I was walking through Barnes and Noble, yesterday and noticed that they had marked the book Queenie for half off. I stared at it, as I wondered if I really wanted to read a book that is described as Bridget Jones and Americanah had a baby. I for one loved Americanah and recommend the book to anyone, but I was initially afraid this book was going to be about romance. Since I’ve seen so many Instagram accounts and Youtubers promoting the book, I decided to give the novel a chance. Why not?

The book is unique because it incorporates texting into the pages, which brought a unique complexity to the story. The author was able to convey dialogue through text. When people text, we all have different personalities, since the author was able to convey each character’s personality through the texts. The writing style was not complex but had enough flashbacks that it helps the reader fully understand the mental attitude of the main character Queenie.

This is not a Romance book nor is it a book about friends or family. It is a book about mental health and micro-racism. I can not say if the author was meaning to break the barrier with the racism her character faced. In truth what the author wrote are things black women and men face every single day. The micro-racism, people not standing up for her when people are blatantly saying the N-word or petting her like they are in a petting zoo. Men would come onto the character comparing her to chocolate or talk about her butt. They treated her as a sexually exotic object and not as a person. Just to remind anyone thinking black women or men are sexy or anyone with brown skin for that manner, comparing them to foods is not sexy. I honestly wouldn’t like it if my husband called me his white…IDK mayonnaise, coconut flakes, snow, marshmallow?

I don’t think the racism she writes about is groundbreaking, but it is an everyday feature in a black person life. If she didn’t write about these micro-racisms, then she would be denying her and her own people’s daily experiences. How the micro-racism is presented in the book does let an outsider like a White or Brown, etc. person to read and feel the experiences themselves.

The ex-boyfriend Tom is the main obsession throughout most of the book. Queenie just went on a break with Tom at the beginning of the novel, throughout the months of the break he continually ignores her texts and calls. The author does show snippets of their life together, to give the reader a better grasp of their relationship. At times I thought the boyfriend was right, but then came his racist family. Queenie should of up and left when no one defended her against his racist Uncle, especially since he was open about it. The fact her boyfriend felt no need to defend his black girlfriend and told her to suck it up, she doesn’t have to get so emotional about his Uncles remarks, says it all about him. That was the last straw, in my opinion. The truth is, if you defend a racist family member, you are no better than them. Have I the white woman writing this stood up for my brown husband? No, because none of my family members have weird micro-racist ticks. But I have stood up for my Aunt at work, who had a black teen calling her Ling Ling. Racism is not cool and should be called out regardless of the persons race. Can people be racist to white people, no but they sure can be prejudice as hell. We can probably argue that if you live in China, then yes there is racism towards whites and blacks. Yet in the Western world, its White culture and people who dominate.

This book does hold a lot of sex scenes, which I don’t mind as they aren’t too detailed. I wouldn’t mind if they were detailed either. Queenie begins to go through the sleeping around men because my heart is an empty phase. While her friends judged her silently, they couldn’t understand why Queenie was just having so much unpleasurable sex. I understood. When you’re in a bad mental state, it is like sex brings you a small rush or high. It’s the human contact you need, you know the men are trash but….The author understood this weird mental cycle and I am thankful she used it in her book. I don’t know if the author also experienced the mental health vacuum sex can cause, but she portrayed how I felt at a point in time of my life. Mentioning this is important because so many women and men go through what others like to call the “slut” phase. When in reality the person isn’t sleeping with people for pleasure or any meaningful way, it’s something else altogether the sex is just a crutch or coping mechanisms. Some people do it because they are so depressed and it makes them feel slightly alive, while others do it for human touch.

Queenie also gets sexual health checkups, where she experiences weird micro-racism. Asking if she has had sex with an African man, which the nurse explains its because of AIDs. We get the sense as a reader that it is a weird question because the nurse just asks if she’s had sex with an African almost like assuming since she black she must also be doing only black men. I also couldn’t help but think how vague with word African is. If she slept with a Moroccan, Tunisian, or White South African or a Pakistani or Chinese Mali guy, would these men be considered African? Its obvious the nurse was associating black Africans with AIDS. The main nurse eventually was “concern” and kept asking Queenie if she was abused, etc. 

Queenie became mad because she was assuming the nurse was thinking since she was a black woman she must be abused. Even though she showed signs of anal tearing and abuse on her genital regions. I’m going to be blunt here, the nurses at these places have asked most women at some point if we were abused or in sex slavery or hookers. My friend went in for a medical checkup, she had a bruise because of something dumb she did earlier. The bruise was just on her arm. The nurse then kept whispering concerned questions, giving her boyfriend (now husband) side-eyes. When finally, her boyfriend was asked to leave, the nurse asked if she was abused. At these places, they tend to ask many women if they are abused. My friend pointed out how the nurse handled her was unprofessional because if her boyfriend was abusive, he probably would go home and abuse her some more since the nurse wasn’t that quiet with her accusations. I have other stories with doctors and nurses just accusing away about sexual violence. I understand though, they do it because many women who are abused don’t speak out about it. I do think they need a better way to express their abuse concerns. I do know that black women are far less likely to receive the medical attention they need by doctors. Black men are more likely to be accused by officials of beating their wives, and black women are more likely to be accused of sex work. Health clinics are more likely to accuse black women of being more sexually active and not treat them properly. What the author wrote about, really spoke to me because again I’ve experienced something very similar. Have all women experienced being accused of being abused? Then stutter trying to defend themselves, while the nurses sneer at us.

It was thanks to a concerned doctor that Queenie was able to get mental help. The doctor said she has a daughter and seen this behavior before, but Queenie snapped “is your daughter black?”. Which the doctor said no. I loved this scene because the doctor was not alluding to the racism Queenie felt, she was alluding to the constant unsafe sex and tearing Queenie was experiencing. She wasn’t alluding to Queenie was being abused (the second time) but knew Queenie was abusing her own body for mental health reasons. Perhaps as a white woman, I took the doctors words differently. I would love to hear how a black woman perceives this interaction. So eventually Queenie does realize she needs mental health help. The book ends not really in a happy go lucky ending but ends at Queenie going to therapy and taking one step at a time.

I haven’t even scratched the three crazy moments in the story. Those are best left to the reader to find and discover. I highly recommend this book because it does discuss very important issues women face in their 20s. It also discusses real racial issues black women face every day, I’m happy the author included every micro-racist thing in this story. I’m hoping that every non-black person who reads this, will be able to start seeing micro-racism in their everyday lives and stop it. Note to the reader, saying “I’m not racist” doesn’t mean anything when you say that in defense to something a black person says. If your black friend is ranting about white people or some racist account, it should not follow with you being offended and claiming, “I’m not racist”. Your friend confided in you; they obviously don’t think your racist.

So, if you want a new exciting book to read, pick up Queenie. It is worth the hype.