(Detailed) plot overview: Najwa Bakri is grappling with the loss of her best friend, Trina, who tragically passed away during a Scrabble competition. Seeking closure, Najwa enters a Scrabble tournament, only to discover that most of the competitors are vying to claim Trina's legacy as the 'queen of the tiles.' Amidst this competitive atmosphere, Najwa finds solace in Yasmin, a fellow contestant who is supportive and kind.
However, the tournament takes a mysterious turn when Najwa receives a direct message from Trina's account. Given Trina's death, it's clear someone has hacked her account, using it to send cryptic clues in the form of scrambled words. Teaming up with Mark, Trina's boyfriend at the time of her death, and Puteri, Mark’s ex, Najwa tries to unravel the mystery. Initially, she suspects John, Trina's opponent in her final game, especially after a clue hints at betrayal by someone close to Trina, leading her to suspect Mark, known for his volatile temperament.
The plot thickens as Najwa discovers cough medicine in Josh's bag and learns that Ben, another participant, had given the medicine St. John's Wort to Trina. With the knowledge that this combination can be lethal, she wonders if either Josh or Ben could be the perpetrator. However, they are both cleared of suspicion.
In a dramatic twist, Najwa's ally Yasmin texts her, claiming to have uncovered the hacker's identity, but before she can share this information, Yasmin suffers a suspicious fall down the stairs. This incident leads Najwa to believe that Yasmin was targeted for her discovery.
As the competition's final round approaches, where Najwa is set to face Yasmin, a shocking revelation occurs. Yasmin publicly accuses Najwa of cheating, claiming that Najwa had Scrabble tiles hidden in her pockets- which turned out to be true, as tiles had been planted on Najwa. Despite being accused, Najwa challenges Yasmin to a private game after the round concludes. During this game, Najwa confronts the truth: Yasmin was the one behind Trina's account, sending the cryptic messages. Yasmin confesses to installing spyware on Trina's phone out of jealousy towards Najwa, blaming her for 'stealing' Trina away, and ultimately admitting to orchestrating Trina's murder as revenge against Najwa.
In a fortunate turn of events, two teenagers recording a YouTube series about Trina's death had been secretly recording the conversation from a microphone hidden on Najwa, capturing Yasmin's confession. The story culminates in Najwa cleverly inviting the teens to expose Yasmin's guilt, revealing that she had orchestrated the setup to prompt Yasmin's confession while believing they were alone.
My opinion: Sometimes 'whodunnits' can be a little bland for me because a lot of them have much in common, but I did enjoy this one, the writing style, characters, etc. I was kind of expecting it to be Yasmin, because, again (never trust the super duper nice characters), and well it was-, but other than that I liked the themes that were explored more than I've seen them in other books (namely friendship, mental health, being very emotionally attached to a best friend). I see a lot of main characters being more attached to, for example, an s/o rather than their best friend who's been friends with them since childhood, so I liked the more realistic depiction of connection/being connected with someone regardless the nature of it. I also enjoyed the Scrabble playing parts, surprisingly. There was some new word & the definition of it at the beginning of each chapter that I had absolutely no idea about before but something about them was just satisfying to read-. It's a random thing to include but I would very much reread it just to go through all the chapters and collect those words to use for...I dunno?- Waging Word War III?
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