Review: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
My, my, my. Where do I even begin with Queenie? This chile right here was a HOT DAMN MESS but I seriously loved the book. Queenie definitely takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end. I think as women, most of us have gone through a bad break up that we can’t seem to shake. Fortunately for me, I had a great group of support around me to help me bounce back. Outside of her friends (who sometimes ill advised her), Queenie didn’t really have the support that she needed.
I had the discussion with a fellow BGM group member about the state of Queenie’s health and whether or not she had a mental illness. I really didn’t know much about mental illnesses at that point, but did my research. I discovered that mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.
Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. But a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function.
A mental illness can make you miserable and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and talk therapy (psychotherapy). (source: the Mayo Clinic).
After reading up on that, I do think that Queenie suffered from mental illness and desperately needed support and an outlet to talk to. After a bad break-up with her white boyfriend Tom, she spirals downward. Engaging in sexual activities (sometimes abusive ones) to ease the heartache and pain from her recent breakup. But it doesn’t seem to end there. She goes on a repetitive path of sleeping with various men (addictive behaviors), can hardly eat, has many anxiety attacks and begins to withdraw from friends and family socially. I would have never defined Queenie as someone as having a mental disorder before my research because not being that knowledgeable on the subject, I equated mental illnesses with straight jackets and psych wards. There are actually way more minor cases/symptoms of mental illnesses and I’m glad to now be in the know.
It was heartbreaking for me to see Queenie lack self respect for herself and her body by continuing to sleep with white men who lacked respect for her as well. The only saw her as a big booty and boobs and another tick of the list of sexual life accomplishments. I wondered why she never took interest in black men. Like, not a single one. This really bothered me to an extent. It was almost like dating white men was an act of self hatred. Why was she so attracted to these men when none (outside of Tom) proved to be anything more than scum.
Overall I rated this book 4 stars. I was happy to see Queenie’s family and friends come together to get her the help she needed and support her choice/need to go to therapy and get her life on the right track. Therapy is so necessary and should be more encouraged by all. After that point, things seem to slowly climb upward for Queenie with her family, friends and her career. I was proud of the fact that she made the decision to stop begging Tom back, accept that he made the choice to move on with someone else and delete his contact information altogether for a fresh start. Such a great emotion-filled book that I really enjoyed. Many moments where I was angry, sad for Queenie and even laughed out loud a few times. The audiobook is amazing, btw. Francesca was easily my favorite character and I will be walking round shouting “Yo, fam!” as often as possible. LOL Definitely one to add to your TBR list!
