liy's review
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
erin_curry's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mara_books's review
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
macaronoui's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
A delightful -whodunnit- set in Malaysia, in the competitive scrabble tournament world of teens.
Najwa loses her best friend in a freak accident at a scrabble tournament, takes a year to recover and then comes back again. Having all the players around, she tries to solve the mystery of her friend’s death Trina.
I thought the pacing and setting were great. No one is as dramatic as teens, and there were a lot of interesting characters. I would definitely read something else by the author.
The book is ultimately a gift for nerdy word lovers, with every chapter starting with an obscure word.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
menollyruth's review
3.0
This was not what I expected at all. I think it was good. I loved that it was not set in the US. It had fantastic representation, a great hook, and overall I was really taken in by the Scrabble tournament and wordplay. However, the moment we were introduced to all the suspects in this mystery, I knew who was going to be our antagonist. I thought that the reveal of who murdered Trina was really good, but the finale seemed pretty rushed to me, and it ended really abruptly.
icouldntfindanotheruser's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jxnareads's review against another edition
4.0
this is the first murder mystery with a mc who is a muslim i’ve read it started off a bit slow for me but it did get interesting!! if you like scrabble you might just like this book:)
sadys_shelves's review against another edition
4.0
This was a phenomenal read. It isn’t often that I read a cozy mystery and think “man I’d like to reread that”- but that’s exactly what happened with Queen of the Tiles. Hanna Alkaf delivered a YA whodunit with an intriguing and diverse cast of characters. QotT kept you guessing til the end and working on the clues the whole way.
As a scrabble and mystery lover this book practically jumped into my hands. The setting of a YA scrabble tournament in Kuala Lumpur was too good to pass by. The well rounded cast of characters provided a lot of much needed representation to the YA world There was Malaysian rep, non-binary rep, Muslim rep and of course nerdy/geek rep.
I love a book that offers a vocabulary expansion and was delighted to find many new words and meanings woven seemlessly, an intentionally through the pages of each chapter.
Hanna Alkaf won extra points with Queen of the Tiles by also sensitively addressing and making use of topics of grief, anxiety, attachment and anger issues without overwhelming the plot OR the reader. The excitement of the tournament and the intrigue provided by the “texting ghost” and gave just the right amount of suspense. I honestly couldn’t put it down.
As a scrabble and mystery lover this book practically jumped into my hands. The setting of a YA scrabble tournament in Kuala Lumpur was too good to pass by. The well rounded cast of characters provided a lot of much needed representation to the YA world There was Malaysian rep, non-binary rep, Muslim rep and of course nerdy/geek rep.
I love a book that offers a vocabulary expansion and was delighted to find many new words and meanings woven seemlessly, an intentionally through the pages of each chapter.
Hanna Alkaf won extra points with Queen of the Tiles by also sensitively addressing and making use of topics of grief, anxiety, attachment and anger issues without overwhelming the plot OR the reader. The excitement of the tournament and the intrigue provided by the “texting ghost” and gave just the right amount of suspense. I honestly couldn’t put it down.
booksbymarte's review against another edition
3.0
The description of the games and the main character making sense of the world through words and Scrabble were amazing and definitely the best parts of this book, but I found the reveal predictable and quite disappointing. Still a fun and fast-paced book though!