2020: Please do not be dissuaded by comparisons of this book to Bridget Jones' Diary; that would sell Queenie Jenkins short, and she is so much more that just a chick-flick rom-com. Carty-Williams is following in the footsteps of modern British women crushing the tragicomedy game, specifically Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel (I swear, Kyazike is literally Terry from I May Destroy You.) Queenie suffers a series of trash men one after the other, but it's worth suffering with her for her granddad's redeeming of the male gender at the end of the novel.

The book spends a lot of time on the importance of mental health, and how therapy can help to heal. There are some graphic descriptions of what it can be like to be suffering from anxiety. It touches on how therapy is still frowned upon in many communities, in particular in Black communities, and how that stigma can really prevent Black women from getting the help they need. It also highlights how difficult it is for Black women to find therapists who have the same background (while simultaneously making a STRONG argument for universal healthcare and the NHS).

I enjoyed reading this book in 2020, as it doesn't shy away from current topics such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, but rather incorporates them into the daily conversations between the friends. I found this to be very true to life, without it being the main conflict in the story. I thought the inclusion of emails and texts into the novel was also an accurate reflection of millennial life (and especially during a pandemic, when more than 75% of my communicating with friends happens via my phone). My favorite scene was Queenie inviting her three best friends to finally meet each other, having gathered them from different areas of her life, but them already having been in a group chat together for months.