Language: R (100+ swears, ~50 'f'); Mature Content: R (Teens drinking, driving under the influence, and hiding marijuana; multiple references to a specific relationship in which a teacher is sleeping with a student; multiple discussions of adultery and abortion); Violence: R (Murder of main character; crime scene details; 3 uses of the N-word; multiple anti-Black characters spewing racist beliefs; gang rape; reference to use of date rape drug; reference to character committing suicide due to bullying; several references to child molestation of a main character by uncle many years before; description of attempted murder by choking from viewpoint of victim; description of near-death by falling)
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Privileged, beautiful, and white, Tinsley McArthur always knew she'd follow in the footsteps of the other women in her family and become homecoming queen of her Mississippi high school. But when new rules level the racial playing field, and Nova Albright -- gorgeous, poor, and Black -- wins instead, Tinsley is furious. The night of homecoming, fueled by anger and vodka, she declares that Nova should be murdered and her body dumped in a nearby slave graveyard. Her rant, filmed and posted to social media without her knowledge, goes viral. The next morning, the world learns that Nova has, indeed been killed -- in exactly the way Tinsley detailed.
Duchess Simmons, Nova's grieving best friend, has seen the racism inherent in the justice system -- after all, her own father is something rare: a Black cop among the many white ones in their town. She is determined not to let Tinsley get away with Nova's murder, despite her skin color, money, and social standing. But it turns out that solving Nova's murder, and proving it, is far more complicated than Duchess could have imagined. And when she teams up with an unlikely ally, she may lose everything: her pops, her girlfriend -- even her life.
As far as teen murder mysteries go, The Black Queen definitely holds the reader's attention. It is full of twists and turns, and the scandalous revelations throughout ensure the pacing doesn't sag. Many of those revelations are pretty dark (see the content warnings above), so readers who are young, immature, and/or triggered by any of these topics should definitely find something else to read. Those who can handle the content, however, will find a suspenseful (if occasionally preachy) mystery novel with interesting characters and a plot that will likely keep them guessing until the end.
Sydney G., Certified Library Media Specialist
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