This is probably one of the most difficult books I've ever rated. While I was reading this, I felt so interested that I didn't want to stop reading, but as soon as I stopped, I wouldn't want to go back to it. The best way that I can describe it is that it's basically a trainwreck of a book because it's about Queenie who is a trainwreck throughout the novel. It's really difficult to read, but you can't stop reading it (like you can't look away from a trainwreck). Queenie makes mistake after mistake and it was hard to watch her spiral into such dark places.
Things eventually turn around and I really appreciated how hard and real that turn around was. When the plot opens, Queenie and her long-term boyfriend are on a break and she is struggling with this. I appreciated that there is no fairytale solution to this problem, but hard work on Queenie's part and a lot of heartbreak along the way. (Not that I wish that on anyone, but let's face it, these are the things that happen in life.)
One of the things I really had a hard time reading were her casual and disturbing sexual encounters. Queenie basically chooses to have sex with men that see her as being worth nothing more than an object to achieve sexual fulfillment through. She allows them to use her completely without giving her anything in return. It's just plain sad and the men are disgusting. It would have been something that ruined the book for me if it hadn't been addressed. Queenie finally, in dialogue with herself, acknowledges the objectification she has subject herself to: "You've deleted those bleak-as-**** dating apps that only really served to make you forget that beneath the big boobs and bum you are a human person who is easily damaged." Thank you! Regardless, this was difficult to read.
In the end, I somehow enjoyed this. I do think there was a lot going on and little direction. It sort of read like an early draft of a novel that was in desperate need of editing, but I appreciated the real representation and the way that Queenie pulled herself up out of the darkness (with help from family, friends, and therapy).
Things eventually turn around and I really appreciated how hard and real that turn around was. When the plot opens, Queenie and her long-term boyfriend are on a break and she is struggling with this. I appreciated that there is no fairytale solution to this problem, but hard work on Queenie's part and a lot of heartbreak along the way. (Not that I wish that on anyone, but let's face it, these are the things that happen in life.)
One of the things I really had a hard time reading were her casual and disturbing sexual encounters. Queenie basically chooses to have sex with men that see her as being worth nothing more than an object to achieve sexual fulfillment through. She allows them to use her completely without giving her anything in return. It's just plain sad and the men are disgusting. It would have been something that ruined the book for me if it hadn't been addressed. Queenie finally, in dialogue with herself, acknowledges the objectification she has subject herself to: "You've deleted those bleak-as-**** dating apps that only really served to make you forget that beneath the big boobs and bum you are a human person who is easily damaged." Thank you! Regardless, this was difficult to read.
In the end, I somehow enjoyed this. I do think there was a lot going on and little direction. It sort of read like an early draft of a novel that was in desperate need of editing, but I appreciated the real representation and the way that Queenie pulled herself up out of the darkness (with help from family, friends, and therapy).