I desperately want this book.
I want it so badly đ
Words can not describe my sheer need for this.
Young Adult, Mystery, Muslim-Rep, Malaysian-Rep

Queen of the Tiles
by Hanna Alkaf
They Wish They Were Us meets The Queenâs Gambit in the world of competitive Scrabble when a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.
CATALYST
13 points
noun: a person or thing that precipitates an event or change
When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friendâs death, itâs with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasnât the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It might be even though Najwaâs trying to change, sheâs not ready to give up Trina just yet.
But the same canât 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. Allâs fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trinaâs formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trinaâs death wasnât 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, itâs up to Najwa to find out whoâs behind these mysterious postsânot just to save Trinaâs memory, but to save herself.
Expected Publication: April 19, 2022
A Muslim girl.
Solving a potential murder mystery.
Not just any potential murder mystery, but one surrounding her best friend’s death.
*incomprehensible screaming*
Y’all, I am a mystery geek. I love whodunits, I love thrillers, and one thing that I’ve always wanted ever since I started reading the genre almost 7 years ago was a Muslim girl solving the mystery.
Adult mystery books are honestly not that diverse; I’ve only seen them starting to have non-white main characters in recent years, so I never got much representation with that in any way (besides the MC being a woman). And I’m not a huge fan of the YA mystery scene because it tends to be highschool related, which was too much drama for my liking. But I have read a couple of those and enjoyed them.
But this! This is the first time ever that I’m finding a female Muslim MC solving a mystery, AND I AM SO HERE FOR IT.
Also, can we please talk about how beautiful that cover is? It’s absolutely gorgeous I love it so much đ„ș
April has never seemed so far away. At least I can use this to get through the next semester, because I’ll hopefully get to have this amazing book and enjoy it as the semester comes to an end.
And hopefully, hopefully it won’t disappoint.

Some questions for you:
- Have you heard of Queen of the Tiles? Are you looking forward to reading it?
- Have you ever come across a mystery book with a Muslim main character?
- What’s a book you can’t wait to read this year?
Talk to me in the comments below!
ahhh omg i cannot wait either! as a scrabble competitor — i’m so excited!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I cannot put into words how much I need this book. I agree with you that mystery books aren’t usually diverse and most of them center around high school, but the premise of this one is just so amazingđ© and Scrabble!! I just know this will be a five star read for me. I just know it. I will actually go and check NetGalley to see if I can request itđ
LikeLiked by 3 people
I loved Hanna Alkaf’s book, The Weight Of Our Sky, so much so I always wanted to check out more of her books. I will admit, mystery books aren’t my go-to but this one sounds so good.
I love that this is a mystery with a Muslim main character, I hope many follow it as well. I’m so hope you love it and I’m happy this book is coming out đ„° it is a gorgeous cover, I love the facial expression đ
LikeLiked by 3 people
Aaaahh what an exciting new release! I’m eager to get my hands on this as well, and I’m glad that YA mystery is welcoming a Muslim lead! I hope you absolutely adore this book đ
(I myself am also chomping at the bit for Tracy Deonn’s BLOODMARKED, the sequel to her absolute banger of a contemporary fantasy, LEGENDBORN!!)
LikeLiked by 3 people
You should wait until May after your finals are done, so you can “properly” enjoy the book without the stress of finals
đ lol
LikeLiked by 3 people
The book will probably help me recover from the stress lol. But yeah, I might wait a bit if the book hasn’t arrived yet, and that way I can read it after Ramadan (maybe even on Eid itself, wouldn’t that be awesomeee)
LikeLiked by 2 people
This sounds interesting. I canât wait to get the sequel of six crimson cranes releasing in second half of the year.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I really hope the sequel doesn’t disappoint! I haven’t read Six Crimson Cranes, but it’s been on my mental “maybe-tbr” list for a while
LikeLiked by 3 people
I enjoyed Six Crimson Cranes so I highly recommend it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Iâm so excited for this book! It sounds so good! I actually just got granted an arc from NetGallery so Iâm planning on reading it after my current read!
LikeLiked by 3 people
đđ CONGRATS!! I hope you love reading it đ
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you!! †I just started it today and I love it so much!!
LikeLiked by 2 people