Didn't You Used to be Queenie B

The Wheel of Titles did well this spin. I loved this book. I did not want to put it down. I want to know what happens next, even though I am a firm believer that every story does not need to become a series. Five stars. 

Well, now that I have that out of my system I can tell you more about Didn’t You Used to be Queenie B by Terri-Lynne Defino. As an avid watcher of all types of food competition shows, just reading the blurb about this book had me hooked. What I did not expect were the honest and raw portrayals of addiction, recovery, and the wide swath of fall-out that accompanies both of those things separately and together.

Gale, our protagonist, has settled into an uneasy recovery. A tragedy has launched him onto this path, and he has not forgiven himself for being a survivor where his friend Sean was not. He enjoys his work as a chef, the only place where he can lose himself, and has secret aspirations but little confidence to act upon them. 

Queenie B, after fame, fortune, addiction, and a rather nasty fall from grace, has reinvented herself as Regina. She becomes invisible, hiding in plain sight. When her world and Gale’s collide, they recognize each other as kindred souls and when Gale gets a chance to seize a dream, they collaborate.

The character development in this novel was so real I felt as though it could be a memoir. Various threads of the plot were both resolved and unresolved, reflecting the complexity of life, experience, and relationships. This read was much more than I anticipated. Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Reader’s Copy.