Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Queenie” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Queenie

Candice Carty-Williams

3.74 · Rating details · 17,746 ratings · 2,733 reviews

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY WOMAN’S DAY, NEWSDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BUSTLE, AND BOOK RIOT!

“[B]rilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking.” —Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You

Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Americanah in this disarmingly honest, boldly political, and truly inclusive novel that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and found somethmeetsof#1 ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 352 pages

Published November 5th 2019 by Gallery/Scout Press (first published March 19th 2019)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Queenie, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

ATY 2020 - A title without the letters A, T, or Y

278 books — 43 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.74 ·

Rating details

· 17,746 ratings · 2,733 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Queenie

Feb 20, 2019 Emily May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019, contemporary, arc

He put a hand on my thigh and moved it higher, digging his nails into my skin. That'll be a pair of tights gone.

This book is a bit deceiving. Queenie is such a funny and lovable character, with what I think of as a very British sense of humour. The book opens with multiple scenes that made me laugh and the author quickly builds up a warm and hilarious dynamic between Queenie and her girlfriends ("the Corgis"), and between Queenie and her Jamaican grandparents. This is everything I would have expected from a book being compared to Bridget Jones's Diary.

Which is why I feel like I need to issue a warning: this book goes to some really dark places. Bridget Jones is klutzy and embarrassing; Queenie is a far more complex and real character. She is dealing with mental health issues and a post-relationship breakdown. The decisions she makes - like having unprotected sex with lots of different men - are clearly not healthy.

I know some readers will feel frustrated with her behaviour at times, but I also think the author never portrays it as a good thing, and instead honestly portrays a young woman dealing with severe anxiety in the only way she feels she can. I think it's a good example of some very serious issues being wrapped up in a book that is full of humour to balance out the sadness.

Queenie has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend Tom, who is white. Through flashbacks, we soon learn that their relationship was pretty messed up from the start, with Tom refusing to defend her against his family's casual racism. Queenie doesn't see it that way, though. This break-up has hit her hard. She responds to it by hooking up with guys and having various dating/sexual encounters that are a mixture of hilarious and cringy.

Carty-Williams explores dating, anxiety and racism through the eyes of a modern-day Jamaican Brit, and she does it all with a sense of humour and no aversion to cringe factor. Oversharing at inappropriate moments, dating disasters, and witty badass girlfriends are just some of the sources of hilarity in this book. I think the serious issues are actually more impactful because of their juxtaposition with the humour and friendship.

No, this isn't another Bridget Jones's Diary, but then we're not living in the 90s anymore either. Queenie is bolder, more complicated, more diverse and - ultimately - more feminist. And I see nothing to complain about in that.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube ...more

flag 813 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2019 Roxane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the kind of novel whose excellence sneaks up on you. The beginning is kind of rocky and I wasn't sure where the book was going but then it gets great and unputdownable and I held my breath reading as fast as I could to see what would happen to Queenie. This is an amazing novel about what it means to be a black girl whose world is falling apart and needs to find the strength to put it back together. There is so much ground covered here from dealing with anxiety and self-loathing to compli ...more

flag 557 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2019 Jazmen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I don’t think I’ve been this disappointed in a book in quite some time.

I’m disgusted.

Queenie with all of its rave reviews never hints at the alarming and problematic content.

Queenie is a twenty-something-year-old Jamaican woman—who is just about at her wit’s end. She’s messing up at work, and her boyfriend of two to three years just dumped her. Her white boyfriend of two or three years—this is significant.

I want to be as clear as possible, but I do ...more

flag 411 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2019 PorshaJo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, challengereads, challengereads-2019, favorites-2019

Rating 4.75

I loved this book. Such an unexpected gem of a read. I went into this one blind. I knew nothing about it, I read no reviews. I frequently check out my library for new audio books. I saw this bold orange cover of a book called Queenie. It drew me in. I listened to a sample of the audio. A heavy accent by the narrator. It drew me in. I grabbed a copy of the audio and jumped right in.

Queenie is a hot mess. She's a 26 year old Jamaican woman, living in London, and Rating 4.75

I loved this book. Such an unexpected gem of a read. I went into this one blind. I knew nothing about it, I read no reviews. I frequently check out my library for new audio books. I saw this bold orange cover of a book called Queenie. It drew me in. I listened to a sample of the audio. A heavy accent by the narrator. It drew me in. I grabbed a copy of the audio and jumped right in.

Queenie is a hot mess. She's a 26 year old Jamaican woman, living in London, and just completely a mess. We meet her as she is taking a 'break' from her live-in boyfriend, which HE wants, not her. He asks her to move out and by this point, she's already on a downward spiral. She can't face reality. She's out of control. She puts herself in a few dangerous situations (I think). She's got no money, living in a nasty flat with a few flatmates, she's not there for her job, she lets the WORST men abuse her, she has issues with how people see her as a black woman. She doesn't feel she's worth it, she really has had a hard life. It's an absolute train wreck but you can't help but watch. When she hits the lowest of lows, she must bring herself back up. And so you watch her bring herself out of the pit and show her strength.

To be honest, I almost stopped with this one. Initially, it was a bit sexually graphic for me. Just not what I tend to read. I actually started another book, but then I did read a few reviews. One said 'stick with it' (Thanks Esil!). So I pushed on and I'm so glad I did. The book gets off to a bit of a rocky start. But it immediately just jumps in to a life already out of control. All I can say is stick with it. When someone has issues, and is mentally struggling, it's never a pretty sight. But you must see everything in it's entirety to see where Queenie is at. I'm so glad I stuck with this one. It made me cringe, made me glad I'm married (oh the horrors of dating apps), made me laugh, but made me root for Queenie. Even though, a few times, I wanted to shake her....you knew she would just make the worst decisions.

I also must say, publishers - DON'T COMPARE THIS TO BRIDGET JONES. This is so not like Bridgette Jones, other than a young girl living in London and dating. Queenie is so much more. If you think you are going to find a Bridgette Jones here, skip this one. Romantic comedy this is NOT.

Anyway, I loved this book and just loved the audio narration. The narrator did a fabulous job. A highlight of a read for 2019 for me. I'll remember this one for some time. So why not 5 stars..... I'm stingy with 5 stars. But I had to knock it a bit for being quite sexually graphic (yes, made it hard to listen to the audio when husband is around saying 'what ARE you listening to') and the reading of emails and text back and forth initially drove me bonkers. So far, this is my top read of the year. And I'll just say, give this one a shot and just stick with it. It's such a reward in the end. ...more

flag 110 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2019 Meredith B. (readingwithmere) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 Stars!

He paused and lifted his glasses to wipe his wet eyes. "You're full of fight Queenie. Full of Fight." He turned away and ambled back down the garden path, leaving me standing there unable to process anything he'd said.

This is marketed as "Bridget-Jones" but I want to tell you that this is so much more than that and I mean much more and much more important that that.

Queenie is a twenty-something who is living in London. She is Jamaican and it trying to fit in to both Jamaican and British culture. She was with her boyfriend, Tom, for awhile and they are currently going through a "break" period where they both try to take some time apart. Queenie realizes what she has lost but is also seeking worth from outside sources.

Queenie ends up hooking up with multiple people, going through fights with friends, navigating her family and just navigating her life is general. She goes through situations based on her race and ethnicity. She is gets comments thrown at her, that are inappropriate. She is treated a certain way and she has to fight to stand up for what she believes it even when everyone else is knocking her down. Queenie truly goes through a growth journey in this book. In the end, she ends up asking herself "Who do you want to me in today's world?"

I read this book fairly quickly because it sucked me in. I knew within ~30 pages that I was going to love this book and it just kept getting better. I almost felt like I was Queenie's friends and I was going through life with her. I experienced happiness when she did and heartbreak when she did. There were times I wanted to shake Queenie and say what are you doing! And other times I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her it'll all be OK and I'm proud of you.

This book really gave me perspective. There are a lot of situations that Queenie experiences in the book that I will never experience. I think it's important to put myself in someone else's shoes and have a better understanding of the types of things they go through and situations they are put through. At the same time though, there were a few situations I felt that I could relate to Queenie just as a woman in the modern world as well as someone with anxiety/depression.

I highly recommend this book and think everyone should pick it up! The cover alone sold me on this one - it's GORGEOUS! Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press for my ARC of this book. ...more

flag 97 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2019 Book of the Month added it · review of another edition

Why I love it
by Jojo Moyes

I have to confess I have a prior interest in Queenie’s author, Candice Carty-Williams. A few years ago, I created a competition offering up my cottage to an aspiring writer in need of time and space to complete their project. Candice was the first winner, chosen from more than 600 applicants. She had never driven outside London before, and it took her six hours to make a two hour journey (the kind of thing that would happen to her character, Queenie!), but when ...more

flag 90 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2019 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: stand-alone-novel, listened-to-audiobook, cover-love, authors-first-novel-debut, read-2019, amazing-audio, adult-content

This book explores individual and collective trauma in all its eye-opening forms. Queenie is such a well-developed and layered character, and when you follow her through this book be very aware of judgments that may arise. You may be frustrated by her choices but allow yourself to learn, understand, and be kind...yes, even toward a fictional character because she represents another. Awareness and hope are beautiful gifts.

My favorite quote:
“You aren’t as alone as you think.”

flag 83 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2019 Kate ☀️ Olson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: aoc, advanced-reader-copies, adult-reads

[free review copy] I inhaled this in one afternoon. Two things you need to know:
.
1) don’t go into it expecting it to meet that “Bridget Jones” description because it is WAY deeper and at times very emotionally dark. That comparison is deceptive and sets readers up for confusion.
.
2) you’ll either LOVE Queenie, or get frustrated with Queenie but if you are in the latter group, maybe quick check yourself and make sure it’s not age or privilege making you feel that way?
...more

flag 77 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2019 Tatiana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tatiana by: Emily May

Shelves: contemporary, 2019

Whoever is trying to sell this book as a Bridget Jones alike is misleading people.

If you watch as much British TV, as I do, you would get a better idea if you imagine Queenie as a cross between "Fleabag" and "Chewing Gum."

I wouldn't want you to open this book and expect a lighthearted dating comedy with a ditzy heroine who finds love in the end. What you will find is a woman dealing with her past trauma and her recent breakup by engaging in terrible sex with terrible men, which eventually leads her t ...more

flag 72 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2019 Lisa rated it it was ok · review of another edition

A tiresome novel that made me cranky. Everything about Queenie screams middle school angst. Queenie and her crew think and act like 12 year olds trapped in 25 year old bodies. Take away some of the sex, replace their jobs with 7th grade classes and you have the tedious dramas of adolescence. I liked the clever use of texts. That's about it.

flag 66 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2019 Carol (Bookaria) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2019, new-adult, favorites, top-2019

Compelling, deep, and ultimately heartwarming.

When I started reading this book, I thought it would be about dating and breaking up in the modern world. But as the story developed, it became clear our main character was walking though a confusing and challenging road.

I can't say much about the plot without getting into spoilers but I absolutely enjoyed this novel, it was so much more than what it is mentioned in the description. This novel is all about the journey, growing up, forgivenes ...more

flag 62 likes · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2019 BookOfCinz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bookofcinzshelf, caribbean-books, debut, 2019-reads, boc-bookclub

I could not wait to get my hands on a copy of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams mainly because the main character is a Jamaican. I was also drawn to this book because it is being dubbed as “Bridget Jones meets Americanah” and while I see why that is the case, in some (most) instances I don’t- we will get to that soon.

We meet Queenie Jenkins a 25-year-old living in London who is from Jamaica. Queenie’s had a lot going for her, especially for a millennial living in one of the most exp ...more

flag 59 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2019 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019, loveable-losers, book-of-the-month-selection, crunken-love, liburrrrrry-book, dysfunction-junction

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Let me make sure y’all have some things straight before we get started. I am not a 20-something. I am not single. I am not British nor am I of Jamaican descent. And yet somehow when it came to this book . . . .

The jumping off point to Queenie’s story might ring a bell to many of you as it derives from a timeless classic . . . .

Except, you know, this show actually has black people in it.

The tagline for Queenie states it is Bridget Jones meets Americanah - a book which I have not yet read, ...more

flag 59 likes · Like · see review

Mar 27, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

5 shiny, rebellious, beautiful stars!
As soon as I started this book, I thought I was having a light reading. Because the book is advertised as modern version of Bridget Jones. But after a few pages later, I realized this is deeper, more heart wrenching, darker and twisted story of a young woman who is looking for a tree branch to not fall down from a cliff!
Queenie has really a bad year but it’s not about her broken heart after her breakup or time out with her longtime boyfriend Tom. This is su 5 shiny, rebellious, beautiful stars!
As soon as I started this book, I thought I was having a light reading. Because the book is advertised as modern version of Bridget Jones. But after a few pages later, I realized this is deeper, more heart wrenching, darker and twisted story of a young woman who is looking for a tree branch to not fall down from a cliff!
Queenie has really a bad year but it’s not about her broken heart after her breakup or time out with her longtime boyfriend Tom. This is such a beginning of domino falling!
After her breakup, she realizes that she just blocks everything about her past and as seems like she has a job she’s been dreaming for so long and boyfriend who’s ready for longtime commitment do not bring her happiness.
But the breakup is the first wake up call which pushes her make so many wrong decisions about meaningless one night stands.
Then she loses one of her best friends’ trust( it isn’t her fault actually, only wrong things about the situation are choosing wrong besties and wrong f*ckbuddies), she gets rejected by all three men she’s hooked up, she loses her job. Finally she understands that she was already lost from the beginning. She doesn’t feel like she belongs to someone or somewhere.

She never thinks she deserves to be loved or she deserves good things in life. Now when she sees her own rock bottom, it’s time to discover her strengths and weaknesses, learn how to love and forgive herself and achieve to face her past demons!

This book is not only a typical love life story of a Jamaican English woman’s in mid-twenties. It’s about discovery of your own potential, learning what you want from the life, respecting yourself! It’s about friendship! It’s about forgiveness! It’s about family!
Sometimes you hate Queenie, sometimes you feel sorry for her but mostly you understand her ! She’s flawed, she’s broken, she’s confused but she’s strong enough to find her way and embrace her loved ones tightly to not fall from a cliff, again!
I really enjoyed her story and this is a great debut ! I love to read the upcoming book of this writer!
...more

flag 62 likes · Like · see review

Apr 26, 2019 Rincey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poc-author

This book is being pitches as Bridget Jones Diary meets Americanah, but it feels more like Bridget Jones Diary meets Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine with a black lead. I had really conflicted feelings the entire time while reading this book, but I will say that it completely sucked me in and I found it completely compelling, even though I basically spent the entire book wanting to yell at Queenie.

flag 52 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2019 Amy Imogene Reads rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019, did-not-finish

1 star

A book about sexual abuse, invalidating the female experience, and insistent on presenting racial stereotypes is not a positive narrative.

I honestly don't do a lot of 1 star reviews. Normally, if the book is that bad or I can't finish it, I just consider it a DNF, don't rate it, and move on - there are too many good books out there to waste my time on a bad one. But I felt a duty to finish Queenie, as it was lauded as such a sensational book for diverse female representation, and I felt li/>A ...more

flag 47 likes · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2019 Thomas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, own-physical, read-for-dmv-bookclub, realistic-fiction

Such a relevant book for the millennial era! Queenie, our main character, goes through so many relatable experiences: struggling to find an affordable place to live in a gentrified city, partaking in mediocre to outright awful dates with men, and texting her best friend squad when life goes awry. I loved how Candice Carty-Williams centers the black female experience in Queenie, by showing how Queenie encounters racism in the form of people touching her hair without her consent and her white female boss Such a relevant book for the millennial era! Queenie, our main character, goes through so many relatable experiences: struggling to find an affordable place to live in a gentrified city, partaking in mediocre to outright awful dates with men, and texting her best friend squad when life goes awry. I loved how Candice Carty-Williams centers the black female experience in Queenie, by showing how Queenie encounters racism in the form of people touching her hair without her consent and her white female boss tone-policing her, the internalized stigma her family has toward therapy, all of the microaggressions her romantic interests perpetrated, and much more. In an interview Carty-Williams writes about how part of what inspired this book included how she struggled to see herself represented in books, and I commend her for fighting to put forth Queenie into the world given the overwhelmingly white composition of the publishing industry and books published today.

What resonated the most for me in this novel: Queenie’s struggle with mental health. The way Carty-Williams wrote her mental breakdown and the early stages of her therapy felt so realistic, both based on my experience as someone who has worked through my own PTSD and as someone who now provides therapy. Black women are often expected to be strong and resilient, and while Queenie does embody those traits, she also gets anxious and makes impulsive, self-destructive decisions and takes more than an optimal amount of time to say bye to trash male romantic interests, potential or otherwise. Carty-Williams affords Queenie the space to mess up and be human while also showing her gradual yet significant path to recovery.

Definitely recommended for those who enjoy realistic fiction. While I wanted some aspects of the book to go a little deeper – like more commentary or self-awareness on Queenie’s part about her consistent dating of white men even when they are mediocre and/or racist over and over again and her disinterest in dating black men – I commend Carty-Williams for taking on so many nuanced topics without letting Queenie get lost in the shuffle. I’m excited to discuss this one at my local book club! ...more

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Oct 28, 2018 Amaka rated it really liked it · review of another edition

*Here's to hoping this book will turn into a movie*

Queenie takes us on an emotional rollercoaster; we begin with a breakup from her long-term boyfriend Tom. Though it's clear that Tom wants to take the breakup seriously, Queenie sees it as a temporary break and gives him space but not too much, just in case he wants to reconcile sooner. Their break propels the story forward as Queenie faces challenges including microagressions at work, conflicts within her quirky friend group (she wa ...more

flag 47 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2019 Jessica Jeffers rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-of-color, fiction, netgalley

This book surprised the shit out of me, because the marketing copy led me to believe I was getting something other than what it turned out to be. I even wrote a blurb when I was halfway through this one, thinking that it would be perfect for readers of rom-coms like The Wedding Date.

The marketing copy pitches this as a cross of Bridget Jones and Americanah because it features a quirky, unlucky-in-love black woman who wants to be a journalist covering the Black Lives Matter movement from her British/Jamaica This book surprised the shit out of me, because the marketing copy led me to believe I was getting something other than what it turned out to be. I even wrote a blurb when I was halfway through this one, thinking that it would be perfect for readers of rom-coms like The Wedding Date.

The marketing copy pitches this as a cross of Bridget Jones and Americanah because it features a quirky, unlucky-in-love black woman who wants to be a journalist covering the Black Lives Matter movement from her British/Jamaican perspective while hilariously having bad luck with men.

(side note: my husband thought I meant Americana, as in the musical genre, and was massively and hilariously confused when I tried to describe how it wasn't like that at all.)

But, no, that's not really what this book was in the end. What it was was actually so much better than that. It's about Queenie, a black woman in London who, yes, is unlucky in love and wants to advance her journalism career by covering the Black Lives Matter movement. But it's ultimately about Queenie's journey of self-discovery as a woman outside of her identity as an object of men's attention. It's wildly empowering in a thoroughly unexpected way.

When we first meet Queenie, she and her long-time boyfriend Tom are agreeing to try going on a break. He wants it more than she does, so she continues to reach out to him occasionally and is hurt when it's consistently met by radio silence. Despite the fact that she desperately wants to get back together, she responds to this rejection by sleeping with as many inappropriate men as she can find, no matter how terrible this makes her feel. the resulting lack of self-esteem bleeds over into other facets of her life, affecting her performance at work and her friendships (with a group she affectionately calls the Corgis because she is Queenie—a detail I frickin adored).

Yes, this does sound like the set-up of a stereotypical haphazard romantic comedy in the vein of Bridget Jones, but the thing about this book is, without getting too spoilery, that Queenie begins to recognize how problematic her behavior is and she fucking does something about it. When is the last time you read that in a book that gets marketed as "chick lit"?

Queenie is a phenomenal character because her journey feels so real. Her emotional baggage is not only relatable, but it's ultimately fleshed out in a way that feels authentic and not forced. While her personal growth feels a bit rushed at times, given how deep her pain goes, it's done in a way that is brutally honest. There's no sugar-coating here: Queenie has to acknowledge less-than-flattering aspects of herself and figure out how to deal with them.

There are some aspects of Queenie's life that felt a bit glossed over—the roommates that she moves in with are barely acknowledged and the extent of her problematic sexual exploits is covered in a few sentences that sort of minimize their magnitude—but I was able to forgive that one quibble because of how much I appreciated the frankness with which Candice Carty-Williams explored the hard work of battling mental health struggles. She doesn't just use depression or anxiety as a catch-all term to show that Queenie has some minor problems—she lays out exactly how Queenie experiences the real symptoms of these issues, how they're rooted in her family history, and the real techniques she learns to combat them.

And at the same time, the book doesn't feel too touchy-feely or didactic. The tone stays relatively light-hearted; Queenie's relationship with the Corgis is admirable and often hilarious. The book recognizes when Queenie's behavior is problematic even when she doesn't, but it treats her with empathy and understanding. Which is, honestly, something that we could all stand to learn to do a little better.

A great read, highly recommended. Just don't go in expecting it to be "the black Bridget Jones" like the publishers seem to want you to do, ...more

flag 45 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2019 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2019, contemporary, literary-fiction, cried-me-a-river, light-fiction, reviewed, library-loan, 4stars, adult-fiction

Wow

This book basically ripped my heart out and served it to me on a platter. Oh the feels...
Authentic, visceral, honest, painful, hilarious...
Simply genius.
I urge everyone to pick up this book and fall in love with a character as brilliant as Queenie.

flag 41 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2019 Sara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-loan, contemporary, fiction

Well this was an utterly brilliant novel, both heartbreaking and funny all wrapped up in the complex life of a twenty-something woman living in London with her Jamaican grandparents.

This was so much more compelling and complicated than I thought it would be, and that’s all because of Queenie. She’s instantly relatable. She’s falling apart, with her life spiralling out of control, going from one casual encounter to another just to feel affection, and I felt every rejection and hurtful comment. S Well this was an utterly brilliant novel, both heartbreaking and funny all wrapped up in the complex life of a twenty-something woman living in London with her Jamaican grandparents.

This was so much more compelling and complicated than I thought it would be, and that’s all because of Queenie. She’s instantly relatable. She’s falling apart, with her life spiralling out of control, going from one casual encounter to another just to feel affection, and I felt every rejection and hurtful comment. She’s essentially me at 26, trying to be an adult and juggle work, an awful relationship and friends - and failing miserably at all of them. Except she’s of the digital age where Tinder makes creeps that bit more accessible for a vulnerable woman like Queenie. I don’t think I can express enough just how utterly heartbreaking and likeable a character she is. She’s socially awkward, and makes so many mistakes, and this just makes her so human. A lot of heart has clearly gone into making her this fallible, and it shines through. Reading about her experiences as a black woman, and the casual racism she regularly encounters, also added to my anger for her. White privilege is prevalent throughout, not least from Tom and his family, and it opened my eyes to what it is to be a black woman in the modern age of BlackLivesMatter. Queenie IS enough, but the world just sometimes regularly fails to see it, perpetuating her internal struggles about worthlessness.

The story is also rather excellent. At the start of the novel we find Queenie on ‘a break’ from boyfriend Tom, and broken hearted. She can’t quite understand what’s gone wrong, and why he’s no longer talking to her, so she consoles herself by picking up awful men for casual sex, resulting in many trips to the sexual health clinic. Throughout she’s offloading all her stories to the ‘Corgis’, her group of girl friends and trying to deal with the fractious relationship she has with her mother and the associated traumas of her past, with flashbacks of her time with Tom. At times this really delves deep into some serious mental health issues, as Queenie quickly unravels and her behaviour becomes more and more erratic. It’s no light and fluffy read, and the topics are handled with care and compassion. The only reason it’s not 5 stars? It took me a few chapters to warm to Queenie, and her initial spiky personality. She’s not any easy person to love, but her actions often speak louder than her words.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this enough. Queenie is the heroine I didn’t know I was looking for. Incredibly brave, dramatic and compelling story telling with a fresh and honest voice. ...more

flag 38 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2019 Brown Girl Reading rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Queenie is the newest debut sensation coming out of the UK by Candace Carte-Williams. Sadly it was not my cup of tea for a few reasons. Firstly the good things about the book are the writing, especially the natural dialogue, and the fact that Queenie does get that mental health care that she so desperately needs. However as a whole this book is based on too many black women stereotypes. I really feel the author should have toned that down. I'm also not enjoying that this book is being pitched as ...more

flag 41 likes · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2018 Read In Colour rated it it was ok · review of another edition

More like a 2 1/2 but I couldn’t bring myself to round it up to a 3. Good premise but it falls short.

flag 36 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2019 Latanya (Crafty Scribbles) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: black-diaspora, realistic-fiction, women, ownvoices, contemporary, adult, food-for-the-melaninated-soul, international

In Candice Carty-Williams' debut, Queenie, she explores the life of a young black British Jamaican woman. The eponymous novel's main character faces choices where we see immediate consequences.

What can I say about this book? Every word hit home, even though I'm from a Generation Xer and the main character is clearly a younger millennial. I found common ground with a woman with issues, not unlike those I experienced in my younger years. While she lives in London (My favorite internat ...more

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Jan 26, 2019 Tava | tavalava rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-read-books, netgalley, e-book

Queenie is a young black woman whose childhood traumas play out in her adult relationships. This books is being compared to Bridget Jones’s Diary, and honestly that’s a terrible comparison. The book touches on themes of blackness and black identity, the fetishization of black women's bodies, mental health and more specifically mental health within the Black community.

I would liken this book to a slice of life novel. You find out more about Queenie in the latter part of the book when she is seek ...more

flag 31 likes · Like · see review

Mar 27, 2019 Jessica Woodbury rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, arc, authors-of-color

Honest truth: this book stressed me the f*ck out, but it was worth it.

At first I was thinking, You know, BRIDGET JONES is a pretty good comp, they're both smart and funny yet make terrible decisions with men. But there's a very big difference between Queenie and Bridget. Queenie lives in the real world. In the real world you don't just make hilariously terrible decisions for no reason, especially when you're a smart and capable person. In the real world you can spin out. In the real worl Honest truth: this book stressed me the f*ck out, but it was worth it.

At first I was thinking, You know, BRIDGET JONES is a pretty good comp, they're both smart and funny yet make terrible decisions with men. But there's a very big difference between Queenie and Bridget. Queenie lives in the real world. In the real world you don't just make hilariously terrible decisions for no reason, especially when you're a smart and capable person. In the real world you can spin out. In the real world your hurts and traumas and wounds can all resurface at the worst possible time to send you into a self-destructive spiral. It may look like hilariously bad decisions at first, but it quickly becomes something more serious.

Remember when we were all terrified by the story "Cat Person" because it was too real? QUEENIE is often like that. If you have ever been in a spiral, if you've ever gone through a self-destructive phase, if you ever couldn't get yourself to make the right decision even though you know it was the right decision, a lot of what Queenie goes through will ring true to you. It doesn't make it any easier. That's why I was so stressed. I cared about Queenie so much and I wanted so desperately for her to just be okay, to just make better choices, to just feel better. But life doesn't work that way. It's a long road and Carty-Williams isn't going to let us suddenly find a happy-ever-after. And it's an even longer road when you're Black, and even longer still when you come from an immigrant family that won't accept mental illness as a real thing that needs treatment.

Sometimes you will want to shake Queenie. Queenie is perhaps the most accurate in-her-20's protagonist I've read in a long time. She pouts and overreacts like someone who was a teenager not all that long ago. She wants to have more responsibility at her job but spends more time talking to her friends than working. She uses a group text for validation and support, but is careful to present a version of events that isn't always totally honest. She is overly invested in men who have done nothing to deserve even a moment's attention. So yeah. Maybe a bit too relateable.

I did the audiobook, which doesn't make it any easier to handle your frustrations with Queenie, but you do get to enjoy the great narration of Shvorne Marks, who does a wide variety of British and Jamaican accents with ease. She brings a lot of heart to Queenie.

There is no out-and-out sexual assault storyline here, but there is a lot of sex that Queenie does not want but also doesn't say no to, some of it described in detail. There are also a lot (A LOT) of racial microaggressions. Keep in mind if those are delicate issues for you. ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

May 17, 2019 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lib-has-audio, contemporary, library, cultural, library-request, 2019, favorite-authors, mental-health, buddy-reads

What a terrific book and main character. And cast of characters! Very smoothly written and easy to sink into. Audio performance was also terrific; I enjoyed it more and more as it went on.

This is why I read: For the experience. To experience another country, another culture, to slip out of my shoes and into someone else's for awhile. To laugh, to cry, to totally lose myself. This is why we do this.

I can't believe this is the author's first book! She is already one of my favorite authors, and I ...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2019 Esil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

3.75 stars

My enthusiasm for Queenie grew as I was reading. Queenie is 26 years old, living in London, of Jamaican background and her life is one hot mess. She and her boyfriend Tom are on a halt — or so she thinks. In the aftermath of the breakup, she has extraordinarily bad judgment when it comes to having sex with nasty men. Not to mention that work is going badly, her living arrangement sucks, and her family life is complicated. Thank goodness for strong female friendships and the ...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2019 Rachel Reads Ravenously rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 3-stars-aint-the-devil, library-checkout, new-to-me-author-in-2019, october-2019

3.5 stars

Whoever decided to market this book as a modern day Bridget Jones should be fired.

There got that off my chest. Please don’t market a book to be a romantic comedy in the vein of Pride & Prejudice (which is exactly what Bridget Jones is) and deliver a dark, in depth look at severe anxiety and what happens to people when they grow up feeling unloved. Those two things DO NOT go together!! I wish I hadn’t gone in thinking this was Bridget Jones because I think I would have enjoyed it ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2019 Umut Reviews rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I'm afraid it was just not for me. Queenie is just too frustrating.
I do appreciate what the writer tried to do linking this story with the Black Lives Matter movement. However, in my opinion it was not a good example, and I didn't like how she did it.
First of all, the book was a story of Queenie getting over a break up. The boyfriend is white, and he had a racist family who didn't treat Queenie in the right way. I think the story breaks there for me at the beginning. She was making the worst d ...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Literary Fiction ...: Discussion: Queenie	3	47	15 hours, 52 min ago
Go Fug Yourself B...: Queenie -- October Book Discussion Start Here	21	57	Nov 07, 2019 08:40AM
Bookish First Rea...: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams	1	2	Oct 22, 2019 12:20PM
Go Fug Yourself B...: Queenie for October	5	51	Oct 03, 2019 09:55AM
Slay Girl Slay Bo...: What Do You See When You Look Into the Mirror?	2	13	Sep 25, 2019 06:53AM
Slay Girl Slay Bo...: First Impressions	2	7	Sep 25, 2019 06:47AM
Play Book Tag: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams - 4 stars	10	15	Sep 13, 2019 05:20PM