May 10, 2020

The Knockout Queen Review

Title: The Knockout Queen
Author: Rufi Thorpe
Type: Coming of Age, Contemporary,
Pages: 288
Rating: 5/5

My Ramblins
A beautiful and heartbreaking story about friendship, platonic love and finding out who you are. Michael comes to live with his aunt after his mother was convicted for attempting to murder his abusive father. Michael is lonely and sad. Michael is also gay. He finds friendship with Bunny, his next-door neighbor. Bunny is also sad and looking for acceptance. The become fast friends but their friendship is tested when rumors begin circulating about Michael and Bunny takes matter into her own hands. A tragedy occurs that will shape and define both of their lives forever.

This story is beautifully written. Rufi Thrope did such a wonderful job developing her characters. I felt like I was a fly in the wall within this story. Such a captivating story about not only finding yourself but also accepting who you are. While this story didn’t follow a traditional pattern of storytelling, I still couldn’t put it down and found myself wishing I could continue to follow these characters after long after it was finished. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by this author.

**Story does contain some difficult topics: alcoholism, violence/abuse, bullying and homophobia