Queenie
Candice Carty-Williams
Genre: Modern Fiction
Publisher: Trapeze
Can I just start off by saying the book cover actually bangs. My favourite cover ever. When I saw the braids, 2-2 baby hair and the big earrings I knew it would be my type of book. My big hoops starting clanging because they were so excited. You know like that!!
Queenie is author Candice Carty-William’s first novel. Don’t get it twisted though; being a new author doesn’t compromise the high quality and freshness of the story. Candice gifts us with the main character Queenie, who shows you the honest lows of trying to navigate dating as a black woman. The novel leads you on a journey that makes you see how hard times can impact your mental health. Sex, drama and friendship are the staples that hold this novel together.
This is not even a book, it just sounds like me and the girl dem sugar meeting up and filling each other in on our lives at one point or another. From the texts to the language used it'll make you feel super familiar with the author and the characters from the offset. The book is hilarious, frustrating, engaging and relatable!
Seasoning Level
CO2 | Salt | Pepper | Mixed Herbs | All Purpose Seasoning
Watch the breakdown
Queenie Jenkins has just broken up, gone on a break, from her long-term boyfriend Tom. He called for the break, not her! It’s the sort where you are single, single-ish for 3 months. Feeling vulnerable Queenie seeks temporary love from men in all different directions, who all bring baggage with them, (none of which seems to include condoms) that throws Queenie even further from the path she’s trying to get back on to. Meanwhile, she’s trying to hold on to her job working for a newspaper, with a boss who doesn’t seem to care about the ideas that Queenie is trying to write about.
A mentally very fragile Queenie has a strong support system with friends who are all very different but rally together to be as supportive as they can be. One can’t keep up with slang terms, and another is trying to finesse men in her spare time, but they make the funniest text group chats. Her grandmother, a strong Jamaican woman, gives her lots of affection in the form of absolute tough love. *Insert the saying* “you can pick your friends but not your family.”
Throwback moments appear in the book giving us access to Queenie’s relationship with Tom, pre-break of course. Why is there always that one person in the family that you shouldn’t let be around others?
Did I mention that you get to meet Queenie at the same time that a speculum does?
Favourite character
All of the characters are multidimensional and realistic. Queenie is the sister that you love with all your heart, but can’t stand at times because she does things that are so self-sabotaging and impulsive and you know that you’ll be the one clearing it up.
But hands down Kyazike definitely is my favourite. She reminds me so much of myself. Chapter 4 gives you the opportunity to really get to know Kyazike. Pronounced Chess-Keh. No, not Jessica with a C or K, she’ll get mad if you try to simplify her name in that way and you don’t want that type of problem. She’s out here living her best life with no shame. She is a major ride or die. Kyazike even texts like I do. Below is a typical Kyazike quote.
“So I must have been serving some any woman who’s counting out her pennies, and I look in the queue behind her and the buffest guy ever is standing there waiting”
In chapter 22 when Queenie and her grandmother are talking about Queenie getting therapy. Her grandmother switched the whole conversation and made it about her invalidating Queenie’s current situation.
It felt really raw to read because I know the situation very well. Be it a difference in a generation or cultural differences, but the mindset that I've been very much raised with is that you don’t “air your dirty laundry out” so you should suffer in silence and get on with it.
Is that how you’re feeling yeah?!
Be prepared to go through a range of emotions throughout the book. I cried when Queenie’s mental health deteriorated, I was on level 100 with my empathy and then cried again because it made me think about my own mental health which was really poor. I was disgusted and found myself shouting at the book when Tom didn’t support Queenie when his Uncle was openly racist towards her. And I laughed so hard when Queenie’s homegirl Kyazike explained the shamble of a date she’d been on. It's mad because one second I was crying because a section of the book would be sensitive and painful and then a page later I’d be screaming out loud with laughter.
Once I opened this book I couldn't put it down because I felt so invested and into the story. Being completely real I forgot on multiple occasions that it was fiction because it was so relatable and merged completely with everyday issues. Coming from London, born and raised, where the book is set I’ve noticed gentrification in places like Brixton. Too many times I've had to link up with my homegirl to cut her weave tracks out or get mine taken out. Also, the episodes of intense panic attacks that Queenie suffered made my chest tighten.
There is this woman in her 20s really trying to be on her grind and work on her career, whilst holding on to that and just about everything else by the tiniest thread ever. Her role in the media sector, trying to push for more diversity and pitch certain stories from her community really resonated with me. And what is mad is many people will read it and think it just adds to the book but many of us know it’s straight facts and actually far from fiction.
Understand my struggle. I read for hours in the dark using my phone as a torch because my light didn’t work but I couldn’t bring myself to put the book down and go to sleep. This is the first fiction book that I have read that mirrors my environment and terminology.
Length
392 pages including acknowledgements and credits. I wanted the book to be longer though, I became proper attached and I was not ready for it to be over. Also, I thought some sections could have been explored more, and I was left with the impression that some of the parts were a little rushed.
Who should read it
All the girlies. I would say in particular late teenagers to late thirties. I’d prefer my mum not to read it because I’d like to avoid the long list of questions that would come during and certainly after the book. Plus she has a habit of rinsing out new words she had learned so I don’t want her screaming “fam” or my “ting” at me constantly until she learns new phrases!
But especially those that need to learn or refresh London street slang, the book is a reflection of the times so you’ve got a while before the words become old and unusable. Ooh and someone who just wants to read something completely fresh. This book is unlike any fictional one I’ve read before.
Green light or oh no
Definitely green light, yes yes and yes. Buy the book, at the very least you have a unique book cover. I would recommend using the book as a gift. Buy it for your sister, your home girl's baby shower. Your bestie's birthday!
If you want a book that talks about sex it's a winner. But not just the fairytale sex, the deeper level. Greenlight it because it includes seasoning and well-marinated friendships, unapologetic grandparents, wastemen, and a woman trying to hold on to her shit.
Fun fact
I named my first car Queenie, except I decided to be extra and spell it as Q-W-E-E-N-I-E! Myself and Qweenie had a bond like no other.
Questions for the author
1. How soon can I get a Queenie sequel?
2. Do Tom and his new girl last?
3. What character do you see yourself more as and why?
The BIG quote
“I feel a bit like for a while I have been carrying ten balls of wool. And one ball fell, so I dropped another to catch it, but still didn’t catch it. Then two more started to unravel, and in trying to save those I lost another one. Do you know what I mean?”
Are you a fan of the book 'Queenie'? And what are your thoughts on Queenie as a character?