A review by karis_dl
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

1.0

This novel had a lot of potential that I feel was never quite fulfilled. Not only did I find the plot to be very predictable, but the story was so focused on chess and describing game plays, that every other sub-plot and theme was underdeveloped. Whether it be the feminist narrative, the theme of addiction, or even her strained and inconsistent relationship with family + friends. All of these topics were raised and then never addressed or unpacked. Furthermore, I found this text to have racist undertones not only in the lack of BIPOC characters but in their tokenized and stereotypical representations.