Alexis’s review of Queenie > Likes and Comments
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Wow! I haven’t read this book but based on your review, I’m adding it to my TBR pile. Thanks for such an open and honest review.
Janice wrote: "Wow! I haven’t read this book but based on your review, I’m adding it to my TBR pile. Thanks for such an open and honest review."
I mean, I think unqualified review is probably the better term ;) But I'm super glad it was useful for you :)
honestly i was just speaking to an author about this yesterday. Publishing has this trend of continuously marketing literary fiction as romcoms and idk why. It only hurts the author and the book. I got one that looked like a romcom, but turns out it has some serious cheating from the main character and nope. Not a romcom. People don't want to be deceived and i've seen too many books rated down (no matter how objectively good they may be) because it looked like a cutesy romcom but ended up being something hard or uncomfortable to read with themes like trauma or assault or racism. Just say its fiction with a romantic subplot? idk who this is helping.
Purabi, wrote: "honestly i was just speaking to an author about this yesterday. Publishing has this trend of continuously marketing literary fiction as romcoms and idk why. It only hurts the author and the book. I..."
I mean, the marketing clearly worked here because this book has nearly 90k ratings on GR alone. And I am certainly not knocking anyone for that. I don't know its connected to the fact that romance obviously has a very specific meaning for the *romance genre* and seems, in the broader literary context, to mean a work that includes any sort of sex or romance based human connection.
But this one had ZERO rom. Which was fine: I will happily read books without rom and rom was the last thing Queenie in her life right then. But it's weird as viewed as romantic or at least romance-adjacent because the MC thinks about her boyfriend and has some sex. Some really abusive sex.
Really abusive sex is definitely not rom.
I was lucky that this book was recommended to me by a friend who told me it was the story of a Black Woman and how she is confronted with fetishism and racism. It was definitely my best read of last year. I thought it was really masterfully written. I am astounded that it was marketed as a romcom...
Musebeliever wrote: "I was lucky that this book was recommended to me by a friend who told me it was the story of a Black Woman and how she is confronted with fetishism and racism. It was definitely my best read of las..."
I can't definitely claim it was marketed as romcom but that was how it was pinged on my radar. I think the comparisons to Bridget Jones and the blurbs from, like, Candace Bushnell et al don't super help. But then Sex and the City is ALSO commonly misunderstood as romcom so... maybe it's more apt than I thought?
You always write such thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate reading them!
ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "You always write such thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate reading them!"
Thank you so much. This is really kind <3
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Janice
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Mar 31, 2021 03:46PM
Wow! I haven’t read this book but based on your review, I’m adding it to my TBR pile. Thanks for such an open and honest review.
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Janice wrote: "Wow! I haven’t read this book but based on your review, I’m adding it to my TBR pile. Thanks for such an open and honest review."I mean, I think unqualified review is probably the better term ;) But I'm super glad it was useful for you :)
honestly i was just speaking to an author about this yesterday. Publishing has this trend of continuously marketing literary fiction as romcoms and idk why. It only hurts the author and the book. I got one that looked like a romcom, but turns out it has some serious cheating from the main character and nope. Not a romcom. People don't want to be deceived and i've seen too many books rated down (no matter how objectively good they may be) because it looked like a cutesy romcom but ended up being something hard or uncomfortable to read with themes like trauma or assault or racism. Just say its fiction with a romantic subplot? idk who this is helping.
Purabi, wrote: "honestly i was just speaking to an author about this yesterday. Publishing has this trend of continuously marketing literary fiction as romcoms and idk why. It only hurts the author and the book. I..."I mean, the marketing clearly worked here because this book has nearly 90k ratings on GR alone. And I am certainly not knocking anyone for that. I don't know its connected to the fact that romance obviously has a very specific meaning for the *romance genre* and seems, in the broader literary context, to mean a work that includes any sort of sex or romance based human connection.
But this one had ZERO rom. Which was fine: I will happily read books without rom and rom was the last thing Queenie in her life right then. But it's weird as viewed as romantic or at least romance-adjacent because the MC thinks about her boyfriend and has some sex. Some really abusive sex.
Really abusive sex is definitely not rom.
I was lucky that this book was recommended to me by a friend who told me it was the story of a Black Woman and how she is confronted with fetishism and racism. It was definitely my best read of last year. I thought it was really masterfully written. I am astounded that it was marketed as a romcom...
Musebeliever wrote: "I was lucky that this book was recommended to me by a friend who told me it was the story of a Black Woman and how she is confronted with fetishism and racism. It was definitely my best read of las..."I can't definitely claim it was marketed as romcom but that was how it was pinged on my radar. I think the comparisons to Bridget Jones and the blurbs from, like, Candace Bushnell et al don't super help. But then Sex and the City is ALSO commonly misunderstood as romcom so... maybe it's more apt than I thought?
You always write such thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate reading them!
ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "You always write such thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate reading them!"Thank you so much. This is really kind <3
