Do you like mystery?
Do you like a wide cast of diverse characters?
Do you like plot twists and turns?
But most of all…
Do you like Scrabble?
Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf follows the story of Najwa, a Malaysian girl who plays Scrabble competitively. However, she hasn’t played in a year because at the last Scrabble competition she went to, her undefeated best friend Trina Low, aka Queen of the Tiles, dropped dead after losing for the first time. Najwa, overcome with grief and PTSD, comes back after a year with the intention to heal and move on, the same can’t be said for all the other competitors - because now that the Scrabble throne is up for grabs, everyone wants it. But all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram becomes not inactive, posting cryptic messages that suggest Trina did not just drop dead - she was murdered. As secrets are revealed and true colors are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out what happened to her best friend - not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself from becoming the next victim.
After all, all’s fair in love and Scrabble, and no one knows that more than Najwa.
Characters:
Najwa (nudge-wah) Bakri is the protagonist of Queen of the Tiles and Trina Low’s best friend. After watching Trina drop dead at the last competition, Najwa falls into depression and grief, and sometimes, even mentions of Trina send her into panic attacks. However, she is determined not to let anyone take Trina’s title as Queen of the Tiles - except for herself. She’s also bent over figuring out who is the instigator of Trina’s Instagram and who may have murdered her best friend.
Trina (tree-na) Low was the former Queen of the Tiles until she died at the last Scrabble competition. People describe her as someone you could either love fiercely or someone you could hate fiercely. She was Najwa’s best and only friend, and a little too many people have motives against her.
Some other characters you might want to know about are Mark (Trina’s boyfriend, until she died), Emily (who was caught in a large scandal when someone thought she was cheating at Scrabble), Shuba (Shoe-buh) (they want nothing more than to be Monarch of the Tiles), Yasmin (yahs-meen) (Trina’s former best friend before Najwa), Singapore Ben (called that to distinguish him from KL Ben), and Josh (everyone hates him, he was the first person to win against Trina, and the last person to play against Trina).
My Thoughts About Plot and book:
The plot was very nice, and it moved at a steady pace, so it didn’t feel like the plot was going too fast or slowing down. Najwa is a very interesting character to read, not only because she has a contrasting viewpoint to read, but also because she’s in a highly competitive environment and is plagued by various stages of grief. Clues and events were correctly placed in the plot, and you forget that this whole book takes place over just a weekend. The suspense is built up throughout the book really well, as well, and it’s a quick read - I finished over the course of a day. However, I think the resolution of the book or the reveal of what happened and who it was was a little dry. It was interesting, yes, but I think it was a little lacking. I was expecting a lot more from the way the rest of the clues and plot was built up.
My Final thoughts + rating:
If you’re looking for a quick, contemporary read loaded with suspense and intrigue, Queen of the Tiles is perfect for you. It’s filled with everything you would expect from a contemporary mystery novel. Hanna Alkaf weaves together a beautiful and entrancing story about grief, friendship, competition, and Scrabble. Queen of the Tiles is also very original - cliches, tropes, and stuff you find common in other books are kept to a minimum here. I would give this book a 8/10 - it was a good story, but there was nothing special about the writing style (other than the fact that it was captivating, but that’s every good book) and the slightly disappointing ending.
If you liked Queen of the Tiles, Check out Hanna Alkaf’s The Weight of Our Sky and The Girl and the Ghost.