Queen of the Tiles, Hanna Alkaf
Queen of the Tiles, Hanna Alkaf
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Queen of the Tiles

Author: Hanna Alkaf

Narrator: Catherine Ho

Unabridged: 8 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/19/2022


Synopsis

They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen’s Gambit in this “stunning…unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly) thriller set in the world of competitive Scrabble, where a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.

CATALYST
13 points
noun: a substance that speeds up a reaction without itself changing

When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It seems that even though Najwa is trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet.

But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it.

As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.

About Hanna Alkaf

Hanna Alkaf is the author of The Weight of Our SkyQueen of the TilesThe Girl and the GhostHamra and the Jungle of Memories, and The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s, as well as coeditor of the young adult anthology The Grimoire of Grave Fates. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has spent most of her life working with words, both in fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by aly

[IMMERSIVE- 16 points] My first book by Hanna Alkaf and I wouldn't say it was any less worthwhile. Alkaf's work has always piqued my interest, but I was not able to give it a chance since her past book genres were not exactly in my wheelhouse. For all of that, as soon as I found out we'd be getting......more

Goodreads review by Hanna

I mean...I wrote it, so. ALSO, if you're looking for content warnings: On-page death, descriptions of anxiety/PTSD/panic attacks, discussions of grief and loss.......more

Goodreads review by Kate

Second read: May 15, 2024 I may be wrong. I mean, it’s not like I’ve read or even heard of every book in the world out there. But Queen of the Tiles is definitely the first book I’ve read that involves Scrabble. (Turns out that the parlor game I used to pull out as a kid whenever there was a typhoon......more

Goodreads review by Zala

I'm not sure what I think about Queen of the Tiles. On one hand, it's very entertaining and makes you feel invested in the murder mystery. I also like how it deals with trauma, the Malaysian hijabi rep, and the fact that it's centered around competitive Scrabble. But then, it's hard to care about mo......more