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joanna77_'s review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
“𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞.”
This had a lot of good potential - the set up was fantastic, I loved the inclusion of scrabble, and I even liked the main character, but other than that it was just a really lackluster book. Nothing really happened. I felt like we kept on getting the same information over and over again. I also felt like the ending was super cheap, we have this big build up and then boom it’s over. It was pretty underwhelming. I really liked the author’s writing so I’d try another book by her for sure, this one just needed something more. It wasn’t juicy enough, or intriguing enough to really hold my interest.
This had a lot of good potential - the set up was fantastic, I loved the inclusion of scrabble, and I even liked the main character, but other than that it was just a really lackluster book. Nothing really happened. I felt like we kept on getting the same information over and over again. I also felt like the ending was super cheap, we have this big build up and then boom it’s over. It was pretty underwhelming. I really liked the author’s writing so I’d try another book by her for sure, this one just needed something more. It wasn’t juicy enough, or intriguing enough to really hold my interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Death
shadereads's review
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.
What would you do when your best friend suddenly dies right in front of you? Would you let others replace her legacy as the reigning champion? Or, would you claim it for yourself, for the sake of her memory?
In Queen of Tiles , Najwa refuses to let others erase Trina’s legacy, though her return to the competitive scrabble scene is more than just that. She’s looking to heal and move on with her life…until Trina’s inactive Instagram starts posting again, leaving cryptic messages that suggest that she was instead, murdered and someone at the competition is the killer. So, what can Najwa do now that the closest people around her are suspects? Report to the authorities? Psssh, no. She’s gonna figure everything out to save both Trina and herself.
Keeping in mind that the characters are all underage and they’re stuck in a hotel where the scrabble tournament is held, there’s a limit to how much can be done. Even so, the way the mystery unravels is quite engaging—ridiculous at times, plenty predictable (for me, as someone who reads quite a bit of crime, mysteries and thrillers) and a little too neatly wrapped up, but still engaging. The truth behind Trina’s death is refreshing too, though it does feel rather anti-climatic since the entire story hinges on the mystery.
Other than that, I like that Queen of Tiles is more about the way different people mourn and handle their grief. Whether they liked Trina before she died, felt indifferent about her or cared deeply for her, they’ve all been touched by her death somehow and we get to see that through Najwa’s eyes. However, I do think that this aspect could’ve been stronger if the other characters were better fleshed out. They all have strong foundations for their identities but they’re also rather…typical. Don’t get me wrong, I like Najwa and her obsession with words and their meanings. She’s relatable and definitely the best-developed character here. But, it also felt like I was reading stereotypes instead of complex characters and that weakened the emotional impact of the story on me.
All in all, this was a solid read. If you’re looking for a lighter Young Adult mystery with an uncommon setting (scrabble tournament + Southeast Asian rep), give Queen of Tiles a read.
What would you do when your best friend suddenly dies right in front of you? Would you let others replace her legacy as the reigning champion? Or, would you claim it for yourself, for the sake of her memory?
In Queen of Tiles , Najwa refuses to let others erase Trina’s legacy, though her return to the competitive scrabble scene is more than just that. She’s looking to heal and move on with her life…until Trina’s inactive Instagram starts posting again, leaving cryptic messages that suggest that she was instead, murdered and someone at the competition is the killer. So, what can Najwa do now that the closest people around her are suspects? Report to the authorities? Psssh, no. She’s gonna figure everything out to save both Trina and herself.
Keeping in mind that the characters are all underage and they’re stuck in a hotel where the scrabble tournament is held, there’s a limit to how much can be done. Even so, the way the mystery unravels is quite engaging—ridiculous at times, plenty predictable (for me, as someone who reads quite a bit of crime, mysteries and thrillers) and a little too neatly wrapped up, but still engaging. The truth behind Trina’s death is refreshing too, though it does feel rather anti-climatic since the entire story hinges on the mystery.
Other than that, I like that Queen of Tiles is more about the way different people mourn and handle their grief. Whether they liked Trina before she died, felt indifferent about her or cared deeply for her, they’ve all been touched by her death somehow and we get to see that through Najwa’s eyes. However, I do think that this aspect could’ve been stronger if the other characters were better fleshed out. They all have strong foundations for their identities but they’re also rather…typical. Don’t get me wrong, I like Najwa and her obsession with words and their meanings. She’s relatable and definitely the best-developed character here. But, it also felt like I was reading stereotypes instead of complex characters and that weakened the emotional impact of the story on me.
All in all, this was a solid read. If you’re looking for a lighter Young Adult mystery with an uncommon setting (scrabble tournament + Southeast Asian rep), give Queen of Tiles a read.
Thank you so much Pansing for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! Queen of Tiles by Hanna Alkaf is available at all good bookstores.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug abuse and Infidelity
heatherdanskin's review
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Panic attacks/disorders
forlorn_traveller's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
enasbookshelves's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
I’m so grateful to Hanna Alkaf for her determination to give Southeast Asians priority access to this book. Being from the Global South, I would not have been given this review opportunity otherwise. Huge thanks as well to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for facilitating my access to the e-ARC so that I could write an honest review!
ABSORBED
thirteen points
adjective
me from the very first page of Queen of the Tiles
This is the first book I’ve encountered from Hanna Alkaf, and after everything I saw, I’m determined that it will not be the last. Where do I even begin? The pacing was tight. The resolution was satisfying. The wordplay was spot-on, and purely, deliciously nerdy. The teenage characters read like actual teenagers — and the way each one carried on with their respective traumas and flawed friendships was not only realistic, but compelling. The atmosphere in the story was so unapologetically Southeast Asian. The setting took me back to my early teenage years. (Not Scrabble tournaments, but spelling bees and campus journalism contests.) The writing… made me feel so intelligent and so linguistically inadequate at the same time — and I love Hanna Alkaf all the more for it.
My favorite character, understandably, is the protagonist Najwa Bakri. I was so impressed by how she sees and understands the world around her: not merely through Scrabble words and their corresponding points — which would have made for an easy but shallow characterization — but also in terms of dictionary meanings, etymologies, and even the appearances of the letters on paper.
The story is told from her point of view, and the events are told in a nonlinear fashion. This might deter readers who prefer a straightforward narration — although the book is all the more charming because of it. Like tiles that are swirled in a bag before they are placed onto racks then spelled out as words on the board, Najwa’s memories are examined and rearranged, creating beautiful possibilities when in disarray, creating meaning when finally placed in correct order.
Speaking of possibilities, the mystery was for me the weakest element in the story. The list of suspects was limited to begin with, and as someone who grew up surrounded by Nancy Drew, Hercule Poirot, and the Bobbsey Twins, all my hunches at the beginning proved correct in the end. But that is not to say that I wasn’t kept on the edge of my seat as the story built up towards the big reveals. A small anecdote: I started reading the book on a Thursday afternoon. By 11PM, I publicly announced that I was already in the eerie parts where Najwa starts receiving messages from her dead friend Trina’s Instagram account — and that I was beginning to feel genuinely scared. Naturally, some of my book club friends thought it the best time to get my phone to ring with Instagram notifications. I barely kept from screaming, so I’m grateful to them for letting me feel the full spectrum of emotions that our main character must have felt in the story.
To end, a quick word about the rating: I would’ve rounded up my review to a full 5 stars, but I’m always wary of how Filipinos are depicted in contemporary fiction. My review copy of the book featured two: a fanny-packed contestant with an “unmistakably Filipino” accent [p. 105]; and a devoted Filipino nanny in Trina’s family’s employ [p. 38].
ABSORBED
thirteen points
adjective
me from the very first page of Queen of the Tiles
This is the first book I’ve encountered from Hanna Alkaf, and after everything I saw, I’m determined that it will not be the last. Where do I even begin? The pacing was tight. The resolution was satisfying. The wordplay was spot-on, and purely, deliciously nerdy. The teenage characters read like actual teenagers — and the way each one carried on with their respective traumas and flawed friendships was not only realistic, but compelling. The atmosphere in the story was so unapologetically Southeast Asian. The setting took me back to my early teenage years. (Not Scrabble tournaments, but spelling bees and campus journalism contests.) The writing… made me feel so intelligent and so linguistically inadequate at the same time — and I love Hanna Alkaf all the more for it.
My favorite character, understandably, is the protagonist Najwa Bakri. I was so impressed by how she sees and understands the world around her: not merely through Scrabble words and their corresponding points — which would have made for an easy but shallow characterization — but also in terms of dictionary meanings, etymologies, and even the appearances of the letters on paper.
The story is told from her point of view, and the events are told in a nonlinear fashion. This might deter readers who prefer a straightforward narration — although the book is all the more charming because of it. Like tiles that are swirled in a bag before they are placed onto racks then spelled out as words on the board, Najwa’s memories are examined and rearranged, creating beautiful possibilities when in disarray, creating meaning when finally placed in correct order.
Speaking of possibilities, the mystery was for me the weakest element in the story. The list of suspects was limited to begin with, and as someone who grew up surrounded by Nancy Drew, Hercule Poirot, and the Bobbsey Twins, all my hunches at the beginning proved correct in the end. But that is not to say that I wasn’t kept on the edge of my seat as the story built up towards the big reveals. A small anecdote: I started reading the book on a Thursday afternoon. By 11PM, I publicly announced that I was already in the eerie parts where Najwa starts receiving messages from her dead friend Trina’s Instagram account — and that I was beginning to feel genuinely scared. Naturally, some of my book club friends thought it the best time to get my phone to ring with Instagram notifications. I barely kept from screaming, so I’m grateful to them for letting me feel the full spectrum of emotions that our main character must have felt in the story.
To end, a quick word about the rating: I would’ve rounded up my review to a full 5 stars, but I’m always wary of how Filipinos are depicted in contemporary fiction. My review copy of the book featured two: a fanny-packed contestant with an “unmistakably Filipino” accent [p. 105]; and a devoted Filipino nanny in Trina’s family’s employ [p. 38].
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Grief
minbyrnes's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC! (I've also preordered it. Please do if you're interested; there's still time!)
I loved this, especially once things started picking up with the Instagram posts.
The story follows Najwa, a competitive Scrabble player who’s still grappling with and grieving the death of her best friend Trina, the Queen of the Tiles, during the finals of a Scrabble competition a year prior.
My favorite aspects of the book are as follows:
1) The characters: I found myself really enjoying the time Najwa spends alone with each character as she tries to figure out Trina’s death. Some characters were spotlighted more than others, but learning more about them was always a fun experience for me. I also loved the way Najwa would see Trina through the eyes of the others as she kept digging.
2) The wordplay: I like how Najwa describes the people around her and the situations she’s in with words. To be completely honest, I wasn’t a big fan of it at first (I felt like I was being pulled out of the story every time a new word I didn’t know was being explained to me), but as I kept on reading I learned to really enjoy this aspect and kept bookmarking the pages because I wanted to go back to the words.
3) The Malaysian and Muslim representation: The Manglish? The mention of Najwa having to push back the baby hairs escaping her hijab? The little things made me really happy.
I also really liked the discussion on grief and how everyone goes about it differently. That needing help is ok (and good!). And that the way we see and perceive things aren’t necessarily the only truth.
My only criticism would be the pacing at the beginning of the book. It felt a little slow at first and I’d sometimes put the book down to read/do something a little more ‘exciting’. I feel like that’s normal for a mystery, though. Once it picks up, it really picks up. And the end was a LOT of fun.
I loved this, especially once things started picking up with the Instagram posts.
The story follows Najwa, a competitive Scrabble player who’s still grappling with and grieving the death of her best friend Trina, the Queen of the Tiles, during the finals of a Scrabble competition a year prior.
My favorite aspects of the book are as follows:
1) The characters: I found myself really enjoying the time Najwa spends alone with each character as she tries to figure out Trina’s death. Some characters were spotlighted more than others, but learning more about them was always a fun experience for me. I also loved the way Najwa would see Trina through the eyes of the others as she kept digging.
2) The wordplay: I like how Najwa describes the people around her and the situations she’s in with words. To be completely honest, I wasn’t a big fan of it at first (I felt like I was being pulled out of the story every time a new word I didn’t know was being explained to me), but as I kept on reading I learned to really enjoy this aspect and kept bookmarking the pages because I wanted to go back to the words.
3) The Malaysian and Muslim representation: The Manglish? The mention of Najwa having to push back the baby hairs escaping her hijab? The little things made me really happy.
I also really liked the discussion on grief and how everyone goes about it differently. That needing help is ok (and good!). And that the way we see and perceive things aren’t necessarily the only truth.
My only criticism would be the pacing at the beginning of the book. It felt a little slow at first and I’d sometimes put the book down to read/do something a little more ‘exciting’. I feel like that’s normal for a mystery, though. Once it picks up, it really picks up. And the end was a LOT of fun.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Grief
Discussions on grief, anxiety and depressionliterautres's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.25
THIS WAS SO FUN AND THRILLING.
first of all, thank you so much for the author who sent me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
(phew, the effort that took me to write that sentence without showing my actual reaction that is really just me freaking out and accidentally hit my head on the wall)
OKAY SO THE BOOK. the story follows najwa, a genius scrabble player who's about to come back to the annual scrabble competition a year after her best friend's death, trina. najwa has set her mind for this competition not only as a way to cope with her grief of losing trina by doing what both she and trina do best - that is, scrabble, if it's not obvious enough - but also to commemorate trina's death by planning to claim trina's title as queen of the tiles. of course she is not the only one aiming for that prestigious title, all skillful players in the tournament want the throne. however things start to go astray when trina's inactive instagram account begins to upload questionable, suspicious pictures containing clues and messages that lead to the suspicion whether trina's death happened naturally or was a cruelly planned murder. this incident triggers so many questions, who is behind these posts? and why are they doing it now? what are their motivations? what is the actual story of trina's death?
the way things unraveled is so gripping it left me gasping for air. actually, for me personally, my years of reading mystery and thriller is already behind me so i don't know what's the trend now, but i like how this one is written. it doesn't necessarily gives you constant goosebumps (honestly in my age that kind of thing kind of tires me out) but places each small revelation in the right places at the exact moment. the twists give the right amount It Is Not What It Seems vibe. the character building is pretty solid, at the start of the book we will be introduced to these characters, their habits and their quirks, in a way where it slowly and carefully builds the tendency for us to put assumptions on these characters since the very start, but also left some questions for the story to answer. also all the characters' secrets!!! aaarrgh. during reading i had so many Damn But Who Would Have Thought moments which makes me feel stupid and i am, indeed, stupid. we love it when a book exposed our intelligence don't we!
and najwa's character development is so satisfying. this is a young adult book, and one of my favorite things in reading young adult is to see these young characters grow and learn, even when just a little bit, even when the ending does not instantly solve their problems, not instantly gives them peace. i like assuming that at the end of the book, there are still many spaces for them to fill. and that's exactly what happened with najwa in this book as the Actual Center Of Everything That Is Happening. her struggle with her anxiety and her grief are written so attentively and filled with consideration, it is less punching-in-the-face unlike 'the weight of our sky' but gives a pretty clear image on what she is going through.
also this is an absolute delight for all of us words nerds! if you, like me, have a phase in your life when you are completely obsessed with scrabble like everytime you reach home after school you don't even change your school uniform and just went straight to play scrabble even when there is no opponent (i didnt have friends okay!) or if you just recently jumped into the wordle (and its variations) bandwagon you will Love This. the unique word presented at the start of each chapter is absolutely intriguing and makes you thirsty for more words (i sound like a complete nerd, which i am) and these are not common words! i search every unique word with another level of obsession (see, a complete nerd) so that's also probably one of the reasons why i took my time reading this book.
however, just like every other book in the world, this book is not perfect. i still remember faintly my years of reading mystery and thriller books, and i can say that if you are an avid reader of that genre, the ending of this book probably came as a bit flat to you. if you like extremely dark twists and turns and open ending so tense it leaves you wanting to strangle yourself, this book will not really satisfy you. the ending of this book is done quietly, no extreme consequences, and honestly i love that more. there is something so intensely regretful, but there is still peace too, and a new dynamic flourishing between the most unlikely characters in the ending. which is why this book is a good fit for me, but if it is not the kind of thing you are looking for when you read this genre, don't expect it in this book. however other than that, if you have the love for words and mystery and literally can't get enough of them, this is a wonderful read and you should totally pick it up! (and scream with me afterwards)
oh oh and the book will be released on April 19th!! almost forgot to mention that lmao get it nerds <3
---------------------------------------------------
first reaction:
Y'ALL AAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
rtc i have to gather my thoughts first but for now it's the screaming that you all can get bcs AAAAAAAA
first of all, thank you so much for the author who sent me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
(phew, the effort that took me to write that sentence without showing my actual reaction that is really just me freaking out and accidentally hit my head on the wall)
OKAY SO THE BOOK. the story follows najwa, a genius scrabble player who's about to come back to the annual scrabble competition a year after her best friend's death, trina. najwa has set her mind for this competition not only as a way to cope with her grief of losing trina by doing what both she and trina do best - that is, scrabble, if it's not obvious enough - but also to commemorate trina's death by planning to claim trina's title as queen of the tiles. of course she is not the only one aiming for that prestigious title, all skillful players in the tournament want the throne. however things start to go astray when trina's inactive instagram account begins to upload questionable, suspicious pictures containing clues and messages that lead to the suspicion whether trina's death happened naturally or was a cruelly planned murder. this incident triggers so many questions, who is behind these posts? and why are they doing it now? what are their motivations? what is the actual story of trina's death?
the way things unraveled is so gripping it left me gasping for air. actually, for me personally, my years of reading mystery and thriller is already behind me so i don't know what's the trend now, but i like how this one is written. it doesn't necessarily gives you constant goosebumps (honestly in my age that kind of thing kind of tires me out) but places each small revelation in the right places at the exact moment. the twists give the right amount It Is Not What It Seems vibe. the character building is pretty solid, at the start of the book we will be introduced to these characters, their habits and their quirks, in a way where it slowly and carefully builds the tendency for us to put assumptions on these characters since the very start, but also left some questions for the story to answer. also all the characters' secrets!!! aaarrgh. during reading i had so many Damn But Who Would Have Thought moments which makes me feel stupid and i am, indeed, stupid. we love it when a book exposed our intelligence don't we!
and najwa's character development is so satisfying. this is a young adult book, and one of my favorite things in reading young adult is to see these young characters grow and learn, even when just a little bit, even when the ending does not instantly solve their problems, not instantly gives them peace. i like assuming that at the end of the book, there are still many spaces for them to fill. and that's exactly what happened with najwa in this book as the Actual Center Of Everything That Is Happening. her struggle with her anxiety and her grief are written so attentively and filled with consideration, it is less punching-in-the-face unlike 'the weight of our sky' but gives a pretty clear image on what she is going through.
also this is an absolute delight for all of us words nerds! if you, like me, have a phase in your life when you are completely obsessed with scrabble like everytime you reach home after school you don't even change your school uniform and just went straight to play scrabble even when there is no opponent (i didnt have friends okay!) or if you just recently jumped into the wordle (and its variations) bandwagon you will Love This. the unique word presented at the start of each chapter is absolutely intriguing and makes you thirsty for more words (i sound like a complete nerd, which i am) and these are not common words! i search every unique word with another level of obsession (see, a complete nerd) so that's also probably one of the reasons why i took my time reading this book.
however, just like every other book in the world, this book is not perfect. i still remember faintly my years of reading mystery and thriller books, and i can say that if you are an avid reader of that genre, the ending of this book probably came as a bit flat to you. if you like extremely dark twists and turns and open ending so tense it leaves you wanting to strangle yourself, this book will not really satisfy you. the ending of this book is done quietly, no extreme consequences, and honestly i love that more. there is something so intensely regretful, but there is still peace too, and a new dynamic flourishing between the most unlikely characters in the ending. which is why this book is a good fit for me, but if it is not the kind of thing you are looking for when you read this genre, don't expect it in this book. however other than that, if you have the love for words and mystery and literally can't get enough of them, this is a wonderful read and you should totally pick it up! (and scream with me afterwards)
oh oh and the book will be released on April 19th!! almost forgot to mention that lmao get it nerds <3
---------------------------------------------------
first reaction:
Y'ALL AAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
rtc i have to gather my thoughts first but for now it's the screaming that you all can get bcs AAAAAAAA
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Grief
starshynebrite's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
5.0
i just finished it in two hours
all i knew about it was that it had scrabble and i never actually read the rest of the synopsis
all i knew about it was that it had scrabble and i never actually read the rest of the synopsis
SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE
WHEN IT WAS A MURDER MYSTERY THAT GAVE ME INHERITANCE GAMES/KNIVES OUT VIBES AND HOW WE FALL APART VIBES BUT BETTER
WHEN IT WAS A MURDER MYSTERY THAT GAVE ME INHERITANCE GAMES/KNIVES OUT VIBES AND HOW WE FALL APART VIBES BUT BETTER
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Mental illness and Grief