The Black Queen by Jumata Emill is a complex story centered on Nova’s murder. Nova, the school’s first-ever Black Homecoming Queen rose to her title in a spectacularly public way after refusing to step down even though Tinsley (the popular white girl) is from a long line of homecoming queens. Duchess is gutted by the brutal death of her best friend. Her father is a police officer in town and receives a lot of flack not only for being a Black police officer in the first place, but for not arresting who appears to be the obvious suspect: Tinsley. She was caught drunk on tape hours before Nova’s murder spewing some hateful things about her and how she wishes she’d just killed her so she could have been crowned queen. But Tinsley, awful as she is, isn’t a murderer. Told in alternating perspectives from Tinsley and Duchess’s perspectives, this novel encompasses a lot of darkness, while forging a very unlikely friendship between the narrators. A great read, but a dark read.

This book had my students fighting to check this out of my classroom library. They were so engaged and invested about who they thought killed Nova. For me, it was pretty good. I had my ideas about the killer early on and the plot twist was nice. I get that the author wanted to show how racism, segregation, and white privilege affects others, but it was a bit over the top for me.

I really enjoyed this YA debut. I put off reading this because I read the weight of blood last year and it seemed really similar. However I feel like The Weight of Blood's audience in mind when writing was everyone. Whereas this book, it seemed like the audience in mind was spefically teens.

There was a lot of slang and references that made it feel current (with the exception of the very first reference of She's All That which I havent seen in years) I understand the complaints that the story was mostly about the racist white girl Tinsley and trying to convince us the Black cops should exist, which at face value sounds truly terrible. However I think what Emill was able to do here was talk about the complexities of being a Black person in America. The things we have to deal with, sometimes Black cops really do need to exist. Sometimes those are the only people not tryna harm and lock up every Black person deemed a criminal on the street because it "fits the bill". Sometimes racist white girls come from really abhorrant trash families and they can and do reflect and change their mindset.

While these topics seem annoying from people who have to deal with intersectoinal oppression I think it was all presented in a really accessible way that could potentially change some peoples minds on their prejucies. It was also really interesting and had me shook near the end, maybe im bad at guessing mysteries but my mouth was open for the last few chapters! Finished the excellent audiobook in just 2 days. Angel Pean & Erin Spencer did their thing with these characters! I also really enjoyed the little soundbites like "the school bell rang" and there was ringing in the audiobook or "I got a text" and a notifiaction sound rung.

I enjoyed this book and purchased for our collection. This was requested for a program and shared with high schoolers at a book talk.

Sadly this just didn’t do it for me. Yes it was out of my age bracket but I don’t think it was the fact this book is YA. It’s very easy to guess who the killer is, which is just not fun. While I expected race and white privilege to take the stage, I was surprised at how the story felt more like the Tinsley’s than Duchess’. There was little unique about the alternating POVs, making me connect even less with both characters. If you’re looking for something with similar vibes, including discussions on race, but with more paranormal intrigue I would recommend The Weight of Blood.

The characters felt real. Though none were wholly likeable.
The audiobook is fire 🔥 the narrators are a-mazing! The emotions is raw and tense.
This book is racially tense. It was difficult to read at times. Not because it wasn’t good writing… it was amazing writing!
The message of this book is good. One that will stay with me for a long time.
Our families may not be perfect. But children are products of their environment. The only way to change anything in this generation or the next is by being a role model now to our family and our friends.

The Black Queen was a dramatic, dark, and thought-provoking thriller that wasn't afraid to tackle the tough issues--racism, underage sex, teenage pregnancy, corruption, white privilege, and child abuse. We hear the story from dual points of view: Duchess, the best friend of the victim, who suspects Tinsley and pushes her police captain father to bring justice. And the second is Tinsley, the worst kind of white privileged mean girl that you may wholeheartedly hate. Could she really be the one who brutally killed her opponent?

The book felt a bit long and to be honest I thought it was predictable. I appreciate what it was trying to do though.

I wanted to enjoy this one, I really did. The Prom Queen murder mystery was enough to grab my interest, but unfortunately, this whole novel read like it was written by an adult who thinks they’re dialed in with how teenagers speak. The whole thing is giving very heavy handed after-school-special vibes.

Jumata Emill's THE BLACK QUEEN is an engrossing murder mystery that will leave you on edge until the final page. The story takes place in Lovett, a small town. It explores the aftermath of the murder of Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High.

Tinsley McArthur, a wealthy and privileged white student, was supposed to be the queen and has become the main suspect in Nova's murder. Duchess Simmons, Nova's best friend and daughter of the first Black police captain in Lovett, is determined to prove Tinsley's guilt and bring justice to her friend.

Emill masterfully weaves together race relations, high school drama, friendship, and justice themes in this thought-provoking and timely novel.

While THE BLACK QUEEN is a thrilling and socially relevant read, some readers may feel disappointed with the major plot twist reveal of who the killer is and their motive. It was kinda underwhelming for me, considering all of the delicious tension and suspense that led up to it.

Nevertheless, Emill's writing is engaging, and the story is still entertaining and thought-provoking.

For fans of small town murder mysteries, this book is a must-read and a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I thought this was a fun book, It was a murder mystery centered around a high school, involving race and personal drama. While I found some aspects to be a bit over the top, “The Black Queen” kept my interest and the mystery part was one that did surprise me, which I can appreciate. 3.5 stars ⭐️ rounding up to 4 stars ⭐️.

It's a alright read. Just wish the book was more focus on the best friend but it's a good story. I would recommend this book.

The premise of the book is that the first Black homecoming queen, Nova, is murdered the night of her coronation. Two girls, Duchess and Tinsley, take it upon themselves to solve the crime before the police charge the wrong person. Duchess was Nova’s best friend, while Tinsley was Nova’s greatest rival and the police’s prime suspect.

This book explores very real issues such as racism, systemic racial injustice in the police system, and familial abuse. It’s told through multiple POVs, switching between Duchess and Tinsley, so we get two different perspectives (Black and White) on what’s unraveling in these character’s lives. Throughout the book, both Duchess and Tinsley are forced to self-reflect on who they are, while calling each other out on their biases and privileges.

For me, The Black Queen is a difficult novel to classify, because I’m not entirely sure who the intended audience is. The use of a Black girl on the front cover and the fact that the author himself is Black leads readers to believe the main character (and perhaps main audience) of this book is also Black. However, the book does seemed to be heavily focused on Tinsley’s story of self-discovery rather than on Duchess’ story of fighting for racial equality. On top of that, the main focus on the Black community in this book revolves around trauma and pain. If you look at the reviews of this book on Goodreads, a lot of Black readers were put off by these aspects, and I can understand why.

On the other hand, the book starts off with a very Black vs White narration where it’s a constant feeling of “us vs them” between the Black students at this school and the White students, both justified and not. There are a instances of the White characters being very openly racist and instances of the Black characters being openly prejudice in return. Other racial groups were not really acknowledged at any point. I was worried that this book was going to be like that the entire way through, where there was going to be no accounting of the wrongs committed on all sides, but I ended up being pretty satisfied with how things were resolved in the end. That being said, if there were a non-Black reader who was on the fence about their feelings regarding racial tensions, I think that initial framing would put them off from getting to the important message at the end.

All in all, if you’re someone who likes YA mystery/thriller novels and are prepared to read about hard issues like racism, sexual abuse, blackmail, abortion, parental abuse, etc, then this book is a good option.

The Black Queen was one wild ride through a school and town with a lot of issues. The dual narration between Tinsley and Duchess worked really well and helped see both sides of the towns issues and viewpoints. I especially liked Tinsley's growth throughout the book in realizing that black people are often slighted, even though it appears that they aren't.

this book was a very easy read that i'm sure has an audience, but it very much was not for me. I don't feel ccomfortable rating it as I didn't realize a lot about this book before reading it.

Nova was the first black Homecoming Queen in town, and rival Tinsley was caught on video spilling a hateful, racist message about how Nova had stolen the crown that was rightfully hers. After the Homecoming ceremony, Nova turns up dead, and Tinsley's video goes viral and casts her as the primary suspect.
This book is told in dual narration by Duchess, Nova's best friend, and Tinsley herself. The two girls begin investigating the truth behind Nova's murder as rivals, but by the end, they find themselves teaming up together to discover secrets so dark and deep they never would have imagined.

2.5 stars

I was really excited for this one. The cover screamed Carrie. So perhaps it’s really just a ‘me’ problem and not the book. I think I’ve been reading too many thrillers back to back, that this one got lost. I wasn’t as into it as I wanted to be and found it easy to figure out the ‘who’ part.

Okay. So here is where the discussion gets real. And again. This is just my personal opinion. But it felt like the white girl took the centre of the story, and maybe this was to open the eyes of white readers on white privilege? I’m Asian, and appreciate when an author wants to educate. But honestly, all I was expecting and wanting, was a story/thriller with a mainly black cast. This was very topic heavy and unfortunately, not for me.

I think for the right reader, they’ll love it.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Was looking forward to reading this book for a while now and was so happy to get a copy! Really loved this, the end was shocking but awesome! would recommend and reread in the future

A timely YA thriller. Nova is the first Black homecoming queen to be elected at her southern high school. Unfortunately, on the night of the coronation, she is murdered. Queen Bee and absolute witch Tinsley is the biggest suspect, as she had expected to be homecoming queen and was filmed ranting and raving that Nova should die that same night... Nova's best friend Duchess suspects Tinsley, like everyone else, and commits herself to finding out the truth when she feels that her police chief father isn't working hard enough to arrest this rich white girl. Both girls have plenty of motivation to find the true killer. They end up having to work together to uncover the secrets that led to Nova's death.

Obviously racism, especially in the criminal justice system, plays a large role in the plot of this thriller. Tinsley is hard to like in the beginning especially. She says and does things that are racist and so inappropriate. She does learn from her mistakes, and seems interested in truly growing by the end of the novel though. I enjoyed Duchess as a character, and kind of wish there could have been more to her side of the story. The murder mystery was well thought out, with plenty of red herrings; I didn't guess the true culprit easily. Overall an enjoyable YA thriller with a clear message.

I didn't understand this book. It basically read like a white redemption story but a black character had to die first. The characters weren't convincing and I just didn't enjoy it.

I liked this book. It was fast paced and suspenseful. I thought it was well written. I appreciated the diversity, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+. The characters were easy to like and well developed. I am usually good at guessing who the bad guy is but this one surprised me. This one was not even on my list of suspects. I am still thinking about this book and will follow the author.