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A review by pixieparliament
Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Chlio is a singer who dies in the first chapter. She is a bit of a has been pop-singer.
Scabby Queen is the name of a card game, where you pass the queen along because no-one wants to end up with her. At times in the book I felt as if Clio was treated like a Scabby Queen.
Clio is scottish, comes from a small town and had one hit. An anti-pol tax song. The story is told through memories of those who knew her, but never from her point of view. We also see it from their point of view in the wake of her death and shortly after.
It is a really good novel, in that it's feministic and political without being too much of either. Chlio is a hard pill to swallow. Selfish to some, really caring to others. Always championing the cause but without really knowing why.
There were some of the timeline that seemed to be wrong/jumbled. i.e. seeing her dad in 2003 and then in 2004 he states that he hasn't seen her yet. That was frustrating to me.
Chlio also seemed like a toxic character but of course once she dies everyone is all "wasn't she lovely". It hits on historic and current political issues.
This book would be great for bookclubs as it spans 5 decades of UK politics although only fleetingly touching on them but without much depth.
Scabby Queen is the name of a card game, where you pass the queen along because no-one wants to end up with her. At times in the book I felt as if Clio was treated like a Scabby Queen.
Clio is scottish, comes from a small town and had one hit. An anti-pol tax song. The story is told through memories of those who knew her, but never from her point of view. We also see it from their point of view in the wake of her death and shortly after.
It is a really good novel, in that it's feministic and political without being too much of either. Chlio is a hard pill to swallow. Selfish to some, really caring to others. Always championing the cause but without really knowing why.
There were some of the timeline that seemed to be wrong/jumbled. i.e. seeing her dad in 2003 and then in 2004 he states that he hasn't seen her yet. That was frustrating to me.
Chlio also seemed like a toxic character but of course once she dies everyone is all "wasn't she lovely". It hits on historic and current political issues.
This book would be great for bookclubs as it spans 5 decades of UK politics although only fleetingly touching on them but without much depth.