I really enjoyed the writing style! Will definitely pick up another book by this author as I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the story!

The only thing I had qualms about was how we didn't know the cause of death of the beat friend who dies at the beginning of the book and we don't find out til the last quarter of the book and it's so obvious upon knowing the cause what exactly happened. There is no way the mc didn't know the cause of death of her best friend and being as smart as she is that she didn't figure it out and know what happened.

I did enjoy the drama of the scrabble tourney though and the drama between all the competitors! I wanted more of that!

Really solid read.

ICONIC UNPARALLELED PEERLESS SUPERLATIVE INIMITABLE MASTERPIECE SENSATION

Hanna Alkaf digs deep into the complexities of flawed friendships, jealousy, anger, trauma, and grief using Scrabble of all things, and she does it masterfully. I started reading this literally three hours ago and read it in one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down.

Some favorite things:

⤁ It's a murder mystery featuring a Muslim hijabi protagonist! What's not to love?

⤁ The absolute nerdiness of this book's entire concept instantly captured my attention. I'm no Scrabble player, but I'm a lover of words, and I related deeply to the way Najwa users words and their meanings to make sense of the world and events around her.

⤁ Books written by SEA authors set in SEA are just so special to me. There's just something about seeing your unique regional experiences set in a book that tugs at my heartstrings!

You definitely don't want to miss this book!

- 5/5 ⭐️
- YA
- thriller
- murder mystery
- school competition setting (Scrabble)
- Malaysia-setting
- hijabi rep
- pretty little liars vibe
- tw// death, anxiety/panic attacks

Overview:

Najwa, Trina's best friend, returns to the yearly Scrabble competition she has participated in for years a year after Trina's death, aka the Queen of the Tiles. Najwa's anxiety skyrocketed after witnessing her own best friend's untimely death on the table after losing a competition, and having others from the same competition event strangely give her stares after seeing her again after a year makes her anxiety spike. She assumed she'd be able to leave Trina rest in peace and put the issue to rest after the police determined that her death was not the result of foul play, but everything changed for her when she received a response to the texts she sent to Trina's instagram. Not only that, but the person in charge of Trina's Instagram has been leaving clues and making intriguing postings about what may have led to her death. But how do dead girls go on social media?

Review:

Hanna Alkaf has never let me down in the past. She's a genius in terms of writing, plotting, and character development.

I admit that I found it a little boring at first, but once I got to the section where things started to get juicy, I was hooked! I've always enjoyed murder mysteries and thrillers, and this one is just ideal. Pretty Little Liars or any of Karen M. McManus' books, such as One of Us Is Lying, come to mind.

I've always enjoyed reading about Malaysian culture as I am a part of it. It's always fascinating to learn about other people's perspectives on our culture, and it's especially pleasant to read something that I can relate to.

From beginning to conclusion, the plot was well constructed. It's far more exciting to use words I've never heard of before because they're words from Scrabble games. I've never been a great lover of Scrabble before, but after reading this book, I'm more interested in playing it now that I know more about it (I hope lol).

It was fascinating to read about the investigation into who murdered Trina and who was behind her Instagram account, as well as Najwa's investigation into who did what in the scam.

Overall, I really like this book! I'm excited for everyone to read it when it comes out.

THIS WAS SO FUN AND THRILLING.

first of all, thank you so much for the author who sent me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

(phew, the effort that took me to write that sentence without showing my actual reaction that is really just me freaking out and accidentally hit my head on the wall)

OKAY SO THE BOOK. the story follows najwa, a genius scrabble player who's about to come back to the annual scrabble competition a year after her best friend's death, trina. najwa has set her mind for this competition not only as a way to cope with her grief of losing trina by doing what both she and trina do best - that is, scrabble, if it's not obvious enough - but also to commemorate trina's death by planning to claim trina's title as queen of the tiles. of course she is not the only one aiming for that prestigious title, all skillful players in the tournament want the throne. however things start to go astray when trina's inactive instagram account begins to upload questionable, suspicious pictures containing clues and messages that lead to the suspicion whether trina's death happened naturally or was a cruelly planned murder. this incident triggers so many questions, who is behind these posts? and why are they doing it now? what are their motivations? what is the actual story of trina's death?

the way things unraveled is so gripping it left me gasping for air. actually, for me personally, my years of reading mystery and thriller is already behind me so i don't know what's the trend now, but i like how this one is written. it doesn't necessarily gives you constant goosebumps (honestly in my age that kind of thing kind of tires me out) but places each small revelation in the right places at the exact moment. the twists give the right amount It Is Not What It Seems vibe. the character building is pretty solid, at the start of the book we will be introduced to these characters, their habits and their quirks, in a way where it slowly and carefully builds the tendency for us to put assumptions on these characters since the very start, but also left some questions for the story to answer. also all the characters' secrets!!! aaarrgh. during reading i had so many Damn But Who Would Have Thought moments which makes me feel stupid and i am, indeed, stupid. we love it when a book exposed our intelligence don't we!

and najwa's character development is so satisfying. this is a young adult book, and one of my favorite things in reading young adult is to see these young characters grow and learn, even when just a little bit, even when the ending does not instantly solve their problems, not instantly gives them peace. i like assuming that at the end of the book, there are still many spaces for them to fill. and that's exactly what happened with najwa in this book as the Actual Center Of Everything That Is Happening. her struggle with her anxiety and her grief are written so attentively and filled with consideration, it is less punching-in-the-face unlike 'the weight of our sky' but gives a pretty clear image on what she is going through.

also this is an absolute delight for all of us words nerds! if you, like me, have a phase in your life when you are completely obsessed with scrabble like everytime you reach home after school you don't even change your school uniform and just went straight to play scrabble even when there is no opponent (i didnt have friends okay!) or if you just recently jumped into the wordle (and its variations) bandwagon you will Love This. the unique word presented at the start of each chapter is absolutely intriguing and makes you thirsty for more words (i sound like a complete nerd, which i am) and these are not common words! i search every unique word with another level of obsession (see, a complete nerd) so that's also probably one of the reasons why i took my time reading this book.

however, just like every other book in the world, this book is not perfect. i still remember faintly my years of reading mystery and thriller books, and i can say that if you are an avid reader of that genre, the ending of this book probably came as a bit flat to you. if you like extremely dark twists and turns and open ending so tense it leaves you wanting to strangle yourself, this book will not really satisfy you. the ending of this book is done quietly, no extreme consequences, and honestly i love that more. there is something so intensely regretful, but there is still peace too, and a new dynamic flourishing between the most unlikely characters in the ending. which is why this book is a good fit for me, but if it is not the kind of thing you are looking for when you read this genre, don't expect it in this book. however other than that, if you have the love for words and mystery and literally can't get enough of them, this is a wonderful read and you should totally pick it up! (and scream with me afterwards)

oh oh and the book will be released on April 19th!! almost forgot to mention that lmao get it nerds <3

The premise of this book was executed very well and kept me on the edge of my seat! Najwa as a character had so much depth and her Scrabble prowess was impressive. The book did a great job of highlighting the negativity of toxic relationships. The only thing that keeps me from rating this 5 stars is that it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would. Still worth the read when it comes out.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the Digital Advanced Copy!

Easily one of the best books I've read so far. Hanna Alkaf's books have always felt like home to me, but this one, I feel like is her best work yet. The writing itself, perhaps it has something to do with the protagonist being a scrabble nerd, but it's just so brilliant. I've highlighted a major part of this book and I'm not ashamed to admit that 😌

All of the characters, from our protagonist Najwa all the way to the monotonous waitress and that one super polite opponent Najwa had. I felt like all of them were so well-constructed, had so much depth that it was just so fun to read. I also really enjoyed the interaction between Najwa and Alina—their sisterhood felt so authentic and even though Alina wasn't there that much, she's kind of my favourite? Also, there were so much more malaysian and pop culture references that I SO RELATE TO I LOVE IT SO MUCH AAAGHH 😫😫💓💓

And the plot?? JUST WOW. Every time I thought it was going this way, it went into a whole other direction. The foreshadowing, the word play, the atmosphere—all of those were just stunningly executed. I gasped way too many times while reading this. I also felt like screaming once but it was late and I didn't want to wake my roommate. However in my opinion the ending fell a little flat. I'm glad everything was resolved, but I don't know, I just felt a teeny bit unsatisfied?

The themes covered in this book (panic attacks, grief, ptsd, etc.) I think was done quite accurately, and the writing was just *chef's kiss 🤌💋 As I was finishing this book, I felt a little melancholic because I know I'll never get to experience reading this for the first time again :') I don't know how to talk more about this without spoiling anything, so please please read it!!!!

I received an eARC of this book from the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an absolute delight to read! Being only my first Hanna Alkaf read, I was completely blown away by her writing style, instantly making her an auto-read author for me. Very accessible yet consistently engaging and intelligent, Alkaf's writing is a force to be reckoned with. I am still in shock at how well-written this book was. I thoroughly enjoyed this page-turner of a story, so beautifully calculated and crafted to be perfectly paced, which will awaken or, in my case, reawaken a love for Scrabble. Not only was the mystery very edge-of-your-seat, the exploration of the main character Najwa's grief, confusion, and confidence was also compelling. I believe Najjy is going to make it to my favorite characters list for the year. To top all that, how her anxiety was presented was extremely relatable at least to my experience. I cannot recommend this book enough to everyone.

An instant favorite and a wonderful treat for logophiles everywhere! Do yourself a favor and pick up Queen of the Tiles when it comes out!!

I LOVE THIS
It guaranted u LOTS of new vocabulary. On each chapter I was like "does that word even exist?" Spoiler alert: it does.
Well played wordplay👏👏

SUPER PAGE TURNING and full of suprises.
The frienemy dynamic, the feelings and emotions are soooo sooooo beautifully written. I can feel the tension. The curiousity to find out the truth is killing me, and guess what? THE ENDING WAS SURE SATISFACTORY.

We will see teenage romance in a most relatable way nowadays. The persona of social media, and influencers. The betrayal within the friendship. The tangled feelings and the way through to solve it.

Perfect

Ps. Please mind the trigger warning before you read this. Xoxo

At the beginning of the book, readers are introduced to Trina Low, the Queen of the Tiles, as she would call herself. However, her description made me think of her as the Scrabble Siren instead. Obviously, that has a bit of a negative connotation to it but there was something about how her curves were mentioned in the book that gave me a bit of an ick. She’s 15 too, so that made me very uncomfortable. I believe you can say she’s attractive and flirtatious in other ways than describing an underaged girl’s body.

I think the author did a great job with Trina’s character. I also love seeing her from Najwa and other characters’ perspectives, I think that really adds dimension to her. On one hand, we have a group of people who never really liked Trina and on the other, we have Najwa who views her memories with Trina with rose-tinted glasses.

I also like that we have an unreliable narrator. I think that makes things a tad bit more exciting. Not to mention how flawed most of the characters are, especially the Queen herself. This book explores the nuances of the great heavy blanket of grief, how trauma affects one’s memories and perspective of an incident, and also society’s perception & behaviour towards a dominant female character. I don’t think that Trina is inherently evil or mean, I just think she knows what she wants and will absolutely go for it.

Overall, I like the pacing of the book. I enjoyed the puns and wordplay. The lineup of distinctively flawed and different characters are refreshing, and for a murder mystery, this was pretty fun to read. I really like the ending as well. If you’re planning to read this, be sure to check out the content warning first.

Though I ended up skimming sections of this title, that's more because of the circumstances of my life while I was reading than due to the book itself. I enjoyed this one. I liked the exploration of grief, and the setting was fresh and interesting.

Wow. I've been excited for this book since it was announced and it honestly didn't disappoint. Excellently paced, fun, and clearly written by a skilled wordsmith (you have to be, if you're writing about Scrabble nerds), Queen of the Tiles sets itself apart from most YA contemporary these days. It's short, bingeable, and straight to the point; not a single word wasted. And our MC knows just how important words can be.

So, to clear up some misconceptions: this is not a dark academia novel. It's a YA contemporary with mystery aspects. It's heavily character-driven as well as plot-driven. I really appreciate the complex female friendships here -- yes, plural. Everyone had unique personalities and relationships with each other, even if they initially played into surface level tropes (the queen bee, the wallflower best friend, the hot boyfriend, etc). Which is proof of the author's skill and pretty refreshing. Nobody is perfect or all-good. They're all three-dimensional and real.

Like Alkaf's other books, this one is set in Malaysia. I loved how casually Southeast Asian it is; her books always feel like home.

The mystery did a good job of setting down the clues for you to follow along, though I felt like the last quarter went too fast. It's like I just blinked and then it was over. Despite that, I didn't predict the culprit and it was a fun brain game for me too. So I do recommend this as a fun, quick read.

This feels like it can fall under the younger end of YA but tbh this is the first time in ages that I've read a YA book with MCs who actually read like teenagers.

Thank you so much to the author, Hanna Alkaf, for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. She prioritized Southeast Asian reviewers like myself and I am truly grateful <3

This is such a full YA mystery!

It's just a touch over the top, but mostly feels realistic and relatable. The cast of characters is extremely diverse in multiple ways, and they're all flawed in believable ways.

The use of Scrabble and Scrabble words makes for a fun reading experience, and the words chosen move the story along and you get definitions for all of them. If the SATs still quizzed on random vocabulary, this would be a great book to read to study for them.

Overall, super fun.

I really enjoyed this book! It was really interesting and I also enjoyed the plot a lot. The book was laid out really well and I also really liked the characters. This was a great book!

All I knew about this book going in was that it was Hanna Alkaf and it had a scrabble tournament. What I didn’t know because I didn’t need to know any more was that it featured a whole MURDER MYSTERY!

I read this in one sitting and it was so much fun. It was such a rollercoaster from discovering that it wasn’t just a scrabble competition (though I totally enjoyed the scrabble elements, especially how each chapter started out with a new word), to trying to figure out who was behind the death of Najwa’s best friend, Trina Low.

It was so interesting to read about all these different relationships that the competitors had with Trina. It really took the phrase “two sides to every story” and went with it! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to piece together the puzzles while also rooting for Najwa to win the Scrabble tournament!

This did have depictions of anxiety attacks, so be mindful of that as you read! I think Hanna always does a great job depicting grief and anxiety and the different ways it can portrayed.

If you loved How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao or the Inheritance Games (with the Knives out vibes), then I think you’d really enjoy this!

Thank you to the publisher and @NetGalley for the E-ARC copy of this book. The rating of this book is entirely of my own opinion. #NetGalley

This 320 page YA book is hard to put down and middle school readers and up that love words, a good mystery, and fantastic writing are in for a treat.  I can't recall the last whodunit that had me absolutely sure that I knew who was guilty, while simultaneously doubting myself until the reveal.  I mean, maybe there wasn't even a crime to unravel? And fear not, I'm not going to spoil anything in this review.  Just know that this Muslim authored, Muslim character filled, Malaysian set, Scrabble feast is worth a space on your shelf as it will undoubtedly make a place in your heart and beg to be read again and again to see what you missed.

SYNOPSIS: 

It has been one year since Najwa has competed in a Scrabble tournament, one year since her best friend, Trina Low, died playing Scrabble at the very same tournament, at the same hotel, with many of the same participants.  And with Najwa battling her angry negative thoughts, splotchy memory, nerves, and grief, she is walking a fine line of functioning and faltering.  When Instagram posts and messages start popping up from Trina's account, everyone becomes a suspect in unraveling what really happened and doing it fast enough to prevent it from happening again.

The backdrop is the Scrabble games that are still taking place, the play on words, the scoring, the plotting, the twists, the scrambling, and unraveling of so many characters that are more connected than they first appear. 

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love Scrabble, my mom and I used to play weekly when I was in junior high through college, and while the games were "friendly," and neither us very good, the game holds wonderful memories. Usually chess is referenced for strategies in real world approaches, so to see Scrabble on a competitive level and have it being in many ways a metaphor for the larger storyline truly had me giddy.  I'm still grinning in fact as I write this review.  The mixing of the two story lines is flawless, with the word play, and scoring, and definitions, that I am just beyond impressed with the writing, the clarity, the intensity, and the way it holds the readers attention.  

Many of the characters are Muslim and they mention their hijabs, waking- or rather trying to wake each other up for fajr. At one point Najwa and Mark, Trina's ex-boyfriend are meeting to talk and she acknowledges the halal gap left as they sit down and how they are both always mindful of her Muslimness and his non Muslimness.  Islam is there, but is not a big part of the story. I beamed when it popped up, but if doesn't influence the story much, for example one night Najwa plans to sleep in her hijab incase she has to run for her life, so you know, she won't be slowed down by trying to cover her head.  Yeah, the book has some dry humor too.  

There is a large mental health role in the book, as it seems in all of the author's books: The Weight of Our Sky and The Girl and the Ghost.  Najwa is coping with her grief and trauma and working closely with her doctor to improve her situation.  Other characters mention going to therapists and likewise getting professional help.  I love that it isn't just a character trait, but that it is a big part of the story, and not in a negative way, but in an actively working to manage it way.

I like how the gender neutral character is handled and pronouns are used.  It is not opined upon, it is not in your face, it is a side character, they have a preference of how to be referred to as, a quip is made that if they win they don't want to be queen of the tiles, but a more less gendered term perhaps monarch, and that is it.  It is not a judgement, it is not a big part of the story, and no one makes it a huge issue, the character isn't fleshed out much, but they are respected and have more to their personality than this one facet.  I think that provides a great approach in seeing something in literature that can perhaps spark important conversations in real life in need be.

The only slight pauses the book gave me were when it talks about how incredibly wealthy and distant Trina's parents were, but then for much of her life she lived in a modest town house style house.  Also, despite Mark and Najwa's awareness of boundaries, and Najwa being called out for crushing on Mark, at one point he hugs her and I don't know if that is an oversight or was intentional.

FLAGS:

There is death, murder (?), poisoning, deceit, plotting, cheating in multiple ways, kissing, crushes, relationships, multiple mental health threads, intense competition, danger.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I would love to do this as a book club selection.  I think as long as no one spoils the outcome there would be so much to chat about: the twists and turns, the way Islam and Malay culture is shown, the influence of western culture, concept of competitive Scrabble, pronoun sensitivities, and healthy friendship.  Girls and boys in middle school will be drawn to the story, and I can't wait to share.

I really enjoyed Queen of the Tiles. The story was interesting, and the Scrabble elements added a cool dynamic to the plot. I did feel like the final reveal was a little convoluted, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.

I love the theme, the setting, and the central mystery! This is going to be a hit with teens seeking something different in their mystery writing, as Southeast Asia is not a typical setting for this genre. A cutthroat (maybe literally...) competition in a world that most of us aren't familiar with just rounds out the awesomeness of this book!

I had been excited for this one ever since I found it while scrolling on Goodreads last year. It sounded very unique since it was based around a scrabble tournament. I can’t say I have ever read a book with scrabble in it. It definitely brought back memories as my grandma would play with me and beat me, haha. She always knew the best words to play. Although there were aspects of this book I liked, there were also times I just needed more from different parts of the book.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Najwa Bakri. She has been playing in scrabble competitions for awhile now and even got her friend Trina into it too. Things didn’t go so well at the last competition a year ago when her friend mysteriously died and now someone is sending messages from her Instagram. Najwa has her work cut out to solve what is going on as well as keep her head in the game. I liked reading about how she coped with her friend’s death . Najwa is a very strong character even if she doesn’t give herself enough credit.

Because the plot deals with a mystery, there are a lot of suspects. I will say that I didn’t feel much for the other characters because there just wasn’t enough information about them. I didn’t ever really get to know them besides through small conversations which mostly had to do with Trina and the day she died. Najwa definitely had the most development with Trina right behind.

The pacing of the book is what really got to me and had me putting down the book more than picking it up. It does get faster as the book progresses but it’s hard to hang on when the beginning is slow.

Overall, this was good. There are a lot of unique qualities about it like the scrabble competition and the words throughout the book with definitions included. The mystery wasn’t a favorite but I didn’t guess the person until around the reveal so it wasn’t all bad. I think the characters could have used more development but maybe that’s just me. I would definitely give this one a try if you enjoy scrabble or are looking for a light YA mystery.

4 Stars

Queen of the Tiles takes place a year after Najwa’s best friend’s death, and centers around Najwa’s first scrabble competition since then. Najwa goes so she can move on from the past, but when cryptic social media messages start posting from Trina’s account, she wants to find out what truly happened that faithful day. I can happily say that even though 2022 just happened, this book will be one of the best books for this reading year.

I’m not an avid mystery reader, but I’ve read enough of them to know when they are predictable. You can easily guess who the killer was. You can piece the clues together with no struggles at all. I can say this happily wasn’t the case here. We get hints and clues, nothing too obvious that gives the mystery away. There were times where I kept questioning who did it.

Even if you have a good mystery, tension has to be present. Without this crucial element, the mystery falls flat, and quickly the reader loses interest. In Queen of the Tiles, we don’t encounter this problem. Tension oozes off the pages and captives my attention. In every chapter, the stakes escalate, creating more suspense for the reader, compelling them to read more.

As you can tell by the synopsis and tile, this story focuses on the game of Scrabble. I found this to be a fresh and original concept. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never read a book that takes place in the middle of a scrabble competition. I love scrabble and found this to be a nice touch. In the story, scrabble words pop up innovatively besides just the tournament.

For example, all the chapters contained a scrabble word and its meaning. I’ll show down below in a quote:

PROLEGOMENON

seventeen points

noun

a preliminary discussion; introductory essay, as prefatory matter in a book; a prologue

– QUEEN OF THE TILES, HANNA ALKAF

These entries occur at the beginning of every chapter, foreshadowing what’s to come in that chapter. The one I have quoted above starts in chapter one, and of course, it reflects that it’s the beginning of the story since it’s the first chapter.

I found these little details to be nice touches helping to bring more personality to the story. There are several other instances where scrabble words play into the overarching story, and it’s such a creative way to involve something as simple as scrabble to invoke deeper meanings besides just the basic definition.

I won’t say any more about that because I don’t want to spoil anything! Now, I’ll talk about our main character, Najwa. Najwa is a Muslim MC, which isn’t seen much in the mystery genre. I’m so happy that we got this representation! It’s important to see diverse characters in not just the mystery genre but in all genres!

We follow Najwa in this story as she grapples with the grief of losing her best friend and is forced to confront all the problems revealing themselves head-on. We see how she makes rash decisions and how she is just trying to move on from Trina’s death. We can travel along with her as she reaches her peaks and downfalls. Najwa is a likable protagonist, that is just trying to move on and focus on the scrabble tournament but questions whether or not her friends are who she thought they were.

The portrayal of grief in this story is written so well. You could not only see how Najwa was dealing with Trina’s passing. We also see how the side characters were taking it. As humans, we all grieve differently, and the author captured this perfectly.

Not only did I enjoy Najwa, but the side characters were also entertaining. They each had their quirks giving them more of a personality. Many books tend to toss side characters to the backburner. Here I didn’t feel this wasn’t the case.

Overall, The Queen of Tiles created a suspenseful mystery that had me on the edge of my set. It took basic premises and enhanced them in fresh, innovative ways. The characters were enjoyable, the mystery was well crafted, and the scrabble elements added personality to the story.