Hi guys. I am back with a new book review. Today I will review the book Queen Of The Tiles by Hanna Alkaf. It is about a girl named Najwa Bakri who tries to solve the mysterious murder of her best friend Trina Low, one year later, at a scrabble tournament.

Warning: SPOILERS UP AHEAD! ( IF YOU’VE READ IT, GREAT! BUT IF NOT THEN DON’T SCROLL UP OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF THEN GO AHEAD)

My book review:

Book itself:

• I absolutely love that this is a book set in Malaysia 🇲🇾 and written by a Malaysian author. I definitely relate to most of the things she writes in this book. 
• I love the book cover 📕 and that she added a visual representation of Najwa. Kudos to the person who made it!
• I just realised she’s wearing the friendship bracelet on the cover. 

Characters

• I kinda get Najwa and like that feeling when your best friend has another friend and now it’s 3 people instead of 2. It feels kinda awkward. Although having another person in your friend group is cool. Sometimes we can forget that. 
• I liked that Najwa assigned a word to describe the personality of all the other characters. I wonder what mine would be. 
• I definitely feel like Trina was one of those girls you would call popular in school but she herself wouldn’t think of herself as that. 
• Alina was really funny in some of the chapters. 
• I definitely felt that Josh was hiding something behind his cold facade like pressure from his parents or something but not a crush on Trina.
• Mark was definitely a rollercoaster 🎢 in this book, with his charms, personality and his obvious anger 😠 issues. 
• Ben was cool. And he also liked Trina.
• Puteri was distant, but then she opened up to Najwa which was nice. Puteri deserves better. I kinda get why she did not like Trina. Like at all. 
• Shuba was okay, although we didn’t see much of Shuba in the later chapters. 
• I felt bad for Emily. Although she helped Yasmin in her revenge plan, she was allegedly cheating in the past and now it’s a stain on her reputation. But damn, she brought a lot of medicine. 💊
• I liked the Tweedles. 
• I felt like Najwa’s mum was a lot like the Malaysian mums you encounter but she wasn’t too bad. 
• On a random note 🗒️, we didn’t see much of Najwa’s dad. 
• Trina’s parents were interesting, to say the least. Although I do feel bad for Trina. One of the reasons she wanted attention was cause she didn’t get a lot from her parents. 
• Damn a lot of people liked and hated Trina. Like Mark said she was ‘easy to love, easy to hate.’ 

Plot

• Damn, it was Yasmin all along. 
• I mean I feel for her – your best friend having another best friend and spending all their time with them, leaving you behind. It’s understandable, honestly. 
• Well, the saying is true – it’s always the ones you don’t expect.
• It wasn’t a murder 🔪🩸 but an accident- cardiac arrest. 
• She has been plotting this for a year, like her determination and dedication. 
• Her personality from the start to the end was chilling 🥶. Like she was so nice ☺️ and helpful and then at the end, she’s just like this evil 😈 mastermind, wanting to ruin Najwa’s reputation and life. 
• I mean it was interesting to see how Yasmin used that perception that people had of her, that she couldn’t play Scrabble, she couldn’t be that smart and turned it against Najwa and the rest of the characters. Clever ngl. 
• I liked how they managed to record 📹 her confession with the help of the ‘Tweedles’ aka Shanker and Diana. 
• I liked how she used Scrabble 🧩clues with the Instagram posts and the overall theme in this book was Scrabble and getting that title of ‘Queen’ 👑 of the tiles or ‘Monarch’ 👑 of the tiles. 
• But the way she caused Najwa to doubt teaming up with Mark by saying he seems dangerous because of the anger issues and making him look like he could be the ‘killer’ 🔪 was devious af. 
• I liked the author’s note. It was real and raw and something for everyone to learn about. 
• I liked that the author researched police investigations with the help of another writer, Scrabble tournaments and handling grief from experts. 

Moments

• I like when Puteri and Najwa became unexpected friends at the end. It was nice. And Puteri sending Najwa a friend request on Instagram was cute. 
• I mean I sort of suspected Yasmin like Najwa did at first but after she was supposedly attacked, I crossed ❌ her out although that wasn’t the case. 
• The beginning and the climax were so good. 
• I loved that Najwa didn’t tell the plan to the audience and kept it in suspense. 
• I was kinda waiting for the reveal of what Najwa was planning and it was great. Her casual lecture on what ZYZZYVA means was so cool. Also, the way she called Yasmin ‘Min’, Trina’s nickname for her as a way to taunt her was great since Yasmin taunted her by calling her ‘Najjy’ Trina’s nickname for her. 
• As a Riverdale fan, I loved Yasmin’s mention of the show 📺 in relation to a murder. Classic. 
• Trina coming in with her fancy entrance to the Scrabble tournament. Although Josh could’ve been a bit more sensitive to her death. 
• That ‘set-up’ with Yasmin was jaw-dropping like I didn’t expect that at all. And Emily slipping the tiles into Najwa’s jacket 🧥 was shocking 😲. I knew something bad was gonna happen at that point. 
• Hopefully, Yasmin will get the help she will need after being banned from the tournament. 
• I did feel bad for Emily being banned too. 
• It was kinda cute that Mark and Puteri wanted to restart a relationship again. 
• I liked how each chapter had a unique Scrabble word and its definition. Educational 🙂 

Overall it was a really good book. Loved the twists and turns!! I especially loved the diversity. Hoping to read more diverse books by more diverse authors. 

Comment down below which part of the book was your favourite!

Also, comment below any parts, characters and plotlines I missed!