though the ending did have some redeemable qualities, it felt like there was too much piled on. Individually, the characters and the situations were absolutely believable and well-written, there was nothing but trauma and Queenie in particular did not seem to learn anything from her mistakes.