Imagine, on a cold, rainy day sitting down in the family room, bundled up in a cozy blanket and playing a friendly game of Scrabble. To you Scrabble is an unopened box on a shelf, maybe a gift from a friend or something your parents thought you would like, nevertheless Scrabble is not something you ever think of until this rainy day moment arrives and you decide you want to play. 

The book Queen Of The Tiles by Hanna Alkaf takes Scrabble to another level, by going into the mind of a Scrabble player named Najwa Bakri. 

Fresh out of recovering from the traumatic death of her best friend, Trina Low, Najwa is back in the Scrabble competition that decides who is the ‘Queen of The Tiles.’ The story follows Najwa as she tries to uncover Trina’s mysterious death while also trying to become the Queen of The Tiles, herself. 

Hanna Alkaf created a story that not only vividly describes what Scrabble means to the contestants, but also dives deep into the strategy and intelligence that is needed to play Scrabble.

I loved all the characters in the story (even if they did kinda suck sometimes) and I think Hanna Alkaf definitely developed them in the proper way. I especially liked how she made the antagonist so lovable until the reader finds out what the things they have done to get in Najwa’s way.

This book has many suspenseful moments and a mysterious twist ending I did not expect. By the end of the book it made sense how everything played out and the motives for each character to do what they did. I was very satisfied with the ending and give this book a 10/10 rating.