Queenie

By: Candice Carty-Williams

Narrated by: Shvorne Marks

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

Queenie is a twenty-five-year-old Black woman living in south London, straddling Jamaican and British culture whilst slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white, middle-class peers, and beg to write about Black Lives Matter. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie finds herself seeking comfort in all the wrong places.

As Queenie veers from one regrettable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be? - the questions that every woman today must face in a world that keeps trying to provide the answers for them.

A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family, Queenie will have you nodding in recognition, crying in solidarity and rooting for this unforgettable character every step of the way. A disarmingly honest, boldly political and truly inclusive tale that will speak to anyone who has gone looking for love and acceptance and found something very different in its place.

©2019 Candice Carty-Williams (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Ltd

Critic reviews

"Inspirational, funny and wise." (Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon)

"A deliciously funny, characterful, topical and thrilling novel for our times." (Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize)

"Brilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking." (Jojo Moyes)

"A must-read novel about sex, selfhood, and the best friendships that get us through it all." (Candace Bushnell, author of Sex and the City)

I need more complicated Black women stories

I enjoyed this book so much and I really enjoyed the narration because it helped me with a lot of the pronunciation. I especially loved the character development of Queenie.

I ended up quite liking it

After my mishap with trying to get a print copy of this book. I decided to do the audible trial and listen to this book for free. Now this is the first time I've listened to a novel in audible form so  this review is a mix of what I think of the book as well as the audible experience.


When I started listening I was just excited to experience something different so I was listening every chance I got. I loved that I had some entertainment in traffic as well as being able to listen on my blue tooth while doing housework. However after a while I did get tired of  hearing the narration. 


The book itself started off a bit shaky for me because it was beginning to feel like a depressing story of one young woman's poor sexual choices and boyfriend drama.


However it turned out to be more than that.This book touched on friendship, mother -daughter and familial relationships, battling anxiety and other complex themes. As I read on I grew to appreciate the backstory of the character and what led up to her decisions. I enjoyed reading about the counselling sessions and I was happy with how the book came together in the end. Not cliched and not depressing.

I got lost a couple of times because the author had some flash backs and I couldn't tell right away sometimes what was happening. I think it was mainly because I was listening to the audio version. I still wonder if I had read the book instead of listen to it if that would have affected my degree of enjoyment.

Overall I give this book three stars. As for the audible experience, I still have mixed feelings about it but I give it three stars as well. 

(Good )

The book was good I little bit drawn out but still good .
I was annoyed with the main characters behavior through it all but at the same time it was very relatable
they way how she speaks about racism and her Jamaican heritage and her relationship with her family .

Could relate to so much

the narration is amazing. i feel that people would have a completely different connection with this book if read. would recommend although this heartfelt story can get a bit emotionally heavy in the middle. loved it though.