Queen of the Tiles

I enjoyed the Scrabble inclusion and the mystery of what happened to Trina, but it did kind of fall apart a bit for me in the end. I did wonder how a murder mystery involves 15 year olds, but I didn't think too hard on it.

An easy read but I found the use of Malay phrases without clear translations irksome (a glossary is not at all difficult to append and useful for educating readers who would like to learn. Its absence smacks of elitism).

This was a breezy, super fast read but also a sensitive portrayal of grief and how that changes people. The Scrabble content was actually really fun and exciting - I have no idea how the author manages to pull off high tension while describing Scrabble plays - and most of the characters were interesting. Some of them made very over the top decisions but they are teenagers so I'll allow it. I did think the amnesia was a bit silly and things got a little convoluted toward the end but overall I really liked this.

A mystery that's less a whodunnit and more of a meditation on grief and trauma. I do feel like this increased my vocabulary!!

honestly loved the Scrabble stuff, indifferent to the mystery stuff. Which is partly my #brand but also I did feel like...like nobody ever mentioned the word "autopsy"? like if you think your friend was poisoned either you should be trying to ~hack in and get the autopsy report~ or at least say out loud "it's suspicious that they didn't do an autopsy"??? i'm not a mystery buff but that one seems kinda basic amiright?But overall I thought the twists were fun and I loved meeting all the weirdo Scrabble teens, and yet at the core of it the grief they felt felt very real. I think it would be good for fans of [b:One of Us Is Lying 58679358 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1) Karen M. McManus https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632078539l/58679358.SY75.jpg 49825436] etc, plus also for Scrabble nerds.