Review 3.5 stars
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. First, I was expecting to be disappointed because there was so much hype surrounding this book. Second, I had read some scathing reviews about it. So much so that I had decided not to read it. But it was chosen for my book club, and I’m glad it was.
The comparisons to Bridget Jones so this book a disservice. The novel tackles some very serious issues and while there’s an element of humor, this was no a feel-good chick lit book at all. This is a book that essentially charts the downward spiral of a young woman who had suffered trauma and abuse in her past and how it affects her present day life.
I liked Queenie for the most part, I just found myself very perplexed by her behavior for most of the book. Of course you understand her actions toward the end, but the constant self destructive behavior became repetitive and felt stressful.
Almost every single male character in this book is detestable. In an almost cartoonish way, they were all so one dimensional. I suppose they had to be for the book to work but I felt it lacked imagination.
I think the author tried to address too many issues in this book. Certain parts felt like they were just stuck in there (like the Black Lives Matter issue) and never went anywhere.
Over and over again we’re pounded on the head with how Black women are fetishized for their bodies, how Black women are seen as sex objects but not relationship material, how you must never touch a Black woman’s hair, how Black women must wrap their hair up to sleep, on and on and on we get it!
So yeah the book could have done with some editing. Some focus.
What I did like? Queenie’s relationships with her girlfriends and her family felt very authentic. I wanted to know more about her West Indian family in particular, as I’m from the region. The characters were the shining part of the book.
I also liked the exploration of her mental health issues as it’s not something often spoken or written about in either the Black community or the West Indian community, and I think her family’s eventual support of her healing process was heartwarming. Her experiences, while extreme, are not all that unusual, and I liked that the author showed how seemingly unconnected and distant events can affect our present day life in ways we cannot immediately understand.
I don’t think this book lives up to the hype but it was still a very enjoyable read.