I passed on this next one when it was a Book of the Month contender, but kept it in mind for the future… and then I snatched it up as my reward from my local library for completing the Winter Reading Club. Score!
Book 22:
Queenie
by Candice Carty-Williams
Genre:
Contemporary Fiction
Published:
March 2019
Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, Queenie is about Queenie Jenkin’s story of pain, processing and healing. When her long term boyfriend requests a “break”, Queenie sets off on the road to finding herself and learning what matters most to her. Along the way, she hits some bumps, makes some mistakes and gets to rock bottom before building back up who she wants and needs to be.
Favorite Quote(s):
“Before I got off the bus, I made an internal list of people who could touch my hair:
– Candice Carty-Williams, Queenie
1. Me
2. A hairdresser
3. That’s it, that’s the whole list”
Awards (based upon my brief research):
None noted.
Pages:
330
My Overall Rating:
3 – Ugh, I really had higher hopes for this one, it being a Book of the Month option and all. It was described as a clash or cultures, Queenie being a Jamaican British woman. I thought there would be more on that, but the clash was largely surface level.
And on top of that, it was a tad sexually explicit for my tastes. I understand this is how Queenie chose to process her pain, but I didn’t need the details and I would have preferred a more in depth look at the true healing process aside from sex, sex, sex. I think the book took a turn about two thirds in, and I really enjoyed it from then on, but the first two thirds were rough for me.
