A review by bribreads
Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Queenie is a beautifully nuanced look at the struggle to overcome trauma and the relationships that hold us up as we fight our darkest demons. The story follows that of the nominal character herself, Queenie, as she undergoes a difficult breakup with her white boyfriend. Queenie is a woman who has found a lot of her self worth and her ability to validate the feelings of men, so when her boyfriend tells her he wants her out of their shared apartment, she struggles to adjust to her new reality of being 'alone.' What follows is a series of increasingly disastrous decisions that set Queenie on a downward spiral in life- from hypersexuality to slowing in her career to neglecting those closest to her, Queenie just can't seem to quite grasp how to be okay. The narrative is masterfully written, with the characters and their relationships being front and center. The author doesn't shy away from the raw reality in life: sometimes, we allow shitty things to be done to us and do shitty things to others simply because that's all we're capable of in a given moment. Queenie herself is an incredibly complex and morally-gray character who you still can't help but root for: if you're looking for the perfect portraiture of the modern black woman, this book is for you. More than anything, Queenie's reliability as a protagonist is the shining light of this novel. The book also delves into how racism can marginalize and isolate us: much of Queenie's struggle to overcome her struggle with mental health stems from the fact that she is a black woman living in a world that is centered around whiteness. Speaking as a black woman, the author perfectly nails just how dehumanizing it can feel when the people around us make it clear that they see us as an 'other' before they see us as their friends.
With that being said, there is one major critique of the novel that seems to have largely escaped the larger literary community thus far: the author rather hypocritically writes an anti-semitic character into her novel that deals with thematic racism and marginalization. <Cassandra is one of Queenie's longest friends, and also arguably one of the worst people alive. She is mean, judgemental, unsupportive, and generally unpleasant to be around or even think about. She is also Jewish, as the author makes clear several times throughout the novel. Perhaps the only positive thing that can be said of Cassandra is this: she's rich and seemingly generous with her money. However, when she and Queen have a falling out, one of the FIRST things Cassandra says is that she expects her debts repaid in full. Now, if you're unfamiliar with common anti-semitic tropes, this is a huge one. Depicting the Jewish community as one obsessed with wealth and power (which Cassandra arguably is) only serves to degrade and endanger them. I'm not quite sure how an author who recognizes the grave consequences of stereotypes, and how they disservice us all, could so blatantly write a minority character into this novel that lacks both depth and feeling. I, for one, was extremely disappointed by this characterization, and by the lack of intelligent conversation surrounding Cassandra's Jewish heritage. This felt like a cheap addition to the novel, and it wasn't one I appreciated.>
Overall, I would say that Queenie is worth a read. It's not often we're given novels where black women are allowed to be as messy, outspoken, and fully human as this character is, and it was a personal refresher for me and for so many others to see pieces of ourselves reflected from the page. As Kyazike says, we can "all be whatever type of black girl we want to be." That's something I took to heart, and hope you do, too.
With that being said, there is one major critique of the novel that seems to have largely escaped the larger literary community thus far: the author rather hypocritically writes an anti-semitic character into her novel that deals with thematic racism and marginalization. <Cassandra is one of Queenie's longest friends, and also arguably one of the worst people alive. She is mean, judgemental, unsupportive, and generally unpleasant to be around or even think about. She is also Jewish, as the author makes clear several times throughout the novel. Perhaps the only positive thing that can be said of Cassandra is this: she's rich and seemingly generous with her money. However, when she and Queen have a falling out, one of the FIRST things Cassandra says is that she expects her debts repaid in full. Now, if you're unfamiliar with common anti-semitic tropes, this is a huge one. Depicting the Jewish community as one obsessed with wealth and power (which Cassandra arguably is) only serves to degrade and endanger them. I'm not quite sure how an author who recognizes the grave consequences of stereotypes, and how they disservice us all, could so blatantly write a minority character into this novel that lacks both depth and feeling. I, for one, was extremely disappointed by this characterization, and by the lack of intelligent conversation surrounding Cassandra's Jewish heritage. This felt like a cheap addition to the novel, and it wasn't one I appreciated.>
Overall, I would say that Queenie is worth a read. It's not often we're given novels where black women are allowed to be as messy, outspoken, and fully human as this character is, and it was a personal refresher for me and for so many others to see pieces of ourselves reflected from the page. As Kyazike says, we can "all be whatever type of black girl we want to be." That's something I took to heart, and hope you do, too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Antisemitism